There’s no doubt about it, curly hair is high maintenance. It comes with a very strict set of rules that must be adhered to, in order to fight the humidity, frizz and 1982 spiral perm situation.
Not that there’s anything wrong with any of those three things. I battle them all on a daily basis.
But fear not my curly-haired friends, because as always, I’m here to help. Here are my 10 commandants of curly hair. Follow them and you’ll have those curly locks under control in no time. Or at least have a bit of a laugh.
10 commandments of curly hair
1. Thou shalt condition
Curly hair suffers from superior levels of dryness. As a result, it requires conditioner of epic proportions. If you’ve got curly hair, using a deep treatment conditioner once a week will help restore moisture and make detangling easier.
2. Thou shalt style curly hair when it’s dripping wet
Doing this will ensure your curls are locked in and the frizz is kept out.
If you’ve been drying your hair furiously with a towel and then styling it, STOP
in the name of love
hammer time
collaborate and listen.
Start styling those curls while your hair is dripping wet. It’s a curly hair game changer.
3. Thou shalt not scrunch
Scrunching curly hair will only lead to one thing – 1987. And while that was an excellent year, there are now new and improved ways to get your scrunch on.
Use your hand like a claw and gently lift the hair from the root or push it from the bottom. Don’t scrunch it up like it’s ball of paper about to be thrown in the bin. Have you seen how unattractive a bin looks when it’s full of scrunched up bits of paper? Nobody wants their hair to look like that. Or maybe they do. In which case, scrunch away!
4. Thou shalt NEVER brush their curly hair when it is dry
Unless they are dared to by friends after a couple of wines. Because that will make for a very hilarious 5 minutes, where your mates will laugh so hard at your gorgeous curls that have magically morphed into an enormous ball of frizz.
They’ll also say things like, “I can’t believe you used to wear your hair like that in high school!” and “Has anyone seen my phone? I have GOT to Instagram this!” Or so I’ve been told.
5. Thou shalt use a wide tooth comb
Ditch the old school bristle brush and get yourself a Tangle Teezer with a wide tooth comb chaser. Both will help reduce the frizz and keep your curls looking fresh.
6. Thou shalt never be able to wear a hat
and have decent hair when thou takes the hat off.
That’s right, when girls and guys with curls take hats off, there’s no running a brush or comb through their hair to sort that hat hair situation out (refer to commandment number 4). When it comes to hats, curly-haired people have two options:
- commit to the hat 100% and do not, under any circumstances, remove it.
- take the hat off and commit to hair that resembles a bird’s nest. That has fallen from a tree, been trodden on by a toddler and then flung into a bush.
7. Thou shalt only ask for ‘just a trim’ at the hairdressers
Ask for anything else and run the risk of leaving the hairdressers with hair approximately 4.5 inches shorter than what you requested.
Curly hair is much longer when it’s wet and coils up as it dries, leaving it shorter. A good hairdresser will know this and cut accordingly. A not so good hairdresser will require a lot of pre-cutting instructions.
8. Thou shalt dry hair naturally when possible
Avoiding excess heat from a hair dryer (always use a diffuser!) will help retain your moisture levels and keep those curly locks under control.
9. Thou shalt get used to answering the question, “Is that your natural curl?”
You will be asked it several times a week. Often it will be followed up with, “Wow, so it’s not a perm. Can I touch it?” No, random person standing next to me at the check out, you may not touch my hair.
10. Thou shalt read the following blog posts
More hair related tips and laugh out loud stories can be found here:
how to style curly hair and beat the frizz – a step by step guide
my top 5 products for curly hair – I use these every day
how to clean your hair brush – it’s easier than you think!
is that your natural curl? – another day, another question
my epic hair fail – when salon blow dries go very, very bad
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