As a younger teenager, I was inevitably pressured by the straight hair “trend” of my peers. I resented my naturally frizzy, crazy, thick and curly brown locks. I did everything imaginable to tame my mane, from leave in treatments to becoming best friends with my flat iron. Unfortunately, my hair felt the pain of my sleek hair obsession. My hair began to feel brittle and rough. It was impossible for my hair to retain length, because it was constantly breaking off from severe heat damage. My once thick and voluminous hair was now thin, fine and damaged. It took me nearly three years to finally put down the flat iron and say hello to my curls again.
1. Ditch the Heat
When in hair recovery, the first thing I had to do was say “bye bye” to my beloved hot tools. Many curly girls use blow dryers to diffuse and fluff up their manes, but while you’re trying to restore your hairs natural state, all heat is a no. My natural hair was frizzy and barely curly from all of the heat damage I put it through, so a bun became my new personal hairstyle. I switched up my daily styles from braids to buns in order to stay heat free. Now that my hair is a lot healthier, I do occasionally straighten and curl my hair. I keep my heat styling minimum, and only use heat 1 to 2 times a month.
2. The “Big Chop”
Okay this one was a hard one. No matter what anyone tells you, you cannot repair your dead ends. No serum, oil or miracle pill will mend your spit ends. The oils may seal your ends temporarily, but will not fix the damage done to your hair! In order to restore my bouncy curls, I had to chop off all the damage! You can either cut it off all at once (probably the best option for a fresh start!) or cut little by little like I did. Cutting my hair was hard, but cutting it definitely made my curl pattern reappear! Now I cut my hair once every two months to keep my ends healthy and my curls bouncy.
3. Deep Conditioner
Deep conditioner was my holy grail during my return to curly hair! Deep conditioners are great for hair strength and repair! They provide moisture to your hair, which is essential for curls and repairing dry, damaged hair. When I was healing my hair, I used a deep conditioner about 2 times a week and left it on for about 10-20 minutes. If you want extra healing and strengthening benefits from your deep conditioner, try putting a plastic bag over your hair and letting the conditioner sink in for up to 30 minutes, some of my favorite deep conditioners are Earth Science’s “Oil and Avocado Hair Masque”, Garnier Whole Blends Honey Treasures Repairing Masque and KeratinComplex Infusion Therapy Vanilla Bean Deep Conditioner.
4. Use the Right Products
Every curly girl has a different technique for styling her mane. However, it is essential to use the right products to get the full potential out of your curls! When you’re styling curls, think moisture, moisture, moisture!! Moisture is key to big, bouncy natural curls. Before styling I ALWAYS use a leave in conditioner to ensure my hair is extremely moisturized. One of my inexpensive favs is Garnier Whole Blends Replenishing Leave-In Conditioner. Some of my favorite styling products are by the DevaCurl line! Although they are kind of pricey, my curls have never looked better. Some of my favs are DevaCurl SUPERCREAM Coconut Curl Styler and DevaCurl B’LEAVE-IN Miracle Curl Plumper. I mix just a little of these two products together and scrunch them into my hair! Together they give me great texture and volume. And if you want an extra little volume to amp-up your curls, I recommend thick&full Biotin & Collagen weightless healing oil treatment by OGX.
5. Patience!!!!
Sadly, hair does not heal and grow over night. It takes time, patience and consistency. It took me almost three years to truly restore my curls, and I still have to work at maintaining them! I still get regular trims and stay on top of my deep conditioning routine. Although it takes some time to repair the damage and see the true potential of your curls, it is definitely worth it!