To all my curly girls, yeah it can be hard! Curls are so, so cute and should be embraced, but man they can be difficult to manage! Today I thought I would tell you the story of my curl journey, and I hope you can learn something along the way.
It begins with the day my hair turned curly (well that is a little dramatic). I had pin straight hair until puberty, when it started to grow curly from the top. Is that super common—no, but my unfortunate situation was that I had curly kinky hair on the top, and straight hair on the bottom. You could say puberty was a bit rough. As my hair grew, I would brush out my curls, and I walked around with very frizzy hair.
One day, my roommate was telling me that she had seen Tik Toks about people with hair like mine—frizzy but a little wavy—who went on a “curl journey” and discovered they actually had gorgeous curls. At this point I was a little skeptical. I tried a lot of “magic” products on my hair, and never found anything that turned my hair into something worthy of a shampoo commercial. Fast forward a year, and the Instagram algorithm started targeting with more and more information about curl journeys. That past year I had been really struggling with my hair. I tried a shampoo and curl gel combo that made my hair sticky and then was exposed for having chemicals that made your hair fall out. Also, the hard water in my dorm on top of pool chemicals from swimming were really drying out my hair.
So at this point, my hair was sticky, I had no shampoo, and honestly, my confidence was being affected because I knew my hair looked weird but I didn’t know how to fix it. The hardest part about my hair is that it is fine and curly. When I tried to look up information, it was typically for hair that is thicker, with more texture, or tighter curls. This was an issue when I first started trying products, it was difficult because many products had oils that made my fine curls greasy. I tried switching to gels, but they were too strong and made my hair crunchy. In the end, it was a lot of trial and error, but here is what I found that works for me.
Most important was finding a shampoo and conditioner combination that worked for me. There is no good way to really do this, other than trial and error. After my chemical shampoo scandal, I would suggest looking for shampoos that have natural ingredients, because it will be healthier for your hair and the environment. Most of the time it is recommended to use a shampoo and a conditioner that are paired together because they are made to complement each other. However, for me, I use mineral fusion curling shampoo and Shea moisturizer ACV strength and moisturizer conditioner. This is because with all the swimming my hair gets dry, but using both a moisturizing shampoo and conditioner made my curls too heavy. Go figure right?
I realized that minimizing hair products was actually the best strategy, the more I put in my hair the heavier and weirder would get. However, I found one product I really like that helps my curls to form. I use Ecoslay orange marmalade gel. It’s a super light gel made of flax and aloe that helps form my curls but doesn’t make it crunchy (if I use the correct amount). I rub a small amount on my hand and scrunch it into my hair while it is still damp.
Next was about how I dried my hair. The method is to dry my hair lightly with a t-shirt before scrunching it upside down. Using a hair towel or a cotton t-shirt dried my hair the best without causing breakage, but using a regular towel isn’t the end of the world. While my hair is still pretty damp, but not soaked, I flip my hair upside down and scrunch it. Then I flip my hair back over and scrunch it around my face. In the summer, I can just let my hair dry like this, and I continue to scrunch it while it dries. In the Winter, I learned that I NEED to dry my hair. One of the reasons my hair always dried crunchy was because it would freeze— which is easily avoidable if you dry your hair. And here is how to properly dry your hair. I still scrunch my hair upside down, and then stay in that position to dry my hair. I use a diffusing end on my dryer, and listen it makes ALL the difference. When I dry my hair I use a medium or low setting and the lowest heat level— it might take longer but it gives your curls time to form rather than frizzing, and prevents heat damage. I stick the diffuser end on the base of my head and blow dry the base of my hair to make volume. Then put the diffuser end under the tip of my curls and scrunch them using the blow dryer. Are you catching a theme here, SCRUNCHING. Scrunch all the time and always while your hair is drying, and it will help your curls form!
I also do some special occasion self hair care processes, that help my hair look super nice. TBH— I should do them more often, but ya know it’s a journey. Here are some things I like to do:
Apple cider vinegar rinse: mix apple cider and vinegar in water and pour over hair. I do this in the shower, and then wash after. This helps rebalance the pH of your hair and cleanse your scalp. I also really enjoy Hairitage products, which are sold at Walmart. Their scalp scrub and apple cider vinegar rinse makes my hair super soft— so I recommend it! If my hair is super dry, I sometimes do an avocado oil mask. You can also use coconut oil, but supposedly avocado oil absorbs into your hair better. I massage mine into my hair until it is completely coated and greasy, mainly focusing on the ends. Then, I brush through it with a fine tooth comb and braid it as tight as a can. I typically do this at night, so I can leave it in my hair all night until I have to wash it out in the morning.
Last but not least, being the little dietetics major that I am, I would like to mention the role of nutrition in healthy hair. Hair is made from protein, so getting an adequate amount of protein daily will help your hair to grow. I do not know the research behind collagen, but collagen supplements are correlated with better hair growth. You can also try taking keratin supplements, but any supplementation should be consulted with your doctor, and the brand should be thoroughly researched. However, eating a well balanced diet can help ensure you get the vitamins you need for hair growth. Consuming healthy fats will also help keep your skin and hair soft and healthy. This is something to consider if you have dry hair or skin. For more information, talk to a dietician or a doctor. If you choose to do research yourself, make sure you look at articles based in science and review them.