Over the years, I have tried many different products for my hair, but I think I’ve finally settled on a routine and products that work for me. My curly hair and I have been through the ringer trying to find a routine that works for both of us. We’ve been through heat damage, hair cuts, hair dye, and just about any other hair related thing you can think of. After all these years, I think we’ve finally settled on something that we can agree on.
To preface, I would classify my hair type as 3B, and I’ve found that the less product I use in my hair, the better. So I am going to run through my wash day routine and the products I like to use throughout the process.
I start with using scalp oil. I typically have a very dry scalp, so going in with a scalp oil before washing is something I found to be really helpful in keeping some moisture even when I strip it while using shampoo. The oil I like to use is from Soapbox and it’s called Scalp Soother, this is a product that I pick up from Target. It’s a pre-shampoo rinse out which means that I massage it into my scalp and let it sit for a couple of minutes before I hop in the shower to wash my hair. This product has tea tree oil, juniper berry oil, and avocado oil, which combined really helps to soothe and hydrate an itchy scalp.
In the shower, I shampoo twice. The first time I focus on the top of my head where product tends to accumulate over time, and on the second shampoo I make sure to get every strand. The shampoo I use is from the brand Monday, and it’s the Smooth for curly hair, and I use the same conditioner as well after shampooing. I’ve found that this shampoo and conditioner duo actually helps to trap moisture in my curls instead of stripping it and it’s really lightweight and smells good too. When I condition, I make sure to run a detangling brush through my hair to get the tangles out and receive the full effect of the conditioner.
After conditioning my hair, I always do a hair mask, and I think that this was one of the real turning points in my hair care. I haven’t tried a lot of these, but the mask I use right now is the California Naturals Deep Repair Hair Mask and I really like it! It definitely does a good job of restoring the strength and smoothness of my hair after a week of hair cream and gel, and after I rinse it out my hair is so soft.
Once I dry my hair with a microfiber towel (I beg you to use one), I will normally run a comb through my hair to separate the curls and then go in with a little bit of either gel or cream to keep my curls in place overnight. The gel I use is Aunt Jackie’s Don’t Shrink hair gel and I really like it because it’s not flakey and does a really good job of holding my hair in place when I style it with any sort of slick back. The other hair gel I use is Miss Jessie’s Jelly Soft Curls, but I use it as more of a cream than a gel since I use it whenever I leave my curls down instead of styling them, because I find that it holds them better and makes them look more bouncy. I also used Miss Jessie’s Pillow Soft Curls for a really long time and absolutely loved it, the Jelly Soft Curls are just a cheaper option.
After all of this, I must remind you to always wear a bonnet to bed, no matter what kind of hair you have. It’s always super important to protect your hair at night, and it’s a plus to not have to wake up super early in the morning to detangle all the tangles you’d accumulate during sleep if you don’t wear one.
Finding a hair care routine that works is difficult and a process that constantly changes as you discover new and different products. However, it’s nice to always have products to fall back on, ones that you can trust will always work, if the new ones ever prove to be a disappointment.