Curly hair shouldn’t be complicated.

With so much knowledge on the web these days between Curly FB pages, YouTube, Google and other people’s opinions it’s sometimes very overwhelming especially if you’re starting out on the curly journey. Your curly hair routine can be as simple or comprehensive as your lifestyle will allow.

Hair just needs to be Cleansed & Hydrated

Between 3 – 7 products are needed to get great curls:

• Sulfate free shampoo

• Paraben free conditioner

• Base Gel

• Topper/s

• Refresher

• Hairspray

The difference between expensive products and cheaper supermarket brands is the quality of ingredients and the manufacturing process of making the product easier to absorb into the hair.

The Curly Girl Movement has brought in a lot of different terminology for hair. The first concept I will talk about is co-washing. There has been a lot of confusion and guilt around shampooing. I believe in shampoo, but when I say shampoo I mean “low poo”.

I have been sulfate free and using organic ingredients for 17 yrs. Co-washing to me is like washing your body with moisturiser, it is not what it is meant for. In saying that, I only shampoo my hair once every 3 weeks which I have done for 6yrs now. The weeks in between, I do wash my hair but I cleanse with friction and water, giving my scalp a good scrub under the shower for 2 to 3min with my finger tips.

Water and friction is enough to cleanse but shampoo just helps the process

The purpose of shampoo is to open the cuticle so your hair is cleaned and cleansed to be able to absorb and retain water. With added conditioner -

Moisture based Conditioner – Contains water loving ingredients which help to retain the moisture.

Protein Conditioner – helps rebuild the strength structure and bonding the cuticle to the hair strand.

Conditioning is the process of just closing down the cuticle, running conditioner over your hair and rinsing.

Hydration is the process of squeezing and squishing the conditioner and water into the centre of each hair strand and locking this into the hair.

Hydration is not just for curly hair, straight hair and slightly wavy hair can all benefit with hydration especially if it’s coarse or frizzy. Frizzy hair is just the hair lacking moisture.

Even though I say all this, I do respect co-washing if that’s what you choose to do and are having no issues. Just please know there’s not one way to look after curls, each curl specialist has their own technique or method. I have taken techniques from all of the specialists I have trained with and created my own method that resonates with our climate. You’ve got to find out what works for you as it all depends on your porosity, texture, density, lifestyle & environment. Your type of curl has nothing to do with how to look after your hair I’m sorry to say. You can have two people with exact same curl pattern that have different texture, density and live in different parts of the country so will need different products or use different techniques.

Once you have hydrated your hair you need to seal all the goodness in, using a water based gel to trap in the water and conditioner.