Why Curly Hair Isn't SO Bad!

Anyone who has curly hair can tell you that they have a love hate relationship with their hair. I was fine with my hair when I was little, from what I can remember. But when I was in middle school and SUPER awkward (glasses and braces, yuck), I didn't know what to do with it. My solution was to wear it in a slicked back bun every single day (I should go digging for a picture). Slowly but surely I have figured out that it's not so bad after all. 

Here's a few reasons to love your curly hair:

1. People pay to have curly hair. They pay for perms (not so much these days), they pay for curling irons, curlers, hot rollers etc. You hair curls for free. Sure it doesn't come out perfect, but when you figure out your groove you learn to accept it and work with it and not against it (I'll tell you more about that later).
2. You have the option of wearing your hair straight and curly. So many people who have stick straight hair can only wear their hair one way- straight. You have the option.
3. When you straighten your hair and a group of people see it for the first time, they literally do a double take, and this is really fun. This happens to me a lot if I'm at a new job or a new class and the people haven't seen my hair anyway but curly. 
4. Up-dos are so much easier because your hair is already curled. 
5. Curls are sexy and never go out of style (I think)!
6. Air drying saves you from damaging your hair everyday with a blow dryer.
7. "Doing" my hair takes no more than ten minutes.

Now here's a few things I've learned about curly hair:

1. DO NOT wash your hair everyday! Curly hair tends to be dry by nature and the more you wash the drier it gets, and frizz comes with dry hair. I wash my hair every three days.
2. Speaking of washing, use sulfate free shampoo. I've used DevaCurl No Poo, for over a year now and I love it. Shampoo with sulfates strip the hair of its natural oils. I don't know too much about the science behind it, nor do I feel like researching (I only have one week off from school), but I do know that I feel a difference. For me that is all the evidence I need. 
3. DO NOT dry your hair with a towel or wrap your hair up in a towel. The material of the towel creates frizz in your hair, especially if you rub your hair between the towel! Makes me cringe just thinking about it! Instead squeeze the water out of your hair with an old T-shirt or paper towels, but thats a bit wasteful.
4. Don't skip haircuts! The right hair cut goes a long way when it comes to curly hair. If your hair is all one length you'll look like you have an umbrella of curls on your head. Layers are important. You also need to maintain the cut and get trims every 6 weeks or so. Everyone is different but I find that after 6-8 weeks my hair starts feeling yuck and not looking as nice. A quick trim makes a big difference.

My routine

Let me start by saying everyone has different hair, so what I do might not work for you. That being said, I wanted to share anyway because if it works for just one person who is struggling with figuring out how to manage their hair then I am happy!

Two Aprils ago I was in a bit of a hair rut. So I asked my yoga teacher what she used because she has beautiful curly hair. She told me about DevaCurl and my life (ok maybe not my life) was changed. There are a ton of different products on the site and it can be a bit confusing. I started by figuring out which type of curl I had and went from there. They recommend products for your specific type of curl. The site has tons of helpful videos and tips.

1. I wash with No-Poo and condition with One Condition. I put a tiny bit of conditioner in my hair just as I am about to get out of the shower.
   
2. Once I get out of the shower I squeeze my hair with an old T-shirt. I typically flip my hair upside down and scrunch up with the shirt to get the water out. I found it works better that way because you don't want to pull the hair straight to get the water out. 
3. I keep my hair flipped and with the same motion I put DevaCare Arc AnGel in my hair. I have the big bottle and I do about two pumps. I try not to put too much because it makes it crunchy (only if you put too much, if you put the right amount its perfectly soft and bouncy).
4. After that I flip my head upright and put in DevaCurl Styling Cream all over. You don't need a lot of this either. You'll figure out how much to use pretty fast.
5. If it's really humid out I'll put in DevaCurl Set it Free, but because it's winter it isn't really necessary. 
6. And that's it!

Before you go

1. Once a week you should do a deep conditioning treatment. You can either buy a special conditioner at the store (I love DevaCurl Heaven in Hair) or you can use coconut oil. Yes, I said coconut oil. It works wonders. All you need to do is separate your hair in sections and rub it into each section until its completely coated. Leave overnight or a few hours and wash off.
2. I suggest getting DevaCurl from Amazon or Ulta. Typically Amazon is cheaper.

Hope that was somewhat helpful! Love and embrace your curls!

B