When dealing with curly/coily hair, it can get hard to find effective ways to genuinely care and protect your hair.
On days that you are confused on what to do with your curly/coily hair, how to protect it and really take care of it, the feeling of frustration might rise up, especially since having curly hair can be seen as more difficult than the thought of having straight hair(of course only to the people who have naturally curly hair), but that feeling does not have to come about. There are many ways to truly tend to your hair even if you do not have a store bought product.
First tip on maintaining your curly/coily hair is, using a sulfate free shampoo. Sulfate in shampoos strip your natural curly/coily hair of its natural oils, and while that may be good for people that have straight/wavy hair, since there hair tends to get more oily, it will not be very good for curly hair because curly/coily hair tends to dryer quicker. Moreover, an alternative to store bought shampoos, is making hair enriching nutrient DIY shampoos using ingredients like castor oil, coconut milk flax seeds, aloe vera and even a banana. Just make sure to have a shampoo that is very moisturizing like junior Claudia Cumare.
“When I’m in the shower, I wash my hair with cold water and the Raw Sugar Shampoo and conditioner,” said Cumare. “When I’m done with that I make sure to finger brush my hair and I also use the Skala Brazilian Curl Creme on it because it helps my curls become way more defined.”
A second tip for maintaining curly hair is to use a conditioner or a curl creme frequently when trying to tend to curly/coily hair, since curly/coily hair does tend to get dryer. Store bought conditioner/curl creams brands that are really good for mostly all curly/coily hair types are brands like Mielle, OGX, Shea Moisture, Carol’s Daughter, Camille Rose and more. Those specific brands have conditioning products that really enhance your curls/coils and give a lightweight feeling. Also along with conditioning and curl creams, gels and mousses help curls/coils really bounce and become more vibrant so some brands that one may want to look into are Uncle Funky’s Daughter Curly Magic Curl Stimulator, Amika Curl Corps Enhancing Gel, Not Your Mothers Curl Talk Curl Activation Mousse, Design Essentials Curl Enhancing Mousse and more. Trying to weave co-washing (washing your hair with conditioner only) into your routine may also be a method that you might want to consider. Some students like sophomore Diana Quevedo are fine even while not using products.
“I used to have straight hair but something happened and now I have curly/wavy hair and I didn’t really know how to take care of it because of that,” said Quevedo. “I would wash it every day because I wanted it to be cute, but then I started using products like Shea Moisture. I think it was too much for my hair because my hair is kind of thin so it would weigh down my hair, so I just stopped using products all together.”
Another tip that can be given for caring for curly/coily hair is making sure to sleep on a silk/satin covering so that the moisture in your hair could be truly retained. In many opinions, it would truly be best to use a covering for your hair at night, for example a bonnet might be a good option for some people and for others a silk/satin scarf might be the best.
“I think that for curly hair, everyone’s hair is different. Everyone has different curls, and different textures, so it is very important to just try different products for your hair,” said Eckhardt. “ For me what I do is rotate different combinations of shampoo and conditioner and I have a couple of different curl products I like to use because I think hydration is one of the big things for curls.”
There are so many ways to take care of curly/coily hair, but in all honesty how you take care of it is really just up to what your hair wants, even if you have the same hair type as someone else, that doesn’t mean that all of the product that they use will work for you. Make sure to find the right products for your hair to make them pop and do not stress about it because you will still look good either way.
