For years I have fought my natural hair. I’ve blow dried and straightened and waved and curled my hair into submission. Because my natural hair texture is loose curls (probably a 2B/2C type of situation over here) that I didn’t know how to style without ending up with either crunchy waves or tons of poufiness and frizz. I’ve always tried to take good care of my hair, even when I was heat styling every day, by using heat protectant sprays, but I knew that the constant heat styling was taking its toll. So when I started working from home due to the pandemic, I stopped heat styling my hair to give it a break.
Then I decided to try to wear my natural hair.
I basically went down a rabbit hole in YouTube watching a bunch of videos on how to style and protect curly/wavy hair. I read about the Curly Girl Method. I reached out to my friends with curly/wavy hair and asked what they were doing. And I started test driving different products that were recommended by a combination of all of these sources. Some things I immediately learned I did not like and I moved on. And some things I really liked and am still using.
I’m definitely still learning about my hair and how to style and love my natural curl patterns. Still very much a baby with my curls. But just in case anyone else is thinking about letting their waves loose, I thought I’d share what’s working for me right now.
First, I am not following any specific method. I don’t vibe fully with the Curl Girl Method (I’m not about hard and fast rules over here), but I do like some of their ideas. I switched to a shampoo and conditioner that don’t have sulfates or silicones, I (generally) avoid heat styling my hair, and I swear by leave-in conditioner. But I do NOT like gel. And I don’t vibe with the rule that you can’t ever heat style or that you can’t dye your hair.
That being said, here are the products I’ve been using that I love (and that I feel like have really helped my hair).
Shampoo and conditioner. I’ve been using products from Not Your Mother’s Naturals line (I liked to Ulta here but I just buy this at the grocery store). Their products are sulfate and silicone free and they smell delicious. Also this may be common knowledge, but it wasn’t for me so: I only shampoo my roots (I flip my head over to get the underside of my hair) and I do not condition my roots (start at your neck and go to your roots). I also squish in my conditioner–scrunch it up like you’re trying to do crunchy 90s gel curls.
Deep conditioner. At least once a month I use these Pantene deep conditioning shots (again, I buy them at the grocery store).
Leave in conditioner. Until recently I had been using Not Your Mother’s leave in conditioner as well. And it was nice. But I just got the Ouai leave in conditioner and wow it’s amazing. Highly recommend. And it smells amazing. I spray this on my wet hair after I get out of the shower. Then I air dry my hair.
I haven’t tried “plopping” my hair to dry it yet but that’s on my list of things to experiment with!
All this said, there are still times when I heat style my hair. Because sometimes I just want it to be straight. Or want curling wand curls instead. But I can already tell my hair is healthier and I’m really learning to love my natural curls.
xoxo,
J
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