Curly Care the Curly Girl Way!

Straighten your hair, and you might be happy for a day.  Learn to love and care for your curls, and you’ll be happy for life!
-Lorraine Massey, Curly Girl: The Handbook

So how does a girl who’s Got Curl care for her curls? Lorraine Massey’s curl care principles include:

  • don’t use shampoo (except to cleanse your scalp, and then only a bit of a sulfate-free cleanser as needed)
  • never blow-dry your hair (unless you use a diffuser)
  • never comb or brush your hair (ever)
  • use lots and lots of botanical conditioner (and don’t rinse it all out)

Curls needs lots of moisture (think conditioner) to maintain their curl. But the main ingredient in most shampoos is a harsh detergent (such as sodium laurel sulfate, ammonium laureth sulfate, or sodium laureth sulfate), which dries out your curls (making them frizzy to boot!).

As Lorraine Massey told New York Times:

The curly-haired can leave their hair hydrated with natural oils and clean their scalps quite well by rinsing only with hair conditioner once a week or less. Rubbing the scalp firmly with fingers is enough to loosen dirt.

photo by Laura J. Wright

The Basic Steps of Curly Care

  1. Rinse: Step under the “waterfall” of your shower and rinse your curls well (but don’t touch them!) with warm water (hot water strips the natural oils that protect your hair).  If the water pressure is high or your curls are especially fragile, use your fingers to shield your curls from the intensity of the water.
  2. Cleanse: Using your fingertips and a bit of botanical conditioner or sulfate-free cleanser, gently rub your entire scalp with your finger tips (not your finger nails). Rinse well.  (This step may not be necessary every day, especially after you’ve adjusted to the curly girl routine–some curly girls only cleanse once every week or so, and then with a brown sugar scrub.)
  3. Condition: Gently but generously distribute botanical conditioner evenly through your curls. You’ll learn how much your hair needs, depending on the weather and climate. It should feel like wet seaweed.  If you’re prone to frizz, make sure to apply an extra dose of conditioner to the canopy.
  4. Rinse: If you’re a Wavy Girl, gently rinse your curls with cool water.  Botticelli and Corkscrew Curly Girls should only rinse (if at all) by splashing a few handfuls of water on their hair to ensure proper hydration.  (Using cool water helps seal the hair shaft.)
  5. Scrunch: Use a paper towel, an old t-shirt, a microfiber towel, or Curl Cloth (never a terry cloth towel) to “scrunch-dry” your curls, gently scrunching towards your head.
  6. Gel: Spread a generous amount of gel into your palms and scrunch the gel into your curls in an accordion motion towards your scalp. Repeat, if necessary, until all your curls have been scrunched.  For curly girls prone to a halo of frizz, apply an extra layer of gel to the canopy (top) of your curls in a smooth, gentle motion.
  7. Style: Use clips to arrange and style your curls (click here to see examples), twisting any last curls into place. Then don’t touch your hair while it dries! (Use a diffuser on the coolest, lowest setting if you must speed the process.  Or, crank up the heat in your car if you have a drive ahead of you.)
  8. Release: Remove any clips, bend over, and gently shake your dried curls at the roots to give them more volume, if you like. (For more defined curls, skip this step.)
  9. Celebrate: Enjoy your soft, springy, natural curls!

Yes, curls have a will of their own, subject to weather and mood, but once you come to accept this, and work with your curls instead of against them, they will respond.
-Lorraine Massey, Curly Girl: The Handbook

Extra Curly Tips

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