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| [ Curl Cloud! ] |
One of the biggest compliments I always get is that my hair is really, really, really (surprisingly) soft. Yes, people actually say, "wow your hair is SURPRISINGLY soft!" Must be those false stereotypes/assumptions that black hair is always course, nappy, tangly, rough etc. Well, I'm glad I can defy those ignorant pre-conceived notions! So, now you're asking how I get my hair so soft? Well, it all goes back to one of my first blog entries "Hair Growth: Not just a 'mixed' girl thing". My argument was and is that hair health and the length of people's hair has nothing to with race but everything to do with how you take care of it. My hair is soft because it is healthy! Moisturized, shiny and SOFT strands are all natural results of healthy hair. So, what products do I use to maintain this softness? Besides washing, co-washing, tying my hair at night, refraining from heat damage and carefully detangling my curls, here are some additional yet very important things I do:
•Leave-in conditioner: I just recently discovered the importance of using leave-in conditioner on DRY hair and not only in the shower, on damp hair, after a wash or co-wash. The way my leave-in conditioner instantly transformed my hair after one use showed me that I needed to do this on a daily basis. I absolutely LOVE my water-based Beauticurls leave-in conditioner by Curl Junkie. It added moisture to my hair, softened my curls and helped define them. The greatest part about it all was that the next morning, it was like I had a new head of hair! My hair was still soft, something that never happened when I used oil. All I did to style my hair was spray my curls with water to reactivate the conditioner. My curls stayed super soft and defined all day. My suggestion for you is to use leave-in conditioner as a base before you add other styling products (on dry or damp hair) to seal in moisture and protect your hair from the drying elements of most gels. Another note is that your conditioner should have "slip" which means it should be easy to spread over your hair and you should be able to mix it with your gel.
•Oil: Even though I now know that oil isn't the best daily moisturizer for ME, I still use it to a) prep my hair the night before washing it, b) add shine after I've styled my hair, c) soften the random dry spots of my hair. I'm not at all saying that oil is a terrible moisturizer, I'm simple stating that for me it doesn't compare to the other methods I discovered. Oil should always be apart of a curly girl's life; the amount of use just depends on your specific hair and how it responds to it. The best oils include, but are not limited to, coconut oil, jojoba oil, lavender oil and sweet almond oil.
•Water: I'm sure you've heard that it's good to spray your hair with water daily, right? I made a comparison awhile ago that hair is basically like a plant or person; it NEEDS water aka moisture. Even if you're just spraying some water on your hair before you style it or even if spraying water is the only thing you do to style your curls, it's needed! I always spray my hair with water every morning or mix water with my gels to get a more watery texture. I find that my gels work better and therefore, my curls respond better. Water is a necessity in all parts of life!
•Alternate between daily moisturizing creams: Every curly girl should have a few different moisturizing styling creams in her hair product stash! I have about 3 different moisturizing creams but I religiously use two and haven't tried one. I use Uncle Funky's Daughter Super Curl moisturizing cream, which is a water-based Shea & cocoa butter cream, and Shescentit Rich Cream, which is a thicker coconut, avocado & pineapple concoction. Both work beautifully! Why do I use both? Everyone's hair likes different consistencies. Everyone's hair needs different things at different times, depending on the style. My hair happens to like water-based creams AND thick creams. I use each one depending on the state of my curls. I typically use Shescentit's rich cream at night before bed so that all the wonderful ingredients have time to penetrate my curls and work their magic. I'll use Super Curl as a light styling product, topped with my sweet almond oil, on the days when my hair is just slightly damp with water. I also love using these two creams on dry hair because they do a great job at adding the needed moisture and defining my curls.
The last cream I have is a sample of Shea Moisture's curl smoothie. I attempted to use it on a braid out one day and was left with a white residue mess! I have not touched it since. Now, I've heard great things about curl smoothie, and have even witnessed many naturalistas on Instagram using it for their twist and braid outs and praising it. Maybe I wasn't using it right?! Maybe I wasn't supposed to use it on wet hair? Maybe I didn't rub it in enough? So many questions!!! Luckily, I'll be visiting my best friend, Honey Fig (the natural hair and skin boutique), very soon and will hit you up with the answers to my questions as soon as I get them! Until then, remember that soft curls are a result of healthy hair! Any curly girl can achieve soft hair! As long as you follow the basic curly hair regime of washing and co-washing, conditioning, detangling, moisturizing, protecting and loving your curls, your hair should reward you by being shiny and soft. True (hair) story! Happy June y'all! :)
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