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With naturally curly hair, there are a ton of mistakes to make. Mistakes that frustrate us so much because we curly girls put in so much effort into getting silky and voluminous curls.
On the one hand, those mistakes need to be made to figure out what works best for our hair. After all, especially naturally curly hair can vary so much from person to person.
Still, we, of course, want to limit those painful mistakes. And this is where the following list comes into play!
I’ve collected some of the mistakes I’ve made throughout my naturally curly hair journey for you.
They might not seem dramatic to you. It’s nothing like, “don’t burn your hair with a straightener.”
But little by little, a little becomes a lot, so we want to eliminate every tiny mistake.
Before we get into the list, I also quickly want to mention that I have 2c – 3a type of curls.
But now, let’s get into it.
1. Don’t obsess over tools or products
This mistake didn’t necessarily impact my curls, but it created such unnecessary drama and expenses.
I know that when you do research on the right products and tools to use for curly hair, it can be very overwhelming.
Often, curly girls will mention more than 5 products and each of them from some fancy brand and, therefore, at least $20 expensive.
This brings two main problems with it:
- The expenses!!!! If you are a student without income like me and even more so when you are trying to build a business, you can’t/don’t want to go out and spend $100 on hair products every few months.
- Those beforementioned fancy brands might not be available in your country. I remember how seemingly every curl tutorial I watched mentioned DevaCurl products, and I wanted to get them more and more. But, on top of being pricey anyway, I would have to pay extra shipping with Amazon because the products weren’t available in Germany at the time. Now, with the whole DevaCurl scandal, I am forever grateful that I didn’t purchase them.
So, what to do about the products and tools then?
My recommendation is this: Don’t frustrate over purchasing those fancy brands. Simply go into your local drugstore (for me, that’s Rossmann) and check out the products.
I don’t believe that products are miracle solutions for your curls. I like to think that at least 80% of how your curls look comes down your hair’s health. And only the rest 20% of its appearance can be improved by products.
Now, what about products that improve the health of your hair in the long run? For me, that simply means that they are not damaging.
They don’t need to have any secret ingredients. In fact, the more natural they are, the better.
Try to find products without silicones, parabens, or alcohols. If you want to buy oils, buy virgin oil. You don’t want to have a long-ass and unreadable ingredient list.
To make things easier for you, get yourself apps like ThinkDirty or CodeChecker (ThinkDirty didn’t know many of my German drugstore products back when I tried it).
Those apps can help you analyze how toxic a product is. However, you should still be aware that apps like these might be biased. There is no telling if they do rate the products entirely objectively.
Also, there are always different kinds of scientific studies on the effects of certain ingredients, so it very much depends on which one you believe.
But these apps will definitely benefit you more than blindly buying any product.
Also, you might be surprised at how much cheaper the healthiest product is compared to those fancy brand products/tools.
2. Don’t deep-condition too long
As I mention in 9 Tips To Improve Naturally Curly Hair I’ve recently learned that there is such a thing as over conditioning.
For three years, I’ve been deep conditioning my hair once a week. I used to leave the conditioner in for 2-3 hours because I saw someone doing it in a tutorial.
For the first two years, this has worked just fine. My deep conditioned curls were my best curls.
But in recent months, I’ve become annoyed at how soft and stretched out my curls get after deep conditioning them.
From my research, I’ve learned that you shouldn’t leave your hair wet for too long.
Also, you need to balance out moisturizing your hair and providing it with protein. I haven’t focused on the latter so far.
So, keep a lookout for how your hair reacts to the deep conditioning.
It is normal to lose a bit of its curliness because of the added moisture, but if it turns very soft and more wavey, you might want to change your routine.
3. Don’t use heavy products if you want volume
Heavy products weigh down your hair. The thinner your hair, the easier it will get weighed down.
Experiment for yourself with different products. Maybe a mousse is better for you than a gel. Perhaps it’s just that specific gel that weighs your hair down that much.
Just be aware of this possibility and change your products accordingly.
4. When airdrying your hair don’t wear a top with rough texture
I like to airdry my hair. I know many curly girls say airdrying takes too long, but for me, it’s the opposite.
While airdrying, I can go about my day and study as I usually would. Diffusing, on the other hand, would probably take me 45 minutes. During that time, I can’t do much else.
So, yeah, I like to airdry most of my hair after giving it a short diffusing session.
Anyway, what I’ve noticed is that at my neck, my hair turns out very straight.
I’m not sure if some of it might be contributed to those hairs genetically not being curly. But part of it, I was able to improve by not wearing something rough like a chunky cardigan while it dries.
If your hair dries, it is still susceptible and quickly brought out of shape. So you don’t want it to get caught in your top and stretched out.
Try to wear something sleeker when air drying. Maybe you even have a satin top or kimono or something alike.
5. Don’t brush your hair after drying it with a towel
Very early on in my curly hair journey, I learned that you shouldn’t brush your hair when it’s dry.
So I only brushed my hair while it was still wet.
However, for a long time, I brushed it one last time after getting out of the shower and drying it with a towel.
It was still wet then, just not sopping wet.
Then I learned that this can increase frizz and that you shouldn’t brush your hair after drying it with a towel.
Now, I only brush it in the shower while it’s still dripping. And I can genuinely say that it reduced the overall frizziness once my hair is dry.
Try it out for yourself!
It’s just a little change, but it can make a positive impact.
I hope you learned something new from my past mistakes.
Don’t frustrate too much over your curls if you are still at the beginning of your naturally curly hair journey.
I’ve been taking care of my curls for over three years now, and I am still improving it.
Give it the time to grow back healthy and strong.
Until next time,
Sophie
