BLOG "Z": Resurrecting Curls! (or tip sheet 2!)

This post was inspired by two friends of mine, both of which mentioned brushing out their daughters' curly hair to fix it in the morning.

Are you ready for the first commandment of curly hair??

NEVER NEVER NEVER EVER try to brush it once it's dry. That includes trying to wet it down after it's dry to brush it. Straight haired people do not understand this, because they're freaked out by not brushing their hair to fix it, but may I reiterate the first commandment of curly hair?? ONLY COMB CURLY HAIR WHEN IT IS WET FROM BATHING.

Now that we have that out of the way....

You may be asking, well then how in the world do we fix it? First of all remember that curly hair is easy, you just have to know how to work with it.

The secret to combing tangly curly hair is, once again, only to comb it after bathing. You can use fancy liquid silk products or expensive oils or whatever you like as a detangler, but I find that I have just as good of results (if not better) with plain, old, regular conditioner. And I buy the cheap stuff...

This was less than 2 dollars.

The secret is not to rinse it out. "Leave in conditioners" are just more expensive. You don't need to use too much, start with a little nickel size dollop, then add more if you need to. Just work it all over the hair, not as much at the roots, focus more on the ends.

Next step is to take your comb or brush (am I the only one who wants to say "and a bowl full of mush"....?) and start gently brushing FROM THE BOTTOM OF THE HAIR. Please don't start at the roots. That's just not fun for anyone involved. Start at the ends, then you can work out any little tangles there, then work up a little higher and a little higher as you go.

When you're done combing the hair, for little girls or curly hair that tends not to get super frizzy you can just add a little more conditioner for better hold, or leave it to air dry. For frizzier hair, add your styling product now. Click here for the styling products I like, or try different ones to see what you like. Scrunch it up starting from the ends for added volume or twist strands around your fingers for definition. Air drying works best for curly hair, but you can use a diffuser if you want it dry faster. I usually do my hair before bed and sleep on it.

I did this:

with just regular cheap conditioner and twirling tendrils around my fingers before I went to bed one night. I touched up messy spots in the morning with a little more conditioner, water, and twisting, but that's essentially how it looked when I woke up.

Aaaaaanyways.....

Sometimes when I take my shower at night I feel too lazy to do anything with my hair. Combing it and putting mousse in and all that takes all of five minutes. But sometimes, just sometimes, I am too tried even for that.

Then this happens:

and I regret not putting my mousse in!

The pictures don't really do justice to just how awful it looks. Can you see why I hated my hair before I knew what to do with it? EEK.

So if you or your child look like that ^ in the morning, here's how to save it, fast.

I will take this moment to reiterate commandment #1. DO NOT BRUSH IT ONCE IT'S DRY. All it takes is a little water, 5 minutes, and a little product. AND NO BRUSHES. :)

This is my favorite "second day" product. Don't use this right out of the shower, the hold isn't quite good enough for that. This is the "morning after" solution. You can also do it with a little more gel or mousse or whatever you use, or even a little more conditioner, but this product is my favorite for "touch ups."

Just put a little water on your hands and run your hands through the hair. Do it a couple times, until hair is a little damp. Then take about a quarter size amount of product (I hate the word product, but I had to use it, sorry...) and run through the hair, especially on particularly messy spots. Run your fingers through tangly spots if you need to. Do this a couple times until the hair looks presentable again. Scrunch it up from the bottom and/or twist curls for definition. I went ahead and did a little ponytail with a twist this morning to save time, but look at the hair in my ponytail and compare to the photo above ^:

This photo is immediately after, my hair is still a bit damp: