How to Choose a Natural Curly Hair Style

Finding a hair style that suits your personality, facial features and build is hard enough. When you throw natural curl into the mix, there’s even more to consider. Choose the wrong cut, and your curls could turn into a tightly-woven, frizzy mess that won’t grow out fast enough to put a stop to the nightmare. The right cut, however, creates an easy, fashionable style that you can wash and wear. A little bit of product is all it takes to style naturally curly hair when the cut is right.

Things You'll Need

• Hairstyle books

Instructions

Curl Factor

1. Examine your curls. Tight curls will spring up super short if you take off much length. Wavy and uneven curls may snap up beautifully if you take off length. If you have bunches of curls, you will want to stay on the longer side. If your curls never look good without a curling-iron, consider taking off some length.

2. Feel your hair to determine its thickness. Cutting off curly hair bluntly -- no layers -- creates insane volume at the bottom of your style because the curls stack up on one another, creating a pyramid look. If your hair is thin, you might be able to get away with a blunt cut. If it’s thick, don’t even think about it.

3. Lift your hair up and look at the curls underneath. Some natural curl is tighter in the nape and barely curly on top of the head. If you have this curl type, you will need to take your curly nape into consideration when selecting a style. A bunch of curls in the back can make it look like you haven’t combed your hair if the rest of your hair isn't just as curly.

Finding a Style

1. Browse hairstyle books and online pictures of women with curly hair. Try to find pictures of women with hair similar to your own. Bookmark several pictures you like.

2. Look at yourself in the mirror. Determine what length you would like your hair to be. Keep in mind that your hair will shrink a couple of inches as the curls tighten up after being cut. Avoid short cuts unless you want to go super short -- 2 or 3 inches -- because anything in between super short and medium will create a clownish halo of hair that will take months to grow out.

3. Decide whether or not you want layers. If your hair is thick, you want them. Do not opt for short layers; they will make your hair appear thicker. Keep layers toward the bottom few inches of your hair.

4. Imagine how you want to style your hair around your face. Avoid super short bangs. If you want to wear bangs, take them no shorter than your cheekbone.

5. Narrow your bookmarked pictures down to a few that match your decisions. Take them with you to your next hair appointment and discuss your options with your stylist. Together you can pick the cut that’s perfect for you and your curl type.

Tips & Warnings

• Don’t take off a lot of length all at once. Start out with a longer variation of the style you like. Take a bit more off each time you get a trim to ease your way into a shorter style.

• It’s difficult to grow out curly hair once you go super short because of the awkward phases your hair will go through as it grows out. Think about the future of your hair as well as its present condition when contemplating going short.

References

• Milady's Standard Textbook of Cosmetology; Catherine M. Frangie, Arlene Alpert, et al.