How to Cut Women's Curly Hair

All curly hair is different. It can be loose, tight, coarse or smooth. Cutting a woman's curly hair is a special challenge because of the texture and various lengths involved in the curl. For the best cut, find a great stylist who specializes in cutting long hair.

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Instructions

1. Meet with the stylist. Talk about the desired look for the hair and get suggestions from the stylist. Shoot for a superior comfort level with the stylist.

2. Begin by washing the hair with a hydrating shampoo with a high pH to moisturize and minimize frizziness. Follow with a conditioner that moisturizes. Use a deep conditioner like a mask or hot oil treatment as needed to keep the ends healthy and well formed.

3. Detangle hair with a leave-in conditioner. Use a light product to help avoid mats and tangles. Comb out with a wide-toothed comb. Work in sections, working from the bottom up.

4. Dry the hair under a hood hair dryer. Sit under the dryer with low heat for about 20 minute to dry the crown and most of the length of the hair.

5. Let the ends of the hair air dry or use a blow dryer with a diffuser. Set the dryer on low with a medium to low heat setting. Direct the blow dryer at the ends of the hair while scrunching the ends with the hand to maintain the shape of the curls.

6. Ask the stylist to cut the hair dry to get the most even cut. Work in sections, combing each section down and trimming it even with the previous section.

7. Cut the hair in long layers in a style that is not too short. Cut long layers instead of short ones.

Tips & Warnings

• Avoid a lot of thinning when cutting curly hair.

Who Can Help:

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[BrendaRobinson]

on 5/26/2009 I agree with the post by LuLuKins - this advice is horrible! If you cut curly hair in layers (instead of each curl individually) then when your hair dries you'll look like an umbrella. Trust me - been there, done that. Check out my article on caring for long curly hair - see a photo of my curls - I actually LIVE with this hair not just see it for an hour every now and then... http://www.ehow.com/how_5049505_care-long-curly-hair.html

[Lulukins]

on 8/17/2008 Mmmm... NO. Pretty much everything about this is wrong.

Step #1: talk to the stylist. That much is correct, but the Step #2 says to shampoo the hair. A stylist that TRULY knows how to cut and style curly hair knows that shampoo is about the worst thing for curls. A real curly hair specialist will steer you away from shampoo.

Step #3 says to use a comb to detangle. Wrong again. No brushes, no combs. Just fingers to detangle. Gently, gently, gently. A good conditioner will do most of the detangling, and combs should be unnecessary when separating curls.

Step #6: Curly hair should be cut dry, but not in sections. Each curl should be cut individually. Cutting curly hair in sections is only going to disrupt the natural curl pattern, and likely result in unmanageable, frizzy curls.

As for Step #7: Why does the hair have to be cut in long layers? Some curlies prefer sh