How to Take Care of Long Curly Hair

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By BrendaRobinson
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The author's own spiral curls.

Curly hair needs special treatment to look its best. Follow these guidelines if you have long curly or wavy locks.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

Curly hair conditioner (any kind)
Frizz-Ease -- "Secret Weapon" in the silver container
Patience

Step 1

Stop washing your hair! I know - this is tough because you've been programmed to wash/rinse repeat. Stop doing that RIGHT NOW. No more shampoo. Ever. Let me explain: your curly hair is fine in texture and has a different matrix than straight hair. It can't take the abuse and stringent qualities of shampoo. Shampoo dries it out too much which makes it frizzy and brittle.
Step 2

Don't listen to your hairdresser when she says HER shampoo is mild (the one she happens to be selling) - because I bet she doesn't have long curly hair, does she? How would she know the daily struggle you go through? Trust me on this. No shampoo of any kind - ever.
Step 3

Use your fingers and *friction* to "wash" your hair. Use only conditioner - and don't use too much. A curly hair conditioner is a bit lighter so it doesn't weigh down your hair as much as another kind will.
Step 4

To 'wash' your hair with conditioner - while you are in the shower, just put some in your hands and try to stay away from your scalp - just your ends need the most. Use friction with your fingers at the scalp to loosen dirt and old hair care products away. Then run your fingers through your hair as if your fingers were a comb. Be gentle - you never want to hear a snap or pop - that means you're breaking your hair. Your curly hair is at its most vunerable when it's wet. When you are 'combing' your hair with your fingers you will most likely get a handful when you are done. This is normal, so don't worry about it.
Step 5

Think of your hair as a textile - like a wool sweater - what would happen to your wool sweater if you used sudsy shampoo then a high heat drier on it, and then forced it into a different shape -- like you do your hair? The sweater would never recover. Your hair is dead like the wool sweater, but it is attached to a living scalp that can produce oils, so it can bounce back. We can fix it!
Step 6

Do not get out of the shower and tightly wrap a towel around - this breaks curly hair easily. Just wring it gently with your hands and pat gently with a towel. If you 'combed' your hair with your fingers well in the shower you won't even need to run a comb through your hair afterwards.
Step 7

Over the course of the next two weeks your hair will go through an adjustment. It will seem oily and greasy but you must stay on the path! It will stop overproducing oils soon enough (about 14 days) and then it will stay shiny and clean feeling even if you don't 'wash' that day.
Step 8

Just curls - no frizz!

My favorite products for defrizzing are: Noodle Head Curling Cream from Beyond the Zone. Put this in lightly all over, then add a de-frzzer such as Frizz-Ease - The Secret Weapon (found in almost any haircare aisle). Also add a touch of a 'shiner' - such as for Brunette hair. Shiners or things that promise 'glossy' hair, are products that are thick so use them sparingly. Only a little on the ends to help the worst frizz and get that gorgeous circle spiral on the bottom.
Step 9

To get the big spiral curls you simply need to take a chunk of hair when it's wet and twist it around and around until it's tight. Then let it dry before seperating it into several curls. Remember to scrunch!
Step 10

You can use a drier with a diffuser for a few minutes on your roots if you need to add volume. Flip your head upside down for the best effect.

Comments

beautyqueen26 said

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on 9/25/2009 All your information is right on target! My daughter has the most gorgeous long blond hair. She's only five and doesn't know how to take care of all that responsibility by herself, so I'm the one who is in charge of hair care. Everything you said about shampoo is so very true. We had to ban shampoo from the tub area cause she would add that to the tub water to make bubbles and it would literally strip ALL the oils from her hair. And, then her hair would clump up into thick mats. About once a week, I have to take regular gentle bar soap and carefully clean her scalp to make sure that she doesn't get cradle cap. I'm still not broken of the shampoo habit. But we NEVER ever put shampoo on her curls. Last time she got shampoo on her hair, she got a huge five inch knot in her curls near the scalp and all that hair had to be cut out. It was so very sad. Don't think I've ever cri...