Whether you boast some incredible natural curls, have had your hair permed, or curl it on your own, there’s a good chance you’re at a bit of a loss with how to style and maintain these curls.
We know that there’s either a beautiful curl awaiting, or a messy frizz ball mess with little wriggle room when it comes to curly hair. So, we’ve developed a short guide for both maintaining and styling your curly hair with ease using products from runwaybeautyhair.com.
Before everything, ask yourself what is my natural hair curl type. First, learn all the specifics and then think about potential style types. It’s good to keep in mind that investing in some curly hair-focused products is something you may want to consider to make styling and maintaining your curls just a little bit easier.
Never Comb a Dry Curl
The first thing we need to get out of the way is that you shouldn’t ever comb or brush your curls if they’re totally dry. That means a head of hair with no leave-ins, no oils or any water needs to remain left alone! If you’re brushing dry curly hair you’re going to be leaving yourself with a frizzy, unkempt-looking mess that is likely going to knot and become a nightmare to style!
For those times you must brush your curls, do so with a leave-in conditioner applied, or a light hair oil to keep that frizz at bay.
Use Gentle and Curl-focusd Products
A second point to keep in mind is that you’re always going to want to use products that have been designed explicitly for hair that is curly, rather than generic hair products. These curl-focused brands and products are going to make maintaining your hair a lot easier instead of a pain-inducing hair wrestling match every time you try a new product.
To add, it’s always a good idea only to shampoo your scalp. If you’re someone with curly hair this will keep over-oiling at bay and also make it a lot easier to stay on top of any issues with frizz and knots. Making use of Pump Curly Girl products, for example, is going to make the maintenance of curls a lot easier, and these will allow your curls the chance to volumize without seeing almost any frizz.
Leave-in Conditioners and Dry Shampoos Are a Must
If you’ve been blessed with natural curls, or invested in a perm, then you will have to make use of your leave-ins as often as you can. There is simply no other way to keep your curls soft and hydrated than with a leave-in, a must-do during your haircare routine each morning or evening.
To understand a little more about how these products work, a dry shampoo is going to keep your curls beautifully oil-controlled and your leave-in conditioners will soften and control your curls and keep them hydrated throughout the day. This will mean your styled curls will stay in their place a lot longer and that means less time spent saving a failing hairstyle.
Use A Lot of Conditioner to De-knot
When it’s time to give your curls a wash, you’re going to want to use as much conditioner as you can, and don’t stop until your hair is essentially slick with conditioner. From here, running your fingers through your curls is going to be key to getting out those knots and toning down the level of frizz you’ll see.
Once you’ve finished with de-knotting your curls, you can then move on to washing out the hair and drying it off. Though during this process you will want to add in your leave-in conditioner to keep in control of your curls and prevent them from drying out or becoming too frizzy.
Never Use Heat
To end our list of maintenance and styling tips, we’re going to say that you should never use any sort of heat to style or dry your curls – and if you do, use plenty of heat protection. You will see a major issue arise almost immediately in that the heat prompts your hair to frizz and ‘explode’ into something we can only describe as a mess, and this is going to be a lot more complicated to deal with than you’d think.
With that in mind, we suggest towel and air drying where you can and keeping heat away at all costs unless you’re working on straightening out your curls.
*Photos by Vlada Karpovich
