My hair and I have been on quite a journey together. When I was little, my hair was pin-straight, and it slowly just got curlier and curlier the older I got. I have gone through years of hating my hair, trying to straighten it as much as possible. I even wore wigs. Now, I can happily say that I love my hair and my bouncy, soft curls. Though my hair has been through a lot of bleaching, I feel like it’s still in pretty decent condition, and my curls have held up well. Today I’m going to walk you through how I take care of it on a daily basis, what products I use, and what I don’t recommend if you want to protect your hair. I also want to point out that my hair type is 2C, which equals a loose, barrel-shaped curl. If you have a tighter curl or a different hair pattern/texture, you may need to do something completely different to take care of your curls, so just keep that in mind! Also, I am not a hair care expert or a stylist- this is just what works for me personally.
Like many curly girls, it took me years to figure out that you are NOT supposed to brush your curly hair! Doing so can make it extremely frizzy and ‘pyramid shaped’, as I call it. I always used to worry that if I didn’t brush my hair, it would get tangled and look dirty, but the reality is, my hair actually feels much cleaner and manageable now that I rarely brush it. In fact, the only section of my hair I really brush is my bangs. As long as I wash my hair regularly and use products that are designed to smooth-out my hair and keep it tangle-free, I never have to worry about frizz or knots.
About twice a week, I will use my purple shampoo and a leave-in conditioner in the shower. The brand of purple shampoo I use is by eva-nyc. So far, I’ve been really impressed by this brand. I love that the shampoo is not only cruelty-free, but affordable and it also smells absolutely amazing. Most importantly, it makes my hair feel soft and manageable. The leave-in conditioner I use is by AG hair, and it is yet another high-quality, amazing-smelling product that I always look forward to using. My hair tends to lack moisture if I don’t take care of it adequately, so these two products together keep my hair feeling extremely hydrated and salon-smooth.
I have never been a big fan of blow-drying my hair, which has been really beneficial for both my curl pattern and my overall hair health. I’m actually not sure why towel drying works so well, but from a personal standpoint, I absolutely believe my curls look so much prettier and fuller when I wrap my hair in a towel and let the heat soak up the moisture for a few minutes. After I towel off my hair, I just let it air dry for the rest of the day. The products I use on my hair help it to dry much quicker, so I’m going to be talking about those next.
If I don’t use my leave-in conditioner that day, I will always ALWAYS use the Aveda damage repair treatment in my hair and the Drybar Prep Rally spray. I talk about these products a lot, because I think they’re high-quality and I genuinely think my hair has never looked better. I apply them back-to-back when my hair is still wet, and after that, my hair routine is essentially done! I let my hair air-dry with the products in, and after a couple of hours, my hair is almost completely dry and curly, and it feels so amazing and soft.
Anyway, that’s my very adamant hair care routine for protecting my loose barrel curls. Like I said, I’ve had a pretty rocky hair journey, but I’m really happy with the way it looks now and the quality that I have been able to uphold despite lots of bleaching. I know not everyone is going to be able to go out and buy a bunch of new products for their hair, so whatever your circumstances are, I would say just do the best you can with the resources you have! Remember, you are beautiful no matter what.
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