How To Tame Curly Hair

Having curly hair quite often goes hand in hand with having frizzy hair, especially if you live in a warm or humid environment. Many gals with curly hair often resort to straighteners and straightening treatments, particularly when they're younger and in school. Although this is one way to tame curly hair - after all, if it isn't curly you don't have to worry about your waves sitting right or about tangles - why not embrace your curly locks? Us ladies with hair as straight as a poker fork out thousands of pounds a year to add curls to our boring straight hair, buying everything from rollers to curling wands, spending many an uncomfortable night with pins sticking into our heads. Follow our tips to learn how to tame your curly locks and to embrace them, without resorting to spending many an hour putting your hair through straightening iron hell.

Don't Shampoo Everyday

Many girls make a habit of shampooing their hair everyday - after all, it'd be greasy and horrible otherwise, wouldn't it? Well, we beg to differ. Your scalp needs some of those natural oils and if you strip them away everyday, your scalp will actually produce more oil (grease) to compensate - which means that your hair ends up greasier than if you'd just left it for another day. If you particularly struggle with frizz, don't wash your hair every time you jump in the shower - just condition it instead.

You could even drop to shampooing just once or twice a week.

Step Away From the Brush

Once your hair is dry, it can be tempting to brush it through just to finish your style. Plus, we've all heard the myth - "Brushing your hair 100 times before bed will make it look soft and shiny" - but if you have curly hair, brushing it when it's dry will only make it frizzy and could damage the hair follicles, disrupting the cuticles and leading to breakages.

Condition hair, brush through so that it nourishes hair from around ear length to tip, then rinse out. Once clear, step out of the shower, towel dry hair as gently as you can (you just want to take excess water out of the hair rather than dry it), then brush through once more just to remove tangles. Once you're done, step away from that brush! 

See Also: Keep Locks Luscious With These Winter Hair Care Tips

Controlling Hair

On a warm or humid day, if your hair gets a little bit frizzy, use your fingers to comb it through. If it's looking a little unhappy, wet your hands with water or one or two drops of oil, then gently smooth over the tips of hair. Once dry, your frizz should have vanished.

Find the Right Products

It's really important that you find the right products when you're trying to tame curly hair. Anything with too much alcohol in it will dehydrate hair in the same way that it'll dehydrate you, if you drink too much - which is why you get a hangover. Instead, you need to look for nourishing, hydrating and moisturizing products - items that will put moisture back into your locks which will help to prevent frizz and breakages.

It's also a good idea to look for products that have protein-enriched formulas, as these will quite literally "feed" the hair follicles, plumping them up, strengthening them and helping to reduce breakages - smoothing out each and every strand, giving your curls extra definition. If you're unsure of the right products to try, speak to your stylist or nip into your local salon - they'll be able to give you an idea of the right products for your hair type.

Limit the Heat

As a rule of thumb, anything that would burn your skin will also burn your hair - and if you "cook" your hair, it'll break, it'll get frizzy and it'll split. Limit the amount of heat sources that you use on your hair - step away from the flat irons, step away from the curling wand and step away from the hairdryer, unless you use a diffuser to quite literally diffuse the heat, so that it doesn't damage hair. 

Get a Good Haircut

If your hair is curly and all stuck at one length, it means that you won't have much definition - it could also increase frizz, too, and the ends of your hair will look rather "wide" - ideally, you'd go for a layered cut instead, as it'll make your hair a little bit bouncier and will improve definition. Plus, the layers mean that your haircut will have extra body and volume. If your hair is fairly easy to work with, you could also get a side fringe cut in for a little bit of extra definition around the face.

See Also: 10 Cheap And Cheerful Hair Care Tips

Pull into a Bun or Braid

Buns and braids will be your best friend if you're trying to give your curls extra definition - or if you're trying to make your hair a little bit bouncier. Pull hair into a high bun before bed for extra volume, or into a low bun to minimize volume and to create soft waves rather than tight corkscrew curls. Another way to add extra curls if your hair has dropped a little bit through the day is to pull it into a low French braid before you go to bed. You can do this whether your hair is wet, or dry - if its wet, just add a little mousse or oil before styling.