Product Junkie Inc.

Twirly, Curly and all Girly

I must admit, that I am a true curly haired gal who fakes smooth straight hair. I don’t like to wash my hair every day so I found it much easier to straight iron my hair and wash it 2-3 times a week than to wear it curly. But this isn’t for everyone, and even I like to let the curls loose once in awhile! So let’s talk tips on how to achieve and maintain soft curls that are frizz free. This could go on forever so we will just do the basics. Whether you have tight curls, loose curls, thin hair or thick hair, this should work for you.

What we must understand right off the bat is that curly hair tends to be drier and needs moisture to keep the curls soft. When I lived on the East Coast I had a head of soft loose curls that only needed a bit of frizz serum. I would suggest you use a moisturizing shampoo and conditioner, actually I would say this is a must! If your scalp tends to get oily, use a shampoo for oily scalp and only cleanse your scalp and avoid putting shampoo on the ends. Just briefly run the suds through to the ends. Then condition only your ends, and leave the conditioner off of your scalp. If your and hair and scalp are dry, cleanse and condition your scalp and hair. Once you are done washing and conditioning, use a leave in conditioner. A light weight spray conditioner will work fine. If you have thick hair you should use a leave-in, but if your hair is fine and thin, you can skip this step to avoid weighing it down. Next and most important is to use a curl enhancing cream or a frizz control serum, or both if need be. Most serums are silicone based and act as a cuticle sealer and work well if you already have a lot of curl and just want to control the frizz. Curl enhancing creams do the same but without silicone. Curl creams enhance the shape of your curl and help your hair to keep the curl for much longer. So if you have that in between curl, curl creams are great. Tigi makes an excellent curl cream called Curls Rock; I’ve used this many times and love it. My all time favorite is from Bumble and Bumble, called Curl Conscious Cream. It is light weight yet holds the shape of your curl and keeps you frizz free until your next wash. A few great items you can find at Target and Walgreens or CVS are John Frieda Frizz-Ease Serum and Umberto Giannini Curl and Twirl Line. Both are excellent lines and offer many different products.

With all of these products, it’s important to use the right amount and application technique. Curl creams can be used more abundantly than frizz serums. Frizz Serums are silicon based and too much serum can make you look greasy. For longer hair I start out with a quarter sized dollop of curl cream with a dab of frizz serum mixed in and work it into sections of the hair. With serums I start out with a nickel size dollop. Work the product into small sections of hair at a time, ending by twirling pieces of your hair round your finger to form loose curls. Or you can scrunch section by section, depending on the look you are after. You can also throw a mousse into the mixture, mix the curl cream or serum with some mousse and you can have volume as well as curl. I do this only at the crown for a bit of lift. You will have to go by trial and error to see how much product will work for you. Just remember that you need to use enough to coat your hair but not too much that you over do it. Its easier to add then take away!

When blow-drying your hair always, always use a diffuser. Never blow dry your hair without one! You will undo all of the work you’ve just done. A diffuser puts out heat but no air. The air blowing your hair around will re-open the cuticle, and out come the frizzies! Most blow-dryers come with one, and if not you can pick one up for around $5.

After all of that hard work, you may not want to wash your hair everyday. So, you can refresh by spritzing water to reactivate the curl products and apply a bit more if needed. And using a dry shampoo at the scalp area will absorb oil and odor without ruining your curls. I do this even when I wear my hair straight!

I know that sounds like a lot but it’s really not. Let’s break down what you need; moisturizing shampoo and conditioner, leave-in conditioner if needed, curl enhancers and a diffuser. That’s it! So get going and enjoy your curls!