If you are new or just getting started in your healthy curl journey, you may have noticed that in the curly girl world, we have a ton of different terminology we use. Some are pretty easy to decipher, “squish to condish”, “praying hands” and many more but one in particular that you will absolutely need to understand is SOTC. What does this stand for? Scrunch out the crunch.
What crunch? Well the crunch is the “cast” some products can leave on your curls after your hair is completely dry. So you’ve washed, conditioned and styled your hair with your favorite products and once your hair dries...it’s stiff, the curls don’t really move much, some describe it as even “crispy”. Not cute.
Let’s first of all, let’s address the fact that this is not a bad thing. In fact, this is the best way to determine whether or not your products are properly sealing your hair cuticle, which means= no frizz. Typically on a washday, you are going to have a ton of definition if you are using the right products. Curl Keeper Original is excellent for not only frizz control but scrunching! So what do you do?
As the acronym suggests: scrunch...out...the...crunch! Since no curls are alike, this method may need to be adjusted until it’s perfect for you.
WAVES
Try scrunching in a coin size amount of extra hold Gel when your hair is even 70% dry is going to give looser curls and waves way more hold! t’s also going to give you some crunchiness once you allow your hair to completely dry.
CURLS
You can do this with or without your favorite oil to seal in some moisture- we like Dry Oil Elixir because it doesn’t weigh your curls or waves down and there is zero grease! Pump a single mist onto your hand and rub your hands together, tilt your head to the left or right and gently start to scrunch the crunch out of your hair!
COILS
Need some heavier moisture to hydrate curls? Try taking some hydrating Styling Cream into your palm and scrunch! Make sure you do this to each side of your head, get in there and be super gentle so you don’t ruin your definition. If you create too much movement you will get frizz (which if you want volume, you go girl!).
Don't forget, scrunching out the crunch is really just you softening the cast and breaking up the product that sealed your curls and cuticles.
See? Easy peasy, you just learned something new and important for you take along with you on your curl journey!