Five Steps to Perfect Curls
It took me a long time to figure out how to style my curls and learn curly hair care. When I was young, my mom would brush them out. It was a cute look for a seven-year old with two high fluffs of pigtails – but not so cute for a tall, lanky four-eyed 14 year old! Thankfully, I’ve come a long way since then and have perfected the technique for soft, frizz-free curls!
1. It starts in the shower
When it comes to makeup, the beauty gurus say it begins with your skin; you need a healthy canvas for your makeup to look its best. It’s the same with our curls – our styling products need a healthy canvas too! Cleansing and deep conditioning your hair in the shower will nourish and hydrate your hair. This allows your products to better penetrate your curls and have them looking gorgeous!
I used the Silk Shampoo and followed with the Pure Silk Protein Deep Moisturizing Treatment. Both products are free of silicone so you can use them without fear of buildup. After using it, my hair was ultra soft and ready for a leave-in!
2. Never, ever forget your leave-in conditioner
As curlies with naturally dry frizzy hair, we can’t afford to pass up an opportunity to add more moisture. Adding a leave-in while your hair is damp locks in the moisture, protects your curls from environmental enemies (that’s you humidity) and prepares it for styling. I have a lot of hair so I used two toonies worth of the Silk-Leave in Conditioner and simply finger combed it through my hair.
3. Holy Grail: Curl Keeper
The hype is worth it. Curl Keeper was unlike anything I’ve ever used. I was surprised at how watery it was when I poured it into my hand, but that’s because it’s water based and actually reactivates with water. That means on second or third day hair, you can just spritz your hair with water, add a little extra Curl Keeper to any frizzies from sleeping, and be on your way!
Again, because I have a lot of hair, I used a generous amount of Curl Keeper and finger combed it through my hair, focusing on the ends and the curls around my face (the areas where I like to have the most definition). I actually twirled my hair around my fingers towards the end of my mane to help encourage the curls to turn into ringlets. After applying Curl Keeper, my curls felt defined and in control but not weighed down.
4. The Waiting Game
After applying Curl Keeper, you can either air dry or blow dry using a diffuser. Diffusers maintain the moisture in your hair and decrease frizz. I really like to use them in winter when it’s too cold to walk outside with wet hair. I also blow dry while upside down to get more volume. I usually only diffuse my curls until they’re about 50% dry and then just air dry the rest.
5. The Fun Part – Play with Your Curls!
Once your hair is 100% dry, and if you want more volume (who doesn’t?!), start scrunching your hair. I hang my head over and scrunch some more while separating a few curls. Then I whip my hair à la Willow Smith. My chiropractor isn’t pleased with the effect on my neck but you only live once, right?
And voila! Perfect curls can be yours!
Written By: Joy Gurr
Joy has been a proud curly girl all her life, that includes the awkward stages of her youth when she would brush her curls (gasp!) resulting in a huge curly puff that could rival any 80’s ‘do. Since then, Joy has tried and tested many, many hair products, styles and cuts to now be a self professed curl connoisseur. Joy is a 9 to 5 working girl living in Ottawa, Canada.