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There are a wide range of different types of tight curlies out there but ultimately they all can use these simple styling tips and advice, master of curls, Jonathan Torch has to offer. With our model, Natalie she has very fine, fragile, porous hair with a 

Steps to achieve Natalie’s look:

1. Since Natalie’s hair grabs moisture with no problem but then has difficulty holding moisture, I started treating her hair by washing it with Curly Hair Solutions Treatment Shampoo. I even let it soak into the hair and the scalp for three minutes then I thoroughly rinsed it out with warm water.

2. Next, I applied Conditioner for a few minutes and again rinsed it all out. After ensuring all traces of conditioner were rinsed, I sprayed a copious amount of Slip Detangler, which is essential for safe styling.
The most important thing to note here is to not skip taking out all the tangles with Slip Detangler as it will make the whole prepping process easier and faster.

3. The fun part was taking 3 styling products and making a cocktail by blending them altogether. I took Curl Keeper Original (to control the frizz), Curl Keeper Gel (for extra support) and Silk Leave-In Conditioner (to soften all rough and dry hair patches). I applied this mixture from her roots all the way to her ends on wet, detangled hair with a large tooth comb and finished with the root brush.

4. Once her hair was dry I got her to shake her head which allowed the curls to separate and soften. The more movement you create the more volume you can achieve – but the curls must be dry. If any frizz appears I just lightly sprayed her curls with water to reactive the products.

Are there any particular techniques you find work with this curl type better than others and why?

I relied on the weight of the water of the styling product cocktail to create the defined formation of perfect ringlets and used the skip curl technique to frame her face. Once her hair was dry I was able to separate her curls with gentle movement and asked Natalie to shake her hair from side to side. This enabled her curls soften and separate to great a style that has tone of volume and shine.

What are the most common misconceptions for tight curls?

Natalie’s hair can be very vulnerable to excess heat, therefore she must use extreme caution when using any heat styling appliance or even the tension used to pull and stretch with a round brush to straighten her hair. The same measures must be taken when coloring Natalie’s hair by avoiding strong colors and choosing deeper richer tones to help increase shine to keep the illusion of thickness.

Tight curlies must use treatments with accurate pH levels to ensure proper curly hair care. Use products that have proteins that deposit moisture and other ingredients that help to improve the tensile strength and elasticity, this will establish healthy long lasting curls.

If you have similar curls, style and texture and have questions, please comment below this post so we can answer them for you!