All Curls Are Not Created Equal

I've been getting a lot of comments on my hair and questions on what I do to it, so I've decided to post the detail version here, so I can just give the basics and direct people here if they want the full story.

Now, we launch into a brief history of my curls to better understand them and make me feel more important. My mom (African American, Native American and a dash of Caucasian) didn't know how to deal with my curls when I was younger, and would spend hours every Wednesday combing them out, just like her grandma used to do for her. My dad always told my mom she should comb my hair while it was wet like he did (Puerto Rican with cork screw curls kept short), but my mom always said it didn't work since my hair likes to dreadlock. I didn't live in an area with a lot of people who had curls, so I always thought my hair was weird and should be straight. When I got older, I started using a light relaxer on my hair, but my hair was never quite how I wanted it; it was never straight enough, soft enough, and non-oily enough. I stopped straigtening my hair when I got burned by the relaxer on my forehead. (The burns still hurt when it's hot out and they're either oily or dry.) The double edged sword is that I have a low hairline, so the burns are kind of hidden in that, while it was probably trying to get that hair that caused them in the first place.

Well, it turns out my dad was right.

Ivy's Daily Hair Routine (all done in the shower.)

Materials: John Frieda's Curl Around Daily Shampoo and conditioner (The deep conditioner sucks.) and a wide toothed comb.

1. Hop in shower and drench hair. My hair curls up so thick, I have to pull my hair straight and finger comb it to achieve the drench. Otherwise, the water just sits on the top layer of my hair, leaving the inside layers and bottom dry. Keep water on the cooler side; warmer water creates frizz since it dries out both your body and hair. As a staunch fan of hot showers, I ignore this sometimes because I'm freaken cold and usually my hair gets me back for this. I suggest doing some light exercise to warm yourself up before you hop in the shower so you can keep the water at a lower temperature.

2. I usually wash my body next. If I'm doing a full wash on my hair, which I do once to twice a week depending on when my hair tells me it needs it, then I shampoo my hair once, wash it out, and then apply the conditioner to my hair (see step 4) and then use the comb to hold it up while I wash my body. It's also a good idea to put the conditoner in at this point if your hair's really dry or you want it weighed down a little more.

3. I shampoo just the roots of my hair around where my part is to keep my hair from being weighed down to much there.

4. Time to add the conditioner! I have so much hair that I divide my hair into 4 parts to add the conditioner: 2 in front and two in back with my part being the dividing line in the middle. I add the conditoner to all parts of my hair, including the roots, and finger comb it through. The conditioner is what's gonna hold my hair together, including taming those flyaways at the top.

5. Now, take the wide tooth comb and comb the conditioner through from roots to end. You can also use a smaller toogh comb, but I recommend the finger combing from previous steps and the wide tooth comb to get rid of major tangles before attempting to use a comb with smaller teeth. My hair is a known comb-breaker. I do get some nice, defined curls from a tiny tooth comb, but I'm too lazy to use it everyday.

As you're combing, notice the texture of your hair. It should feel silky and soft after the comb has passed through. If it feels dry or course, you didn't put enough conditioner in or you put in too much.

This is also pretty much the point where I style my hair, pretty much just based on the part.

6. Now wash out with warm to cool water. Water temperature will effect results; you should be able to feel it in how your hair feels. Cool water will result in more weighed down hair while warmer water will leave it fluffier. I usally comb through my hair has I rinse it, and use my hands to get that conditioner out of the roots, which are the stubbornest. It's okay to leave some conditioner in the hair; I usually rinse until my hair doesn't feel like it has conditioner on it and feels soft. If it's crunchy, you probably used too much conditioner and/or left too much in.

7. I squeeze the excess moisture out of my hair and may dab-towel try the dripping tips of my hair. I usually dry the rest of myself off and then put the towel over my shoulders to catch the drips off my hair. Then I change, careful to around things that need to slide over my hair hence I own no turtlenecks, and let my hair air dry.

8. My hair does dry funky, different parts often rising and drying before others. If my hair seems too weighed down, or I know it will based on the feel, I flip my head upside down and pull my hair at the roots. Then right myself and I'm ready to go! The flip is better to do with hair is dry or near dry. My hair is so thick it does take practically all day to dry fully, but only an hour or so to dry enough for the flip and appear dry. A nice breeze is great for drying the hair though and will usually add the right amount of volume for me. Staying inside, breeze free, my hair will usually lack volume so going out with wet hair is good for me.

Notes:

The Curl Around Deep conditioner is just absorbed by my hair and I swear it makes my hair drier!

I don't use jells or curl definers or anything because I usually end up adding frizz by trying to add them to my hair. Plus, they tend to make my hair plastic-y. When my hair gets messed up, it usually looks like it was intentional, so my hair kinda goes from day to night by itself throughout the course of the day. The exception to that is rainy day frizz. I usually done a hat, scarf, or put my hair up in a messy bun on those days.

If you really want this to work, I suggest trying it at least twice. The first time, my hair was not happy about switching rutines. Plus, if my hair is really tangly, it tends to come out frizzy. Also, there's the issue of my unreasonable love of sauna-esk showers, that actually sometimes leave me dehydrated (as in about to pass out dehydrated). But, by hydrating it, my hair comes out soft and less prone to dreadlocking and tangling, and usually just flies through the next time.

As the title says, remember all curls are not created equal! In addition, the result we curly girls are looking for varies too.

Photo: Click for more info.

Curly Girlie,
Ivy Frozen