Hair Styling for Curls

If you've got curly hair, you know how difficult it can be to manage, let alone make it look good. With straight hair... there's only one kind of straight hair and that's straight hair. On the other hand, there are all kinds of curls. Not everyone with curls has the iconic Shirley Temple look. There are long loose curls, tight kinky curls, semi-corkscrew curls... the ones that twist around on themselves and so don't quite qualify as perfect corkscrew curls. Most of the time curls come with a significant amount of frizz. Short curls are obviously easier to deal with simply because there are less of them. However, if you've got long luxurious hair your curls are a lot more difficult. You can't sleep on curls, it simply doesn't work. You'll wake up in the morning with the worst hair ever. For most types of curly hair, you have to start styling while it's still soaking wet otherwise you will get no kind of cooperation. So, without further ado, here are some tips on managing your curly hair.

Get it wet.
As I mentioned earlier, styling curly hair is easiest when it's wet, so start styling the moment you get out of the shower or get a spray bottle and thoroughly douse your hair. Whether you're looking to amp up your curls, calm them into waves, or submit them to a straightening iron, you need to start wet.

Sleep on it.
One option for styling your hair is to do it all before you go to bed. One of my favorite things to do to accentuate my curly hair is to put it in a french braid while it's still wet right before I go to bed. Of course, this only works if your hair is long enough to put into a braid. Overnight your hair will dry into the shape of the braid. When you take it out in the morning you wil have gorgeous kinky curls. Depending on your hair type you may want to put some hair gel or creme in your hair before you braid it. It will keep away the frizz in the morning. In the morning, you'll need to do a little maintenance. Your curls may still be a little damp so give them a light spritz with some easy hold hairspray. You may also want to add some light de-frizz serum around your roots to keep the frizz away. You can also go the old-fashion way and put your hair in rollers before you go to bed. You'll wake up with light easy waves. However, if such an old-fashioned classic style doesn't appeal to you there are other styles to reach for. If you don't have the energy to braid before bed you can just sleep on it. Most-likely when you wake up you'll have some tighter curls in some places and some looser curls in other places. This is makes it perfect for a half-up, half-down style or loosely pulled up.

Products!
No matter what kind of curly hair you have, product is your best friend. Gel, creme, spray, pomade, serum, anti-frizz, extra-shine, high-control, moisturizing! Curly hair frizzes easier than straight hair and it shines less because the curls don't reflect light as well. They also dry out very easily. Have fun with your products. Experiment and figure out which ones work best for your hair. Many times they won't all come from the same product line. I use Dove shampoo and conditioner with Neutragena's moisturizing deep conditioner hair mask, Sunsilk's anti-frizz, Tresemme's hair spray, and a Paul Mitchell shine serum. Always use with moderation and find the combination that works for you. I can use so many products because I have tons of wildly uncontrollable hair and it takes all those just to calm it down. Figure out what works for your hair.

Stick Straight
If you're going to straighten your hair it needs to be absolutely one hundred percent dry. Otherwise you'll fry your hair. There are straighten irons that claim to dry your wet hair and straighten it all at once but I don't recommend them. I also don't recommend fully straightening your hair all the time because then you will really fry your hair. To do a really good job straightening your hair you need to do it in layers; top to bottom, back to front. Start on the bottom layer and work your way foward from the back, then move on to the next layer. For thinner hair you may only need three layers, for thicker hair you may need five or six layers.

Morning Styling
If you shower in the morning, you don't have time to style your hair overnight. For morning styling, start by towel-drying your hair. Because of the nature of curly hair, it breaks very easily so if you can avoid brushing your hair it's best not to. Use a super strong condition or finger-comb it. If you have very long, very thick hair like myself brushing it may be an unavoidable fact of life (otherwise you get dred-locks in two days!) Use your regular products and scrunch your hair with your hands. If you have plenty of morning time and you want super curls take two inch sections of your hair, twist it, curl it on top of your head, and then secure it with a bobby-pin. Do this with all your hair, hair spray and let it sit while you finish getting ready. When you're done getting ready take out all the bobby pins and spray it again. For this type of styling you'll need to make sure you towely dry your hair very well, it works best if your hair is not soaking wet.

Curls can be difficult to manage. But with the proper styling it can happen and you can have gorgeous luscious locks.