Conditioner is the Secret to Keeping your Curls Looking Gorgeous!
I have curly hair type 3A. For years I have often wondered why my hair had a mind of its own and I would fight it to cooperate with me to do what I wanted. I would put bucket-loads of products onto it to settle it down. It has taken years but I have now given in to my hair and wear it curly all the time and have figured out how to keep my hair looking nice with a lot less product being used.
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3a Curls
3a Curls
I have found the secret to be hair conditioner. If we let our hair lose condition and moisture it dies and gets damaged, whether it be through too much chemical color or sun and weather damage. We need to be much kinder and gentler to our hair as we would to our skin. Even going to the beach to sun bake for a few hours does a lot of damage to our hair.
The shampoo that I use is a cheap and natural one called ‘Natural Instinct’ that I buy from the chemist for $20 for 1 litre. It has a low ph of about 5.3. This is kind and gentle to the hair and cleans it gently.
The conditioner that I use is Joico moisturising conditioner. I pay more for this as conditioner is the prime method to recovering our hair from damage. While I am in the shower after adding the conditioner I comb my hair through to ensure that all the hair is coated in conditioner. When I comb my hair through I only use a heavy duty wide tooth comb.
Washing my hair is the first thing I do in the shower as the longer the conditioner remains in your hair the better. At this stage, if you have time, you can leave the conditioner in your hair for a few hours and go back later to finish the treatment.
When I have rinsed the conditioner out and left the shower. I towel dry my hair but I also leave a lot of water in my hair too. I don’t want to over dry and remove all of the moisture.
I then put in a Joico moisturing leave in conditioner and comb that through my hair to ensure it covers all the hair as much as possible. I mainly make sure that it has gone onto the outside layer of my hair rather than the underneath. The top layers are the layers that bear the brunt of everyday living.
Lastly I use a Joico curl rejuvenating treatment. This is a gel like cream that you rub over the surface layers of your hair to help the curls nicely sit together. Comb this through your hair to coat the ends properly.
My hair is always washed in the evenings and I sleep with wet hair. Sleeping with wet hair allows the curls to curl up more and it gives more body and shape to the curls on top of my head. If I leave my hair to dry during the day the top part is flat as it settles down and the curls on the side don’t sit out as much as I would like them to.
If I wash my hair in the day and it dries totally before sleeping then I use a spray water bottle to wet my hair again before sleeping. Spray your head and then rub the water through your hair with a flat palm being careful not to separate the curls. Don’t comb it. The hair does not need to be saturated through but it does need quite a bit of moisture to make it a little wet. The moisture from the water will allow the curls to lift and curl up again.
