What products to use, how to use them and how to style your curly hair to get the best out of it, I’m telling your everything about my curly hair care routine!
I’m often asked about the hair products I use and how I style my hair on Instagram, two questions that I used to ask myself a lot too. Indeed, it took me time to realise that I actually had nice curly/wavy hair and I had to learn how to take care of it in order to make the most out of it.
Luckily for you, after trying many different products and ways to dry and style my locks, I found what works best for me and am ready to share it with you in this article!
I even recorded a video about this, so if you feel like listening to me instead of reading me, it’s at the end of the article. However, I recommend both reading the article and watching the video, so that you get a maximum of information! 😉
Washing
The first step of my routine is washing my hair. I generally do it every 2 days, but sometimes, a miracle happens and I can wait an additional day before washing it. To wash it, I prefer shampoos that are free of substances that aren’t good for your hair, such as sulfates and silicones.
I generally start with shampoo and only wash my hair once. After the shampoo, there are two options: either I use a moisturising hair mask before using my conditioner, which I do at a maximum of every two times I wash my hair, or I directly use the conditioner and no mask, which I do the rest of the time. I try to leave my hair mask on for at least 5 minutes and the conditioner for at least 1 minute before rinsing off, so that my hair can get as much moisture as possible.
When I rinse the products, I usually do it with warm water at first, and finish with colder water – it helps in making hair shine.
By the way, I wrote articles about two hair care brands, Gisou and Cantu, that I love and use regularly. Feel free to check them out if you need more details about great washing and moisturising products!
Preparing
Once the washing part is finished, I comb my hair, then brush it with a soft brush before gently drying it with a cotton towel. To do so, I put my head upside down and dry from the bottom up by squeezing my hair in my hands through the towel. Doing this movement helps putting the curls back in their natural curly shape.
The next step is that I take a small amount of my favorite curling cream, mix it with a bit of water to make it lighter, and apply it to my hair by squeezing it in my hands from bottom up while my head is upside down. This cream is the best to keep your hair in place in their curly shape!
Then I spray a texturizing wave spay to help with volume, texture, keeping my curls in place and protecting my hair from heat.
Drying
That’s probably the most important part! You can use all the products you want, if you mess up with the drying part, your hair won’t look as good as they should. Now that you know that, here’s what you need to dry your curls: a hair dryer with an air diffuser. The diffuser is this big part that comes at the tip of the hair dryer and helps spreading the blast of air. It’s important to use it, because it prevents from breaking the hair’s curly shape.
I dry my hair with my head upside down and start by putting small pieces of hair in the diffuser and doing moves from bottom up. I then also focus on drying my scalp, which I do all while “massaging” it as it allows to lift the hair from the scalp and maximise volume.
Although it’s better to dry your hair with cold air, I admit that I don’t often do it… My hair is thick, I have a lot and I’m rather impatient, so I generally put the medium or maximum heat. Of course, if you want and can, it’s much better to use cold air, because it damages your hair less. However, I always give my hair time to cool down before doing anything else, or I finish drying it with a bit of cold air, because it helps fix the curls.
Finishing
Once my hair is dry and had time to cool down, I simply apply a nourishing oil in order to hydrate it and give it some shine, and also because it somehow helps keep my locks in place. And I’m done!
Love, Pauline