Written by Natasha Lawrence
To say I’ve struggled with my curly hair would be an understatement. There was a period in my childhood when I simply stopped fighting the tangles and stopped brushing my hair (yes, I did look like a 2008 Russell Brand), the period when I opted for a pixie cut (a la Halle Berry) so I wouldn’t have to deal with them, the period of ironing my hair with my mother’s iron, and a period of extremely gelled, extremely crunchy curls that took nearly half a bottle of hair gel to lock in place. My course, thick, and frizzy curls have been my life long struggle – until now.
Due to the endless fight I have had with my natural hair, I haven’t treated it very well (read: the above mentioned ironing with an actual iron). Pre-Covid, my hair was straightened almost every other day, or thrown up in bun so it would be out of my way. There was no tender love and care. However, like with the rest of my self-care, Covid and time in quarantine has given me the opportunity to let my hair go wild, and take the time to actually care for it. Doing so, I’ve surprisingly come to embrace my curls. And, taking the extra minutes to properly care for them, for the first time in years, my curls are no longer the frizzy, undefined mess that made me look closer to Hagrid, and more like the curls I always wished mine were.
The first step in my upgraded hair-care regiment is washing my hair less frequently – the everyday wash was drying out my curls that were begging for moisture. Pre-shower, I brush out my curls with a hair brush. In the shower, I use Nexxus’ sulphate-free Curl Define Shampoo and Conditioner, and I use a wide-tooth comb to brush the conditioner through my hair. Every other hair wash, I opt for a hair mask, like Ouai’s Treatment Mask for Thick Hair, which is also combed through with the wide-tooth comb. Post shower, I like to add a leave-in conditioner, like Miss Jessie’s Leave-In Condish, and set the curls with a curl cream. The final change I made was the addition of a silk pillowcase. I can’t preach about this change enough, as I have yet to wake up with a tangled mess at the back of my head.
Sure, the process adds a few more minutes to my shower routine, but it definitely is worth it. After a month in my changed routine, my hair not only looks better, but also, so much healthier.
