7 Hair care tips that will change how you style curly & wavy hair for good

Ever since I was in high school I’ve been trying to come up with the perfect routine to combat frizzy curly hair *laughs* perfect curly hair? Anyone who has curly hair surely can relate here. One day curls can be full of life bouncing here, there and everywhere and others curls can resemble a frizzy untamable birds nest… not ideal I know.

I like to think that 95% of the time my curly hair (unless met but any weather extremes) seems to play along quite well and do what it’s told (the other 5% of the time we won’t talk about). So I thought I’d share my top 7 tips for frizzy, curly or wavy hair. I’m not promising that your hair will be perfect but with the help of these tips I’m hoping I can help. I’m a qualified hairdresser so there’s some science and behind what I’m about to tell you, I’ll try my best not to bore you though…

Tip one: Towel drying

If you’ve got curly or wavy hair the first thing you should be doing is towel drying your hair. I know this sounds obvious as everyone towels dries their hair to an extent but there’s a method to towel drying curly and wavy hair to avoid frizz.Curly and wavy hair can be very coarse so when drying it’s best to almost pat and gently squeeze the hair to remove moisture rather than rub the hair. Rubbing the hair can push the cuticles the wrong way which leads to the dreaded frizz. Alternatively you can leave your hair in a towel for a few minutes to suck up the moisture like I did whilst writing this post.

Tip two: Finding the perfect tool for knot free hair

A common mistake when detangling hair is to get a brush and drag it through the lengths and ends of your hair (I’ll come back to this later). The mistake being not only using a brush but starting from the root of the hair, it’s a big no-no.

Brushes are meant for use on dry hair, not for detangling it. For easier detangling I would recommend using a wet brush or a tangle teaser to avoid damaging your hair. Alternatively if you don’t own one of these a comb will do the trick too, preferably a wide toothed comb so it doesn’t cause too much stress on your curls and waves and cause extra frizz.

Tip three: Is there a wrong way to detangle your curls?

Brushing hair from root to the end honestly makes me cringe a little inside. (To tell you the truth if you did that in front of me I’d probably outwardly cringe too.) Have you ever had tangled Christmas lights and tried to detangle those without finding the end first? You just pull whatever you can find and hope for the best? Only to end up breaking several lights leaving them damaged?

Okay so now you’ve got that horrible thought in your head think about your hair in the same way… By starting from the root you just bunch up any knots or tangles that are already there this will then cause your hair to snap and become more fragile. This is especially damaging to curly and wavy hair when it is wet as this is when it is the most fragile. So make sure to detangle from the ends and work your way up gradually!

Tip four: Using the right product(s) for your hair type (crash course)

I often hear people say ‘don’t leave conditioner on in the shower it will weigh down your curls‘ or ‘serum will make your hair crispy‘ and all I want to do is laugh. There’s nothing wrong with leaving conditioner in your hair and then rinsing it out. I do this whenever I wash my hair as it allows the good stuff to really soak in. This is a really easy way to help nourish curly and wavy hair, and very important as these hair types are naturally drier than straighter hair (I’ll skip the science here) just make sure to rinse it properly.

There’s absolutely no problem with using serum on the hair as long as you use the right amount. I use ‘Tigi Bed head, Small Talk‘ and have done for years as I am obsessed with it. I think the main thing to consider when using serum is how much you use, for my thick shoulder length hair I use a 5p amount. I’ve found that this is just enough to tame my hair without making it look greasy or crispy and it helps keep the frizz at bay! I used to swear by mousse but serum has changed my outlook on hair care for good.

Tip five: You could be damaging your hair whilst you sleep

This is hands down one of the worst things you can do to your natural curls and waves apart from bleaching or extreme colour changing which I’ll get to later. Previously I mentioned that your hair is most fragile when wet and I’d love to avoid sounding like a broken record.

Did you know that going to bed with wet hair not only leaves you looking a bit crazy in the morning but is a really easy way to damage your hair? If you must sleep with wet hair (which I’d highly suggest you didn’t) Please make sure to tie it out the way using a scrunchie or something soft. No rubber bands or pins and don’t pull it around as hair is more stretchy when wet. A silk pillowcase is also recommended to reduce unwanted frizz.

Tip six: Two mistakes you’re probably making

This tip should be common knowledge, but if not don’t worry I’ll explain. We all know (hopefully) that bleaching or changing our hair colour is damaging, whether it’s a big change or a small one. (Bigger changes cause the most damage of course).

Bleaching or over-colouring curly or wavy hair often isn’t advised because it can dry the hair out quite a lot, meaning the hair is more fragile and therefore more likely to snap. If you’re looking to achieve lighter hair or a drastically different hair colour please make sure to seek a professionals advice and don’t try a home job as it could go drastically wrong. Trust me I’ve tried in the past (before I qualified of course) and it didn’t end well.

High lift tints and Olaplex are great in helping to reduce damage to your locks when colouring. Your stylist will be able to advise more on these alternatives so make sure to ask what they recommend if you decide a big change is what you have in mind. Your chosen stylist should also do a strand test before colouring you hair, to check that it will come out as desire

Tip seven: The final touch(es) arguably the most important of them all

So you’ve towel dried your hair, combed it, applied your favourite products and are wondering what’s next? This is the stage which makes all the difference to the final look. Giving my hair a little scrunch really helps curls take their natural form. I find scrunching my hair and then I then twisting sections with my fingers some forward and some back helps it dry in the style I want it to. Any curls that sit close to my face I like to twist backwards as I can often get lost in them otherwise! If you’re like me and have some bits that just don’t want to curl on their own (and have a mind of their own) you might find this very useful.

Now it’s time to sit back, let that hair dry naturally (or use a diffuser if you have one to take a little bit more moisture out of your hair) and let your hair work its magic.

Thanks for reading,

Love Saff x

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