Missing your thick curls and coils? Thinking about embracing your curls? Taking that first step towards achieving dream curls can be difficult and at times daunting — especially if, after years of heat-styling or chemical straightening, your curls are no longer the same. So, here’s our guide to getting those kinks and curls back to life!

It Begins With The Cut

When you cut or trim your curly hair, you’re cutting away damaged ends. Your ends are the oldest part of your hair, and they’ve probably been through a lot. Split, dry and damaged ends can affect your curl formation. Cutting off damaged curls will make your hair instantly spring up and appear bouncier, and it should be much easier to style and maintain.

Cleanse

Give your hair a cleanse. This will get rid of stubborn oils and dirt. But, don’t over shampoo! Once or twice a week is enough. Curls love (and need) moisture, especially as type 3 and 4 curl textures tend to be dry. Over shampooing strips your hair of the natural oils that keep it nourished. We don’t want this, so rinsing your hair between shampoo days will help if it feels a little unclean or when your curls need a refresh; massage your scalp under the water. Using a light conditioner instead of shampoo works too (also known as co-washing). It keeps your hair hydrated and helps to break down any dirt leftover after rinsing. SHOP CLEANSER

Treatments

Our hair needs some TLC. I recommend Redken All soft, or Olaplex No.3 at-home treatment, that reduces breakage, strengthens and protects your hairs structure. The Olaplex hair perfector should be applied to damp hair before shampooing for a minimum of 10 minutes, but I would actually recommend at least 1 hour. Personally, when I know I have nothing planned or I am having a night in, I’ll apply this and leave it on all night, washing it out in the morning. Homemade, natural masks can work wonders too. (Such as our Simple avocado hair mask!)

Moisture

Moisturise. Moisturise. Moisturise. And when you think you’ve moisturised enough, moisturize some more. As I said earlier, type 3 and 4 hair textures tend to be very dry and therefore always needs added moisture. Even when your hair is at its healthiest, moisturisation is always key to keep curls at their peak. Deep conditioning is the easiest and one of the most effective ways to bring your curls back to life. Another option is a hot oil treatment, which simply involves applying a warm oil (such as olive or coconut oil) to the hair and leaving it in for at least 30 minutes to allow time for the oil to fully penetrate the hair strands. Massaging the scalp during this time also stimulates hair growth (and feels great!).

Heat

The heat-styling has got to go. Heat-styling can totally (and permanently) change the structure of your hair, which can be hard to fix. Heat-damaged hair is dry, brittle and frizzy – none of which are conducive to healthy, bouncy curls. If you’re completely committed to reviving your curls, this means; lock up your heat tools. If you’re not quite ready for that type of commitment, don’t worry. Significantly limiting the use of heat tools is enough to see an improvement in your curls. Remember, if you are straightening or curling, use a heat protectant! Olaplex No.7 is a weightless reparative styling oil that provides heat protection up to 232°C that I recommend.

Diffuse

I know I said no heat, but you shouldn’t let your hair air dry! Allowing hair to air dry can cause excess damage while diffusing curls (on low heat) minimizes frizz, enhances curl definition and can create lots of volumes. It’s also much faster than leaving hair to air dry! Unlike regular hair drying, diffusers gently disperse the air out of the hairdryer in a way that dries curls without creating frizz.

How to diffuse your hair:

1. After washing your hair and applying your styling products, scrunch out some of the excess water with a towel.

2. Tip your head upside down, take a medium-sized section of hair and place it into the diffuser bowl.

3. Turn the hairdryer on at a low-medium speed and heat. Lift the diffuser up and down, effectively ‘scrunching’ the hair as it dries.

4. Repeat this until all sections of the hair have been diffused with your head flipped forward.

5. Repeat this, flipping your head to one side and then the next.

6. Once hair is dry, fluff it out by placing your fingers at the roots and shaking. Give your head a gentle shake to help curls naturally fall into place.

Prevention

You’ve heard it before: ‘Prevention is better than cure. Clearly, preventing your hair from losing its curl is ideal. So once you revive your hair from the damage, you need to make sure you’re constantly keeping up with taking care of it! Avoid damage where you can, get regular trims, put down the straighteners, have professional treatments when you can and do a hair mask at least once a week.

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