Hair Care
12 Things You Should Never Do If You Have Curly Hair
Sep
Sick of seeing your curly hair looking dull, frizzy, and unruly? While you may be attempting to take the best possible care of your mane, you could be making a couple of small mistakes that are leaving you with hard-to-manage curls.
Read on as Nubi shares 12 things you should never do if you have curly hair:
1) Never Over-Wash Your Hair
Let’s start with one of the biggest errors that curly-haired people make; over-washing. The problem with this is that it dries the hair out. Curly hair is already susceptible to dryness due to how long it takes for oils produced by the scalp to make their way around all of those curls and finally reach the ends of the hair. Wash your hair before this happens and those ends will never be able to benefit from the natural conditioning effect that those oils provide.
If you currently follow a strict hair-washing schedule, try toning things down for a while. Rather than washing your hair just because it’s a Tuesday, take a closer look to see if your hair actually needs to be washed. If it doesn’t, leave it an extra day or two so that the dry ends of your curls benefit from the natural conditioner produced by your scalp.
2) Never Under-Wash Your Hair
While over-washing your curly hair should be avoided, you don’t want to end up under-washing your hair either. This will only lead to debris building up on your scalp and strands, causing dullness and dryness.
What’s the solution if, at the same time, you don’t want to be over-shampooing your hair? Co-washing. This is when you wash your hair with a conditioner instead of a shampoo. It doesn’t provide such a powerful cleanse, which will leave some of your hair’s oils intact. However, it’s enough to remove dirt and other impurities. This will help to keep your curly hair feeling clean, healthy, and naturally moisturized.
3) Never Roughly Towel Dry Your Hair
Do you ever toss your wet hair upside down and then rub it with a towel? Or perhaps twist it up onto the top of your head before wrapping it tightly with a towel? Either way, both should be avoided. Why? Because wet curly hair is extremely fragile and prone to snapping. You need to be very gentle with it if you don’t want to cause any damage.
So, how should you dry your hair then? First, start with a microfiber towel. They’re much more absorbent than regular Terry cloth towels. Then, use this to gently squeeze and blot excess moisture from your hair. Not only is this method far safer for your strands but it will also help to prevent the look of frizz.
4) Never Use a Hairdryer Without a Diffuser
If you have curly hair, you’re probably well aware of how quickly your hair can frizz up. One way to prevent this is to make sure that you use a diffuser when blow drying your hair. This is the small attachment that fits onto the nozzle of a hair dryer. Its purpose is to concentrate the flow of hot air so that it’s distributed evenly, rather than it blasting at your locks from every direction. This provides the added benefit of helping to maintain your curl pattern, giving you curls that look better defined.
If your hairdryer doesn’t have a diffuser, it’s time to upgrade to one that does. The Nubi Blow Me Away hairdryer comes with two, giving you even more flexibility when it comes to blow drying your curly hair.
5) Never Skip the Conditioner
When it comes to caring for curly hair, conditioners are crucial. As we mentioned earlier, curly hair is prone to dryness due to how long it takes for the sebum from the scalp to make its way to the ends of the hair. Even if you cut back on shampooing to give that sebum some extra time, your ends will still always likely feel drier than the rest of your hair.
This is where a conditioner can save the day. They’re designed to leave the hair feeling replenished and moisturized, working to replicate the role of the sebum that has just been cleansed away with your shampoo. Find a rich formula that’s loaded with hydrating plant oils and slather this over the ends of your hair for a few minutes after each shampoo. Your curls will feel much smoother and silkier with the right conditioner!
6) Never Expose Your Curly Hair to Too Much Heat
We all want what we can’t have, meaning that many people with curly hair yearn for straight locks. Fortunately, with all of the heated styling tools available these days, going from curly to straight is easier than ever.
The problem is that heat styling can often spell bad news for your hair, especially if it’s curly and fragile. Excess heat can cause serious damage, yet many heated styling tools only come with one temperature, giving you no choice but to subject your strands to this overly high heat.
While we’re not telling you to stop straightening your hair, we would advise a switch to a flat iron that offers an adjustable temperature, like the Nubi Soft N’ Straight 1.25” Ceramic Purple Styler. It offers a huge temperature range (180º-450ºF) giving you full control over how much heat your hair comes into contact with. Start heat styling with a lower temperature and your locks should look healthier as a result.
7) Never Heat Style Wet Hair
This is something that should never be done on wet hair, with the exception of blow drying, of course. Why? Because when you apply heat to wet hair, it essentially ‘boils’ the water that’s lying inside of each strand. This will leave your hair brittle, coarse, frizzy, and so much harder to manage.
Even just a small amount of moisture lingering on your strands can have this effect, so always make sure that your mane is 100% dry before reaching for a heated styling tool.
8) Never Get Into the Habit of Frequently Touching Your Hair
We’ve already shared a couple of tips regarding the frizz that curly hair is prone to, but here’s another one; stop touching your hair! Whether you find yourself twirling your strands around your fingers while you’re concentrating or running your hands through your lengths several times a day, each time you touch your hair you’re only encouraging frizz.
How? It all comes down to the moisture that resides in your skin. Each time you touch your hair, you’ll be transferring some of this over onto your locks, promoting frizz. You’ll also be interfering with your natural curl pattern, causing each curl to turn wider and less defined. If touching your hair is something that you often do, it’s time to break this habit for the sake of your curls!
9) Never Skip Brushing Your Hair
Are you ever tempted to crawl into bed at the end of the day without brushing your hair? If so, this needs to stop. Why? Because, firstly, curly hair is very susceptible to tangles and knots. If you don’t remove them each day, each knot will only pull in more strands. This will make de-tangling much harder once you finally get around to it.
Secondly, brushing your locks will help them to feel less dry. Each time you brush your hair, you’ll be spreading the oils from your scalp through the rest of your strands. Since the ends of curly hair are usually lacking in sebum, this will go a long way in keeping your locks naturally conditioned.
10) Never Sleep on Anything Other Than Silk or Satin
Hate waking up with a halo of frizz around your head? This can be avoided by swapping your cotton pillowcases for silk or satin versions.
How does this work? It cuts back on the friction that’s created each time your head rubs against your pillow. This reduces the appearance of frizz while also helping to keep tangles at bay. Better yet, silk and satin aren’t as absorbent as cotton. This will leave your hair feeling softer and more hydrated each morning too!
11) Never Sleep With Wet Hair
We’ve already discussed how fragile curly hair is when it’s wet. So, it should go without saying that sleeping with wet hair is a big no-no. This will only encourage damage and breakages, leaving you with brittle and split strands that are a nightmare to rectify.
What makes this worse is that the moisture from your hair combined with your body heat while you sleep provides the perfect environment for fungi and bacteria. Not only could this leave you dealing with scalp irritations and dandruff but you’ll also be encouraging fungal growth on your pillow!
12) Never Skip a Trim
Never skipping a trim is advice that everyone should follow, but it’s particularly important if you have curly hair. Since split ends are so common with curly hair, regular trims are the only way to keep your hair looking and feeling healthy. After all, there’s no way to fix split ends other than trimming them away. Leave them in place and those splits will only travel up your hair shaft, leaving more of your lengths looking frayed.
Ideally, you should be having a trim every 6-8 weeks. Not only will this do wonders for the health of your mane but it will also leave your locks looking refreshed and revitalized.
Curly Hair Tips From Nubi
Yes, curly hair can be difficult to care for but once you stop making the above mistakes, it becomes much easier to view your curls as a blessing. Curly hair is wonderfully versatile, so much so that many people spend hours each week with a curling wand in an attempt to achieve the beautiful waves that you naturally rock. Give your curls the love and attention that they need and you’ll be able to flaunt your mane with confidence!
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