Our Rescue Guide For Curly Hair to avoid Tears and Tangles.
For some parents, this may be the first time you have encountered curls.
Maybe you already have curls, but what works for you falls flat on tackling the frizz or dryness of your child’s beautiful curls.
All your prized, tested routines for treating straight hair goes out the window.
Its not a case of one size fits all when choosing products for curly hair but there are a few simple tests you can do to determine which products and techniques would suit you and your family best.
Refer to our last post for our simple guide to discovering your child’s amazing unique curly hair type.
Today we’ll talk about managing your child’s hair.
If like us, you are in Lockdown with your trusted hairdresser and stylists closed and no open date in sight, you may be wondering where to turn to.
I am confident that these top tips and pointers will help you out and bring back your confidence in looking after your kids curls.
Let us begin at the start, relax, we’ve got you!
Our 10 Top Curly Hair tips at a glance
- Don’t wash hair too often - only when dirty.
- When conditioning, pay extra attention to mid lengths and ends.
- Do not be tempted to roughly rub hair when towel drying. Tap and blot or dry. If possible, use our Scrunch or Curl towel to help with frizz and minimise any split ends.
- Use our Curl Comb or wet brush to comb through whilst wet.
- Brush from mid lengths to ends then root to tip.
- Use fingers to rake products through thick hair.
- Avoid heat for drying where possible. If you have to use heat, use a low power and low heat setting,
- Encourage curl forms wrapping sections of hair gently round fingers when applying products.
- Scrunch in hair products to create more volume.
- Avoid fiddling and brushing hair whilst its drying and curls are forming.
Foundations are everything
With curly hair, our first instinct is to reach for a styling product to style, define and shine ours curls, but the foundation of any successful healthy hair regime is using an effective shampoo that will cleanse the hair without stripping it of its natural oils.
Many shampoos contain harsh sulphates, if you have ever wondered what the fuss about sulphates is, they also commonly used as a cleansing agent in other products such as washing up liquid and washing powder.
It is the ingredient which creates the masses of foam when added to water and whilst it may effectively clean, a by-product is that it may strip the hair of its natural oils, leaving your curls feeling dry and tangled.
Avoid these if you can unless you are using many products with silicone's or ingredients that are not easily removed without the aid of a harsh cleanser.
Read more on silicones and why you may need a sulphate shampoo here.
Our sulphate free Gentle Shampoo cleanses thoroughly whilst containing soothing Aloe Vera which smooths and moisturises your hair and scalp as you wash.
More often is not always better…
Our first gem of advice is:
- Do not be tempted to wash curly hair too often.
Washing every day may over cleanse the hair, which has the effect of stripping your gorgeous curls of the much needed natural oil.
In between washes our Detangling Spray works wonderfully as curl refresher.
Many people believe that spraying curls with water will help to refresh the curls and set your curls up for the day.
In reality, and for many cases, water can force the cuticle of the hair to lift which makes the texture of the strand feel rough and creates unwanted frizz.
Our Detangling Spray contains natural glycerin which helps to seal in moisture and create a smooth non-greasy surface to the hair shaft.
You may already know that curly hair also tends to be more porous.
Therefore, applying the Detangling Spray between washes prevents moisture from escaping, leaving your hair moisturised and ready for all the day throws at it.
Regularly Condition your Curly Hair
If your curls are feeling extremely dry and resistant to absorbing moisture, or you are loosing moisture very quickly, our Intensive mask with its abundance of quinoa protein soaks deep into the hair, repairing and replacing moisture naturally.
Conditioning regularly with our Nourishing Conditioner is an absolute MUST, if your hair is feeling dry.
Skip the Shampoo and dive straight in with the Nourishing Conditioner as regularly as possible until your hair is no longer dry, frizzy and in need of moisture.
If you are using not using CurlyEllie, make sure that the products your are using are ok for skipping the shampoo and only ising the Nourishing Conditioner.
Pay extra attention to ensuring the tips are saturated, on finer, silky hair apply from the mid lengths to ends.
Go Easy on the Towel drying…
When drying your curly hair, don’t be tempted to roughly rub the hair with a towel. This is a common mistake and sometimes a subconscious action.
All that rubbing and friction can break fragile hair and rough up the cuticles leading to a massive explosion of frizz. It also merges your curl patterns resulting in a fuzzy clumpy form.
Using our microfibre towel or an old t-shirt, you can squeeze the wetness out of the hair removing the perfect amount of wetness whilst retaining a perfect amount of moisture to prepare your hair for our styling products.
Leave in and alleviate the tangles..
Post washing, apply Leave-In Conditioner, and using a wide tooth comb or wet brush you can be sure that the product is evenly distributed.
Brush or comb from mid lengths to ends and then root to tip to avoid breakage.
If your curls are very thick, rake the Leave-In Conditioner through with your fingers, taking the time to loosen any tangles.
On fine curls, a little goes along way.
You can use your fingers at this stage to gently encourage the shape of the curl. Do this by gently wrapping small sections around your fingers as you apply the product.
At this point, if you’re wanting to create more volume, a top tip is to throw your hair forwards and you can apply products such as our long lasting serum, using your hands in a direct and upward grabbing motion scrunch product into similar size sections up to the scalp.
Ideally, do this whilst hair is wet, if you allow hair to dry a fair amount before trying this you can interfere with your hairs natural curl formation and all that upward movement against the cuticle can again create excess frizz.
Avoid heat where possible. If time is a deciding factor and diffusing your curls is a must, our Intensive Treatment Mask has fantastic natural heat protecting properties, so applying a small amount of the mask before drying is always recommended.
Once it's dry, let it be…
Once dry, avoid brushing. This may seem an obvious tip to some, but for straight hair, brushing is a must.
For curls, brushing dry hair breaks curl patterns, spreads frizz, wafting volume and makes your curly hair appear dry and dull.
If you choose to style your curls into buns and ponytails avoid harsh elastics that can dent your curls and cause damage.
Instead scoop your gorgeous curls into soft satin scrunchies.
They come in an array of different colours and sizes to suit everyone.
A popular protective method of sleeping on curls so they are ready to go the next day is to pull hair up on top of the head into a loose bun with a satin scrunchie, paying attention as to not tightly secure the ends to create dents.
In the morning, one can refresh with the Detangling Spray or by Scrunching some Leave-In Conditioner or serum into your curly hair.
Our promise…
We endeavour to bring you honest advice based on experience and from our hair professionals we work alongside. The importance of curl care is discovering the products and techniques that achieve results for you and your family.
All curls, waves and coils are fabulously unique.
CurlyEllie has been custom made with sustainable ingredients, each handpicked because they work.
Our products have been designed to layer, blend and compliment each other to create the perfect combination to suit all hair types and the most sensitive and delicate of scalps.
And lastly, some top tips from our awesome community
- For my 3, its shampoo twice a week and use detangle spray and leave in for a quick brush through every day. For up dos I use the serum. Once every 2 weeks or after a long day in the mud, sun, pool...the mask comes to the rescue ❤️🙌
- We only wash once a week, do the shampoo and leave the conditioner in for half an hour. Then brush through and add leave in conditioner while still wet. Then each day I do a quick water spray, brush with a wet brush and scrunch in serum. It’s a very quick routine and keeps the hair lovely.
- Olivia has sensory issues with her hair so we do once a week wash with shampoo and conditioner, and co-wash the ends in the shower in between to get rid of sweets/food. Fortnightly masks. But the most important thing for those curly heads is regular trims or the ends will never be manageable and always frizzy. 💜
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