Christian loves to cut naturally curly hair. Having curly hair himself means he’s got more of an understanding of how curls respond and so he’s put together a few top tips below so you can make the most of your naturally curly hair too.
Don’t wash it too often, but often enough.
Depending on a few factors (texture, sebum (oil) production, curl size & goal (to lift the hair of flatten it down)) you should evaluate your hair before reaching for the shampoo. So often I see new clients that wash their hair daily when there’s really no need, they just do it out of habit. If your routine is to shower daily, there’s nothing wrong with just rinsing it through and diffusing it after. Conversely, I also have an increasing amount of people coming to me who have followed the curly girl method who have hair laden with oils and products that (surprise surprise) can’t get any volume in their hair.
Choose your weapon
When it comes to diffusing your hair, there’s a myriad of tools on the market to choose from. People spend hundreds on fancy hairdryers and tools thinking that they’ll get better results.
In my experience, it’s all about the technique, not the tools that yield the best results. I like a hairdryer that has a low air flow speed so it’s doesn’t blow the curls out and the biggest diffuser I can find (the Diva Pro XL is my go to diffuser)
While we’re on the topic of hairdryers, please make sure you clean the air filter on your dryer at least once a month. If you don’t, the airflow over the heating element will slow down and the temperature of the air will rise damaging your hair and hairdryer.
Dry it from wet.
I like to dry hair from wet, rather than damp. I find this is the best way to get the curls to stay in their helixes. My most common and effective diffusing routine is as follows:
- Apply products to wet hair and comb through to distribute them through the hair.
- Depending on the hair type, I’ll spend a good 30-40 seconds scrunching the hair with my hands. I call this action ‘finding my friends’ as it gives the individual hairs the chance to re bond with the hair around it to form the separated curl helix.
- Now I start to diffuse the hair on a low speed and medium/low heat.
- Depending on the desired result, I’ll either flip your head over forward or lean you back so that I can get your hair into my diffuser without touching it with my hands.
- I’ll usually dry hair until it’s completely bone dry. If i’m trying to get lots of body and bounce in the hair, you can’t leave any moisture behind, after all, we know what happens to wet hair….it goes flat.
- Once it’s bone dry, depending on how it’s looking, I’ll give it a shake out by using my fingers like an afro comb. Only do this at root though, don’t drag your fingers through to the end and separate the curls.
- If it’s looking a little crunchy or stiff you can use the ‘find my friends’ technique from earlier to release the hair and give it a softer look.
Don’t brush.
This one probably goes without saying, but don’t brush curly hair when it’s dry, unless the frizzy look is what you’re going for. Curly hair does not like brushes.
Get a haircut.
If you’d like to book a haircut with Christian, then head over to our online booking system and book a ‘long/thick hair’ appointment if it’s your first visit.
