How to Make Curly Hair Look Good.

by Jennie
(NY)

When I was little, my hair was straight. When I hit puberty, it became much curlier in the front, not as curly in the back. It took me a long time to figure out how to make this look good.

I find that the best way to make my curls "pop" is to do the following:

Shampoo and condition with a product designed for curly hair. I've been told by stylists that Pantene is one of the worst shampoos because it is full of detergents that are harsh on hair. Try to find a more natural product.

While rinsing the conditioner out, I flip my head upside down and run a paddle brush through my hair a few times to evenly separate my hair while the water is still running through it. Then I turn off the faucet and continue to paddle brush my hair just enough to get the excess water out.

Then (while my head is still upside-down) I use about a quarter-sized dollop of Bed Head's "Creative Genius". I spread it evenly on my hands then run my fingers through my hair, concentrating more on the ends than the roots to keep the curls from looking weighted down when I'm finished styling.

After that (still upside down), I take a towel and scrunch my hair. This will remove all the excess water and product, and will initially hold everything in place. Then I use my hands and continue scrunching for another 30 seconds or so.

Then I flip my hair rightside-up and see how it's looking. This may be the time to rearrange any hair that's looking more like a scraggle than a curl...you can just scrunch it into place as needed.

Finally, I flip it back upside down and use a diffusing hair dryer to dry. I stop every few minutes to spray with a light to med hold Paul Mitchell spray gel and continue to scrunch at the breaks in drying. This prevents your hair from looking "crunchy" and hard when you're done. When you're hair is dry spray a light, final coat of Paul Mitchell all over, and you should be good to go.

If you want a part, you should make the part while your hair is still wet...the part should survive the scrunching process.

I find that this method makes my curls look bouncy and natural, despite the fact that I use a decent amount of product. Hopefully this is helpful.