Dear Cozy: One of the problems I am having is my youngest, who is 9 years old, pretty much has always had her hair either put into just a ponytail on top of back of her head or also braided….Now that we are trying to let our curls be free, her top part of her head and top layers are not really curling, they are just frizzy. I have been just conditioning her hair, have tried the lavendar mist that Lorraine Massey suggests, but nothing is working. She is loving not having her hair up and braided. She is a very carefree spirit. Just do not know how to get her curls to start back in at this problem area. Any help or suggestions are welcome!
A: Your daughter’s hair will take some time to come into its own. Be sure to never brush her hair, and you’ll want to “scrunch” with an alcohol-free gel after bathing. Be sure to get as close to the roots as you can, to help encourage her natural curl to come out and to smooth the cuticle.
Dear Cozy: I have a 7-month-old son with dry, frizzy hair. I don’t really know his hair type, but it is between a 3c, 4a, or 4b (maybe a combination of the three”>. I am currently using a line of products for multi-racial children, but his hair still looks dry after a few hours. I only wash his hair maybe once a week or I even let a week and a few days go by before actually shampoo washing. What am I doing wrong? HELP!!!!
A: You need to keep his hair hydrated as much as possible. Try using a spray leave-in conditioner that you can apply whenever hair is feeling dry and dull. So Cozy Fruity Detangler is a favorite for kids because it smells so good and parents because it really works! Also, don’t was hair too often. Once or twice a week is fine.
Dear Cozy: My daughter has 3c type hair. All she does is wash and pull it into a top pony, and leaves it. It frizzes and falls out, never looks good. Drives my nuts, and she will not take advice from me. I have type 3, but hers is thicker and tighter curls then mine. I need help on how to help her deal with her hair. She has decided to go into the military, which means she needs to get a handle on this hair or she will have to go bald.
A: If she is going into the military, I’m assuming she won’t have much time to be styling her hair and will need to have a very carefree routine. What’s amazing is that curly hair can be super-easy to care for with the help of the right products. Most important for her hair is a great gel that she can “scrunch” into her hair after showering. If she allows hair to air dry, her natural curls will form. When hair is dry, she can scrunch a little finishing cream or a little more gel to help soften the curls and help to keep hair smooth.
Dear Cozy: My 5-year-old daughter, who I believe is a 3c, has never had a hair cut. Her hair now hangs only a few inches below her chin but it is down the middle of her back if I pull it straight when it’s wet. It’s hard to tell, but it sort of looks like it might be a little longer on one side than the other. I’m really hesitant to cut this hair because several people have told me that the key to taming it is allowing it to acquire more length. Still, when it is dry, it looks like a bush that needs shaping.
Should we just wait it out and hope that it calms down with more length or is there a kind of cut that is ideal for her hair type? The hair needs a gallon of product just to look the way it does in my avatar. It’s absolutely wild.
A: I agree that length will help prevent it from looking bushy, but a proper haircut for curly hair is imperative! You don’t have to cut a lot, but giving her a trim and shaping it up will make a tremendous difference. Be sure to find a stylist who is very experienced cutting curly hair. Search here to find a curl specialist in your area. Or you can call a salon and ask them who their best stylist is for curly hair or if you see someone with nice curly hair, ask them where they get their haircut.