Search Results: NaturallyCurly

How would you best describe your hair?

What is your hair type?

What was it like for you growing up with textured hair?

What made you decide to embrace your naturally curly/coily/wavy hair?

How have your family, friends and co-workers reacted? What was your response to them?

How did you transition to wearing your natural texture?

What is your current hair regimen?

Are there any techniques or methods that have made a big impact on the way your hair looks?

Any advice you’d like to give other women who may be in the transition phase or need some encouragement in their hair journey?

What’s your hair story? Share your story with us here to be featured in our Texture Tales series.

Fact: the scalp is the foundation of great hair.

If your scalp is unhealthy, your hair will most likely show signs as well, which is why your scalp should be treated with care! There are many reasons why scalps can become irritated. Here are five tips to calm scalp irritation.

Find the root cause

Sometimes your scalp may feel like it has become irritated out of nowhere, but there is always a root cause. Have you recently started using a new shampoo or styling product? Have you been spending more time in the sun without a hat? Have you made changes in your diet? Are you drinking less water than usual? Have you changed how often you wash and condition your hair?

There are a ton of factors that play into scalp health, and your scalp will let you know when something just isn’t right. You just need to pay attention and evaluate your recent habits. Of course, there will be times when scalp irritation is linked to an underlying medical condition such as psoriasis. If you are having severe irritation that occurs frequently without having made any major lifestyle changes, you should consult your doctor to rule out any health issues.

Do DIY treatments

When your scalp is irritated and sore, give it some quick relief by grabbing these simple ingredients from the kitchen and applying them straight to the scalp: olive oil and apple cider vinegar. Olive oil has healing hydration properties that will restore moisture and balance to the scalp in a gentle, soothing way. If your scalp is packing a one-two punch of being both irritated and itchy, apple cider vinegar helps calm down inflammation and dull the itch with its antibacterial properties. The best part is that these two solutions are so simple to use.

Rub 1 to 2 tablespoons olive oil into scalp and rinse off after 10 minutes. For apple cider vinegar, simply make a mixture that is one part water and one part vinegar. Apply to scalp for ten minutes and rinse out, and never apply vinegar to a scalp with open cuts or blisters as this recipe would be too harsh. 

Massage the scalp regularly

The health of your scalp is based on a few factors, including the proper circulation of blood. Giving yourself a scalp massage is a great way to make sure this essential function stays healthy. It is also super relaxing and can help with balance by helping to distribute the natural scalp oils more evenly. You should do a weekly scalp massage to get the most benefit. Using natural oil bases such as olive oil or coconut oil, massage the scalp in circular motions for ten minutes. Make sure you do not use your fingernails to scratch the skin as this will only make it more irritated. Apply gentle pressure with your fingertips to massage the scalp, then rinse hair out. Repeat this every week for a healthier scalp.

Try Chocolate Kinks & Kurlz Lemon Rose Hair & Scalp Renewal Oil

Keep it clean

Sometimes your scalp will become dry and irritated because of buildup, so it is important to keep your scalp clean to keep it healthy with a clarifying shampoo. Regular washes are great at removing dirt and excess oil, but it is harder to take off the buildup of styling products, especially silicone buildup, that can make a scalp unhealthy. With a good clarifying shampoo, you get a thorough clean that will help restore balance to the scalp. You want to make sure you aren’t clarifying too often though or you run the risk of stripping the scalp of necessary natural oils. A good rule of thumb is to use a clarifying shampoo every few weeks, more or less depending on your buildup.

Try Briogeo Scalp Revival Charcoal + Coconut Oil Micro-Exfoliating Shampoo

Moisturize

The scalp is just like the skin on the rest of our body in that it needs proper attention. You wouldn’t go a week without applying lotion to the rest of your skin, right? Your scalp needs the same moisture as the rest of your skin, so don’t forget to properly moisturize your scalp after every wash, and especially after clarifying with a shampoo. Make sure you choose options that are rich in natural emollients known to moisturize the scalp such as coconut oil, shea butter, olive oil, and other vitamin-rich bases.

Try Mielle Organics Mongongo Oil Pomade-To-Oil Treatment

Taking care of your curls means taking care of your scalp. Calm irritation fast with these great tips!

This article was originally published in 2017 and was updated in 2018 to reflect new product recommendations.

How would you best describe your hair?

What is your hair type?

What was it like for you growing up with textured hair?

What made you decide to embrace your naturally curly hair?

How have your family, friends and co-workers reacted? What was your response to them?

How did you transition to wearing your natural texture?

What is your current hair regimen?

Are there any techniques or methods that have made a big impact on the way your hair looks?

Any advice you’d like to give other women who may be in the transition phase or need some encouragement in their hair journey?

What’s your hair story? Share your story with us here to be featured in our Texture Tales series.

Summer curls and waves can be a challenge – there’s heat, humidity, chlorine, sea water, more heat and more drastic temperature changes… Hair can take a summer beating, at times.

But, having curls and waves also come with benefits – like not having to wash them all too often. If you miss a day, it’s ok, your curls and waves can, literally, bounce back, without a lot of work. And for tough summer days, not washing, or conditioning only, can be a great benefit.

For those who prefer to shampoo and condition on a daily basis, as well as for those who don’t, this simple revitalizing process can be used for any type of curl or wave. It’s especially good for going from work to a dinner party or special event after a long day.

It’s also a wonderful process for styling curls before you go to bed, without having to wash them again.

The Revitalizing Process: Gel & H2O

That’s all you need to revitalize your natural curls or waves. It’s best to have a spray bottle for your water, one that mists or covers larger areas on your head. Select a gel that is kind to your curls. It doesn’t have to be costly, there are some good drug-store buys that are easy to find and won’t hurt your wallet. A few favorite gels for curlies and waves are: La Looks Gels, Biotera Gel (Biotera Glaze is great for finer hair or waves”>, Kinky-Curly Curling Custard, La Bella Sports Gel, Ecostyler gels. There are reviews of all of the products for your hair-type as well. You can find more gel recommendations here: Top 20 Curl-Friendly Gels.

Directions

1.  Start by sectioning your hair into smaller sections (depending on your length you may have up to 4 or 5 sections”>.
2. Clip each section and apply water with your water spray bottle to the first section, enough to dampen it.
3. Then, use a quarter to half-dollar size of gel on your section, applying it evenly throughout the section.
4. Sometimes it’s easiest to coat your hands with the gel for each section. Be sure not to rub your scalp or pull on any parts of your hair as you apply. Gently repeat on each section of hair then blot each section with a damp towel.

In addition, you may want to finger-curl some sections as you work the gel through.

How to Finger-Curl

Simply take a part of the section of hair you’ve worked the gel and water into and twist it around one or two fingers, depending on how wide you want the curl to form.

This process is perfect for the evening or the morning, just allow amply drying time. It’s best to allow revitalized curls and waves to air-dry.

Sleep On It

Use a satin or silk pillow case to sleep on, or wrap your hair in a silk scarf at bed time. If you have limited time, use a diffuser and gently allow the curls to dry.

Photo courtesy of @Flaviaesantiago

Styling It

Going from work to a dinner party? The above process may take a bit more time than you have to get from your office to an evening party. Therefore, you can try a simpler and quicker process by having your water on hand and a small bottle of gel. It’s always a great idea to keep some gel at work, or in your bag. Instead of creating sections, mist your hair lightly with some water. If you don’t have a water bottle handy simply use your hands. It’s not necessary to make your hair too wet.

Coat your hands with the gel and work it into your hair. Going from ends to roots may “plump” up your curls and waves a bit more and help style your hair at the same time.

Apply more gel as needed until you have finished. Use your hands to twist and coax any curls or waves back into place.

If you are headed to a special evening out be sure to have a few glitzy hairpins with you too. Add them to your revitalized curls and waves for a more elegant or “party-going” look.

MORE: Top 20 Curl-Friendly Gels

### How would you best describe your hair? Naturally Coily ### What is your hair type? 4a Not sure what your hair type is? [Take our quiz!](https://www.beautycon.com/quiz”> ### What was it like for you growing up with textured hair? Growing up, my hair confused me. I remember seeing girls in the bathroom of my elementary school sprinkling water on their heads to calm their post-recess frizz, to make their hair look straight again. At home, in secret, I tried to copy them. I stood in front of the mirror and raked wet hands through the baby hairs that escaped the braids my mother re-did each morning. I found myself with curls and coils springing up in every direction, and it just didn’t make sense. I was only 5 then, but the frustration lasted for 10 more years. By middle school, I outgrew my braided pigtails and went straight. Thankfully, my mother never let me chemically relax my hair, as many times as I asked her to. But I did manage to get her to help me blow dry and flat-iron after every single wash day. ### What made you decide to embrace your naturally curly hair? After four years of heat styling, I could no longer deny how fried, dry, and damaged my hair had gotten. So when school let out after my freshman year of high school, I promised myself I’d stay natural all summer to combat the damage before returning to my beloved hot tools. It was incredibly uncomfortable at first; I felt like I was taking up way much more space than used to. But by accident, I started developing a little crush on my curls. My original intention had never been to go natural, but each week I got a little happier with the coils in the mirror. I was bashful about my excitement– and then I realized how silly that was. I wouldn’t have been born with curly hair if I wasn’t supposed to have curly hair, so I gave myself permission to be in love with it. ### How have your family, friends and co-workers reacted? What was your response to them? Honestly, most of my friends and family were more excited about my texture than I was. It felt strange accepting compliments that I didn’t truly believe yet. I also had to answer a lot of questions about curly hair that I didn’t feel qualified enough to answer yet, but I had to pretend I felt sure of myself in order to respond to everyone. Eventually, all that faking taught me how to speak more kindly to myself and develop a healthier self-image. ### How did you transition to wearing your natural texture? Since I never used any chemicals on my hair, I didn’t have to big chop to go natural. I stopped using heat tools, started trimming my ends super often to get rid of the damage, and added a ton of moisture to my routine. Over time, I grew out the damage and got back to my natural texture. Now, after 4 years natural, I have healthy mix of 3c, 4a, and 4b curls and coils. ### What is your current hair regimen? I wash my hair about every 10 days. I always use a cleansing conditioner, and I shampoo every other wash to avoid drying out my hair. I use a ton of leave-in conditioner plus a bit of styling cream and/or gel, and since I usually wash my hair at night I gravitate towards braid outs, sleeping in the damp braids and then letting my hair air dry in the morning. I always play an empowering album, podcast, or audiobook over a speaker throughout my entire wash day process. After a childhood of covering up my coils, I do everything I can to associate hair with love! ### Are there any techniques or methods that have made a big impact on the way your hair looks? Even after going natural, I still straightened my hair 2-3 times a year whenever I needed a trim. But I just got my hair cut by a stylist who specializes in curly hair for the very first time, and it’s completely changed how healthy and happy my coils look. Shout out to[ April](https://www.instagram.com/_thehalfrican/”> at [Honeycomb Hair Boutique](https://www.instagram.com/Honeycombatx/”> in Austin! ### Any advice you’d like to give other women who may be in the transition phase or need some encouragement in their hair journey? Transitioning is awkward. I felt like I didn’t have enough time to get used to my own face before all of the comments started rolling in. But you don’t have to explain what you were born with! Forgive yourself for looking bold; or rather; revel in it. Allow yourself to take up space. I know that that’s hard. It took a couple of years to fully understand that I had become a walking statement. My hair does not let me hide. But would I want to anyway?

What’s your hair story? Share your story with us here to be featured in our Texture Tales series.

### How would you best describe your hair? Naturally Coily ### What is your hair type? 4c ### What was it like for you growing up with textured hair? Growing up, I was always told “girl, your hair is too thick” and for the all of my childhood I considered that a bad thing. In my mind, if hair salons charged extra and nobody ever wanted to deal with my hair, it must mean its a problem. I had length, but it was never neat because for the most part I was the one who dealt with my thick head of hair. I received my first “Just For Kids” texturizer at eight-years-old because my mom thought it was just easier to manage that way. By high school I was relaxing my hair every 6 weeks. I remember wanting to embrace my natural hair during my senior year of high school and quickly reverting back to relaxers after being discouraged by family and friends and the fear of the unknown that I saw within my new growth. ### What made you decide to embrace your naturally coily hair? Funny, but true story. I was in college and came home for my usual 6 week relaxer. I went to my then favorite Dominican owned hair salon and sat in the chair. The hair technician greeted me and started the usual process, but this time my hair was just not having it. I literally jumped out the chair when she applied the first comb through to my roots of the relaxer. It was so embarrassing. I looked like a child but I had her wash it out immediately and I never looked back. ### How have your family, friends and co-workers reacted? What was your response to them? My mom was so very nervous about natural hair for me as a professional in corporate America. (I won’t lie, I was too.”> Thankfully, I have a good mentor that ensured me that how I choose to wear my hair, so long as it’s neatly kept, shouldn’t ever be an issue in my workplace. My coworkers had the typical questions like “how do you get it like that?” and “how long does that take?” but those subsided pretty quickly. Shockingly, it was friends, acquaintances, and even strangers that gave me the most confidence about my natural hair from the very beginning. It was the random compliments on the streets of NYC that did it for me. It’s like they saw my afro’s potential way before I even did. ### How did you transition to wearing your natural texture? After my horrific relaxer experience, I wore my hair in Bantu knots (twisting almost every night”> as a transitioning hairstyle. Then, when I was tired of that, I wore braids and weaves for about a year before I got tired of the messy tangles and just cut it all off. Big chop. Just me and my favorite pair of scissors. ### What is your current hair regimen? Currently, I mainly do twist outs; they’re fast, easy, and I can bet on the results. I also do wash and gos but mainly in the summer months because I need less drying time. ### Are there any techniques or methods that have made a big impact on the way your hair looks? Yes! I’ve found that using moisturizers and oils before application of gel, whether this be for wash and gos or updos, make for so much more control over the updos and far less crunchy curls for wash and gos. Also, always deep condition; no matter what and if you can do so with oils, conditioners, and honey. ### Any advice you’d like to give other women who may be in the transition phase or need some encouragement in their hair journey? Just do it! Don’t be afraid of what people will think or say. You never know, they may just surprise you and feed you nothing but positivity and compliments. Plus, it will get easier as your hair begins to grow. Have faith in your journey and take tons of pictures along the way. I have a whole album that I look back and am amazed at my own growth.

What’s your hair story? Share your story with us here to be featured in our Texture Tales series.

PHYTO SPECIFIC recently debuted their Curl Legend collection to a salon full of some of our favorite curly girls in New York City. Coral, also known as @curlswithcoral on Instagram, was in attendance to cover the event and share what she thinks of the line with all of the guests. Here’s what she had to say about Curls & Cocktails.

Curltalk, amazing products and a glass of wine is how we were all greeted for “Curls and Cocktails”. This event was presented by NaturallyCurly this past Thursday at the Mark Garrison Salon in New York City. Myself, Cristina Cleveland of NaturallyCurly, and over 30 of my favorite influencers attended to celebrate PHYTO SPECIFIC’s own Curl Legend line. This PHYTO SPECIFIC Curl Legend line is 98% botanical and completely geared towards natural, curly hair!

There are 4 products in this line:

1. Cleansing Care Cream: Can be used as a co-wash and is perfect for summertime, when you want to clean your hair after being in the sun all day but don’t want to apply any harsh shampoo. This product really does an amazing job at cleansing the scalp and not making it feel stripped from any natural oils. Finally, there’s a nozzle tip for an easy application (100 extra points for PHYTO!”>.
2. Curl Energizing Spray: This is not your regular clear spray that sort of “holds” everything in place with a hard cast. This spray comes out with a really creamy consistency that works just like the perfect leave in. It’s super lightweight and you can also use it for days 2 and 3 to refresh your curls and keep them looking flawless.
3. Gel-Creme: The perfect amount of hold to keep your curls soft and defined. You will have a slight cast after it’s dried but once you scrunch it out you will be left with really soft and bouncy curls. One of the main ingredients PHYTO uses for this product is Quinoa, which can be super moisturizing for curly hair.
4. Baobab oil: A blend of oils made with baobab, shea, castor, roucou, and karanja oils. It can be used for your hair and body, so guess who’s gonna be glowing this summer! You can also use this oil as a pre-shampoo treatment or a leave-in treatment after your hair has dried. This blend also smells absolutely amazing!

We all received goodie bags filled with all of these amazing products. Even though I have been using the products for some time, just talking about all the product benefits had me super excited for my next wash and go. Also, these products are mainly plant derived, so you know what you’re applying to your hair is nature’s best! Throughout the salon there were a few stations: a cocktail area, product display and discussion area, a scalp analysis station, and a dry styling station. In the scalp analysis area, a camera would be placed on your head to see the amount of buildup you have. Based on your analysis you would get suggestions on how to remove it and make your scalp healthier. In the dry styling sessions, the stylists created some really beautiful hairstyles, anything from braids to up’dos using the products from the PHYTO SPECIFIC Curl Legend line. ###### Before ###### After I absolutely enjoyed this event. I really loved seeing curls from all types. From Type 2’s to 4’s and everything in between. Being in the same room with all these gorgeous women really makes me feel lucky to be part of this beautiful community. Thank you so much to both PHYTO SPECIFIC and the NaturallyCurly team for this amazing opportunity, to come together for such a special occasion. Everyone had the best time and went home happy with a bag filled up with goodies! Can’t wait for the next time :”> *This post is sponsored by PHYTO SPECIFIC.*

### How would you best describe your hair? Naturally Curly ### What is your hair type? 3a Not sure what your hair type is? [Take our quiz!](https://www.beautycon.com/quiz”> ### What was it like for you growing up with textured hair? Growing up with curly hair felt like a curse. My siblings had straight hair and since my parents didn’t know about caring for curly hair, they would brush my hair out leaving me with frizzy short hair. It was so dry that up until middle school, boys followed me on my walk home yelling out hurtful names like, “afro puff, Cotton candy, and curly headed F@%!”. The hair shaming didn’t end there, from ex boyfriends wanting me to wear my hair other girls (straight haired women”>, and employers telling me my curls were unprofessional and distracting, I eventually committed to flat irons until my late 20’s. ### What made you decide to embrace your naturally curly hair? I flat ironed my hair from middle school to just about 2 years ago. While running late to work one day, I didn’t have time to flat iron my hair and I wore my hair in a pony tale displaying my frazzled damaged hair with a hint of curl. My team mate was in awe with my hair and insisted I stop flat ironing. She described healthy beautiful curls that I could have, and explained the relief of wearing your hair in a way that only I could wear it. I thought she was crazy because my curls have never been beautiful. I thought my curls were frizzy, distracting , unattractive, and could never be beautiful. I agreed to try allowing my hair to return to its natural state. I had no idea that the transition would require so much patience, self acceptance, and release of old emotional baggage. ### How has your family, friends and co-workers reacted? What was your response to them? When I stopped straightening my hair, my friends and family thought I was having a mental break down. My hair wasn’t sleek and shiny and I no longer spent hours trying to keep every hair in place. In the beginning of my curl journey, I struggled with the opinions about how I let my appearance go and couldn’t believe that the world thought I was depressed because I threw out the flat irons and hot tools. Over time my skin thickened and how I felt about myself began to originate from how I felt about myself, not from how others made me feel about myself. The confidence boost bled into many other areas of my life. I felt silly thinking that my hair started my self improvement movement, but shortly after changing my hair, I dropped my unfulfilling job, dropped many toxic people, and began embracing myself holistically. ### How did you transition to wearing your natural texture? I had no clue what to do at first. So I did what many people do and pulled up Pinterest. I tried DIY hair masks made from eggs, mayo, oils, butters, ACV, but nothing helped. After a while I knew I needed to chop off a bunch of my hair. I cried a little during the big chop process, remembering the names bullies harassed me with made me question why the hell am I doing this. The final cut from a Deva Curl Specialist came out beautiful. We didn’t take off as much as needed the first time, but the stylist spent 3 hours talking and teaching me about washing, styling, and sleeping in my curls. There was so much I never even thought about. I was educated on products and ingredients to stay away from, it was a lot to digest at first. ### What is your current hair regimen? Currently I use the [Deva Curl Decadence No Poo](https://shop.naturallycurly.com/devacurl-no-poo-original-12-oz/”> and [Conditioner](https://shop.naturallycurly.com/devacurl-no-poo-original-12-oz/”>, along with the [Super cream](https://shop.naturallycurly.com/devacurl-supercream-coconut-curl-styler-5-1-oz/”> and [Ultra gel](https://shop.naturallycurly.com/devacurl-ultra-defining-gel-12-oz/”>. Once a week I apply castor oil to my scalp (which has really helped my psoriasis”> and coconut oil to the ends, and wash out the oil with [Tropic Isle Living Red Pimento Oil Shampoo](https://shop.naturallycurly.com/tropic-isle-living-imported-jamaican-strong-roots-shampoo-with-red-pimento-8-oz/”>. After I finish, I use the SheaMoisture leave in, I’m heading over to try the new Deva Curl Decadence leave in. I sleep with a satin pillow case with my hair in a loose pineapple. I live in Phoenix, everything is dry here, so a leave in conditioner is important. ### Are there any techniques or methods that have made a big impact on the way your hair looks? My biggest struggles are styling and caring for my hair and keeping my hands off of it. With years of flat ironing, I grew use to running combs, brushes, and my fingers through my hair all the time. If I leave my curls alone when they air dry and through out the day then I don’t unravel the curls so much. Also I found it very important to stop comparing my curls with other people. Our patterns are different, out textures are different, and I allowed myself early on to become discouraged by comparing my curls to other women. Big no-no, their beauty does not mean there is an absence of my own. ### Any advice you’d like to give other women who may be in the transition phase or need some encouragement in their hair journey? Have patience and compassion for yourself. I am very hard on myself (as I am sure we all are”> and it is easy for me to zone in on the destination and hate the journey, but that is where the education is. When we go through the trial and errors of products, styles, methods, and salons for our hair, this is when we learn what works for us.

What’s your hair story? Share your story with us here to be featured in our Texture Tales series.

### How would you best describe your hair? Naturally Coily ### What is your hair type? 4c Not sure what your hair type is? [Take our quiz!](https://www.beautycon.com/quiz”> ### What was it like for you growing up with textured hair? At times a nightmare lol. From getting my hair pressed monthly and the fear of that hot comb either burning my scalp or edges…OMG! But those were the good old days straightening out the kinks. My mother embraced every strand of my hair until I started managing my own hair from middle school into high school. Perms and colors that I did on my own damaged my hair pretty bad. ### What made you decide to embrace your naturally coily hair? My cousin….growing up I always had beautiful hair, but took advantage by perming it because of certain styles I wasn’t able to do if my hair was kinky. So I remember when my cousin did her big chop and how she walked around with her twa to a big fro with confidence. That is what inspired me to go natural. And I mean her fro and walk was flawless. Now look at me loving my natural hair journey. ### How have your family, friends and co-workers reacted? What was your response to them? So, funny story. One of my coworkers, Hispanic, said to me one day….after getting my hair straightened to get my ends clipped, “Shatera….no way…is that your hair, I didn’t know black people could have good hair like that?” Now I could have went off, but instead I chose not too. It was my job to educate her on how “Black Women” or of any ethnic can have bomb hair. So I took that moment to teach her and she was thankful. Everyone else….please….they was like about time lol. ### How did you transition to wearing your natural texture? Big Chop 9/15/12 and would NEVER go back to relaxing my hair. Queen Pulchritude (which is what I call my hair”> does not like to be covered up or tamed. ### What is your current hair regimen? No heat just two strand twists….updos from a Permrod set or braids with my natural hair. ### Are there any techniques or methods that have made a big impact on the way your hair looks? If I want a defined twistout wih the cutest curl tip I am now able to execute that look. For a defined twistout is to be done on wet hair and unraveled once opposite direction of how you twist it. For a curly tip…..after finishing my two strand I would then spray my end with water and add Black Jamaican Castor Oil. And BOOM! ### Any advice you’d like to give other women who may be in the transition phase or need some encouragement in their hair journey? Embrace your journey….love every moment of it. BE YOUR OWN HAIR CRUSH! Everyone can’t have the same strand of hair, so the moment you start to love her….she will return the love with some FLAWLESS hairstyles. In fact, give your hair a name, build a rapport, become bff’s and don’t give up.

What’s your hair story? Share your story with us here to be featured in our Texture Tales series.