Embrace the curls

This holiday season toss aside your blowdryer and flat iron because curls are the new spring trend. So if you have natural curly hair don't be afraid of letting your curls loose. Some of the looks included very defined curls and others had very soft barely there waves.

Shiny and sleek curls at Prada

Big barrel curls and lots of volume at Anna Sui 

Loose curls at Elie Saab

Images via style.com

 

Maintaining natural curly hair can be quite a task. I've struggled with it for many years, but after countless hits and misses I've finally learned how to take care of it. I've learned how to embrace it instead of trying to turn it into something it wasn't. It's very hard to find useful beauty advice in regards to this and well I've had to figure somethings out on my own. This is why I decided to share all of my findings.

1. Don't wash your hair everyday. Curly hair is naturally dry and needs plenty of moisture. If you wash your hair everyday, you're taking away essential oils that can lead to over drying, frizz, and split ends. If you can't go a day without washing your hair, I suggest using a sulfate-free shampoo. Sulfate-free shampoo cleanses without the use of foam and harsh chemicals. As for conditioner, I recommend leave-in conditioners. These provide and extra bit of moisture and make styling a lot easier. You can also use regular conditioners and add weekly deep conditioning treatments. Both of these options provide great results.

2. Don't use hair brushes or style your hair when dry. Some experts agree that curly hair shouldn't even be styled. Many suggest using your fingers to comb through it. I don't like this method so I use a wide tooth comb. Wide tooth combs tend to separate hair without necessarily breaking it. You'll get more defined curls and minimize breakage.  If I need to fix my hair when it's already dry, I use a little trick. I take a spray bottle and fill it with some leave-in conditioner dissolved with water. I spray a little bit on the area and comb through it.

3. Stay away from styling products that contain alcohol. Hair gels are curly hair's worst enemy. Their high alcohol content dries out hair and leaves it crunchy. Instead of using gels, use hydrating styling cremes or mousses. My favorite products include Tressemés' Flawless Curls mousse and Fekkai's Smooth Hair Cream.

4. The final trick that I picked up was creating little twists with wet hair. Divide your hair into as many sections as you want, it all depends on how big you want your curls to be. After that you divide each section in two and twist them similarly to when you're braiding hair. You should leave it to dry for about 30 to 45 minutes, but don't wait until the hair's completely dry to remove them. If the hair is completely dry, then you can't make any arrangements to them.