Curly Hair For Beginners: How To Start Your Curly Hair Journey

Hello, everyone welcome back to my channel. Today'S video is for all the curly hair newbies people who know they have curly hair, but i'm not sure how to care for it. People who have perhaps been looking after their curls for a while, but it's not working out for them. I'M going to talk you through where to start what products to look for how to build a routine and i'm going to cover some frequently asked curly hair questions from beginners as well. So if you are a beginner to your curly hair journey or you need a little help along the way, keep watching so the first step in your curly journey is to figure out your hair type. Now, i'm not talking about your curl pattern, so the the numbering system, the 2a 2c 3a. All that i'm not talking about that. What i am talking about is your hair texture, so whether your hair is fine, medium or coarse, because this is really going to help when it comes to deciding which products you should choose for your hair also comes into this. Your hair density and your hair porosity. So your density is how much hair you have how much hair you have on your head. You have low density, medium density like me, or high density hair, and your porosity is your hair's ability to absorb and retain moisture. I'Ve been looking after my curls for over three years now and i'm not certain on my hair porosity. So this isn't something that you need to know, but i would definitely say it's worth knowing whether your hair is fine, medium or coarse. So one way to tell your hair's texture is to take a strand of your hair and put it in between your finger and thumb and if you can barely feel it, then it's probably fine. If you can kind of feel it it's probably medium, and if it's like really obvious, then it's probably coarse and a way to figure out your density is to look at how much of your scalp you can see. You can especially see that i haven't got super high density hair in my wash routine videos, because when my hair is wet, you can really see my scalp. So it's definitely not high density, but i say it's not low. Does it it's somewhere in between just knowing your hair's textured, so fine, coarse or medium is really gon na help you when it comes to choosing products, if your hair is fine, for example, then heavy butters and thick creams probably will weigh your hair down, whereas if Your hair is coarse, you're, going to be more likely to get away with using thicker products more moisturizing products, because your hair will be naturally drier than fine hair. So that is something to bear in mind when it comes to choosing products which takes me on to the next step in your curly hair journey products. There are so many products on the market, so many curly hair products all claiming to add moisture, tame frizz strengthen your hair. But what do you choose? How do you know what to choose if you are starting? What do you need if you are just starting your curly journey? You will need a cleanser, a conditioner and a styling product. I would recommend a cream or leave-in conditioner to add moisture and a gel or a mousse that adds hold to your hair. So when it comes to cleansing, there are a few different options. My personal preference is to use a low poo sulfate free cleanser, and my favorite, which you will have seen in my videos, is the naughty to the rescue shampoo. This is a really lovely shampoo, and this whole range is amazing for beginners, so with this type of cleanser, it will foam up slightly. So this is my personal preference. Another type of cleanser that you may have heard of is a co-wash, so a co-wash is a conditioner wash. It doesn't foam up on your hair, it's more of a cream cleanser like you know when you clean your face and you can get ones that foam up on your skin or you can get cream cleansers, it's more of like a cream cleanser for your scalp. So this is one co-wash. This is the as i am coconut co-wash. This one is a specific co-wash, so it has some cleansing agents in it, rather than just using a conditioner which you can do if you are going to co-wash. That'S absolutely fine but know how to do it properly, because so many people start out co-washing and say my hair's so greasy and it feels clean. I'M getting a lot of build up. You really need to manually scrub. Your scalp when you're co-washing is very important because if you don't and it can lead to all sorts of scalp problems which we don't want, so this is a good co-wash and also another lovely gentle. One is boucalem curl cleanser and obviously there are also your regular sulfate shampoos, which you are more than welcome. To use, i'm not going to tell you you shouldn't use them and by the way, i'm going to link all the products mentioned. Everything mentioned in the description bar below, so it will all be there for you no need to write things down in a notepad as you go through so onto conditioner. So after you cleanse your hair, you will then need to condition your hair. So one of my favorite conditioners again as i've mentioned in many of my videos, is the naughty to be the rescue conditioner. I really like this conditioner, it's a lovely conditioner. It detangles my hair. I don't really have much else to say it smells nice too. So you've cleansed your hair you've conditioned your hair and then you are going to apply your styling product. So what's the difference between a leave-in conditioner and a curl cream, i hear you ask well a leave-in. Conditioner is not necessarily a styling product. It'S more for adding moisture to your hair. Curl creams are also for adding moisture but kale creams. A lot of them will help define your curls as well, but leave-in conditioners will just add a little bit of moisture, so my favorite leave-in conditioner is and has been for like three years, the naughty intensive care leave-in conditioner. I use like a pea-sized amount for my hair and i focus it on the underneath and the ends of my hair. I really enjoy using this lasts me ages, because i don't need to use a lot. If you have coarser drier hair, then you'll need to use more leave-in, conditioner or curl cream than i do a curl cream that i really like is the curlsmith weightless air dry cream, it's very moisturizing, but it's very lightweight. So it's not going to wear your curls down and at curl cream that is great for thick, coarse, hair hair. That needs a lot more moisture. Is it the bouclem curl cream for fine hair types? You have to be careful with this. I would say just use a pea, size amount and then add more if you need it, but yeah with all of this. You just need to go by your hair and how it reacts. So after your curl cream or leave-in comes a gel or another product that adds hold like a mousse, my personal preference is a gel. I just find it gives much more hold. So i'll talk you through a few of my favorite gels and also ones that i think are great for newbies. So if you have fine hair like me, that is very soft. I would recommend this gel. It'S super strong hold, but it will add a little bit of texture to your hair. I personally really like that, because my hair is so soft naturally, but some people don't like that. If you don't want that, don't get this gel another really lovely deal of people who are just starting out is the naughty hey, curl gel this came out last year and i absolutely love it. It'S really affordable. So it's great if you are starting your curly journey. If you're looking for a product line, just to start out with just go for naughty, is so so just accessible in the uk and us as well, because they have a us website. Another gel that is great for newbies that you can get on uk high street is the umberto giannini curl jelly again. This is a lovely, gel, affordable and yeah another good one. If you have super dry hair, then you want to go for a gel. That is moisturizing a couple of moisturizing gels that i like are the blue clem gel. So this is their curl defining gel the original one that they have, and this is their super hold stylist. So these are great. If you have thick coarse hair, i would say, but again it really goes down to your hair, so many factors come into play and a lot of people with my hair type also get great results. This was my holy grail when i first started out, but now my hair is very moisturized, so i find that i need something with a little less moisturizing ingredients and a little more hold, so another product that can add hold is a mousse. This is my favorite mousse. I haven't used it for ages, but i used to use it loads at the start of my hair journey, but this is another product that you can buy really easily in the uk. I see it all the time in tesco when i do my weekly food shop, so it's really accessible and it's about three pound a bottle. If you have very dry hair, you may also want to purchase a deep conditioner. So this is gon na really keep your hair, healthy and moisturized and hydrated. A couple of deep conditioners that i like are the naughty to the rescue one. This is a great budget friendly option and another one that is really really moisturizing. Is the boucleme intensive, moisture treatment they're both called intensive, moisture treatment, intense moisture treatment, intensive moisture treatment? If your hair doesn't feel dry, you may not need to deep condition your hair. When i first started out, i did deep condition my hair, but now i do not deep condition my hair ever ever. I don't need to so. You may not need to deep condition your hair if your hair is very dry and it feels kind of like straw and just rough, then yes, i would definitely recommend deep conditioning, but if not, then it's not something that i would worry about, maybe buy the other Products first and see how you go and if your hair's still very dry then introduce a deep conditioner into your routine. So those are the basic products that you will need to get started: cleanser conditioner, styling products, so a cream and a gel, and that is the basis of your curly hair routine. I'M not going to tell you that you need to follow a specific curly hair method, but what i will say is it's good to have an understanding of the ingredients that are in your product. So, for example, if you are using products that contain silicones, make sure that you are also using a cleanser that can remove them. It'S not only sulfates that can remove silicones. I used to think this, but i did a bit more research and i realized that's not true. There are lots of other cleansing ingredients that can remove silicones and i'll put a blog post for you in the description bar below from sciencey hair blog. That tells you different cleansers that can remove silicone. Just make sure that you are not using anything. That'S going to cause build up on your hair, and if you are, then you are removing it properly tools and the accessories. So if you're going to be caring for your curls and there are some tools that are going to be very beneficial, you don't have to purchase these tools, but they are some things that i have found work for me and that others find that work for them. So the first thing that i would personally recommend is a diffuser and hair dryer. This is the diffuser and hair dryer that i use. This is the excava black orchid diffuser, it's massive. I got it from the us amazon. It is on the uk amazon now, but it is extortionately priced when i got it. It was about 15 pounds and i got it from the us amazon and it came through customs. I didn't have to pay extra, but this was a few years ago. So i'm not sure what it's like now. This is the hair dryer i use this was gifted to me. I previously used a hairdryer that probably costs about 40 pounds, or something like that. You can see in my diffusing video as long as you've got a hairdryer that has a few different heat settings and a few different speed settings. You are good to go. I really enjoy diffusing my hair. I absolutely hate air dry, my hair, most of the time, because it just takes so long and i don't like having wet hair and also it gives me better definition and volume, but you can watch about that in my other videos. I will link them above so the next accessory that i think is really beneficial if you're starting your curly hair journey is a silk pillowcase. This is one of mine. It'S very creased because i just got it out of my dirty washing basket because it needs to go in the wash. This one is actually from bouclem, but i have a few others as well and they are from my case silk. You can get satin pillow cases as well, they're a little bit cheaper, a silk pillow case. I'Ve spoken about it before in my other videos, but they really really help keep your curls moisturized. They help prevent breakage and tangles and knots, and they really help my curls. Last in today too as well, so i really recommend a silk or satin pillowcase. Personally, my preference would be a silk pillow case, but totally up to you on that something else that i really recommend is ditching at the terry towel. So do not dry your hair with the same kind of towel material that you dry your body with they're very rough, so they can cause frizz on the curls and they're quite drying. So they remove a bit too much moisture from the hair when we are styling. If you're, just starting your curly hair journey, just use an old cotton t-shirt instead of a towel, much more affordable, much cheaper, won't break the bank, you already have it at home. You can also use a curl towel. These are a couple of my favorites. This is the bouquet one, i think it's a mix of bamboo and cotton, and this is the no not co one, and it is i'm not sure what this is. I think it's a cotton one but i'll put something up here for you. So these are really great. They reduce freeze, they don't take out too much water out of my hair when i am drying it and yeah. I really enjoy using these. But if you are on a budget, please just use a cotton t-shirt. Another accessory that you may want to use in your routine is a detangling brush, so this one is one that i've been really enjoying from no, not co, it's really flexible. So it kind of goes with your hair. When you detangle it, you can also get like tangle teezer brushes, and you may also want a wide tooth comb. This is just one from babyliss. I got this from like a random store like tk, maxx or homesense, or something like that, but they're really easy to get everywhere and i think the no not co does one of these as well, but yeah so detangling brush you may want. I don't really use a detangling brush that often, but i have been using them more often recently in the winter, when my hair has been getting more tangled, just much easier to kind of just get all the knots out. But i will link my finger detangling routine. Video above because you do not need to buy a brush, in my opinion, another curly hair tool that i think could be really beneficial to a newbie is a spray bottle. Now i have a few this one's from amazon, and this one is from curly girl movement. They just spray like a fine mist, so you can obviously get ones that don't spray a fine mist, but i would recommend one that does spray a five miss because they're really good for refreshing. It'S really good, if you like to add a bit of extra water throughout your styling routine. They don't spread like a really harsh spray on your hair, so they're not just going to saturate one section they're going to saturate a larger surface area. Obviously, you don't need it, but it's something that may help you in your journey and, lastly, you might want to get some hair accessories, so some little invisible balls. Something else that i use a lot. Is these little clips they're like one pound from primark and there's like six in a pack, you can get them on amazon as well, although i can't seem to find ones that are the same size of these online. So i'm sorry about that, but they also do them like similar ones in boots. Accessorise those sort of shops you'll be able to find these. I believe these are two centimeter ones, so have a look out for that. Next up is building your curly hair routine. So you've got your products and your tools and accessories. Now you need to put them into practice. You need to use them on a wash day. So how often you wash your hair will depend on your hair and your scalp. Everyone'S scalp is different. Some people need to wash their hair every day. Some people can get a way of washing their hair. Like every seven days. I personally used to wash my hair about every four to seven days, but nowadays it's more like every three or four days. I think you just need to pay attention to your scalp. If your scalp is telling you i'm greasy, please clean me just clean it and if you have any kind of scalp issues, i'd highly recommend just seeing your gp, because the products that you use shouldn't be causing that sort of thing on your scalp. So building a routine, so every time you wash your hair, however often you've decided you want to wash your hair you'll need to cleanse condition style dry, your hair, so it goes in that order. So first you'll cleanse your hair. Then you will condition your hair. Then you will style your hair. First you'll apply a cream or a moisturizing product like a leave-in conditioner, then you will apply a product for hold on top of that and then, after you style, your hair you'll need to dry your hair. Some people prefer to air dry and i've got an air dry, routine. Video which i'll link above and some people prefer to diffuse and i've also got a diffusing video, which i will link above so cleanse condition style dry, your hair, that's it! That is your wash day routine. If you are deep conditioning, i would recommend doing that once a week if your hair is dry every other week, if your hair's, not so dry, maybe like once a month if your hair is like really not dry and never. If your hair is like mine, one thing i will say as well with deep conditioner is: if you have fine hair that is easily weighed down, you may want to do it before you cleanse, so you wash all of the deep conditioner out, because sometimes it can Kind of build up on our hair, if it's fine, so yeah, that is a basic styling routine and obviously how often you do that will depend on your hair type and you'll figure that out as you go along and you can try different styling techniques and things Like that and figure out what works best for you, i do have a few different wash day routine videos on my channel, which i will link in the description bar below, but i would really recommend trying out different styling techniques as well. So, for example, i used to rake my gel through my hair and then scrunch it, but recently i found that glazing, my gel over my hair and then scrunching. It has been working better for me so as well like what works for you at the beginning. That may not work for you further on in your journey, so it's really about just experimenting, trying different things. What works for me may not work for you. Next up is to get a trim. So if you've been straightening, your hair or using a lot of heat on your hair and you've got heat damage or you have chemical damage from a chemical treatment, you won't be able to repair that kind of damage by just looking after your curls. It will need to be cut off at some point and some people choose to cut all the damage off at once and others prefer to just do it gradually. So it's really about what you want to do, what you feel comfortable doing, but if your hair is very damaged, like split ends and very damaged from heat, it's very unlikely that you'll be able to repair that just by looking after your curls and my final tip Is to find some curl friends, i personally don't really have very many curly haired friends in real life, which i'm pretty sad about, because it means that i can't like share my products with them. But i am very fortunate that i have all of you guys, and that makes me very happy so what i would suggest, if you don't have any girlfriends in real life or even if you do just to get on instagram, find like a curly hair community. The curly hair community on instagram is very nice, tik tok, not so nice, but yeah there's so many so like reddit, there's curly hair communities just like facebook groups and things like that. So definitely find some curl friends and follow people for inspiration, but try not to get caught up in the comparison trap. It'S so easy to start comparing your hair to others and the truth is you can only see what their hair looks like on a screen. You can't see what their hair looks like in real life, so their hair may be coarse and yours may be fine, so they might be using really heavy products and you might use those products and they don't work for you. They wear your hair down and make your hair feel sticky so like follow, but for inspiration, so many factors come into play when it comes to choosing products, not everything that works for someone with the same hair type as you is even gon na work for you. It'S a journey, it's a real journey so now that i've been through how to build a routine, what products to find how to start your curly hair journey, i want to also go through a few frequently asked questions with you that i think are important to know. If you are a beginner, so the first is: should i brush my hair, i would personally recommend not brushing your hair on dry hair just because it can cause a lot of breakage. Sometimes i do kind of finger detangle, my hair on dry hair, if it's very, very soft, but if your hair is very tangled, i would not recommend brushing your hair on dry hair. I would recommend doing it when it's wet in the shower, with lots of conditioner on. Obviously, our hair is more fragile when it's wet, but if you've got lots of conditioner, then it kind of helps slip through the knots and helps detangle so yeah. If you're going to brush your hair, that is when i would personally recommend brushing your hair. If you want to brush your hair and you feel like you need to brush your hair, just do that. You'Ve got to do what works for you. How long will it take? How long is a piece of string, so everyone's hair will take a different amount of time to become the curliest that it can be? So if your hair is particularly damaged, for example, it will take longer than someone whose hair is already pretty healthy if your hair is pretty healthy already, it's probably just a case of finding the right products and techniques to enhance your curls, get them to look how You want them to look but yeah. If your hair's damaged, then it will take a lot longer after a few months, you'll probably start to notice some changes in your hair. Another question that i'm asked so often by newbies, and i cannot stress enough how much you should not worry about this. If you are new to caring for your curls protein moisture balance, do not worry about it. Just don't worry about it. If you are just starting out looking after your curls, you don't need to worry about whether your products contain protein. For the most part, when you start caring for your curls, your hair will need moisture and most curly hair products are designed to add moisture. So just stick with a few products when you first start out and just see how your hair goes. If you notice that your hair is all of a sudden acting differently, then not worry about it, but really don't worry about it at the start. Another common question from beginners is: how do i get rid of frizz? Firstly, frizz is completely normal. Everyone with curly hair has some amount of frizz. However, if you find your hair is very frizzy, it's probably a sign of your hair needing moisture, and i would definitely recommend watching my frizz video and also my winter hair care. Video, because there's lots of tips on how to moisturize your hair and combat frizz. In those videos, i personally really don't mind. Frizz these days i like to have a bit of frizz. My hair doesn't get a lot of volume, so frizz really helps give me a bit of volume. So that's why i like to shake my hair out so much because it gives me a bit of volume, functional frizz and the last common question that i get is. Will my curl pattern change if you have been straightening your hair or using chemical treatments on your hair, and you have lost your curl pattern due to that then? Yes, your curl pattern will change because it will go back to your normal curl pattern. However, if your hair is naturally wavy - and that is your curl pattern doing all these techniques won't change your curl pattern permanently. It can enhance your curl pattern and make your hair temporarily more curly or more wavy, but it's not going to create like a permanent change, but also bear in mind that your curl pattern can change throughout your life. Hormones can play a part in curl pattern as well, so there we go. I really hope that you found this video helpful and it gave you a good starting place to begin your curly journey. This whole process is a process of trial and error. Everyone'S hair is different, it has different needs. Different things will work on different days. No hair day will be the same, but it is a journey, and i'm here with you, i'm gon na help you along so yeah check out my other videos. Also, if you are just starting your curly hair journey, i'd really recommend checking out my 10 things. I wish i knew before starting my curly hair journey video, which i will link above. Let me know if you have any other questions in the comments below and any other topics that you want me to cover in a little bit more detail. If you did enjoy the video and you found it helpful, please feel free to give it a like leave. A comment and don't forget to hit the subscribe button, and i will see you soon, bye guys, you