Curl Restoration

In this tutorial, I show you how I revive and restore my friend Erica’s curls.

Erica has been using products that lack the proper balance of proteins and moisture that natural hair needs to be healthy, she also had a host of other bad habits such as washing her hair in hot water, not deep conditioning, and not securing her hair at night with satin or silk accessories. Basically, everything she has been doing has contributed to her hair being dry, brittle and extremely difficult to manage.

To help get Erica to a point where detangling takes less than five minutes (it takes her about 45 minutes now), and where her wash-n-go will last up to five days (she gets one day now), I am having her discontinue use of everything she has and asking her to modify her habits and replace her products with her choice of the following:

Shampoo:

• How – Lather two times, in luke warm water, and rotate in a clarifying shampoo once per month (one lather, then hydrating shampoo after).
• Products – For hydrating shampoo, Ouidad Curl Recovery Cleansing Oil, and for clarifying shampoo, Ion Color Defense Clarifying Shampoo.

Conditioner:

• How – In quadrants (with multiple sections if necessary), apply conditioner and finger detangle with vinyl gloves, then use wide tooth shower comb. Over time, you may omit use of the gloves; once your hair is fully restored, it should tangle less.
• Products – For deep conditioning, click here.

Elasticity Treatment:

• How – Apply to hair at least twice per month, or every other washday. It can be used after shampooing, in place of deep conditioning product, or as a pre-poo treatment, followed by shampooing and deep conditioning.
• Products – Ouidad Curl Recovery Melt-Down Extreme Repair Mask  

Leave-ins and Stylers:

• How – After rinsing conditioner or treatment with cool water, use t-shirt or micro-fiber towel to gently remove some water from curls and apply leave-in treatment and styling product.
• Products – For leave-in treatment, use ApHogee Keratin and Green Tea Restructurizer. For curly styler, use Mixed Chicks Leave-In Conditioner.

Finishing and styling products:

• Silk oil – Chi Silk Infusion
• Styling Gel – Camille Rose Curl Maker
• Sheen Spray – Mizani HD Shyne

 Overnight care:

• Pineapple with fabric wrapped ponytail holder or satin scruchi, then secure with a silk or satin scarf and/or sleep on a satin pillow case.

When trying to figure out which products make sense for your hair, pay attention to the ones that work best and take note of their ingredients and attributes. For instance, did they all have coconut oil in them? What was the consistency of the products? Was it stated on the packaging that it would cater to your hair’s specific needs?

It takes time to find the product mix that will work best for you, but the more you pay attention to what you’re using, and commit to not cutting corners on your washdays, you will find that most products will “cooperate” in your hair. In a lot of cases, products aren’t “working” because your hair is not in a condition for them to do so. Lots of products, especially styling ones, are going to work best on healthy, properly prepared hair. So rather than focusing on all of the styling products, you really should make sure your routine is in order!

Purchases made through links to Amazon and Sally Beauty are compensated.