Every wavy-curly girl knows the frustrating feeling of having tight coiled curls that begin to fall into a stringy, crunchy mess. Today I am sharing What to do when your curls lose their curliness and some practical tips on how you can bring dead curls back to life.
This happened to me seven months into my curl journey.
I started to notice that with each washday, my curls began to become less and less curly. When I compared photos from a few months ago it was clear that my curls were losing their curliness.
And it was sad!
I felt like the results from all my hard work to bring my curls back to life were starting to fade. So I went back to the drawing board and decided to do some troubleshooting on solving the problem.
Before I share with you some of the things that caused my curls to become less curly, I want to tell you about my curly girl cheat sheet to support you on your curl journey.
Getting started with your curly journey can be a little overwhelming so I compiled the need to know info to get started into a print out for your convenience. You can download a copy here.
As I scrolled through photos, I felt a little blah because just two months ago my curls were the curliest they had ever been. My gut reaction (even after all this time) was to grab my blow dryer and straighten iron and smooth those unruly curls out.
As I thought long and hard, I realized that wouldn’t fix the issue.
Don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing wrong with an occasional blowout. Who doesn’t love to wear their hair straight from time to time. But I knew that If I did that, I would enjoy it for a few days and then be back to square one.
So instead I try to figure out why my curls were unhappy and what I could do to fix them.
And it turns out that I’ve gotten a little lazy and haven’t been doing all the things that brought my curls back to life in the first place.
That’s the funny thing about being a human.
So many times when we start out on an adventure when we start seeing results we stop doing the things that got us those results.
Makes sense?
Like after going to the gym or starting a new eating plan. When we start seeing results, we stop doing the things that worked.
Same principle when it comes to curly hair.
When I took the time to really figure out why my curls were flat and stringy, it was because I stopped doing the things that worked early on in my curl journey.
But by implementing all of the things that originally brought my curls back to life, my curls bounced back up and were happy as clams. Yay!
What to do when your curls lose their curliness
Learn to love your curls
You may have given me an eye roll when you read that but it’s the truth. Your curly journey has so much more to do with self acceptance than it does with curl hair.
From a young age we were taught to believe beautiful equals straight, blond or you fill in the blank. I don’t know if people made us feel that way or if we took those thoughts on our own just because we were different.
I grew up in a very small town and I was for sure the only girl on the block with frizzy big hair. And since curly products weren’t stream lined back then, trust me when I say my hair was frizzy and big.
By the time I got into highschool I resorted to straighten my hair the majority of the time. And lived with an underlying belief that my curls needed to be fixed.
Many times people quit their curly journey because they never took the time to learn how to love their curls in the first place. And to be honest, sometimes it can be a little hard to love your curls.
So if you are struggling with caring for your curls, It may be time to explore and unpack yoru underlying belief about your curly hair.
Read here for more inspiration on how to love your curls.
Keep track of everything that works and everything that doesn’t work for your curls
When I say everything affects your curls, I mean EVERYTHING AFFECTS YOUR CURLS!!!
The weather, the products, the techniques you used to apply said products, even down to the very dew point in the air. Curls are very temperamental. It’s part of their very nature. That is why it is so very important to track everything that works for your curls and everything that doesn’t.
So if you find that your curls seem to be losing their curliness, I recommend keeping a detailed log of everything that works and doesn’t work for your curls. You can get my customized curl tracker here.
Create healthy habits and stick to them
The truth about having gorgeous curls is that there are no shortcuts. Trust me, I’ve searched high and low for a magical product but it simply does not exist.
You will never have healthy gorgeous curls until you have taken the time to establish a solid healthy haircare routine and are consistent with you.
After all, Rome wasn’t built in a day. Read more establishing healthy habits here.
Try switching up your products and application techniques
Sometimes the products that used to work don’t anymore due to a change in the weather or maybe your curls changed their mind. Try a new product and see if you have better results.
Do a rice water treatment
Finding the right protein/moisture balance is essential for having bouncing curls. Rice water has a way of bringing all those gorgeous curls back to life because of the protein it contains.
Early on in my curl journey I was doing a rice water rinse once to twice a week and it made a HUGE difference in my curls. See my rice water recipe here.
Create a weekly routine
Rather than winging washday. Start planning them along with what treatments your curls need. Be sure to keep track of them and how your hair reacts to each treatment, products, and technique used.
In conclusion:
When it comes to bringing life back to your seemingly dying curls, I suggest starting from the ground up.
Evaluate if there is an underlying belief that your curls aren’t pretty, keep track of everything that works and doesn’t work for your curls, create healthy habits and stick to them, try a rice water treatment, and create a weekly routine for your curly hair care.
Xoxo
Curly Colleen
Don’t forget to get a copy of the curly girl cheat sheet here.
