GLOSSY DEFINED CURLS HAIR CARE ROUTINE

Now I am proud to say that after a few hundred £'s and alot of trial and error I have come up with a great hair care routine with organic products that leave our little gg's curls soft, glossy and bouncy so I thought I'd share it with you.

This routine is for when we have her hair out and curly not for up styles or protective styling, that will be in another post.

SHAMPOO CONDITION & DETANGLE:

• I wash her scalp once a week with a sulphate free shampoo. The shampoo I'm using at the moment is CURLY Q's Curlie Cutie cleansing cream, it's free from sulphates, silicones, parabens, mineral oil and petrolatum oil and it's organic which is great as I don't want to be using any harsh chemicals on gg's scalp. I place a handful of shampoo in my palm rub it between both my hands and then gently massage in shampoo into her scalp with the balls of my fingertips.
• I then rinse the shampoo out thoroughly and moisturise her hair with CURLY Q's Coconut Dream moisturising conditioner this too is free from sulphates, silicones, parabens, mineral oil and petrolatum oil and is organic. I must say I love love love this conditioner it's so thick and creamy and makes detangling so quick. I take about two handfuls of conditioner and rake it through her hair from root to tip, you may need more or less depending on hair length and thickness but a good way to gauge when you have enough on, is when the hair feels slippery from root to tip and you can see the conditioner throughout the hair.
• I then rake my fingers from root to tip trying to separate any knots/tangles in her hair making sure not to tear the hair, this takes a few minutes.
• I start with the hair at the back of her head and clip the rest of her hair up and start detangling with my wide tooth comb and gently comb her hair from the bottom up. If I come across a knot or tangle I hold the hair securely just above the knot/tangle and gently comb again bottom up until the knot/tangle is released. I release more hair from the clip and repeat the same process until all of  her hair is detangled.
 




THIS IS WHAT THE HAIR SHOULD LOOK LIKE AFTER YOU APPLY CONDITIONER

• Now there are two options you can follow Rinse or  No Rinse 

 RINSE:

• If I choose to rinse out the conditioner I make sure I leave it in for at least 20 minutes while she plays in the bath. I rinse out the conditioner thoroughly and squeeze out any excess water with my hand before I get her out the bath. When I get her out the bath I make sure her bath towel doesn't rub on her hair as the friction will make it frizz up. For now this is quite easy because her hair is just above her shoulders when wet, but when it gets longer I may start wrapping it in a cotton t-shirt to absorb the excess water as I do with my own hair (plus if you leave it on for a few hours it gives lift at the roots). 

STYLING:

• I don't let her hair dry too much as it wont absorb the moisturiser properly and leave her curls dry and frizzy. Once out of the bath I get her dressed then apply CURLY Q's Custard (it's free from sulphates, silicones, parabens, mineral oil and petrolatum oil and it's organic), finger combing it through her hair section by section. I start with the hair at the nape of the neck and work my way up. I use about 1 1/2 handfuls of the custard. Then I apply about a 50p size amount of CURLY Q Gel-les'c (it's free from sulphates, silicones, parabens, mineral oil and petrolatum oil and it's organic)for shine and definition.

HAIR  STYLED USING THE RINSE OUT METHOD

   

BEDTIME ROUTINE:

• Before bed, I braid her hair in a few plaits/braids (they don't have to be super neat) to stop the moisture being lost and her curls loosing definition.
• gg also sleeps on a satin pillow case which is amazing at stopping flyaway bits of hair 

• *Before you buy one do the test that I did you'll look a bit silly but hey you gotta try before you buy lol also try and be a little discreet too. Preferably having your child's hair in cornrows will give you the best results but any hairstyle will work. When you get to the shop with your child go to the section where they sell satin pillow cases take it out the packaging and rub it over the top of their cornrows and see if any frizzys are formed. From my experience there should be hardly any. Now rub her cornrows against your cotton top if wearing one or do it at home on her pillow case and see how many frizzy fly aways appear, I bet you more than the satin pillow case.*
• You can also use a satin scarf or bonnet but I haven't on gg yet as they are all big for her head. *I got this great tip from curlygirlyb.blogspot.com to drape a satin scarf or satin pillow case on your child's car seat to stop their hair from frizzing. Check out her blog for many more great hair tips and hair advice.*
• When she has her afternoon nap I do not braid/plait her hair because the braids will stretch her curls out, so she sleeps with her hair out on her satin pillow case.

HAIR AFTER AFTERNOON NAP

CURL DEFINATION AFTER AFTERNOON NAP





NEXT DAY STYLING:

• When she wakes up I unravel her braids and shake my hands through the roots of her hair to join the sections back together otherwise they would be random parts all over the place.
• I then wet her hair with my hands to reactive the products(not soaking wet just so its a little damp)I put in the day before
• I then finger comb some more custard through her hair paying attention to any dry and undefined curls (I don't apply the product all over her hair if it doesn't need it as it will just build up make her hair look dull and give her an itchy scalp). I don't apply half as much as the day before and really only on the curls that are visible on the top layer because her hair is not as soaking wet as it is when washed so her hair won't absorb as much product and it will leave her hair rather crispy and straw like.
• Her curls are also looser than the day before because of the braids (braid out) and there is alot of volume underneath which I love and want to keep, but if I completely wet her hair her curls will lose the looseness and give us the same look as the day before but we like to change things up a bit with a different look. Plus the hair underneath is normally quite well defined from the day before, so I'd rather not touch them and cause them to frizz and ruin the style.
• I also don't like to wet her hair too much when it is cold outside and where we live it is quite often, so getting used to a routine that doesn't involve alot of wetting the hair and waiting for it to dry (I've never used heat to dry her hair and even if I tried she wouldn't let me because my cutie is scared of the hairdryer) saves us alot of time so we can have more fun playing outside together (",).




NO RINSE:

• I sometimes leave the conditioner in her hair as it clumps her curls together very nicely. After applying her conditioner and de-tangling her hair I take gg out of the bath, get her dressed and leave her hair to air dry as it really, quick and simple.

BED TIME ROUTINE:

• I follow the same night time braid routine as I do when I rinse the conditioner out of her hair.

NEXT DAY STYLING:

• In the morning I unravel her plaits/braids and dampen her hair but instead of applying the curly qs custard I apply some more conditioner lightly through all her hair finger combing it through section by section. *I don't mix conditioner in a spray bottle with water any more because it can harbour bacteria over time, and we can't guarantee the same temperature in our bathroom everyday so I would rather play it safe and apply the water and conditioner separately.* Then we are good to go (",).



NEXT DAY CURLS USING NO RINSE ROUTINE

   


  *I have not been paid to review these products, I have bought all the products myself*