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Not having curly hair myself, I'm wondering what is the best way to look after DD's hair. It's quite long and fine, and I like to put it up out of the way but I wouldn't like to think I was damaging it by using the wrong kind of brush/comb. I imagine a wide-toothed comb would probably be best? I have been using a fine bristled brush to get it up neatly but this probably isn't good huh? Any little tips and tricks would be appreciated.
I have curly hair and DD1 has curly hair too so I understand your dilemma.
Whenever I style mine or DD1's hair I make sure the hair is damp, not when dry. I know this goes against all that hairdressers say about breakages of the hairs etc etc but its the only way to get through the tangles and it reduces the frizziness.
I have a water spray bottle for DD1's hair and for mine I shower then style. Detangler sprays are also good on DD1's hair, they have a little conditioner usually which helps get through the hair easily.
NEVER use elastic bands or elastic circles on curly hair as the curls find a way of tangling all around the band and they are painful to remove or need to be cut from the hair. I use only the fabric elastics as they are kinder on the hair.
As for the question about the brush/comb. A wide toothed comb works well and so does those brushes with the knobs on the ends of the bristles with the big air gaps on the paddle (does that make sense?).
You said her hair is long. For long hair a tip a hairdresser gave to my mum for me when I was 8 was to always condition the hair in the shower and run the comb through it with the conditioner in it. Prior to this arrangement there were many tears in the mornings before school as a brush was pulled through my dry unruly curls and it looked a frizzy mess. It just means getting up a little earlier to have a shower in the morning instead of night and then styling.
If you don't want her showering in the mornings or time is an issue, braiding the hair before bed is a real time saver. It can be rebraided in the morning for neatness. Invest in bobby pins too.
Also, hairdryers are a curly haired persons nightmare unless a diffuser is used and its on a low blow setting.
When cutting her hair remember that curls shrink when dry so if you cut a fringe to the length of the end of her nose it will shrink right up to where the hairline begins (it does on mine anyway) so always find a hairdresser that knows and understands curls. I've had many bad haircuts from geniuses (used sarcastically) who claim to know my hairtype and I've been in tears the second I have left the shop.
I know I've put lots of info here I hope some of it is a help to you. If you have any further questions please don't hesitate to ask.
Curl
oh curl , you sound just like me , i have very curly hair ( have pics in the gallery)
scaha , i agree , use the conditioner then comb it , try not to brush it when its dry , you will get major dramas , i often use a teeeny tiny bit of conditioner in my wet hair as a "leave in" styler , it tames the frizzies and the knots ... and curly hair doesnt need to be washed as often a stragit , as the oil the sclap produces slides down the curls , where as it biulds up on straight hair , a reason why lots of straigt haired people get oily scalps ...
hair is self cleaning too .. and dont get it cut too short , like curl said , i had a hair cut the other week and once again it was a diaster ..
I have curly hair but I've been straigtening it for years.
When I was younger my mum only used a wide tooth comb on my hair and only when it was wet.
Quite often she would plait my hair just after a bath/shower into six plaits in different spots on my head. I would go to bed with my hair like that.
In the morning she would unplait it and my curls were tame, managable and my hair was easy to style.
i am also a member of the curl club!
agree with what the girls have said above...
diffusers, wide combs and only brushing/combing when wet and with conditioner...
and also good product when she is old enough...
also a GHD styler when she is much older.. curls are gorgeous but it is nice to be able to straighten them sometimes!!! (LOL - kind of!)
I do what the other girls suggested too - comb while conditioner is in and use a wide tooth comb. I also spray water on DD's dry hair to make it a little damp before combing/styling. I use organic instinct natural baby shampoo and conditioner and find it is really good for my DD's curls and reduces frizziness.
LOL on the GHD styler, I can imagine that my DD will be wanting to use mine one day (can't stand my curls most days!)
the GHD is truly a godsend :lol:
My DD has curly hair, we use Dora the Explorer Hair detangler in it. Although about a year ago, she requested a haircut (from her waist to her shoulders :o) and due to genetics, it grew back thicker, and now isn't as curly because it's now HEAVY! But she still gets all the curly hair problems!! When she was younger with finer hair, we used a good quality defrizzer in her hair.
Someone mentioned the paddle brush - we use one of those and it is good. We get her to brush her hair in the mornings and at night to stop the knots, and I always tie it back at night so it doesn't get as knotting while she sleeps.
My DD's hair isn't curly but it is waaaaaay thick and she also has a very sensitive head/scalp, which meant years of hair brushing trauma. In the end, I've used a combination of leave in conditioner (put it in hair when needed), a detangling spray (although TBH you can make one yourself by mixing a bit of conditioner in a spray bottle of demineralised/filtered water) and paying a bit more for good conditioners like Pantene or sunsilk.
I have very curly hair that my parents could never quite understand, so it was all self-discovery...so now DS never has to go down that road!
DS has curly hair and I'm not getting his hair cut any time soon. It is absolutely essential that his hair get conditioned and combed in the shower (nice wide-tooth comb we got from Boots). Then I pat it dry with a towel and leave it to dry naturally so that the ringlets form and reduce tangling during the day.
If he refuses a shower in the morning, I grab a facecloth, run it under the tap and give it a gentle squeeze, then chase him round the house to wet down the more flyaway curls, then finger-comb it (cos it won't be too tangled - conditioner and natural drying see to that) - then he looks presentable again, instead of a Byron Bay feral (not that I mind that look, either, but it means tears for the next time in the shower with the comb!).
I might make a detangling spray - he'd love to spray that on his own head and saves me chasing...
Thanks everyone - that gives me heaps of ideas to work with. I have been using the Natural Instincts shampoo on her but I will get the conditioner too - and a nice wide comb!
Oh, can I recommend Moo Goo?? GREAT conditioner and is a lot more natural than the Natural Instincts range! It's beautiful on both our hair and gentle on the environment :)
One more thing I remembered after my last post - save money on those metal-free bands (which all end up snapping anyway), and get an old pair of pantyhose, cut nice wide pieces and there's your hair tie supply - I use these on DS for when he's in the pool (much to DP's chagrin ;) )
As another curly-head just wanted to say KUDOS to you mum for investigating the best way to style your DD's curly hair! My mother never knew what to do with mine so she was always making me get it cut short...and to this day I still get hassled by my friends for the bad hairstyles I had growing up.
My DS has inherited my hair...very fine and curly, and I take him to my hairdresser who specialises in curly hair and she gives him a proper style cut, she point cuts it to bring out the curl. It costs $20 but if my kids are going to be stuck with my hair then I want them to know it can look good instead of having them spending years hating it and trying to make it do something it can't do. I was reluctant to take him to get it cut but when I did it brought out the curl even more and it's just adorable. We get so many comments on how lovely his hair is.
We get the tangles out when we wash it, let it dry naturally, and in the mornings I spray it with Gaia Detangler and just plain water and finger comb it to bring out the curl. The detangler on its own made the curls too "crispy" and water on its own didn't define the curl very well, so I've found a squirt of each works well. This is pretty similar to what I do for myself...I get the best curls when I let it dry naturally. And then I spray it with water to pep up the curl and use a smoothing cream for any flyaways (Goldwell, if you're interested, it keeps my hair feeling natural and it doesn't look "crispy" like I've got lots of product in it).
DS' hair is still very baby fine and probably won't be "proper" hair till he gets to primary school so we still use baby shampoo because normal shampoo weighs down his curl...but I would also cast a vote for MooGoo, I use it on my own hair and it's fabulous.
Re straighteners...I totally wrecked my hair using straighteners and hairdryers and had to grow it all out. My hair is too fine for me to use heating products on a regular basis and most curly hair types are actually more fragile, despite how stubborn they appear, so I would encourage your DD to embrace her curls and save the straightening for very special occasions, just as a straight haired person would get curls for a special occasion. It will be much better for her hair in the long run (not to mention saving hours and hours and hours of time and heartache messing about with hair) if she learns to work with and love her hair.