10 Reasons Your Curls Don’t Last + Longest-Lasting Routine
Do your curls look frizzy, limp, and undefined by the end of the day? This is one of the biggest complaints I hear from y’all
Finding the right products for your curly hair’s needs can be so complicated. With so many terms surrounding curl pattern, porosity, texture, and more it can be difficult to put it all together. Not to mention, many brands group their products based on curl pattern which is not helpful since curly hair is so nuanced. I’m the perfect example of a mixture of hair types. I have low-density hair so I’m often mislabeled as someone with “fine curls” when in fact, my hair is half medium-textured and half coarse-textured. So how does one know what to get, especially when shopping online? I’m here to help break it down for you into the only 4 things that you need to know.
In my opinion, hair texture is the most important characteristic to know about your hair in order to select the right products. This is because products vary in weight, especially when it comes to cream and gel styling products. I decided to focus on stylers for this post because stylers make the biggest impact on how your hair appears and determine your wash day results.
Texture or strand width is the width or thickness of your individual strands of hair.
Why it matters: Knowing your strand width will tell you how lightweight or how heavy your products need to be.
Types of texture:
Note: You can have multiple textures. Select products based on the most prominent texture or the most problematic.
How to determine texture: Pick up a single strand of hair and feel it between your fingers. Does it feel very thick, wirey or even have kinks in it when you run your fingers down the strand? If so, it’s coarse. On the other hand, if you can barely feel it and can barely see it then it’s fine. If it’s somewhat in between its medium.
Fine hair: Use lightweight products, watery, liquidy formulas. Avoid thick butters and oils.
Example: Innersense Organic Beauty Sweet Spirit Leave-In Conditioner
Medium hair: Use light or mediumweight products, cream formulas.
Example: Bounce Curl Avocado & Rose Oil Clump and Define Cream, 10% off with code GENAMARIE
Coarse hair: Use heavy products, thick formulas, butters, and oils. Mediumweight creams can also be used.
Example: Shea Moisture Curl Enhancing Smoothie
Knowing how you want your hair to turn out is next in line of importance when selecting styling products. Once you know your texture, consider what look you’re going for. Typically, if you have fine hair you may want to achieve more volume so you would pick lighter-weight products, but everyone has different preferences.
Why it matters: Depending on the look you’re going for, products can help you achieve different results.
Types:
Porosity is how absorbent your hair’s cuticle layer is and how well it can retain moisture. Knowing how damaged your hair is will tell you if you need to incorporate certain ingredients or avoid certain ingredients such as protein. I think of protein as an “add-on” which is why I don’t include it as the first step. It is very helpful to know because if you have high-porosity hair, it will likely be much more high maintenance.
Why: Knowing your porosity will tell you how much protein and moisture your hair needs, and sealing your products should be.
Types:
Note: You can have multiple porosities. Select products based on the most prominent porosity or the most problematic.
How to determine porosity: Think about how healthy your hair is and look for the symptoms mentioned above. You can also spritz your clean, product-free curls with water and see how quickly it absorbs.
Low porosity: Avoid or limit protein. Example of a protein-free strong hold gel: Jessicurl, Spiralicious Gel, Strong Hold Styling Gel
Medium porosity: Incorporate some protein
High porosity: Use protein ingredients but don’t overdo it. Example of a protein-rich strong hold gel: AG Liquid Effects Extra Firm Styling Lotion, 20% off with code GENA20
Climate refers to the current weather where you live. Have you ever spent forever on your wash day only to step outside and it get completely ruined by the humidity? Certain ingredients can help in weather conditions.
Why it matters: Knowing your climate will tell you if you need products with ingredients that help block humidity or retain moisture in very dry air.
Types of climates:
Note: If you live somewhere with seasons, this will change throughout the year and you may need a variety of products.
Humid climates: Look for humidity-blocking ingredients like polyquats, sealing ingredients like silicone, and strong hold. Example: Ouidad Advanced Climate Control Heat & Humidity Stronger Hold Gel, 20% off with code GENAMARIE
Mild climates: Can use a variety of products
Dry climates: Look for film-forming humectants like aloe, flaxseed, and oils to help with moisture retention. Example: Curlsmith Curl Defining Styling Souffle
Knowing your density is definitely helpful, but won’t always dictate your products. Instead, density affects the AMOUNT of product you apply. Density refers to how thick your hair is overall, or how much hair you have on your head. This ranges from low, medium, and high. This is different than texture or strand thickness.
My hair is a perfect example of where anomalies exist with curly hair. Since I have coarse-textured areas that get very dry and brittle, I can benefit from using products with oils and butters. However, since I have low-density hair, if I want volume, I can’t use too much and instead should just apply a small amount of a rich curl cream.
I’m so excited to announce the launch of the new Shop page here on my blog! This has been many, many months in the making and something I’ve wanted to have for a long time. I’ve always wanted to create an easier way to shop for curly hair products online because it can be so difficult. Most brands and retailers don’t label or describe products to fit our needs. Not only can you find my product recommendations, but you can also filter based on tons of attributes such as formula weight (light vs. heavy), hold level, protein, aloe, glycerin, and more. Best of all, you can combine the filters to narrow down to exactly what you need.
Also included on the product pages are my discount codes that you can use on the brands’ websites. Checkout will happen on the brand/retailer’s website, and shopping through my affiliate links helps support my blog while saving you money when I have a code. I cannot thank you all enough for your support! I hope this makes shopping a bit easier. I will keep the page updated with the latest products I’m using.
Please DM me on Instagram if you catch any errors in the product labels or if things aren’t working properly. This is just the first iteration of it and I will be making more improvements to the layout, including adding relevant content to each product so you can see posts where I’ve used that product.
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