10 HAIRSAVING Steps To Reviving Brittle, Damaged Curls.

This post was highly requested by my readers, and I am so happy to share with you my secret to reviving my curly hair! 

You may have read in my "Curly Hair Chronicles: My Road to Recovery" that after years of coloring and flat ironing my hair I absolutely DESTROYED IT (The blonde hair picture was from 2016 and it took A LOT to get that "beach wave" look; The brunette jersey pic was from November 2017, & the other brunette pic was from February of 2018).  

The main question that I get when it comes to how I fixed my damaged hair is "Was it a professional treatment(s) you had to go through?" The answer is NO! Everything that got me to where I am now in my hair journey is 100% doable from home, and I'm going to tell you how. 

HOW TO REVIVE YOUR DAMAGED CURLS: 

1. LEAVE HEAT ALONE. Yes. I said it. This is the absolute hardest part, especially if your hair is anything like mine was (wet dog looking). 

You may feel insecure about your hair's damaged "natural" state, but I promise you, resorting to ponytails, braids and buns with no heat will be much more rewarding than using heat to cover up your damaged locs. 

2. Cut out all SULFATE containing products!!!! Sulfate dries out your hair and skin and is the LAST thing you want, especially for curly hair. The whole point of retaining healthy locs is to keep them moisturized with nutrients, not dry them out until they are brittle. An inexpensive shampoo that I really like is Maui Moisture Heal & Hydrate + Shea Butter Shampoo.

3. AVOID HAIR DYE. Another hard one for most. I stopped dying my hair in February of 2017, after nearly 9 years of using color. Over time I began to realize what a difference it made, because every time you color your hair you are stripping it of the proteins it needs to flourish. Another big no-no! 

4. Condition often. Shampoo less. This is important. Your hair does not require a shampoo every time you hop in the shower to wash it!! This can also dry your hair out which is a NO NO. Limit your shampoo sessions to once or twice a week, and condition your hair EVERY TIME! It's also a good idea to invest in a quality deep conditioner/hair masque to use once/twice weekly for curl recovery. I recommend Ouidad Curl Recovery Melt Down Extreme Repair Mask

or if you're feeling inventive, make your own products! (Geez, I gave away my next point)

5. Invest into natural hair care products. This was the most essential contribution to revitalizing my curls! I got rid of all my sulfate containing products, and invested into carrier oils such as Castor, Jojoba, Almond, Grapeseed, Coconut oil as well as essential oils such as tea tree, peppermint, eucalyptus etc. I bought a huge bag of Raw Shea Butter and GOT TO WORK! This really made all of the difference and sped up the process of my hair regaining its strength and texture. I would also look into my post on the vitamins that I have taken “I think you're lacking some vitamin mE" and try those, as they have sped this process up for me as well! 

6. If you're going to use a diffuser, use cold air. This goes back to not using heat! Sometimes you just have to resort to diffusing to get your hair to look presentable. If you're one of those people, resort to low heat or just cool air altogether for this process.

7. Detangle your hair in the shower! I've seen people say they don't do this for whatever reason, but i'm telling you what I do and detangling in the shower has helped keep me from combing out 90% of my hair while it's dry. Do this while the conditioner is setting in your hair, so when you get out of the shower all you have to do is style your hair and go! 

8. BUY A DENMAN BRUSH! THE HOLY GRAIL OF CURLY HAIR BRUSHES! Click here to get yours now! Getting your own denman brush will be the best $11-13 you'll ever spend, I PROMISE. It literally does all the work. I don't know who engineered such a brilliant, simple looking brush but thank God they did it. This brush not only saves you styling time, but helps distribute product evenly through your hair and keeps you from pulling your own hair out! (Though I don't recommend using it in the shower, things can get a bit tangled up in there haha). Remember to never brush your hair dry! 

9. Protect your hair before bed. Whether you braid it like I do, wrap it, sleep on a satin pillow case, what have you. Your hair needs protection at night. Do you realize humans sleep an average of 6-8 hours per night? Thats a LOT of time for your hair to be rubbing up against cotton or being let loose for friction to kick in and split those ends. Keep your locs safe. 

10. Be patient with your progress. My hair did not change over night. With all of what I have learned about hair care since I began my journey, I can say patience has been my biggest and most valuable lesson. You WILL see results. Forget what people say about having to "big chop" everything and start over. I trimmed 4 inches off of my hair (it's a good idea to at least trim all of your split ends off) and it was to my bra strap and scraggly looking when I began reviving my curls, and I'm so glad I didn't listen to those telling me to cut it off and start over fresh. Over time of course, I will continue to trim my hair until all of the once damaged pieces are gone and my virgin hair has grown out. I am so happy that I took the time to experiment with this process, and hope that you take the time to do the same and SAVE YOUR LOCS. 

Highlighted in purple are direct links to my Amazon account where you can purchase the exact products that I've purchased! Happy shopping and here's to HAPPY HAIR! 

Xoxo,

Dom

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