Monday, March 12, 2012

Beauty: Curly Sue

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My natural color!

Tall women can pull off extra-long locks or a dramatic mane of curls. But how do you keep big hair from becoming a big problem?

I’ve been fighting with my curls for years—a daily sparring match with frizz, humidity, and ultra-high-volume. I’ve tried dozens of hair products and styling techniques along the way, and I’m happy to say that I’ve found a few I can solidly recommend.

After washing my hair, I apply leave-in conditioner to moisturize and minimize damage when I brush my hair out. I love Infusium 23, but I recently found Neutrogena Triple Moisture Leave-In Conditioner (about $7 at Walgreens), which is creamier, but doesn’t make my hair sticky or weight it down.

After I brush my hair out, I wait 15 minutes until it’s started to air-dry. Then, if I’m going out or just want really defined curls, I apply one pump of TIGI Catwalk Curl Amplifier ($11-14 online). The downside to this product is that it can get sticky and because it acts more like a gel than a cream, it’s not so easy to revive your curls the next morning. The softer (and cheaper) alternative is Garnier Fructis Curl Sculpting Cream-Gel (about $3 at Target). This is an all-day, everyday product and I love it. Plus, like all things Garnier, it smells really good.

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My natural curl – and not-so-natural hue

Speaking of next-day hair, my usual routine is to mist my hair with water and then braid it—either in one big braid or two pigtail braids—before I go to bed. In the morning, I spray my hair with water and scrunch the curls back to life with a little more of either the Neutrogena leave-in conditioner or Garnier cream-gel.

I should mention that there are a couple of “scientific” frizz-fighting products out there, including Curl Keeper by Curly Hair Solutions and Living Proof’s No Frizz, available at Sephora. I haven’t tried these out because they’re fairly expensive and (in the case of Curl Keeper) they must be special-ordered. That said, I’ve read some very positive reviews and if you’ve tried them—or any other curly hair products—please let me know what you think.

For additional tips and tricks, check out the naturallycurly.com forum—for all you twisted ladies out there.

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