How Can I Tell if My Curly Hair is Damaged?
Are your curls lacking the luster they once had? Perhaps your scalp is more irritated than usual, or your strands feel a little thinner than they did. These are common signs of curly hair damage. They can result from many things, including an allergy or a medical condition, such as thyroid problems or an iron deficiency.
Culprits that damage your curls include:
- Heat styling tools
- Products with inferior quality ingredients
- Color or processing treatments
- The brush or comb you use and brushing frequency
- Excessive protein or moisture
- Hard water
- Diet
You should take everything into account and try to pinpoint when you noticed something was off about your curls.
While several factors may damage your curly hair, there is an equal number of ways to revive your curly locks.
How Can I Revive My Damaged Curly Hair: 7 Tips
The great thing about hair is that it is resilient and ready to repair itself when you are. The following are ways you can help boost your curls recovery process, from one curly-haired girl to another.
Tip 1: Avoid Heat, Brushing, and Processing
The Curly Girl Method is a fantastic resource for curly-haired girls and is full of tips and styling tricks for naturally healthy hair. All of which include avoiding heat styling, dry brushing, processing, and sulfates. Whether you abide by this method or not, these are great tips to help revive your curls. If you are straightening your curls, be sure to use a safe heat protectant.
Tip 2: Go Sulfate-Free
Sulfates have their place and are excellent cleaning and stripping agents. But they can be extremely harsh on your hair strands and dry them out. Curly hair has a natural tendency to be dry, so sulfates are even more damaging.
Try to read each ingredient in your hair care products, avoiding sulfates such as sodium coco sulfate and sodium lauryl sulfate. Instead, opt for more gentle surfactants such as isethionates and taurates.
Once you go sulfate-free, also remember to ditch the silicones. Continued use of silicones without sulfates will cause buildup and lead to additional damage.
Tip 3: Reach for a Mask
Masks are great deep conditioning treatments. They help boost your curls and the moisture in your locks while protecting them from frizz. Take a day every week or two to pamper yourself and your curls. Lather on that mask.
Tip 4: Use Cool Water
Shampoo, rinse, repeat! That's supposedly the critical process to cleaning your hair. But shampoo bottles don't specify the temperature of the water you should rinse with for best results.
When you're rinsing the suds out of your curls, using cool water will help close the cuticle (outermost layer) of your hair. The colder the water, the more shine and the less frizz your hair will have.
Tip 5: Choose Your Brush Correctly
Be mindful of the brush you use to comb through your strands. Avoid using a standard brush or comb when your hair is dry.
If you need to detangle, try using your fingers instead. Otherwise, try a wide-tooth comb or a brush designed for wet hair.
Always have a conditioner or leave-in conditioner in your hair when combing. And work your way gently from the ends up.
Tip 6: Give Your Curls Some Downtime
Give your mane a break from time to time. Let your hair be its natural self if you don't have to be picture-perfect that day. Be bold and let your curls air dry. You can skip most styling products, reaching instead for just a leave-in conditioner, maybe argan oil, or something super nutritious for your strands.
Tip 7: Get Trims on the Reg
Your hair is living and constantly working to grow, heal, and repair itself. The ends of your hair die off, break, and split. Regularly trimming your hair removes those damaged, split-ends that cause frizz and hinder new healthy growth.
Become a VidaBabe
Many factors affect your curl's health. Protein may be the central portion of your dietary intake, but it is not the best strategy for your curly strands. If you add too much protein to your hair, your curls can quickly dry out, become brittle, and break. Additionally, if you add too much moisture, you run the risk of fluffy, frizzy curls that are too soft to hold your natural curl pattern and lack shine.
Regardless of what's going on with your hair, the products you use are likely the cause. Take a break from what you're using and try a different product. Use something that contains less harsh and common allergen ingredients, such as sulfates, for a month or two. Then see how your hair looks and feels.
If you're ready to make the switch from damaging shampoos to solutions that are free of sulfates, silicones, drying alcohols, and mineral oils, try Vida Bars. Find the perfect formula to nourish your locks and become a VidaBabe today.