The ABCs~How To Always Be Curly and Love It! Curls of Wisdom from...Adina Sherman

The ABCs, don’t get overwhelmed; refer to the KISS (Keep It Simple Styling) list below to see how simple the steps are to care for your curls.

Always use sulfate-free shampoo. (Shampoo less and co-wash more with conditioner.)
Clarify once a month depending on product buildup.
Use a good conditioner with botanical ingredients and leave some in as your curl pattern requires, plus weekly treatments as needed.
Ensure there’s the proper amount of moisture in your hair before applying styling product.
Apply appropriate styling products in layers—no product cocktail mixes! Use styling products that are alcohol-free and light on oils, or curl-friendlier styling products with cetyl alcohol or water-soluble oils.
Scrunch with a microfiber towel or cotton T-shirt to remove mois­ture and encourage curl.
Use clips or Pik to add volume to your curly style.
Choose from the best drying methods: air-dry, diffuse, hooded dryer or plopping.
Sleep curly: options include the pineapple, claw clip, mesh bandana, hair tube or plopping (NO SATIN BONNETS).
Use a curl refresher to wake up your curls in the morning and always fluff at the root. And away you go!

It should be the first product you put on your curls after washing and conditioning, after removing a little moisture from your curls as explained in the Moisture Level Test section (p. 68). Don’t get lazy and mix your leave-in conditioner with a gel, for example, in your hand. A true leave-in has ingredients and properties designed to benefit the hair when left in the hair. You must therefore layer your products properly: using a gel, for example, over the specially designed leave-in conditioner will actually seal in the beneficial ingredients of the conditioner. As the curls dry, they are protected from the heat of the sun or dryness in the air, etc., by the gel layer.

To get these products to work properly—whether you’re a one-product curly or five—you must also learn how to section your hair. It’s just one more step to get you to reach your true curly potential. Teaching you all these steps is like putting pieces of a puzzle together. Each piece (step) I share with you will make a beautiful curly image when put together. Miss a piece and your curls will be incomplete. Get these steps down and you’ll never go back to lazy styling, knowing how great the curly style is when you put in the effort, especially when it gets you more styling days out of your curls.

Sectioning Your Curls

Let’s face it, as a curly, we will always have a little frizz at times, but it’s part of the curly personality! But hydrated, well-defined curls trump all in the curly world, so let’s start with learning how to section hair to achieve the best results for our curly lifestyle hair goals.

Always start with hair that is clean (washed with sulfate-free shampoo or co-washed) and conditioned. Depending on the texture of your curls, you will have:

rinsed off all your conditioner, for fine wavy hair or 2 curl pattern
left in a little conditioner, for thick, coarse, wavy 2 curl pattern
left in up to 25 percent of the conditioner, for 3 curl pattern
left in up to 50 percent of the conditioner, for 4 curl pattern
Before you apply your styling product, it’s important to detangle your curls. After you have cleansed your hair, finger rake to detangle your curls or use a wide-tooth comb before moving to a smaller tooth comb or brush, if you choose. When detangling, if you come across a knot or tangle, apply extra conditioner into the knot and massage in, then use your fingers or comb to work your way up from the bottom of the curly ends to the knot to detangle. If you have longer or thicker curls, you can divide your hair into large, pie-shaped vertical sections from the crown down to the neck to make detangling easier, using a clip to hold aside every completed section.

Don’t put oils or oily serums on your curls first, as this will not allow the other products to penetrate the hair and do their job.

Detangling spray (cream or lotion) or conditioning serum
Leave-in/leave-on conditioner
Gel or styling cream or lotion
Foam or mousse
Pomade or hair putty or paste
Spray oil or hair spray

can make your own refresher by mixing your favorite curly styling products in a spray bottle, following one of these three options:

1 part gel, 1 part conditioner and 4 parts water
1 part leave-in conditioner and 3/4 part water (for 3 and 4 curl patterns)
3 ounces of distilled water and one teaspoon to one tablespoon of conditioner for finer hair textures (for a light curl refresher)

Here’s the order of applying your styling products for the best results, whether you use one styling product or are layering them.

Detangling spray or conditioning serum
Leave-in conditioner (can be a foam, styling cream or lotion)
Gel (liquid or spray)
Mousse or styling foam
Pomade
Hair spray
Light layer of oil or shine spray. Any product that is oil based I would use last in order to seal in the other products that may have nourishing ingredients for curls, such as proteins.
Curl refresher

Prepare a mixture of 2 parts sulfate-free shampoo or conditioner to 1 part baking soda in a plastic cup.
Apply to wet hair, then scrunch from roots to ends to distribute; allow mixture to sit on your hair for a few minutes.
Add a little more warm water to spread the mixture throughout your hair.
Rinse clean.
Follow with your conditioner.
Note: Hair will be soft and feel smooth. Don’t overdo this clarifying step, as it can strip too much moisture if done too frequently. Do once a month or as needed.

best way to layer your products for your curls is in this order: detangler, leave-in conditioner, styling cream, followed by sealing in your products with alcohol-free gel or lightly with oil.

hair should be able to stretch up to 50 percent without breaking when wet, and only 20 percent when dry. Grab both ends and wrap the hair strand around your index fingers (if the length allows) and gently pull, as you would an elastic band.