A year and a half ago I embraced my natural curls and decided to give up my hair straightening days. So far it has been a long and laborious battle in my quest to tame my unruly mane. Having straightened my hair for many years, my hair was in serious need of some TLC. Hair straighteners are particularly bad for curly hair as it breaks the hair if used consistently and without a heat protector. Sadly, my hair had experienced a lot of breakage and was extremely dry from the process. Here is how to get perfect natural curls to be proud of!

I knew it was going to take a long time to repair my natural hair and get perfect natural curls so I decided to read up on lots of blogs, watch Youtube videos and scour Pinterest for advice on how to restore and repair curly hair. I was compelled to give up the shampoo (AKA the no-poo method) after doing a tonne of research on natural curl sites. Most of the bloggers or vloggers with beautiful bouncy natural curls spoke of a certain “Curly Girl” method. AKA CG among followers online. The term Curly Girl originates from a well known book which curly girls profess to be the holy grail of natural curl worshippers worldwide.

Being a cheapskate I decided to forgo the book and just follow advice from the many blogs and vlogs that I found through online search and Pinterest on how to get perfect natural curls. I even managed to find a test online where I answered questions about my hair type that concluded I have 3A type curls. Here is the quiz – click on your hair type and answer the questions for a guide – curl texture quiz.

Apparently, the Curly Girl book teaches you what ‘type’ curl pattern your hair is. This consists of various factors such as dryness, how porous your hair is and other determining factors. Here is another guide to the pattern of curl you have –

Regardless of your curl type, the Curly Girl method has rules that you need to follow. These include using strictly no sulphates and silicons in any products you choose for your hair.

Here are some more pointers –

Condition your hair by using only a natural conditioner and no shampoo.

After your conditioner, when the hair is still wet, use a wide tooth comb or else just use your fingers to rake through the hair. This avoids breakage as much as possible and retains the natural curl pattern.

Once you are finished washing your hair with conditioner, give your scalp a massage with the tips of your fingers (not essentially a part of the CG method but it really helps to stimulate the hair growth and promotes a healthy scalp).

Invest in a decent leave-in conditioner for using afterwards. This should be a thicker and richer consistency and it can be a hair mask which you rinse out if you prefer.

Rather than using a towel to dry your hair you should let it dry naturally or else use a microfibre or soft cotton head wrap (a teeshirt will suffice). It is suggested you “plop” your hair meaning to carefully place your hair upside down into the headband/teeshirt so as not to mess up the curl pattern again. Ease your hair into it slowly AKA “plopping”.

If you are in a hurry or prefer to dry your hair in order to style it, you should use a diffuser attachment on your hairdryer. You can buy universal ones to fit any hairdryer or else buy a diffuser hairdryer. The attachment is gentle on your curls and you need to use the lowest heat setting for a very gentle drying to result in less frizz and better definition.

Style your hair once it is no longer dripping wet and still damp. You can use a gel, styling mousse or leave-in conditioner. You can section your hair using clips or just by raking your hair with your fingers. I don’t really have time to section my hair so I carefully rake a gel through it. I have tried many and varied curl products and find gel to be the best. It can take a lot of trial and error to find the best styling products so it will likely depend on your curl type but you could be lucky and find your ideal product straight away.

The next important tip is to scrunch your hair. You can hold your hair upside down in order to create volume. If you want more volume on the crown area, this is best. If you don’t want extra volume then just scrunch your hair as is. Scrunching is the method of grasping your hair from the bottom and scrunching into a fist while pushing the hair upwards towards the crown. You do this in small sections all around your head. It helps to define your natural curl shape and give bounce.

A good tip when re-applying your styling product at any stage is to wet your hair a little beforehand. This helps the hair to absorb the product.

So those are my top tips and everything that has worked for me. I have way more well-defined and bouncier natural curls now and finally the annoying frizz is under control! I use all of the above actions every time I wash my hair, which is most days or every 2 days.

It is in great condition now and has a natural shine to it. It took a year and a half, many and varied dried and tested methods and a lot of patience. It has been a long journey but I can finally say I’m happy with my hair for the first time ever! I spent a good 20 years or more straightening my hair so it is a massive victory and I’m delighted to be embracing my natural hair at long last.

It is so liberating and I genuinely feel free! Happy to be sharing my very best tips on how to get perfect natural curls with you. I have to give a lot of credit to the Curly Girl method as it seems to be the combination of all those rules that made it happen. Every principle needs to be followed for the ultimate results. I have to admit I was both sceptical and lazy when I began following the CG method! Due to the fact that nothing had worked for me in the past, I started by only applying a few of the rules, however after much research I realised that you really need to follow all the steps. On top of that, you need to stick with it and don’t be deterred. It takes patience and time.

Are you a curly girl? If so, I hope this helps you on your journey to perfect curls. It is worth all the time and effort and genuinely pays off.

Here’s to embracing our natural curls!!!

Good luck,

Ciara xxx

Check out some great natural hair oils here.

For a lovely moisturising DIY hair mask check out this post.