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It’s true that naturally curly hair takes more work than other hair types. When starting their journey to natural curls, many curlies experience pitfalls and problems. Our goal is to help you navigate through any problems you might experience, and offer some solutions to those problems!
Breakage:
Many curlies are working on growing their curls out, and breakage can be a major issue for them. Women who experience a lot of breakage might get discouraged or think their curls grow more slowly than others. This frustrating issue can lead some women to give up on their curls.
Solution: To keep breakage from happening, you need to make sure your curls are hydrated and well moisturized. The healthier your curls are, the less likely they are to break. To keep your curls moisturized, utilize a good leave in conditioner, which you can apply daily if needed.
Shedding:
Shedding is actually quite natural, as it happens in the fourth stage of curl growth. However, if you’re noticing an excessive amount of shedding (we’re thinking chunks) you should get your butt to your doctor’s office ASAP. You might also notice a lot of shedding in the shower during wash days. Since curlies wash their hair rarely and comb it even less often, normal shedding can seem excessive when washing.
Solution: Since shedding is a natural part of a curl’s “life”, there isn’t much to do about it, unfortunately. Keep an eye on the amount you’re shedding so you know it’s still healthy and don’t stress about it too much.
Tangling:
When curls are allowed to be loose for a long period of time, they get caught in each other and tangle. Curls entwining create tangles, which lead to knots if not treated. Knots can lead to breakage.
Solution: When styling your curls, create a “bound” style. Take larger sections of curls and tie them back together so individual curls aren’t free to intermingle with their neighbors.
SSKs:
SSKs, or Single Strand Knots, are the bane of a curly girl’s existence. The single strand coils back around on itself, creating a knot on the strand. Once the knot is created, it can attach to other curls nearby, creating a bigger knot which leads to breakage.
Solution: To keep SSKs at a minimum, make sure you’re getting regular trims or haircuts. Keeping broken, frizzy ends to a minimum will help manage knotting. When washing your curls, section them as opposed to washing all together to keep too many strands from intermingling.
Splits:
Splits are hands down the most irritating part of growing out your hair! If you break off a piece of hair, the remaining strand will split into two. This creates two weaker strands that are more prone to frizz or tangles. If you don’t manage splits, it will work its way all the way down to the root of your curl.
Solution: Get regular trims! While many products promise to “repair” split ends, this simply isn’t possible as the integrity of the curl’s strand has been ruined by the split. You can help keep splits at a minimum by regularly moisturizing and sealing your curls.