Revealing Your Curl Pattern
You’re perfect and your curls are too.
Before you really reveal and observe your curls, I need you to know and believe that statement. It’s easy to get caught up in another natural’s hair and subconsciously want her hair for yourself. There’s nothing wrong with admiring, but it’s important to appreciate what grows from you.
There’s been quite a few times someone has come up to me, complimenting my curls and then asking me how she can get her hair to look like mine. I’ve never had the guts to tell them right then, that’s not how this works.
Hopefully they are reading this now.
Your curls have no choice but to look how they were meant to. That’s how God made you and it’s beautiful that we come in so many different looks. So it’s time you actually/finally see your curl pattern so you know how it looks when it’s healthy. This will in turn, help you make important decisions when it comes to YOUR hair care.
First step: Wash Hair
You need to start fresh. I have no clue what you’ve been doing with your hair or what you’ve been using over the past few days/weeks. So it’s best if we just strip out any possible unnecessary boundaries. Some naturals are against it, but I suggest using a shampoo that contains sulfate. Sulfate is a very strong ingredient that strips away build-up and dirt that’s on the hair. And it’s extremely effective to the point if you don’t properly moisturize after, your hair WILL be dry. That’s the part naturals hate about it. But it helps me because my low poo hair can get build up quickly.
I suggest it because I know it’ll take away any additional build up and product that could alter the way you see your true curls. After shampooing, make sure you use a moisturizing conditioner and even a leave-in conditioner. But don’t start putting too much in your hair yet.
Second step: Detangle Hair
Next we need to make sure your hair is properly detangled as this can prevent you from seeing your natural curls too. This will help separate hair knots and tangles so your hair can curl and/or clump the way it wants to. Whether you detangle your hair when it’s dry, damp or completely saturated, the more moisturized your hair is, the easier it will be to detangle. One of my favorite detangling mixes, I’ve created myself using Aloe Vera Juice, Water, Glycerin, and a conditioner/leave-in of my choice (any one will do)! So feel free to try that for yourself, the ingredients are pretty cheap!
But just make sure your hair is soft and detangled when before you move on to the last step.
Last step: Moisturize and Shingle
This is going to reveal those curls!! Are you ready?
Depending on your hair texture and thickness, you may need to layer on a little more product on your hair. But again, don’t go too far. Your hair shouldn’t be oozing product onto your fingers and clothes. If you’re like me (fine hair strands, low porosity hair) your hair is probably already good and moisturized at this point (that detangling mix I suggested earlier is super hydrating!)
To reveal your curls, we’re only using two ingredients: Coconut oil & Gel.
The coconut oil is going to help penetrate your hair strands so it can continue to stay moisturized with what you’ve already put in your hair and the gel is going to help keep it all together in a nice style.
Mix the coconut oil and gel together.
Section your hair into smaller sections. The Shingling will take a little time out of your day but it’s worth it when you see your curls pop! To shingle, you are literally taking the tiniest clump of hair strands and moisturizing them with the oil/gel mix.
Guess what? After your hair is dry, NOW you will see your true natural coils. Didn’t take too much to reveal them because this is you. Your most vulnerable state, and it is so gorgeous! Take the time to appreciate every strand. Follow them from root to tip. If it’s super coily and falls to the floor, how beautiful. If it’s unpredictable and sticks straight out, I’m envious you get to represent our ancestors so well! And everyone else in between is what makes us so unique! So you don’t have to be like anyone else but yourself. Because when you do that, your community gets a little richer with creativity. And we need that in this world, don’t we?