How to Manage Naturally Wavy or Curly Hair

When I was younger, my naturally thick wavy hair was the bane of my life.  I hated it so much, and I never really knew what to do with it, so it always ended up scooped up on top of my head.

Now, after many, many years of trial and error I have some sort of control over the madness that is my hair. It's pretty much down to leaving it to do its own natural thing, rather than try to force it too much.   Naturally curly or wavy hair can often look a little bit unkempt or unhealthy because it hasn't been smoothed out by heat and styling.

I have a few products, and a bit of a mini-routine which I couldn't live without when I'm having a bit of an unruly hair day, which help to keep it looking and feeling soft and cared for.

First of all I'll start out by washing my hair - I don't use a shampoo and conditioner specifically for curly hair, because I prefer one that focuses on eliminating frizz and adding moisture for whatever style I decide to do.

After washing, I'll always apply a leave in conditioner.  My favourite at the moment is the Charles Worthington Salon At Home Moisture Seal Leave-In Conditioner (£5.99), as it's light weight, smells amazing and is super moisturising.  After I've applied that through the lengths, I'll brush out all the tangles using my Lee Stafford Squeaky Clean Paddle Brush (£8.99) - doing this also helps to make sure the leave-in treatment is brushed evenly throughout the hair too.

Then I'll do either one of two things. The much more natural of the two - if I've washed my hair just before bed, then I'll  towel dry as much as possible and apply the John Freida Frizz Ease Miraculous Recovery Creme Serum* (£9.99) to the mid lengths of my hair, then when I get up in the morning, I spray with the Umberto Giannini  Curl Friends Natural Curl Spray (£5.99) all over and have a bit of a scrunch through the front and back to give a bit of a "yes, I definitely have just rolled out of bed" look, but it does help hugely to eliminate frizz and help me to look a bit more presentable.    Now my hair is quite long I get away with this look much more, because the weight of the thickness pulls out a lot of the bounce.

If I know I'm going to want a slightly (but not much more) polished look - think "dinner-date beachy waves" then I'll do the same as above, but instead of towel drying, and leaving.  I'll use my paddle brush and hairdryer to dry my fringe area and the top section of hair.  Then I'll pop in a bit of the super lightweight John Frieda Frizz Ease Dream Curls Enhancing Oil* (£9.99) to add a bit of extra smoothness and control - then I simply leave to air dry.  Once I notice that it's about 90% dry, I'll spray a bit of the Umberto Ginannini spray mentioned above as I find when sprayed on dry hair it really helps to keep a nice shape to the natural wave of the hair.  I always keep this little bottle with me and it's a handy travel size and is great for freshening up styles.

The key thing really though, is to find a good few products to help tame frizz and fight dryness, and then just embrace the natural movement of your hair.

Let me know if you have any tips and tricks for naturally wavy, or curly hair.