Dry Hair giving you the blues? It happens to all of us where our hair just feels dry, brittle and that it’ll never get moisturized. Here’s a step-by-step guide to assessing why your hair is dry and how to combat the dryness head (and curls) on!
Step 1: Assess Your Curls
Knowing your curls is the first and most important step to fixing dry curls. First you’ll want to assess your curls. Here are the three areas you’ll want to assess:
- Pattern: Starting with your curl pattern. Does your hair have coils, zig zags or are they lose and wavy?
- Hair Density: How fine or full are your hair strands ? Has your hair been thinning recently or shedding excessively?
- Hair Health: Any sign of damage, have you color treated recently or experimented with heat? Have your tried a new product that caused irritation or damage? Have your have a cut that didn’t go well?
Determining these three factors can help you get a good idea of where to start. Knowing your curl pattern, density and health, helps determine your future re-moisturization campaign for your hair.
If you’ve had recent coloring, your hair can be showing signs of damage and dryness due to the harsh coloring treatment. Or if you’ve recently had damage due to a bad hair cut or previous protective style. All these can contribute to drying your hair out.
If you notice that your curl pattern pops and shines when moisturized and gets frizzy and less defined as the week goes by, you may need to add in a refresh day to assist with moisture retention. Once you learn how your curls lose moisture you can revive your curls sooner and never have a dry hair day again.
If you find that your hair is shedding more than normal, you’ll likely need to start a treatment regimen to add in hydration. The density of your curls helps you with how much product and water to use during wash day.
Once you’ve discovered your Curl Pattern, Hair Density, and Health, Porosity is another key factor of your curls. Need help determining your hair porosity? We’re here to help!
Step 2: Take the Porosity & Elasticity Test
What is the porosity test? It’s a quick way to see where your hair is on the porosity scale. It can either be Low, Medium(Normal) or High Porosity. Knowing your hair porosity helps to understand how your hair absorbs water (moisture).
The Porosity Test:
- If your strand floats to the top of the glass = your hair likely has low porosity.
- If your strand floats around the middle of the glass = your hair likely has medium porosity.
- If your strand falls to the bottom of the glass = your hair likely has high porosity.
As we always say water is the best moisturizer! Knowing how your hair takes in and releases water helps you recognize when your hair is losing moisture and you can work to retain your wash day moisture throughout the week.
Step 3: Assess your Products
The seasons are changing and it’s time to deep clean your routine! Getting rid of old product that could be drying your hair with ingredients that are no longer active or even worst…. have expired.
The risks of using old product include bacteria growth, adverse effects like itchy scalp and thinning hair. Old gel can dry your hair even more as the ingredients lose effectiveness over time.
So start checking the expiration dates on your products and get rid of those that are way past expired.
Pro Tip: You can mark with a sharpie on the bottle when your product is set to expire to help you keep track.
Step 4: Build a Routine
Building a healthy hair routine is not just the products themselves. It’s also the use of treatments and trimming to keep your curls in tip top shape.
Things to add to your hair routine are deep conditioning treatments, protein treatments, and trimming. Determining if your hair needs protein or moisture by assessing your hair elasticity.
Hair Elasticity Assessment:
If your curls, easily snaps when stretched while wet or dry, then your hair may be lacking protein.
If your hair feels dry, won’t curl and breaks often - it may be lacking moisture.
If your hair stretches easily, bounces back in place, and does not break often, congratulations your hair is likely balanced!
CurlMixers who regularly add in Deep Conditioning or Protein Treatments to their routines see their curls flourish with hydration and shine.
Finally, seeing a Curly Specialist to help you trim your curls. Trimming should be once a quarter and your stylist can determine if less frequent trims work well for your hair regimen. Release those dead or split ends so that your curls can be full of bounce/
Having dry hair can really put a damper on your style but luckily with these steps you can be on your way to healthy, hydrated and moisturized curls. PLUS a wash + go that lasts up to 7 days!
Need more help? Be sure to sign up for our FREE 21 Day Masterclass that helps you master your curls and routine!
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