Curly Hair Drama

After 5 years of attempting to work with S's curly/wavy hair I am determined that I will no longer guess my way into doing it. As it turns out this is harder than it sounds. Sure, people tell you--just add a little more conditioner and it works great. . . how much conditioner--when?

So I got two books from the library to aid me in my quest to figure out wavy/curly hair (it may shock you but I have a bit of it too). The two books are:

Curly Girl by Lorraine Massey
Curl Talk by Ouidad

Things I found out about curly/wavy hair:
1. Never use a brush
2. Condition before and after washing
3. I would like a curly head assessment from a curl proficient for both S and myself.

Curl Talk I will admit seemed like she was making a sales pitch for herself and her salon, bless her dear heart. She did give a list of ingredients which should be in the shampoos, conditioners, curl sprays, and such that may prove helpful. . . but more likely I may just go by the best selling drug store products that magazines put out every couple of months (My pockets are shallow at the moment--if you get my drift). I liked that she said that we as mothers must be very careful how we talk about the hair of our daughters. We must not be negative because it is challenging to do their hair. Starting tomorrow I am going to be much more upbeat about S's hair. A couple of times she said one thing and then a few pages later she would say the absolute opposite--kind of confusing.

Curly Girl had many more pictures (which enhances the curl-assessment process). It had tips (affordable ones) for helping hair. It gave ideas on cutting curly hair (though it did not really say how it should be done). She says not to use shampoo at all--unless it is imperitive. She says to only use conditioner. She uses a lavender spray all the time (apparently) which cleans and revitalizes curls. She also has an entire section on products the reader can make. She labels it "Lorraine's Lotions and Potions." Most of it is cheap. . . .more up my alley.

Still they both suggest getting hair wet in the morning and allowing it to air dry. I don't mind having wet hair in the evening, but not so much in the morning. Conditioner is much more important than shampoo. Brushes are curl suicide. Clips are essential so that not one bit of the hair is missed in the gel application process. Mousse is from the 80s. Big toothed combs are acceptable for right after conditioning and fingers are better after. Curls must not be touched by fingers, brushes (eek!), combs . . . after they have been set. If your curls need a picker-upper use a picker-upper spray (like conditioning spray or lavender spray).

Lastly I found out they both fiercely believe curls are a gift--not a curse. We'll see how it goes.