Kulot Not Salot: My Curly Hair Routine

I'm still surprised when friends won't believe when I tell them my hair is naturally curly and that I never had a digi perm or any curling method done. People have been seeing me with rebonded straight hair for the past 12 years, (I thought it was only 10) and they have kind of believed my hair is naturally straight.

And frankly, I, too, have forgotten how I looked like with curly hair. I have to rummage a box of old photos to help me remember how my curls looked like a decade ago and why do I even have it straightened. Was it that bad?

After almost an hour of looking for old photos of my natural curls- this I realized to my chagrin - I rarely wore my curly hair down when I was a teenager.

That was basically the reason why I had my hair rebonded. I did not know what to do with my curls. I did not know how to maximize my curls, its beauty, how to style it, how to play with it.

And also- hair entails personality.

You see, living in this country, girls with straight hair are always always always the goody good girl (especially in telenovelas). Girls with straight hair are often the mahinhin, the pretty one, and she's always the BIDA.

So, when I was a teenager, being naive and all, I wanted to be the protagonist and let my hair down for once- so for more than a decade, I was the girl with straight hair.

But now things have drastically changed. I AM LOVING MY CURLS MORE THAN EVER. After finally deciding to stop getting a rebond and chopping off the remaining straight hair, I let my curls shine once more and surprisingly many people commend my hair. For once, I thanked my lola's genes for giving me these curls. I admit I kind of hated my curls before but now is a different story. I am all for curly hair. 

So, it is my privilege to help my fellow kulots out there  to have some kind of a "relationship goals" with their curls. To give you a gist of what I do with my hair to "encourage" my curls, here's a little list for mah kulots out there.

1.Know your hair type. 

Did you know that there are several types of curls? When I realized this one, I took several different quizzes and I found out that my hair is Type2b. This knowledge has helped me narrow down my choices for hair products since I already know what my hair badly needs. It has also helped me in constructing my own hair care routine because I have an idea how my hair responds to different methods.

2. Shampoo mainly on scalp. 

When you shampoo your hair, make sure you are washing your scalp rather than the hair strands. This is to prevent your hair from drying out due to the shampoo. Rinse your scalp thoroughly to avoid product build up.

3. Skip shampoo once/twice a week. 

Choose a "no wash day" for your hair - not washing your hair everyday will help retain the natural oils of your hair. I know this is hard because of the humidity and dirt here in our country, but trust me, this works wonders.

4. Always use conditioner.

Go overboard with conditioner. This is your best friend because curly hair is prone to damage. Look for conditioner that targets frizzy hair. This will relax your curls, making them more manageable. If conditioner is not enough, use leave-on conditioner.

5. Untangle hair with wide-tooth comb.

Use wide tooth comb only when your hair is wet. Do not comb after hair styling products have been applied.

6. Use Cloth shirt instead of towel.

Ditch your towel when drying out your hair. Use Tshirt instead. This advice I find very helpful for hair like mine. Towels and woolen fabric will create more tutsang or frizz.

7. Combine multiple hair products.

Experiment on variety of hair styling products.This is the reason why you have to know your hair type because hair products react in different ways depending on the hair type of the user. Mine is a bit tricky to begin with. My curls dont really dig in that easily to hair products so I really have to combine two products. Also, I need to consider whether my hair is wet or dry before applying the product because you see, one product is different when applied on wet and different when applied on dry hair. I will def give you some of my fave products for cury hair next week.

8. Scrunch to encourage curls. 

Now, now, this is a little secret I do to "release" the cracken curls in your hair. Scrunching your hair encourage the curls itself especially for a hair type like mine. 

9. Air dry or use diffuser.

As much as possible, try not to put too much heat on your hair. I have yet to try using a diffuser but as of the moment, I am restraining myself from putting my hair under extreme heat to avoid further damage. 

10. Hair mask every week. 

I love hair mask. This I find very helpful for my hair because it brings back life to a dull and frizzy hair. I am still on the look out for the best hair mask for the hair. I'm still finishing up my current hair mask, but once Ive used it all up, I am planning to buy a hair mask suited for "curly" hair. 

So guess that's it for now. Hope I was able to help you girls or boys out there.

Till my next kulot artix.

Love love love. 

Mwah!!!