What I’m Using in my Curly Hair: 2018 Edition

So weird that a blog called Pulling Curls is entirely NOT about hair.

Other than pulling it out because my kids are driving me insane.

Surprise! 🙂

If you’re new here — Pulling Curls is a family lifestyle blog for overwhelmed moms to make life & pregnancy easier (I moonlight as an L&D nurse).  BUT, once a year I do a hair update.

I’ve had curly hair all of my life (you can see me at age 3 on my About Me page)  and I think it’s gotten curlier since I got older (everyone told me it would get straighter when I had kids, but I swear it’s just gotten curlier).

Each year I get a little smarter about how I take care of it.

I even talked about it on my podcast:

BUT, here is the 2018 edition of Pulling Curls:  The Curly Hair Edition.

I have found that consistently using the same product doesn’t always work great for my hair.  So I do some alternating.

Before I wash I apply an awesome essential oil blend — you can get it emailed to you right below — but it’s basically coconut oil, tea tree and lavender.  It really helps with my dry, itchy scalp.

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Before I stop I have large looping curls that corkscrew — and SUPER fine.  It’s crazy hair, some of the curliest I’ve seen on a white girl.

In the Shower:

• I do not wash my hair with shampoo — ever.  I used to wash it monthly, but I stopped.
• I only condition (but I do scrub my scalp with it — it’s almost like I’m shampooing with conditioner)
• Before I condition, I often do an apple cider vinegar rinse for my itchy scalp.
• I use new Costco House Brand (Kirkland) conditioner.  It’s sulfate free and I LOVE it.  It feels similar to the Dressing Your Truth Cleansing conditioner I LOVED last year (but the price was insane and I didn’t like that I could only get it online).
• I haven’t found another conditioner I love as this one. I have a few other ones in my shower, but they often make my head itch (I think it’s maybe the sulfates that make my head itch), so I have stopped using them (I should throw them away if I followed my own advice from The Organized Home).
• I condition my hair very first in the shower.  I leave it in and continue the other business of body maintenance….
• Then, right before I’m done, I check to see how greasy my hair feels.  I do try to leave a fair amount of conditioner in my hair.  I need all the moisture I can get — but if some areas feel too greasy I’ll do a rinse in that area.
• I also make sure to rinse my neck off really well, as it seems to get itchy if I don’t do that (probably mostly back when I was using conditioner with sulfates in it)

Out of the Shower:

I just squeeze out any extra water.

I was using a T-shirt for this part, but it didn’t seem to work too differently than just a towel if I only squeeze off extra water (careful to keep all my hair together as I do it).

I then apply one of two things (I alternate) — my hair is still pretty wet when I do this (the key is to not have your hair dry before you add conditioner)

• I sometimes apply Mixed Chicks, plus a little dab of Biosilk (my stylist told me about this — and I love it — Biosilk alone was HORRIBLE for my hair, but a few drops mixed into my conditioner is awesome-sauce).  I have hair that goes just past my shoulder (when Dry) and I use about a nickle-sized dollop of mixed chicks, plus 2 drops of biosilk.
• I was sent a bottle of So Cozy to try on my daughter, but guys — I LOVE this stuff.  Now, keep in mind I have SUPER fine hair — so maybe the kid’s version is more awesome for me.  But I LOVE this stuff.  It’s a bit too heavy for her (her hair is not very curly), but I love it.  I use a bit bigger than a nickle sized dollop and I finger-comb it through (this post isn’t sponsored by them, they sent me the stuff about 6 months ago for just an instagram).

I put the conditioner in — runing it through my hair as much as I can by hand, and then I comb through it with my fingers.

Then, I scrunch some gel in.  I use whatever gel is handy — so, if anyone has a favorite – let me know.  Right now it’s just a tube of Aussie.  I find that if I don’t use gel, my curls split apart and don’t dry as nicely — but it certainly does make for a crunchy hair day.

THEN, if I have time, I wrap it up and put it in a microfiber wrap to help get any other moisture off.  I leave that on either just as I do my makeup, or sometimes I take a few minutes to check my email or Instagram.  Then I undo it, tussel the curls into place and call it good to air dry.

I think diffusing it does give it much more body on the first day, but I just don’t have time — and I may just not care enough.

When I do diffuse I use one with fingers like this one.

The 2nd day my hair always looks great.

I often use this DIY Curly Spray to make it look its awesome-est.  I have also tried the So Cozy spray — and I like it too (but that DIY one is SO cheap, it is awesome).

3rd Day I use more curly spray — and by the 4th day I wash it again and start over. 🙂

That’s it — pretty simple.

The keys, for me are to:

1. Style when wet
2. Comb through it well in the shower — with a wide-toothed comb
3. Try not to mess with it, or separate the curls when I’m done.

I love to play with my hair — but it just makes it frizzy, so it’s a no-no.

So, there’s the secret, there’s actually NO pulling curls around here.

If you’d like this post sent to your inbox — just let me know here and I’ll shoot over those products so you have them in your email. 🙂  And then check out my other beauty tips below that:

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