Just like anything else, I feel like my hair routine is ever evolving. I made great strides from ages 15-20 in the hair area. I’ve talked about this before, but my hair used to be nice & crispy back in the day. Yep – LA Looks was in full rotation…and I went ALL OUT and got the EXTREME HOLD. PS – I just did a quick Google search on this stuff to see if it still exists, and it DOES. DEAD. It actually gets decent reviews…ha.

I’ve done a few posts on my hair – including my general tips on how to care for curls and how I style it – but I’ve made a few tweaks to my hair routine that I wanted to share with you guys!

I stopped combing, period.

That’s right, I NEVER comb my hair anymore (unless I’m getting it cut or colored!). I know this concept sounds insane, and I thought I would end up with unintentional dreadlocks as a result. However, I can say from my personal experience that this will not happen. Everything will be okay…and you won’t get hair balls. I swear.

Let me explain why I would do such a crazy thing. I used to comb my hair only when it was wet, when I got out of the shower. I never combed or brushed it dry – that’s an ABSOLUTE no no! Please don’t do this EVER if you have curly hair! Anyway, now I don’t even comb it wet. Why? Because I felt combing it impacted the shape and texture of my curls. If you think about it, when you put a comb through your hair, it’s pulling & separating the curls. I found that by skipping this step, my curls were a little more coiled and chunky (which is how I like them!).

I dry with a microfiber towel.

This one was a tip from my colorist, Gary. He explained to me that using a terrycloth towel & wrapping it (which is what I used to do, and have always done) is too harsh on curls. It separates & tangles the curls, and the fibers mess with the hair cuticle…resulting in a frizzy hot mess. Apparently, wrapping hair with a terrycloth towel also pulls at the hair around your face, resulting in broken strands and damage.

After my last color session, I went and bought a microfiber hair turban and have been using it religiously. I LOVE how my hair looks and feels after using this towel. My curls stay in tact, and the frizz has noticeably decreased! AMAZING. After getting out of the shower, I wrap up my hair in the turban immediately, and let it sit for 20-30 mins as I get prepped for bed (I’m a night showerer, so if you shower in the AM, you can keep your hair wrapped as you get ready!). As I unwrap it, I squeeze the bottom stands and lift up to make sure I’m getting any lingering water. I either air dry, or diffuse right afterwards, depending on my mood :).

I get cuts more often.

I used to get hair cuts MAYBE twice a year, max. I wear my hair curly daily, so I don’t NEEDto get it cut as much as the average person since my hair doesn’t really suffer from heat damage. However, my hair grows FAST (which, I suppose is a good thing?!), and that means that once it grows a few inches, my volume is out the window.

With curly hair, you need to make sure the cut is just right, and layers are a game changer. Once my layers are grown out, my hair gets flat (especially at the top, which I can’t STAND!). I lose the volume and the bounce, and I end up with more of a stretched out wave. It took me some time to figure out what exactly was happening, and after realizing I was wearing my hair up 90% of the time, I decided I should get it cut. Magically, the bounce and volume reappeared. BOOM. That was when I knew what I had to do…get cuts more often, and stick with a mid length for the best curl & volume. I’m going to hit three hair cuts this year, and I’ve been keeping my hair at a shorter length to maximize those curls. Leo isn’t too happy about the length, but that’s a story for another post. LOL.

For my curly haired ladies in Chicago – I go to Patrick at Edit Salon for cuts. He is incredible with curly hair! On the pricier side but totally worth it.

Have you made any changes to your hair routine lately? If so, I’d love to hear them! Tell me in the comments below.