Caring For Spirally Curls.
As promised in the recent post on caring for coily hair, today’s article shall discuss tips specifically on caring for spirally curls. Once again,These tips specifically apply for spirally curls but they should be paired with general tips on growing afro hair. I believe the only point of knowing your hair type is to know what works specifically for you. At the end of the day, all hair types are gorgeous and should be celebrated.
My hair would fall into the 4a (with a little 3c) category, but I do take care of my mom’s hair and she has 3c hair. So yes, I do have experience with type 3 hair lol.
Type 3 hair would best be described as ‘corkscrew curls’ with bigger curls falling on the 3a end and smaller curls falling on the 3c end.
Corkscrew curls, Image from wix
Daily care
A daily spritz of water and leave in would be great for your hair. Every alternate evening you can apply a little glycerin on damp hair to keep your hair moisturized through the night (as well as to prevent frizz as you sleep), standard with all hair types, a satin pillow case or scarf will also protect hair while you sleep. When placing your hair in a pineapple, be sure to make it loose so you don’t stretch the curls at the base of your head too much.
3c hair, Image from wix
Weekly Care
Detangling your hair should be done once or twice a week, it is always best to do it on wash day first (on wet hair with a generous amount of leave in conditioner) a wide tooth comb work great for this. As always start from the ends and work your way towards the roots. Work with your hair sectioned into two or four parts, depending on how thick it is.
A ‘follow up’ detangling session should be done in the middle of the week, on damp hair, preferably with leave in conditioner.
type 3a curls, Image from wix
Products.
One of the key struggles of looser curls is that they can very easily be weighed down by product, leading to limp curls. To avoid this, try to reduce the number of products in your hair regimen by using only what you need (leave in, oil and a cream). Heavier products such as creams should be used a maximum of thrice a week, as for hair oil opt for something lighter such as Argan or Coconut oil. I rarely use hair gel on my mom’s hair as it weighs it down and makes her curls stiff. You can actually achieve the same effect with a hair cream, as long as the hair is wet before applying the cream. Lay the hair with a boar bristle brush then Wrap a silk scarf over your hair. (For about 15 mins).
Definition and moisture
The LOC method is best for moisturizing all curly hair. Usually your curls get more defined as you moisturize them, but some products provide way more definition than others; these include Curls blueberry bliss control jelly, Devacurls’s super cream coconut curl styler as well as Shea moisture’s curl enhancing smoothie. If you are in Kenya, you can order any the a fore mentioned products from Beauty Studio Kenya .Once again, use the heavier products sparingly to avoid weighing your hair down. Using a Denman brush after applying products also creates a huge difference in definition.
3c curls, my momma's hair, image shot by me
Damaged curls.
If you have damaged curls (from heat, relaxing or coloring your hair) you may have noticed they tend to stick out like a sore thumb against healthier curls. To make your hair more uniform, as well as help restore your curl pattern, you can wear your hair in twist outs. Twist outs produce curls that closely resemble a natural curl pattern. They are preferred over braid outs as B.O can sometimes result in a ‘flat look’. If the damage is severe (most of the length of the hair is completely straight even when wet), unfortunately not much that can be done to restore the curls and it may be best to consider a big chop.
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Xo - Alex
