Curly Hair: My Entire Wash and Style Routine - A Pictorial

People usually ask me how I wash, condition and style my hair. “It is quite a process” I say. But by the grace of God I have gotten a grasp of it. As a result, I have written quite a few posts about the process; however, I was inspired further to document the process through pictures.

Personally, I am a visual learner; thus I tend to grasp information more effectively if I can see it. So I pray that this post is incredibly helpful to those visual learners and beyond, and that it also helps to answer some of your questions. Of course you are always welcomed to send in further questions below in the comment box or via [email protected].

I pray that you are not overwhelmed with my wash and style process to make you think that it is too daunting! My principle is in Luke 12:48 “…For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required…” One cannot attain naturally healthy, long beautiful hair if they are not willing to put in the work necessary to produce good and desired results.

*Disclaimer*:

I am NOT trying to ‘show off’ my hair in any way or form. I recognize that the Lord has helped me tremendously with my hair care; therefore, I have a sincere desire and responsibility to share the knowledge to as many women possible to encourage them care for their hair as God desires. Also, the methods below is how I take care of my hair, you are not obligated to follow the exact steps, this is to give you ideas as you desire to be your hair stylist and expert! 🙂

What I use:

Before I begin my wash process, I need a few things – shampoo and conditioner (Suave Professionals Almond and Shea Butter), two (2) combs: (black for detangling, purple for parting), clips (for keeping hair in place), coconut oil in dispense bottle, two (2) oversized T-Shirts – one for during wash and the other for after, and one old area rug – this is placed on the bathroom floor to absorb excess water.

Prepping Time

Before I begin, I fill up a bucket of warm water to the brim (this is the only water I will use for the entire wash process). I do not wash my hair under the shower. In the past I find that staying under the shower for a long time makes my body itchy, and I waste a lot of water that way. So, I wash my hair outside of the tub as you will soon see. In the bucket, I have a small bowl that enables me to dispense water into my hair when needed. Then I divide my hair into two as seen in the picture on the upper right. I do not wash my entire hair together – I find it is too much to handle all at once so I wash one half at a time. I keep half of my hair in a clip and release the other half to work on as seen in the picture on the left.

Shampooing Time:

Firstly, I saturate the half of my hair with a few bowls of water. Then, I squeeze out a generous amount of shampoo into my hand. One thing to keep in mind is to never scratch scalp with nails during shampooing in an effort to get the scalp to be clean. Simply massage the scalp with the pads of your fingers after the shampoo is applied to the hair as shown in picture 3. I may massage for about seven 1-2 minutes or more if necessary. Also, be sure to apply the shampoo firstly to the roots. As I massage I often add a little water to have the shampoo be evenly distributed in the hair.

Rinsing Out Shampoo:

In picture 1, I am squeezing the shampoo from the roots onto the shaft of the hair which helps clean the length of my hair. I am also getting ready to wrap up the shampooing stage. In picture 2, I rinse out the shampoo with lots of water and in picture 3, I squeeze out the shampoo and excess water. I continue to rinse until the shampoo is completely cleansed from the hair.

Prepping for Detangling:

After the the shampoo has been rinsed out of my hair, it is time then to comb out my hair – I do this in sections. I part a section of hair in the front of my head by using the end of the purple comb. I am not looking for a perfect part at this time. I just need to be able to separate my hair so as to be able to comb it well. This is the time that I put my white oversized T-Shirt on my shoulders to absorb the dripping water from the hair as seen in picture 2.

Detangle with Care:

Then, I squeeze a generous amount of conditioner into my palm. I use a lot of conditioner. It is my detangling agent and considering the amount of my hair, I use plenty of it. I usually use about a ratio of two bottles of conditioner to one bottle of shampoo (not at one time). I add the conditioner to the hair and begin to comb. I begin combing from the ends of my hair and gradually make my way up to the roots as seen in picture 2. After that section of hair has been well combed out, I create a two-strand twist of that section. This is to keep it from tangling again and to keep it from interfering as I progress with other sections of hair.

Twirl to Curl:

After twisting, I twirl the end of the twist by wrapping the hair around one finger. This creates a curl and keeps the hair from unraveling from the twist.

Detangling is Over!

I only showed one side of my hair to give you all an idea of what is done. This is the end product of detangling aka combing. I washed the other half by following the same procedure. I shampooed one half at a time, conditioned and combed in sections and now I have 6 shampooed, conditioned and combed sections altogether! These 6 sections will soon be multiplied during the styling stage. In the past, this would be the stage that I would deep condition my hair. For a deep conditioning, I simply add some coconut oil to the roots and shaft of hair and gather it all in a clip on top of my head. I then put a plastic cap or bag on top. I will keep it like that for 3o minutes to one hour. After which I will rinse out my hair. I used to deep condition after every wash. These days I don’t deep condition anymore. Not that I think it’s bad, it’s just that I feel my hair no longer requires it. However, I definitely encourage ladies that are starting out with taking charge of their own hair to make deep conditioning a usual practice as it will help their hair greatly in the long run. I attribute my current hair state to deep conditioning at the beginning stage of carrying for my own hair.

Rinse out Conditioner:

At this point I rinse out the conditioner. I keep the twists intact and rinse out as much conditioner as I possibly can. Don’t be afraid if a little bit of conditioner is left in the hair, but try and rinse out as much as you can with lukewarm to cool water. At this stage my warm water from the beginning would have cooled off a bit for a good rinse.

Wrap the hair!

After rinsing out the conditioner, I take my oversized gray T-Shirt and wrap it on my head. To secure it I tuck the end of the shirt in the back of my head. The shirt remains on my head for about 1o minutes. The purpose of placing the shirt on my head is to absorb as much water as possible before I begin to style the hair. I use a T-Shirt because when I first started taking care of my own hair, I had heard that using a cotton shirt in place of a towel prevents frizz in hair so I adapted it and it has since stuck with me. Frizzy hair is when your hair appear incoherent, dry, and lifeless. I am not discouraging you to use a towel if you so choose.

Time to Style:

Upon removing the T-Shirt, I pour some coconut oil into my palm and apply to edges, nape and directly on the roots of the hair. As well as the length of the hair. I use the oil on every section of hair I twist. The oil becomes a base before I apply the cream. Remember my hair is still in the twists!

Remember your hair dress cream!

It’s time to style! I leave one twist and clip the rest of my hair away by using the clips mentioned earlier. I unraveled the twist – by doing this I had two sections (picture 1). I clipped one section away and worked on one (picture 3). I added some of this Shea butter miracle cream. This was the first time I used this cream in my hair. It smells yummy! And it’s got a good texture. I’m not too much of a fan of it for my hair, but overall it was good and worked well to moisturize my hair. I do not comb my hair anymore from this point on. My hair is soft and manageable in this phase – no need for extra combing. I also do not blow dry my hair before styling. I usually style right away – no time wasted.

Styling in Sections

I separate that one section into two and begin to twist! Remembering to twirl at the end of the twist!

Twists at last!

I followed the same steps and completed my whole head. I told you the 6 twists would be multiplied! These are relatively medium sized twists. I brushed the edges and nape with my soft bristle brush. You see that the ends of the twists are so curly? My hair is naturally curly but twirling enhances it and keeps it from unraveling as earlier mentioned.

I felt like wearing a crown 🙂

I decided to do a crown with my twists. All I did was roll the twists all around from the front starting on the right and back to the front on the left, and pinned down with two bobby pins.

The Process is complete!

This is final look – a simple crown. I usually wear this for about a week and a few days then I unravel and do a different style and then it is time to wash again!

#ThankYouJesus! #CurlyHairWashRoutine #ToWhomMuchisGivenMuchisExpected #TakeCareofYourHair #PrioritizeYourHair #NaturalHairisBeautiful

*Pictures courtesy of my sweet sister.*

Be inspired!

-Charity