Simplified Curly Hair Care Regimen

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Last updated on February 6th, 2023 at 09:38 pm

Every time I share something here on Fine Natural Hair and Faith, (including my simplified curly hair regimen) it’s my goal to write something useful to help you release that inner diva of yours (we all have one, admit it or not!).

As I evolve as a blogger and a natural… a fine hair natural, I have made a lot of errors with my hair. I’ve also discovered some nuggets of wisdom as it relates to caring for natural hair that’s fine like mine.

Many times I’d get questions like, “How do you care for your hair and what products do you use?” Basically, “What’s your curly hair routine?”

Now, I rarely wear my hair in it’s naturally curly state anymore. I tend to stretch my hair out more times than not. Yet, I still consider myself to be a curly haired natural and hence, I adopted a simplified curly hair care regimen.

My curly hair regimen has been revised and simplified as the years have passed. I’m always learning, always changing. It may change again but I’m feeling pretty confident that my natural hair routines are here to stay. The simplicity with which I’m able to retain length is what keeps it all going.

Why I Rarely Leave My Hair in It’s Curly State

Although I love my curls and how they look, I rarely allow my hair to remain in it’s naturally curly state anymore.

I’ve discovered over the years that allowing my hair to just be in it’s naturally curly state all of the time is a recipe for knots and tangles. This current year I’ve been really reminded of it.

Don’t get me wrong. I still wear my hair curly in wash and go’s from time to time but that’s in the summertime. The rest of the year my curly hair regimen is simplified down to:

• Stretching my natural curls
• Doing low manipulation twist outs and silk secured ponytails
• Protective styling with twists

I still retain length when I wear my hair curly but the reason is because I don’t wear it curly all of the time. If you are interested in how I care for my hair while retaining length doing a wash and go, check out these posts:

Defining my curls

How to Retain Length With a Wash and Go

Now, here’s my disclaimer. What works for me may not work for you BUT if you practice safely stretching your hair, I’m confident you’ll discover that you will retain more length this way.

You can use my recommended products and techniques as a guideline for discovery but it’s really important to invest the time to figure out what works for your hair.

Now, let’s look at this simplified curly (not curly) hair regimen of mine.

Wash Day Routine

A hair regimen is composed of multiple hair routines. Mine starts and ends with my wash day routine which I do every two weeks.

Here’s a summary of the steps (always working in sections of 4-6):

• Pre-poo with either Amla or coconut oil (alternating)
• Shampoo hair, concentrating on my scalp
• Rinse and detangle in the shower with Ominira Naturals Tangle Teezer
• Deep Condition or Protein Treat (also products from Ominira Naturals) with heating cap for 30 minutes
• Rinse and Apply leave in conditioner
• Blow Stretch hair using my RevAir
• Lastly, apply this hair strengthening oil to each section before twisting or braiding my now dry and beautifully stretched hair

Previous Daily Hair Care (or several days a week):

Before I adopted the above routine, this is what I would do during the week:

• Spritz hair with a combination of filtered water and leave in conditioner, concentrating on the ends
• Seal length of the hair with an oil or butter based product
• Seal ends of the hair with a slightly heavier oil
• Tie hair down nightly with a satin scarf and cover with a satin bonnet (REVISED: I sometimes sleep with a bun when I sleep with my hair uncovered. I just bun my hair and sleep on my satin pillow case.) If my hair is in twists, I wrap them or band them first. If my hair is in curls, in a twist out or braid out, I put it in a pineapple. Click here for information on: the Pineapple Hair Technique

Alternatively, if I’m going to put in smaller twists, I’ll air dry the hair undisturbed to about 85% dry and then proceed to twist.

Quarterly Hair Treatments

• Henna (or henna gloss) hair – UPDATE: This may be going away. My hair is turning gray and I’m considering letting it.
• Zizyphus treatment to give curls a boost (every 3 months)

Simplified Curly Hair Regimen – Products Used

The products I use have changed SOOOOO Much over the years. As of 2022, I use the entire line of Ominira Naturals hair products to care for my hair. There are a few other products I use in addition but this is it:

• Amla (to do a pre-poo)
• Aloe vera butter (when I want a thicker sealant like in the winter)
• One of the cleansing conditioning CoWashes from Henna Sooq (when I want to do a quick wash)
• RevAir Hair Primer, type 3
• Olaplex products – great for curly hair

I still have a few other products in my stash which I will slide in here or there so I can use them up. If I decide to allow my hair to go fully gray, I may need to add other hair products to the mix to care for the grays. I hear a purple shampoo is in order to keep them from looking brassy. We’ll see.

Additional Hair Info

• My hair tends to maintain its natural moisture/oil balance for days on end. Therefore, I usually only moisturize every 5 days or so
• In the summer when I sport wash ‘n go’s I do not spritz and seal my hair. I just leave it hair alone until it’s time to wash again (4 or 5 days later)
• I only straighten my hair every few years
• Trimming takes place 2x a year and I also dust raggedy ends when hair is in twists or I come upon a split (the search and destroy method)
• Engaging in protective styling 90% of the time with my hair either in twists or buns

I hope sharing my simplified curly hair regimen was helpful.

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