Curly Hair Care Including African-American and Bi Racial Children

Naturally curly hair can be beautiful so don't fight your blessing!

Most issues with curly hair lie in styling products and handling.

Here you can see in the image cross sections of hair

The actual shape of the hair is different in curly hair.Asian hair is typically round coming out a round shaft.

African heritage hair follicles and Caucasians with curly hair actually have flatter hair follicles producing a flatter hair shaft.

The biggest difference is basically the rounder the hair shaft the more oils are released along the shaft.Flatter, curly hair follicles do not allow as much natural oil to be released along the shaft.The curlier the hair, the dryer it is.

Select your hair styling products with this in mind.You will need more moisture and oils in your products.The good news here is your hair should not be washed as often.Most people with curly hair can go up to a week before washing their hair.Over washing dries what little natural oils you have and makes your hair look dryer and frizzier.

After you wash your hair , use a wide tooth comb that is sturdy.Comb the tangles out starting at the bottom.If you begin at the top you just push the tangles into other tangles making huge knots that rip your hair out upon removal.While you can use a wide tooth comb or a large bristle brush while your hair is wet, NEVER brush or combs your hair while it is dry.

Gels, mousse and hairsprays should be used sparsely.First of all these items are alcohol based and again avoid anything that dries your hair out.Look for texture creams, lotions and balms or pomades that have a little hold but give a soft manageable feel instead of a crunchy dry gelled look.You can use oil based products as well which form a moisture barrier to keep your hair from frizzing under humid conditions.

If you are Caucasian with extremely curly hair don't be afraid to look into African-American hair care products.African- American haircare lines like Mizani or Keracare which are very readily available.These brands carry more of a variety for curly hair than say Matrix or Redken will.Most of the lines like Matrix etc. do make lines for curly hair but with the intentions of making the hair even more curly.But when your looking to tame excessive curls look to brands that specialize in this.Generally the more curly your hair is the more moisture you need.Look for oils like coconut and jojoba oils.Stay away from petroleum based products.

If your a mother of a bi-racial child and have never had experience with curly hair, educate yourself on the needs of your child's hair.Cacasion/asian and other races with naturally straight hair have more oils and need to use different products than curly headed people.

Instead of washing your little ones hair every day, use a daily moisturizer.She may need you to apply natural oils to her hair and scalp.Use a cream hair dressing to style her hair and keep the hair tied up as much as possible to keep it from becoming a tangled mess while she plays.Make sure she has her special wide tooth hard combs and natural bristle brushes to ease the long process of combing out her hair after washing.

Keep it soft and natural looking.Don't overuse products to the point where your hair looks wet all the time.

I recommend air drying for natural curls BUT if you do want to blow dry your hair make sure you use a diffuser on your hair dryer.This buffers the flow of air from the dryer and gives your more of a radiating heat to dry your hair instead of tossing and tumbling your hair in the air making it look frizzy.

If you want a softer curly look try setting your damp hair in large pin curls and let air dry or sit under a hood dryer.

Once the hair is dry take the pins out and gently pull and place the ringlets in place with your hands coated in a light styling cream.

This can be done on any hair type but works best on light to medium curly hair.

Did I mention........NEVER COMB OR BRUSH DRY CURLY HAIR!!!!!!!