Unlike straight hair, naturally curly hair tends to dry out very quickly and lacks moisture, making it quite challenging to take care of. Not to mention that it is not exactly easy to come across hair products that are formulated specifically to add bounce, volume, and shine to this type of hair. Fortunately, here’s a comprehensive breakdown on how to protect curly hair, including some rather unconventional approaches that you may not be aware of.
What Determines the Health of Curly Hair?
If you are looking to protect curly hair, then you must also be interested in familiarizing yourself with some of the factors that influence the overall health of curly hair. This way, you can know what to look for in both the short and long term.
- Your hormonal profile: There’s no denying both male and female hormones contribute a lot to the health of your hair and overall growth. In fact, androgen plays a considerable role in determining how fast or slow curly hair grows in men and to some extent in women too. Unfortunately, androgen levels typically tank as one age which then leads to the characteristic hair thinning accompanied by a slow rate of hair growth that is usually seen as we get older.
- Stress: Being chronically stressed can trigger a particular case of hair loss known as telogen effluvium. Curly hair, in particular, is usually quite vulnerable to stress-related hair damage as it typically has a more prolonged shedding and resting phase in its growth cycle.
- Medications: There are certain medications such as drugs that are formulated for the treatment of arthritis, gout, and high blood pressure that have been observed to trigger hair loss. The same can also be said of some types of antidepressants, anticoagulants, vitamin A supplements, and oral contraceptives.
- The absence or presence of certain medical disorders:There exist certain autoimmune conditions such as systemic lupus, ulcerative colitis, Crohn’s disease, hyperthyroidism, and erythematosus that can cause hair damage via altering one’s overall cell metabolism.
- Diet: Curly hair, just like other hair types such as straight hair, is primarily made of keratin, which is a special type of protein. It, therefore, goes without saying that a balanced diet that is rich in all essential nutrients is required to keep your curly mane healthy. Which, of course, underlines the essence of having biotin collagen keratin supplement in your dietary regimen.
How to Protect Curly Hair
Curly hair, as put earlier, requires a little more attention and care than the average straight hair due to its inherent delicate nature. And as expected, the focus ought to be on products that add much-needed moisture to the tresses while avoiding products that could potentially weight or dry out the strands.
Here’s a detailed breakdown of that.
1. Choose the Correct Shampoo
Go for a conditioner and shampoo that is mainly designed for keeping curly hair in excellent shape. In general, prioritize products that include ingredients such as aloe vera, shea butter, keratin, avocado oil, provitamins, plant extracts, essential oils, hydrolyzed silk, and panthenol in their formulation. Still on this, the inclusion of a pre-shampoo treatment can go a long way in protecting curly coarse hair textures, which generally tend to lose moisture relatively faster than other hair types.
2. Use Haircare Oils Designed for Curly Hair
Go for oils that are formulated to lock in moisture in your tresses and within the structure of your strands. You see, curly hair generally tends to retain less moisture than naturally straight hair types, and by virtue of this, it is only fair to go for styling oils/gels meant for curly hair.
3. Minimize Excessive Heat Styling
Here’s the thing; curly hair cannot weather heat processing with the same temerity as straight hair. Hence, it is usually a great idea to minimize the frequency at which you typically process your hair using heat treatment to keep split ends at bay. Still on this, it is imperative to use some kind of heat protectant treatment or spray before using a blow dryer or hot iron comb on your curly tresses.
4. Use Cold Water on your Hair
It’s a widely accepted fact that hot water tends to strip off moisture from one’s hair, consequently leaving it dry, brittle, and susceptible to breakages and split ends. Wash your curls with cold ( or lukewarm) water and avoid scalding hot water to increase the probability of retaining moisture in your tresses even after toweling them dry, thereby improving their overall tensile strength.
5. Invest in Food Supplements
Nutrition is key in protecting curly hair and keeping it from becoming brittle and dry. Proper nutrition helps your hair grow significantly faster and is critical in preventing hair loss. Biotin, in particular, plays a central role in helping people approaching their sunset to hang on to their tresses. If anything, there’s a whole suite of studies that suggests how biotin deficiency can lead to unexplained hair loss if not addressed promptly. The same applies to other little-known nutrients such as folic acid and vitamin B12.
Unfortunately, however, it is rather challenging to extract the entire profile of nutrients needed to protect curly hair by relying solely on your diet. Here’s where supplements such as Raw Science Biotin Collagen Keratin Supplement step in to fill in these gaps in your nutrition regimen.
Raw Science Biotin Collagen Keratin Supplement — Pros and Cons
Now that we touched on some of the supposed benefits of integrating hair-friendly food additives into your nutrition regimen and recommended Raw Science Biotin Collagen Keratin Supplement, it is only fair to take a few minutes to see how it stacks up against similar supplements currently on the market.
Pros
- Available in various package options, tailored according to one’s budget and usage plan. Such flexibility is hard to come across.
- It’s a risk-free purchase thanks to the inclusion of a money-back guarantee
- Non-GMO, vegan-friendly, and contains zero artificial fillers, chemicals, and additives.
Cons
- A bit more expensive than a few options presently in the market
In Closing
The most important thing to bear in mind regarding curly hair is that it is incredibly prone to drying out in addition to craving moisture. As such, you may want to avoid anything that would accelerate the stripping off of its natural oils whilst investing in hair care products that add moisture to the tresses, whether it is in the form of natural plant extracts, proteins, or butters.
