I’ve written before about the fact that black women are wearing more curly than straight weaves in the last couple of years. I’m sure that the natural hair movement is the major motivating factor in this recent trend.
As more and more women start to wear their natural hair or use weaves to transition, the popularity of curly weaves as a protective styling option will only increase.
So now that you’ve installed some gorgeous curly hair extensions, you have probably noticed that the hair clearly does not behave much like your straight hair. It’s a common conundrum for many women who have either always had their hair relaxed straight or always wear straight weaves, they just don’t know how to care for curly hair!
Defining Curls
Defining the curls in your hair extensions is pretty easy, all you have to decide is if you want big high volume hair or you want ultra defined, low volume hair with little to no frizz.
High volume hair is for those who are wild at heart and love being the center of attention, because with hair like that, you will get it whether you like it or not! Very defined low volume styles are probably more suitable for the office, school or any activity where big hair would be too much of an inconvenience to you. Nobody wants huge hair getting in their face while playing tennis right?
Big Hair
Curly hair has a tendency to ‘grow bigger’ especially in humid weather. Big hair tends to be less defined and almost always involves a certain amount of frizz. If you have installed kinky curly or deep wave hair, and you want to big hair, then simply shampoo and condition the hair extensions. Detangle with a wide tooth comb whilst the hair is still wet and pat dry with a turbie twist towel. Without applying any product, dry the hair using a hair dryer with diffuser attachment. You will notice that the volume of the hair will increase substantially once fully dry.
To get even bigger hair, separate the curls a bit with your fingers, some frizz will be created while you separate but this just adds to the appeal of the style. Be warned, this style is not for the faint hearted!
Low Volume Hair
If you want to switch things up and opt for an ultra defined look with much less body, you can achieve this pretty easily too. Again wash and condition your hair extensions detangling them with the comb while the hair is wet and rinse throughly.
With the hair still damp, apply a small amount of leave in conditioner and follow up with a generous amount of a heavy gel product. Most ‘wet look’ gels or curl definining products will work pretty well. Rake the gel through the curls with your fingers making sure to coat every strand.
You can either allow your hair to air dry for the best results or else you can dry your hair with a hair dryer with diffuser attachment. Do not touch the curls as they dry to avoid getting any frizz. Once the hair is completely dry, scrunch the curls to get rid of any ‘crunch’ that the gel may have left behind. You will now have a head of gorgeous shiny and defined curls!
