Curly hair

[Jannt86]

My 3YO has crazy curly hair. I LOVE it and I want her to grow up loving it too. I'm trying to use the curly girl method so don't shampoo it often but plenty of the garnier ultimate blends banana conditioner. We rinse and condition every other day and sometimes I scrunch it in as a leave in conditioner too. We also dry with a microfibre towel but then she usually goes to sleep with it a little damp. It's definitely getting softer but I find the curls can sometimes be a bit frizzy and poorly defined. Do people bother with gel on children so young? Does anyone have any other tips that work well? Thanks x

DS1 takes after me and has curly hair, it's fantastic but it's definitely not as easy as DS2's mostly straight hair!

Both DS and I shampoo our hair, I've never found the curly girl thing works for me because I just get greasy weighed-down roots (that could be user error...) and I've always found DS's hair needed a proper 'clean' because, well, kids get mucky so apologies for not being able to help with that aspect. DS is 11 so he does this all himself now, but when he was little I always conditioned it after shampooing, then combed it through with a wide-toothed comb while he was still in the bath. Then when he got out I'd run my fingers through it while it was still sopping wet, flip his head forward, and scrunch it with a towel to take some moisture out and define the curls. I do the same with mine, except then I put in a bit of curl cream, DS doesn't bother with that. Then either air dry or diffuser. I think the key is not not separate the strands too much while it's wet, so the curls clump together.

The frizz I find comes from sleeping on it, so if it needs it we spritz it with water/detangler/leave-in conditioner in the morning, then scrunch. DS doesn't really use any products in his hair, but I find a little bit of oil or serum helps mine be a bit more defined. His does get frizzy the more days he goes between washing it, probably because again, kids will be kids and he isn't particularly careful or precious about his hair! It's wild and mad and crazy, just like him, really!

My daughter is 8 and has super curly hair like me. I’ve never shampooed her hair - we both co-wash once a week with the Alberto Balsalm silicone free conditioner. They smell lovely and are very cheap so we have the full range and she enjoys choosing which flavour to use herself. I don’t use any styling products on her hair, but occasionally just brush and dampen her hair then run a teeny bit of conditioner over it again and her curls spring back.

I would say that gel would be good for hold rather than definition, but I don’t use styling products on my daughter as she’s only wee. Have you tried finger coiling or using a denman brush to improve curl pattern and definition?

A silk pillowcase can help with frizz and tangles.

I have long curly 3b/3c hair and my sister has 3c/4a. Both have Afro/Asian/Euro textures.

DD has 2c/3a.

We all co wash and then shampoo once a week (not DD though, v sensitive skin so no shampoo). Don't use gel in DDs hair as she has my curl but her dads shiny texture, smooth glossy corkscrews. I don't use gel in her hair as it'd be too heavy but I refresh daily w/a curl spray by cantu kids.

I use gel in mine alongside cantu argan cream.

Always make sure hair is fully dry before bed otherwise it ends up undefined and frizzy versus very defined curly curls when I've air/blow dried. Satin head wrap also

The conditioner you are using sounds like it might be too heavy for her hair, so might be worth trying something like the my little Coco range instead.

Personally I wouldn't gel,just mix a tiny bit of conditioner with water in a spray bottle and use that to 'refresh' as/when needed.

I have curly (Caucasian) hair. I don’t use gel, because then I have to wash it out, and washing is the last thing I want to do to my hair!

We use the As I Am cowash to ‘shampoo’ and then XTC banana conditioner. Hair is dried with a muslin and then more banana conditioner put in to keep the hair hydrated.

I do as a PP and refresh daily with a spray bottle with a water/conditioner mix. Both DDs hair needs to be brushed after sleeping and I tend to keep longer hair plaited as much as possible to stop it knotting. I don’t use any styling products on the kids.