Long-Curly-Hair

Natalie Marie Nyquist's Curly Story

My best friend calls me the original Curly Girl. This past summer a fellow missionary with Avant Ministries told me about this book called Curly Girl which transformed the way they dealt with their corkscrew curls. My youngest brother and I both have super curly hair, so we began trying some of the suggestions our friends gave to us. My brother's hair is now completely awesome (you don't call a teenage guy's hair adorable, right? so awesome must suffice), and mine, well, I like it much better too. :)

However, I am not a kosher Curly Girl. Unlike Melinda or Gretchen, I've never followed all of the guidelines or stuck with no shampoo/brushing/drying. If my hair were about fourteen inches shorter--i.e. shoulder-length--then I think the CG routine would work well, and I too could have the adorable ringlets and spiral curls of my friends. As it is, I am a card-carrying member of a unique breed of Curly Girls, known as the Long Hair Curly Girls. :) It is one of several sub-branches of Curly-Girldom...along with it are the Redhead Curly Girls, the Wavy Girls, and other yet-to-be-discovered breeds.

As the owner of a head of thick, waist-length spiral curls (my hair type is 3bMiii for those who follow such things), my quest has been to find the perfect balance between Long-Hair-Care and Curly-Girl-Haircare; the result so far being hair that is visibly healthier, curlier, and softer. A critical factor for me is simplicty+speed. My hair looks and feels best when I spend a minimum of time fussing with it, and the more I let it alone the happier I am with the results.

For a while I tried to avoid all shampoo and treated my hair to various recipes such as Candied Curls and Love is in the Hair with fairly pleasing results. However, the hair near my scalp to about 4 inches below the nape of my neck seemed to stay heavy and retain too much oil no matter how much I rinsed and conditioned and rinsed with vinegar and lemon mixtures. My frustration with my heavy hair finally compelled me to try what I thought my hair needed most. It turned my hair from being super heavy at the top and the ends feeling like straw, to all-over soft, beautiful curls.

This is my personal "Straw to Silk" routine that kept me from giving up on long hair: I mixed 4 tablespoons of olive oil with 3 tablespoons of conditioner (this might be too much for those with shorter or less thick hair--I needed this much to generously soak about the bottom 12-14 inches (ie ends) of very thick curly hair) and heated it until it was very warm (but not hot). You can add essential oils to this to make it smell better--as is, it does not have much of a scent. I divided my hair so half lay over each shoulder, and wet the length of hair I was going to treat (only the ends of my hair need hot oil treatments; the rest of my hair only needs regular conditioning) with very warm water to open the pores so my hair could soak in as much of the oil as possible (cold water, good for rinsing, closes the pores). Then I generously soaked each fourteen inch hair bundles with the oil and conditioner mixture, running and working it through every bit of my hair.

When I was sure every centimeter of my hair was soaked and it was all evenly distributed, I took a couple feet of plastic wrap and wrapped each section in it, wrapping more around the ends so the oil would not drip off. This was right before bed, so I could sleep while the oil soaked into my hair. The next morning I took off the plastic wrap and braided my hair into a bun for the day--I did not want to braid it until my hair had about 12 hours to soak in the oil--but if you want the deepest conditioning treatment, leaving the oil on for 24 hours is marvelous. I saw that my hair had soaked in a lot of the oil but when I let it sit on all day and did not rinse it out til evening, I saw even more of a difference. The longer you let it soak into your hair, the softer your hair will be.

I treat my hair in two sections: the top half, up until about four inches below the nape of my neck and the bottom half. The top half I wash with a very mild baby shampoo--contrary to Curly Girl methods, my hair needs a mild shampoo every once in a while and after I did the oil treatment and washed the top half of my hair with shampoo, I was delighted with the improvement. My hair was incredibly soft and light--I had not expected such an improvement, not just in the way it felt but in how it looked. Wonderful! :) The bottom half received TreSemme conditioner with a quick cold rinse, and then I went to sleep--no gel, no scrunching even. :) I have found that my hair curls naturally and much, much nicer when I do not put on gel or scrunch my hair. Doing either makes my hair straighten out, look wet, or stringy--none of which are good things.

So, my personal psuedo CG routine includes baby shampoo, no scrunching or gel, lots of conditioner and olive oil, and zero fuss: wash, sleep, wear, repeat twice a week. In my opinion the happiest head of curls is the one which receives TLC but is left alone to be as it likes. The result? Happy, liberated curls which spiral, spring, bounce, and shimmer allllll down my back and can brighten up any day. I am so glad that the Lord gave us women a love for long and beautiful hair, and our men an appreciation of it! :)

"it's more than just hair...it's an attitude!" -lorraine massey
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