Jenny has left her block for a glamorous trip to Brazil (she’s in concert). On arrival she posed for pictures with her hair displaying its Latin American heritage. Curly and dense, the beautiful natural texture has a bouncy and voluptuous personality of its own. The curls look full and free because of how they are cut: The hair is layered heavily so there is lots of space between the curls, which gives them room to take a shapely form. The gorgeous caramel ombre suits her complexion and spotlights the texture. Many women with ethnically diverse hair texture struggle to tame it; check the style notes for tips for working with curly tresses….
Step: When hair is thick, dense, and curly (typical traits of those with ethnic diversity) it is critical to layer the hair so there is space, freedom and separation between each curl. This will help to prevent tangles, and encourages a resilient, full curl formation.
Step: A typical blowdry won’t work; blowdrying with brush induces frizz on textured hair because the air flow pushes curls around too much.
Step: On damp hair, apply dime-size of styling creme roots to ends; do the same with curl enhancer.
Step: Now, as damp hair air-dries, cup, scrunch, squeeze curls one by one, gently in hands. (This technique is akin to squeezing a stress ball, only much gentler.) Repeat every ten or fifteen minutes as hair dries. (It’s fine to do this on the go if you need to get out of the door.)
Step: Finish by ruffling the roots for separation and gently twisting a few curls whimsically around your fingers for added definition.
Step: An alternative is to apply the products and blow-dry with a diffuser. The diffuser takes away the air but keeps the heat. It is the air flow that disturbs curls, causes frizz, so this is a safe styling option. You’ll get more volume with a diffuser blowdry, but you’ll get more definition into curls with the tender loving care of the cup, scrunch, squeeze air-dry technique.
