Authors: Lorraine Massey,Michele Bender
B003YL4KS0 EBOK (13 page)
7
When your hair is completely dry, remove the clips very gently. Tiny hairs may wrap around the clips during the drying process, and gentle handling prevents them from ripping or snapping.
LOCK ‘N’ ROLLIf you don’t feel like going through your usual hair care routine in the morning, a lavender spray (see
page 83
for a homemade recipe) can refresh your curls quickly and reactivate the gel in the hair from the previous day. Tilt your head to one side, spray hair with the lavender spray, and scrunch hair gently upward toward the scalp. Tilt your head to the other side and repeat. Do so in the back as well. If you have any curls that have become dispersed overnight, spritz them with the lavender spray, twist them around your finger, slide the hair off your finger, and then clip the curl horizontally at the root. Let hair dry for 5 to 20 minutes, then carefully remove any clips. Shake your head, gently loosen hair at scalp with your fingers, and go.
CURL CONFESSIONJo Newman
actressI had gotten used to my curls, imposed a self-taught regimen to keep the frizz at bay, and was finally beginning to feel comfortable in my skin—I mean hair—when I moved to New York City to launch my acting career. The first photographer I found to take my head shots panicked when I showed up at his studio. “No one will ever hire you with that hair,” he said. “Name one famous actress with curly hair that wild.” This was 2001, when Hollywood’s women seemed to be competing for the straightest locks in the land; when the
Friends
girls appeared to be sleeping with their hot irons more than their boyfriends, and the new Japanese hair-straightening system was all the rage at my hair salon.I was determined to be a success and wasn’t going to let my hair get in the way of my career. But I cried when I got the photos back. They looked like someone else; someone boring, passive, and vulnerable. In one, he even had me in a wig. But I had them printed and sent off to every agency in the book. Apparently I was not the only one who didn’t like my photos. No one called.
Two years later, I learned about the Curly Girl Method. I stopped shampooing and discovered clips. I had new headshot photos taken, this time with my hair natural. I sent them out, and I began getting work immediately. I was in many dressing rooms with other girls who would be fighting the humidity with brushes and serums and thousands of watts of electricity, but not once did anyone pull out a staightening iron or ask me to hide my curls.
We would always end up talking about curls. Out of my element, but at home in my curls, I was on the way to finding myself.
The straight-haired head shot that didn’t land Jo as many acting gigs.
Head shot with natural curls. Much better!
Girls with wavy and s’wavy hair are often the most misunderstood and underrecognized types because their hair can easily be confused for straight. Wavy hair lies flat against the scalp, and every curl is in the shape of an S. Some are very loose, floppy S’s while others are more defined. Some wavy hair may have a spring factor of 5 inches, while other waves fall in extremely lazy S’s below the shoulders and barely spring at all. Very often, the hair has to grow past the shoulders before S shapes can appear and then begin to twist and turn. Wavy girls who think they are straight may be on too strict a diet of frequent haircuts, downward brushing, and blow-drying, so that the waves are attacked before they have a chance to reveal themselves. If hair is short, the wave or curl may not even be discernible.
Where there’s a wave, there’s a curl!
Though wavy hair isn’t usually as dry as really curly locks can be, you should still toss every bottle of shampoo in your bathroom and cleanse with a sulfate-free cleanser or botanical conditioner. You should also stop using a blow-dryer or flat iron and never use a brush. When it comes to how often you should wash your hair, you’ll need a little trial and error to figure it out. Often by the second or third day without cleansing, this sensitive hair type has more movement and body. Many of my wavy and s’wavy girls lightly cleanse only every three to four days and, between cleansings, they revive their hair with a spritz of lavender.
I urge you not to have so many self-imposed rules. If your hair still looks great after a few days without cleansing,
leave it alone!
Give it another day or two before washing and you might be surprised at the beautiful contours you see! A lot of caring for wavy and s’wavy hair is about what you’re
not
going to do, rather than what you do.
Treat your hair gently and properly by following the cleansing and styling directions here and encourage your natural wave. After three weeks, you may be surprised to discover your full wavy potential with loose, glamorous curls that shine with good health.
Cleansing and Conditioning•
Cleansing/conditioning and styling time:
8 to 12 minutes, depending on length of hair.
1
Step under the shower’s running water, cupping your hair with your hands so the water pressure does not leave your waves limp and lethargic. (If the water pressure is very high, try to lower it on the shower nozzle.) If you have baby-fine waves, put on a hairnet (available at Sally Beauty Supply) before you go under the water. The net allows water to flow through and lets you cleanse hair with your fingers while helping to contain your hair’s wave structure.
