How To Take Care of Wavy Hair

Learning how to take care of wavy hair was new for this mom with very straight hair! I'm happy to report that although curly and wavy hair requires more attention than I'm used to, getting a fabulous look is not as difficult as I originally imagined! 

Keep reading to learn how we took Katrina's wavy hair from unpredictable limp waves to the beautiful beachy waves you see in the above photo!

My siblings & I all grew up with very straight hair. So straight that it felt like a miracle if my hair held curl for more than an hour or two.

Then I had two daughters. Talia's hair grew in exactly like mine. When we sit close to each other, you can't tell whose hair is whose! Then Katrina came along and when her hair grew in, we discovered we had a curly haired unicorn in the family and I didn't know what to do with her hair! 

I told her I think her hair is magical- if you get it wet & scrunch it, it curls and I think that's amazing (curls for me come with a lot of time and effort, likely heat styling, plenty of product- and even then, the curls fall and I finish the day with only a hint of a bend in my hair).

We waited a long time for Katrina's first haircut but when the day finally came, we watched those little "baby hair" ringlets fall to the floor and ever since, it's been a little trickier to get it to "perform" in quite the same way. Now her hair is more wavy than curly and the hair in the front is less wavy than the back. 

dippity-do Girls with Curls

Recently she's been wanting to learn how to bring out her curl, so it was the perfect opportunity to partner with dippity-do who sent us their Girls with Curls line of products to try. We've had a few weeks to experiment and we've learned a lot and are pretty confident that we can create the look we want now- I only wish we had figured this out sooner! (I'll also share where you can get the products at the end of this post)

I'm excited to share what we've learned!

Learning How To Take Care of Wavy Hair

1. No Styling Product Near Roots

The first thing we learned (the hard way) was NOT to add styling product too close to the roots! You can see in the photo below that it's not the best look to add gel higher up than the mid lengths and ends. The hair at the top, near her head ended up tangly, felt sticky, and looked messy and oily! (Definitely not the look we were going for!)

2. No Need to Complicate Things

On this day, we also combined several products. I think we tried to get too fancy too early in our journey. The best news that came out of the weeks we spent experimenting with these products is that you don't need to combine a lot of products to get a great look and with wavy hair, sometimes less is more!

With that said, let's take a look at some of the things that worked really well for us by touching on each of the products we tried!

Girls with Curls Review

Curl Shampoo & Conditioner

One thing I've learned is that moisture is curly hair's best friend!  It turns out that the sulfates and parabens used in a lot of shampoos can actually strip your hair of its natural oils, so this shampoo & conditioner is sulfate & paraben free.  It does include coconut oil and shea butter to help hydrate your hair!

It turns out that the sulfates in the shampoos many of us use are what produces the frothy suds we're used to. At first we found it tricky to know how much shampoo to use because we had gotten into the habit of using that bubbly foam as a guide!  It takes a little getting used to, but with Katrina's thick hair, dippity-do recommends starting with 3-5 pumps for the first wash (with plenty of water).  If you do a second wash, you can achieve more lather with less pumps (2-3).  

Deep Treatment

In addition to the moisturizing shampoo & conditioner, there's a cream Deep Treatment with avocado oil, coconut oil, shea butter and vitamin E to help de-frizz and restore suppleness to dry, damaged hair. It also includes soy and wheat proteins to protect the hair against further wear and tear.

I love the option to use this nourishing treatment on her hair each week to keep it healthy and looking its best!

Curl-Boost Spray

It's not easy to keep Katrina's thick hair from tangling which is why she's been in the habit of brushing it after each wash- not the greatest plan for wavy or curly hair! I think we'll be using the Curl-Boost Spray after every wash from now on because it's a great way to de-tangle with just a wide toothed comb. It can even be used as an instant refresh of her curls without the need to wash them!   It's weightless and doesn't leave any sort of greasy film on her hair but it adds a little shine and helps tame flyaways.

Styling Wavy Hair

After using the products I've already listed, we tried following them up with a couple of different styling approaches using the rest of the products in the Girls with Curls line.  Here are our favourite ways to use them so far:

Curl Boosting Mousse - Scrunch & Air Dry

This will be our go-to look for Katrina's hair from now on.  We love how easy it is to add mousse to her wet detangled hair, scrunch, then leave it to air dry. The result is better than we were hoping for! (The awesome before & after photo at the start of this blog post is from this simple mousse - scrunch - air dry routine) as well as the photo below.

The photo on the left shows what her hair used to look like after washing with regular shampoo & conditioner, brushing it and air drying. The photo on the right is freshly washed hair, detangled with the Curl-Boost Spray and a wide toothed comb, then mousse & scrunching followed by air drying- we love this look!!

Curl Shaping Gelée & Curl Defining Cream

The Curl Shaping Gelée and Curl Defining Cream make a great team for styles with ponytails or braids. We used a bit of the styling cream to smooth her flyaways and we added water & gelée to her ends at the tail of her braids with some scrunching and shaping to get curly ends!  

The "after" photo of her braids was taken immediately after we applied the product and her hair was still wet. When dry, the curls looked soft and natural (with the same curl shape as the photo but dry, with no stiffness or crunch!) 

We've been so happy with the results after experimenting with these products and Katrina's dream of learning how to make wavy hair curlier has come true!

Where to Buy these Curly Hair Products in Canada

dippity-do's Girls with Curls line is now available at Walmart, Shoppers Drug Mart, Brunet, Familiprix, and Loblaws (Real Canadian Superstores).

 

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