Do your curls become dry, frizzy, and undefined lately? Wanna know why? Do you wonder how to fix damaged curly hair? Well. All you need to do is to follow some steps to improve your hair health, restore curl pattern, and combat frizz.
In this article, I will include the factors that cause damage to curly hair, top steps on how to fix damaged curly hair, and more FAQs.
Let’s get started…
Table of Contents
What Causes Damage To Curly Hair?
Many factors are responsible for causing damage to curly hair including:
- Over-washing.
- Bleaching.
- Dyeing.
- Frequent use of heat styling tools.
- Chemical straightening.
- Using styling products that contain harsh chemicals.
- Using cotton towels to dry hair.
- Wearing hairstyles that put stress on her.
How To Fix Damaged Curly Hair?
1- Avoid Chemical Treatments
This is the best time to take a break from dying, bleaching, or chemically straightening your hair. Those treatments damage the hair cuticle and make damaged curly hair look even worse.
But if you really want to change your hair color, you can try hennas as a natural treatment to color your hair without using chemicals.
Also, you can wear wigs if you wanna try different hairstyles, colors, and cuts without ruining your natural hair.
Plus, instead of chemically straightening your hair, you can try heat-free methods to naturally straighten strands. This helps keep hair healthy and protected and reduces damage.
2- Limit The Use Of Heat Styling Tools
Straightening or curling hair frequently can severely damage your curl pattern. This damage is irreversible and you will need to wait until you grow new healthy hair.
So what should you do? Avoid using heat styling tools to prevent further damage and restore your defined curls.
You can also try heartless methods to create loose curls or waves with no need for tools.
Furthermore, if you use a hair straightener, curling iron, or blowdryer every once in a while, make sure to coat your cuticles with a heat-protectant spray first.
This helps to seal in moisture and protect your strands, which prevents the damaging effects of styling tools.
3- Shampoo And Condition Your Hair Properly
It’s highly recommended to find a natural shampoo and conditioner that are designed especially to suit curly hair to leave your curls defined and enhance hydration.
Find products that contain hydrating and reparative ingredients like shea butter, avocados, sweet almond oil, keratin, aloe vera gel, or coconut milk.
Related: All You Need To Know About The Powerful Aloe Vera Benefits
4- Deep Condition Your Hair
Wondering how to fix damaged curly hair? A deep conditioning treatment is one of the major steps that you must try!
You can make your deep conditioner at home or purchase one online. A deep conditioner can provide intense hydration, fix hair damage, restore fried damaged hair, smooth hair follicles, and combat frizz.
If you’re going to make your deep conditioner at home, look for recipes that contain olive oil, vitamin E oil, avocados, bananas, coconut oil, moringa oil, or eggs.
It’s best to deep condition your hair once a week to prevent further damage and restore curl pattern quickly.
Related: Homemade Deep Conditioner For Damaged Hair: Best 6 Recipes
5- Using Repairing Styling Products
You need to be careful when buying your styling products as you should find products that can provide moisture while repairing your curls.
Opt for products that contain glycerin, honey, hyaluronic acid, keratin, almond oil, or shea butter.
Those ingredients are full of antioxidants, nutrients, fatty acids, minerals, and vitamins that can treat your damaged curly hair.
They can also increase elasticity, repair fried hair, restore shine, promote healthy hair growth, and fix damaged curls effectively.
6- Slow-Dry Your Hair
It’s highly recommended to let your hair air dry whenever possible but if you want to blow-dry it, practice the slow-drying method to keep curls protected and prevent damage.
To try this method:
- Apply a leave-in conditioner to your damp hair.
- Use a comb to distribute the product evenly.
- Pin your hair up in a bun.
- Use the blow dryer to slowly dry your hair and allow it to soak up water and help your hair absorb the conditioner.
This method is super effective as it helps retain moisture, keep curls looking healthy and shiny, reduce frizz, and protect against damage.
Related: Best Blow Dryer For Black Hair: Top 13 Picks To Try In 2022
7- Protect The Hair From The Sun
Sunlight can damage your hair and make it look fried, dry, and frizzy. Also, Chlorine in swimming pools is one of the top factors that cause damage to hair.
So, protect your curls from the sun and chlorine by applying thermal protection spray before going out or hopping into the pool.
Related: How To Protect Hair From Chlorine In 8 Easy & Quick Steps
8- Swipe To A Microfiber Towel
Use a microfiber towel to dry your wet hair instead of using the usual cotton towels.
Avoid rubbing your hair as this can lead to frizz and breakage. What to do then? wrap your hair with a microfiber towel and gently pat dry your curls to prevent damage.
9- Invest In A Silk Pillowcase
Consider getting a silk pillowcase or wearing a silk scarf before going to bed to protect your curls from friction that leads to frizz and split ends.
Silk helps keep curls defined and looking healthy in the morning. And it retains hair moisture and leaves hair easy to manage.
10- Get A Trim
To improve the appearance of damaged curly hair, cut off the dead split ends.
This step helps boost the appearance of your curl pattern, make your hair look healthier and less frizzy, and help you use less product, which will save you money.
11- Wear Protective Hairstyles
The most effective step on how to fix damaged curly hair is to go with protective hairstyles.
They shield your hair from damage, give your curls a break, prevent breakage and frizz, and don’t put stress on strands.
Protective hairstyles include a loose bun, mini-braids, french braids, or two-strand twists.
Related: 104 Top Hairstyles For Curly Hair According To Instagram
FAQs:
Why Is My Curly Hair Damaged?
Curly hair becomes damaged when you use heat styling frequently, bleach or chemically treat your hair, over-wash your curls, detangle knots roughly, or brush curls harshly.
What Damaged Curly Hair Looks Like?
Damaged curly hair looks dry and brittle, has straight ends, loses its curl pattern, appears less hydrated, and loses its shine.
Does Brushing Curly Hair Permanently Damage It?
If you brush your curly hair when it’s dry, you destroy the curl pattern, cause breakage and frizz, and damage hair cuticles in the long run. So it’s best to brush your curls when it’s wet and use your fingers to gently detangle knots.
Wrapping Up
The steps on how to fix damaged curly hair are easy and will help your hair restore its strength, boost shine, promote hair growth, and regain its curl pattern.
So, Check the steps I included above and let me know what you think!
Feature Image Source: Pexels.com/@joseluisphottographer/