If you ask a curly haired girl about her gorgeous locks, she will tell you an entire story. My story is, I've always had curly hair and I hated it. I went through chemically straightening it every six months. My hair started breaking from the use of the chemicals and I immediately went into protective styling such as wearing weaves as well as braids to keep my hair healthy. It took four years for my hair to grow to its fullest potential. If I were to straighten my hair without cutting off the permed ends, my hair would have been past my chest and very unhealthy. I cut off the permed ends and I was in complete shock and awe over how curly my natural, chemical free hair was. I immediately dove into Shea Moisture and here is where I went wrong.
What most people don't know about Shea Moisture, as well as the other hair care lines that promote moisture is that it contains the dreaded "S" word, silicone.
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Silicone coats the hair over time and it prevents your hair from receiving moisture, resulting in dryness which leads to dry, thirsty, tangled hair and breakage.
From using Shea Moisture, Herbal Essences, and Suave, all of which promised moisture for my curls, my hair went lifeless in a matter of months and ended up looking like this, thanks to the lack of moisture from the silicones.
Yes, I know, it looks so healthy and full of life but trust me it was anything but healthy. My hair was frizzy no matter what I did. I used a cotton T-shirt instead of a towel to keep moisture, stayed far away from heat for six months straight which was hard but I did it, and I even deep conditioned once a week, and my hair was still dead.
One day I happened to scroll through Instagram and I happened to stumble across one of my favorite actress' curly hair picture and I was immediately in love in with it. I clicked on her profile and found out that she had a curly haircut from the celebrity stylist, "Curl Doctor" Shai Aimel. His salon, Capella Salon is located in Studio City, California. I have never seen a hair stylist take hair that looked as if all life was gone and bring it back to its former glory, especially with curly hair which is extremely hard to do. He used a method of cutting curl by curl and hair products from the line "Devacurl". I am not one for hair salons but once I saw the results from this hair product, I was sold.
My birthday was right around the corner when I told my mom that I wanted a haircut. She was shocked but at the same time, she encouraged me to do so. I went onto Devacurl's website and I found a curly hair specialist. There is surprisingly a range of knowledge on curly hair. On the Devacurl website, there are stylists listed from Certified, Inspired, and Advanced. Each has their special certification. If you have never had a Devacut, I suggest going to a Deva Certified Stylist.
I made the appointment at Head Trip Studio in Haddonfield, New Jersey with stylist Johnny Hajra.
This is how my hair looked when I walked into Head Trip Studio.
When I went in for my haircut, Johnny explained to me all of the bad things I was putting into my hair and why it looked so lifeless. She then asked me how I wanted my hair to be cut, and if I wanted to keep my length. After giving her the careful instructions, she cut my hair. While doing so, she warned me about no heat or combs which could alter my curl pattern.
After the cut which was done curl by curl, she then washed my hair. She used Devacurl's No Poo Decadence to shampoo my hair.
Shampoo is supposed to lather, right? While it lathers it strips away all of the oils as well as dirt. You probably did not know that shampoo dries your hair out.
Well not this one. It is more like a conditioner. You use it on you roots and you massage away all of the dirt while the shampoo leaves in all of the natural oils that your hair needs.
The next step that Johnny did to my hair was the One Condition Decadence. She applied this to my hair section by section and started the detangling process. She then applied a deep conditioner called Heaven In Hair to my hair.
My hair was soaking up all of these amazing nutrients that it had been lacking for so many years! My hair smelled amazing as well.
Johnny then rinsed and scrunched my hair, leaving some of the conditioner in my hair. She then applied the Devacurl Supercream to my hair.
My hair was then dried under the hooded dryer for a while and then my hair was finally set.
I nearly cried when I saw how my hair looked. I had curls again! Not just curls in a few places and the rest frizz. Curls, everywhere!
This is how my hair looked after my haircut.
So much healthier, hydrated, stronger. I couldn't thank Johnny enough for what she did to my hair. She gave me my confidence back with this haircut.
Seven months later and I am still, to this day in love with my curls. I still use Devacurl and that will never change.
My hair routine is very simple and it does not take me forever and a day to do. I take every single product in the shower with me from the shampoo all the way down to the Ultra Defining Gel.
Not once has this hair line disappointed me.
If you were to tell me a year ago that I didn't know my curly hair, I would tell you that I did and that I did not need to change a single thing. I was dead wrong, Devacurl along with a curl specialist like Johnny know my curls.
Are you going to let a curl stylist know your curls? I suggest you let them, it will change your hair's life, just like it changed mine, shrinkage and al.
