Curly girl must have product

must have curly girl product

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I think we can all agree, that you can spend enormous amounts of money on the curly girl method. It’s so disappointing to buy new products only to find out it wasn’t right for you. That’s actually one of the reasons I like writing reviews – at least I can offer my experience and recommendations.

But there’s one curly girl product that you simply can’t go wrong with, and that is Aquis hair towel. *Aquis towels do what they promise (dry your hair 50% faster than a regular towel) and they do it well. It’s also one of those things you don’t have to repurchase all the time.

 

When it comes to naturally curly hair, making your curls or waves even just a tiny bit better is worth it. I’ve said it before, but these towels really do help with curl definition, since they absorb the water from your hair quickly and help set your curls.

curly girl products beauty blog

Curly girl must have product for fast hair drying & plopping

I know that having a special towel or turban for your hair might seem excessive, but I assure you it’s not. I’ve now used *Aquis hair towels daily almost for a year and I’m never going back to regular towels. Here’s four reasons why:

 

1. They make my life easier. Yes, really.
Having a towel that dries my hair faster makes my life easier. I’ve talked about my scalp problems here before, and that means I have to wash my hair almost every day. Washing my hair is not my favorite hobby, but these towels at least help to fasten up the drying process. Aquis towels are made from special Aquitex fabric, which cuts down the drying time by 50 %.

2. They keep my hair in good shape.
Wet hair is easily damaged or stretched – especially curly hair – so getting it quickly dry without friction is a good thing. Aquis towels are made of good quality fabric and they feel soft. Actually, on my latest appointment with my hairdresser, she actually complimented my hair. I’m pretty sure that using these towels instead of regular ones have made a huge difference to the health of my hair.

3. They help with curl definition and are great for plopping.
It’s hard to get your curls to dry in the perfect shape. I still struggle with curl definition – mostly because my hair is so heavy it can’t really hold a curl properly – but these towels help. Even if I just scrunch out the water out of my hair with Aquis towel, the curl comes a little more alive. *Aquis turban is also made for plopping! When it comes to naturally curly hair, making your curls or waves even just a tiny bit better is worth it. I’ve said it before, but these towels really do help with curl definition, since they absorb the water from your hair quickly and help set your curls.

4. They make my hair shinier.
A regular towel tends to make my hair frizzy. These, in contrast, seem to give me shine. It was even more visible, when I had my natural hair color all over, like in the photo below. Now my hair is bleached with balayage highlights, so obviously my hair is drier too. But that’s even more reason to do my best to keep my hair looking healthy and shiny.

 

aquis towels for naturally curly hair

Aquis has both hair towels and turbans and they come in different colors. They work for all hair types and I know people with straight hair also love them – because they dry the hair faster and are so gentle.

 

I use both a towel and a turban. I first like to scrunch out most of the water into the towel, after which I plop with the turban. You could probably get away with just using the turban, but it’s obviously even more effective plopping with a dry turban. The turban can then absorb even more water out of your hair.

 

The towels cost around 25$+ and they’re absolutely worth it. You just can’t compare them to a t-shirt or even a microfibre towel (yes, I’ve tried that too). And as I said in the post – they’re not something you buy, try and throw away.

Shop at amazon:
*Aquis turbans & towels

Shop at Sephora:
*Aquis hair towels and turbans

 

helpotusta curly girl arkeen

Have you tried Aquis towels? If you end up trying them, I would love to hear if they work as brilliantly for you as they do for me!

Scalp problems, seborrheic dermatitis & the curly girl method

curly hair scalp problems

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For the longest of time, I struggled with scalp problems. That also caused me to struggle with my curls, which I didn’t even realize until now. Suddenly my waves were not as curly as they used to be and my usually dry hair seemed to be waxy and shiny. Nothing was working and I was struggling with dry, oily, itchy scalp. And bad hair days. I feel like I was also losing more hair than usual.

I felt like a failure and a fraud with my horrible hair. Especially since my post about curly girl method and curly hair routine is still one of the most read post on this site. I couldn’t understand why suddenly the things I used to do for my hair didn’t work anymore.

After quietly suffering with it for several months, I finally realized something. The kind of dandruff and scalp problems I had weren’t normal. Having a flaky dry scalp, that also felt oily and waxy, even right after washing, wasn’t normal. I remembered hearing about this scalp eczema called seborrheic dermatitis and after reading about it online, everything made sense.

Seborrheic dermatitis & how I fixed my scalp and curl problems

[Note: I’m talking about my scalp problems honestly and it can be gross. Also, I have not been diagnosed by a doctor and this is all based on my own research and experience. Also, getting a doctor’s appointment at this crazy time and going to a doctor is not my priority.]

Seborrheic dermatitis is a very common skin condition that causes dandruff and over production of sebum. It might also have a little something to do with the curly girl method, since you’re not washing your hair regularly. That might allow the oils and natural yeasts to profiliterate in your scalp. (Source.)

Seborrheic eczema is also linked to acne, which I’m all too familiar with. Luckily right now my skin otherwise is in a pretty good shape.

Here you can see how my scalp and hair looked like at its worst. This was after my first wash with the ketoconazole shampoo. Hadn’t had that fresh and airy hair in months!

In my case, it’s like having all the scalp problems at once. I had dry scalp and dry dandruff. I also had oily scalp with this weird sebum-dandruff. A shampoo did nothing to it and even right after washing my hair my scalp felt flaky and oily. If I touched my scalp, my fingertips felt oily. I just couldn’t clean my scalp with a regular shampoo. I realized that it also affected my hair and curls, since the sebum got built up in my hair. No wonder my hair felt alien to me. Hair loss is not common with seborrheic eczema, but I’ve also had hair loss. It could also be hormonal in my case, though.

The best treatment for seborrheic eczema on your scalp is simple: wash your hair every day. UV-light also apparently helps, so all the more reason to love summer. Depending on the severity of your problem, you also need a special shampoo. I read that *shampoos containing ketoconazole are pretty effective, because they get rid of yeast, so I bought that.

And you know what? I felt like my problem went away with one wash! Already I felt the itching ease and my hair felt airy and voluminous again. (That is when I had to share my revelation on Instagram stories, so if you follow me there, you probably saw my excitement. You can check out the clips from my Highlights.)

seborrheic dermatitis curly hair

My new hair routine

I’ve now been on my new hair wash routine for about a month and I can say that the problem is pretty much gone. I mean, I understand the condition is probably gonna stay with me, but I have it under control. It feels amazing. (IT FEELS AMAZING!)

I have used my ketoconazole shampoo 1-2 times per week as instructed. Other than that, I can use my normal shampoos. I try to wash my hair every day, but sometimes, if my scalp feels okay, I can get away with skipping one wash.

Besides the shampoo, nothing has really changed. I use my curly hair approved conditioners and gels. So if you have scalp problems, you can still take care of your curls! It just means washing your hair hair more often, which is a bit more work. That is why I don’t always feel like applying gel and I might just use shampoo and conditioner and call it a day. Currently just having clean hair feels amazing.

I’m so happy that I managed to find help for my hair problems. I’m so happy that I got my curls back too! It honestly felt like it did when I first started the curly girl method. I had curly hair! I had curls! It was the same excitement all over again.

New curly hair products

Since then I have tried some new products and I have some new curly hair product recommendations. I listed all the products I used for the curls you see in these photos. (You’ll find all my other recommendations from the curly hair 101 post.)

1-2 per week *
*Ketoconazole shampoo – the specific one I use is Ratiopharm Ketoconazol shampoo

Daily:
*Loreal Source Essentielle Shampoo
*Loreal Source Essentielle Balm
Noughty 1 Hit Wonder Cleansing Conditioner
*Ecostyler Olive Oil Curl Gel
*Aquis fast dry hair turban

The shampoo I’ve used is Loreal’s Source Essentielle Shampoo. It’s sulfate free and feels gentle, but effective on my hair (since a very clean scalp has become a priority!). For conditioners, I use both the Loreal Balm and the Noughty Cleansing Conditioner. The 1 hit wonder cleansing conditioner is actually made for co-washing, but it works fine as a conditioner for me. It’s lightweight, but gives some moisture and shine to my hair. I feel like using both of these has worked great. Sometimes I use a heavier conditioner and sometimes a lighter one. That way my hair doesn’t get too overwhelmed, since my long wavy hair can’t take too much nourishing products.

That’s it. It feels like a stone has been lifted from my chest! I’m sure I’m not alone with my scalp and curl problems, so it felt important to share. Have you experienced something similar?

 

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