It occurs to me that I’m about to pull you into a world that may be totally unfamiliar. This short post will serve as your glossary and reference as you navigate the rest of this series.
Glossary of terms:
- Pre-poo: an oil or conditioning treatment used to moisturize the hair in preparation for cleansing (shampooing).
- Instructions- Soak your hair with water and coat it with your choice of oil or conditioner. Cover with a towel or cap, and let sit for at least half an hour before shampooing.
- Sulfate-free shampoo: A gentle cleanser that contains a non-sulfate lathering agent.
- This is nice for low-porosity curlies who deal with occasional product build-up.
- Porosity: This term refers to the way your hair cuticles lie. If you have high porosity strands, your cuticles are open. If you have low porosity strands, they are smooth and closed. You’ll need to moisturize according to your porosity.
- Protein treatment: A kind of spackle for damaged hair. This treatment is designed to repair and protect your tresses from everyday environmental damage.
- Deep conditioning treatment: A rich moisturizer designed to give your hair an extra hydration boost.
- Co-wash: Using conditioner to wash your hair. It is much less drying than even sulfate-free shampooing.
- Instructions- distribute a thin conditioner or product labelled “co-wash” throughout your hair and onto your scalp. Use the pads of your fingers to massage thoroughly. It is this friction that will break up dirt and oil to leave you clean, so really get in there. Rinse the product out.
- Leave-in/Squish to condish: The act of leaving some or all of your conditioner in your hair.
- Instructions- After letting your conditioner work in your hair for a few minutes, add some water (we’re not really rinsing here, just re-wetting), flip your head over and squish your hair with your hands until no more moisture squeezes out.
- Note- You could also use a product specifically labelled as “leave-in,” but that depends on how many different products you want to buy.
- Scrunching: using your hands to scrunch your hair up and encourage curl pattern.
- Holy Grail: A product that you can’t live without and will repurchase over and over.
Now that you’re familiar with some of the terminology, let me direct you to some resources to give you more information!
- Curly Girl: The Handbook, by Lorraine Massey- Get the 411 right from the source!
- The Polished Curl- The preceding link will take you to her Squish to Condish demonstration, but her whole channel is fabulous!
- Bianca Renee Today- If you have curlier or African American hair, this channel is for you. Bianca has wonderful demonstrations and product reviews.
- Naturallycurly.com- An encyclopedia of curly/wavy information.
This should be enough to get you started. Stay tuned for my next installment!
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