Most traditional shampoos are terrible for curly hair. They will strip your natural oils and leave your hair dry and frizzy. Why is that? They have Sulfates in them.

Sulfates (Sodium Lauryl Sulfate, Sodium Laureth Sulfate, and Ammonium Lauryl Sulfate ) are surfactants that are found in shampoos, cosmetics and even industrial cleansers and degreasers. They are the bubbling and lathering agent in these cleaning products, and we all know that bubbles are the way to clean, right? Wrong! 

Many studies have shown Sulfates to be dangerous! Products that are absorbed through the skin are much more potent and they go right to our bloodstream. They have been shown to possibly cause cancer, reproduction problems, and hair loss as well as many other ailments. You can read more about Deadly and Dangerous Shampoos here.

We can have clean hair without putting ourselves at risk!  More and more companies are recognizing the dangers of sulfates and are developing Sulfate-Free Shampoos. If you cannot find one, DevaCurl of course, as a line, is free of this harsh chemical; hence the name of their cleanser: No-Poo.

Since cleansing the hair is achieved by the friction of your finger pads on your scalp, you can actually cleanse your scalp with a good conditioner. In the curly world this is called Co-Washing. If you really can't give up the bubbles, ask me about Sulfate-Free Lo-Poo by DevaCurl that does have a chemical-free lathering agent.

This picture shows evidence of a traditional wet cut. In the before picture, you can see at the bottom are wispy ends. This happens when curly hair is cut using traditional wet-cutting techniques. The hair is pulled down taut and cut straight across, then released to have the curls bounce back up according to their curl structure.

The problem with this is that not every curl is the same. It is sometimes most evident when someone has tighter curls around the face or at the nape of their neck, or even sometimes looser waves at the top. The reality is that we have inconsistent curls all over our heads!

For example, say you have a looser wave next to a tighter curl grouping and it was cut wet and pulled taut. Once it dries to its normal and chill-out state, the tighter curl, which has shrunk up, will be visually shorter than the wave. This results in wispy and thin-looking ends.

The remedy is dry curl cutting. Each curl is cut in its individual, untampered-with formation according to where it lives in conjunction with the rest of the curls around it, resulting in a visually appealing and more symmetrical cut.

Lanis is wanting to keep growing her length so we trimmed just a tad off the bottom and will gradually let that fill in as she gets her trims every four months or so. Some individual curl cutting in the rest of the lengths add to the visual symmetry and make the most of her curl pattern.

As always, feel free to share, as curl-by-curl cutting is not taught in Beauty School and is a highly individualized and specialty field.

Today I will feature a fellow Curly Artist and friend, Beth Burrall. I met her at the CHA Symposium in October and I just love her! She has amazing insight and instinct when it comes to curls, so I wanted to share her with you.

Below is a quick tip she posted about achieving 2nd and 3rd day hair.

Okay everyone! Another weekly tip coming your way:) As we head into the holidays, we will be gearing up for seeing friends,relatives, and yes-cameras! So let's talk styling!
This week is a little different because I have been experimenting and will be sharing with you what I have found. 
Everyone is always asking about 2nd and 3rd day hair. Ideally, we would all love to go multiple days with out fussing with our curls, and some find their curls actually do better the longer they go without cleansing(not to be confused with shampooing!)

What I have found, is that the more product you use to set your curls the first day, the less frizz, but also the less curl. In some cases, the curls will become tighter over the course of the next few days. Now if you are going for a more elongated curl this is great. But if you are looking for more bounce and volume, you may need to use less product. 
The trade off to using less product and achieving more volume is that you may experience more frizz. You also may find you aren't able to get as many days out of your set as you can with a heavier product application.
So, as the holidays approach, I encourage all of you to experiment and see what your hair is needing the most. Does it need to be washed, or does it look great and doesn't need anything? Does it need product or moisture? Curls are always highly opinionated and they will let you know, now all you have to do is listen!

I was getting ready to start a Curly Cut on a client today and as I was parting her hair I found a little surprise at her nape. It was a small section of curls that had dreaded itself on her necklace a couple weeks ago!

This is very common for Curlies and they need not be ashamed! Even one of the models at the October CHA Symposium had a huge one that she actually wanted to keep and even had put a bead on the end of it!

I told my client it was no big deal and that we would work it out at the shampoo bowl. After her Curly Cut, we did a highlight retouch, then we went to wash out the color. After washing the color out, I isolated the dread and pinned up the rest of her hair. Great care must be taken in order to not damage the hair by pulling and yanking on it while it is dry! I put in a generous amount of Heaven in Hair Deep Conditioner and very gently with a wide tooth comb began to work out the dread. 

I started from the bottom and worked my way up, spreading the mat with my fingers and loosening it with the teeth of the comb. Then at the very bottom of the dread I would work the tangles out. 

Then I moved up a little bit more, spread the mat with my fingers and loosened with the comb, worked the very bottom out... etc etc...

Note: this may not work for everyone, especially if they are truly matted, and the dreading has been there for some time. However, for the accidental necklace dread situation, this method works great!

It took less than ten minutes and her hair was none the worse for the wear! Be careful with those necklaces, Curlfriends!