ARE AVEDA PRODUCTS CURLY HAIR APPROVED?
Men, women, and every non-binary in between with coiling, twisting, curling tresses that are the envy of all who behold them.
Like with the trend in beauty that is glowing nymph-like skin, perfect natural curly hair is the product of patience, of a routine, of a lifestyle. Curls with the delicate balance between hydrated shiny locks and piecey definition do not come with slapping on a one-trick product at the end of a rough towel dry. True curly people would gasp in horror at the thought of working up an unmanageable ball of flruzz (fluffy/frizz). No, the coveted mane takes a methodical approach. Still simple if you equip yourself with the twisty knowledge.
The Process
It begins on big bath day. You know the one. The day a week you set aside to rub all kinds of sugars and salts on your body with all kinds of brittle yet porous natural rocks and sponges. The clay face mask makes an appearance as every week you forget it’s a twice a week job but once will have to do this time. Then from under a dark and sleepy sinks feet, a basket gets dragged out. A plume of dust fills the air. Mossy earth-toned green and pastel-toned bottles are mish-mashed together. The odd stray scrunchie and wide tooth comb that got handed down from some curly person or other. Right at the bottom in the wicker cracks and crevices a shimmering millennial pink pool of dust. A sad sigh befalls as we mourn another good bath bomb dissolved and lost before it had its time to shine.
In this basket, bottles covered in a powdery pink mist are the collection of a lifetime of trial and error. The initial years of a curly person’s life are often spent with a wild tear-stained look in their eye as they mix and pour multiple ‘hero’ products into sludge toned concoctions. It is said that war drives innovation, but I truly believe that frizzy hair does.
Over the years, results of the witches brews leave in their wake a trail of almost right but not so hair days. Days with greasy flat roots and dry brittle ends, voluminous whipped roots and simultaneously crunchy AND greasy ends, days where it’s the one where all your hair has formed a helmet smoothed down to your scalp and it feels like a sticky veneer. The mishaps go on.
All these years we return again and again to the basket. Like extra lives in a video game. Stuck in a loop we return to the crux point. The ancient basket full of elixirs.
There comes a day in every curly person’s life where on retrieving the basket, they figure that it is time to Marie Kondo their emotional attachment to neon jellies, out of date pomades, and synthetic strawberry-scented hair masks.
And so the research begins, our follicular coming of age. We seek a new path. Guided by simplicity and nature.
So, it brings me back to the opening question of this article, are Aveda products curly person approved?
The Aveda curly routine you will be relieved to know is surprisingly simple.
1. Shampoo
2. Condition
3. Intensive moisture hair mask/treatment once a week
4. Style with curling creme
5. Diffuse or preferably air dry
The irreverent mystery is lifted and we are left with a minimal kit list more appropriate for this millennium.
The aptly named Be Curly product range removes the anxiety of standing before a salon product shelf with an abundance of choice. Be Curly has a shampoo and conditioner, with zesty citrus notes it gives the feeling that it’s actually giving your scalp a thorough clean. I’d recommend a few times a week washing your hair. Everyday deep cleansing doesn’t allow your scalp to produce its natural oils and will make your hair feel drier in the long run.
Once a week, (big bath day) while you are scrubbing and pumicing away to your heart’s content leave a hair mask on for 5-15 minutes. Be Curly’s detangling mask is enriched with everyone’s favourite Shea butter. The weekly moisture treatment is however the step where you do have alternative options. For incredibly dry hair, Dry remedy’s moisturising mask. For coloured damaged or bleached hair the new Botanical repair intensive strengthening mask. It comes in light and rich depending on your hair texture. The botanical repair is the wonder kid because it targets inside the cuticle and outside. Like a 2 in 1 serum and moisturiser, it makes hair appear healthier after just one use.
A curly person myself I’ve tried them all and found each to do the job of moisturising as well as the next, so this step is where you can really test out your favourite, whether it’s the aroma or the feel, it’s a nice way to personalise your own routine.
Styling
Lastly, arguably the most crucial hurdle and one where many a good curly person has fallen. Styling. I’m here to tell you it’s not so scary. It’s really easy. You’re going to be ok.
The final step in our journey to add both moisture and definition lies on one last product. Be Curly’s Curling creme. A cream that coats your cuticles smoothing them and enhancing the natural curl pattern you have, conditioning, moisturising and detangling as it goes.
Add a generous amount to the palms of your hand and work it through the hair, roots to tips. To detangle and distribute evenly, rake through a wide-tooth comb. When you do this you will see the curls bounce into shape already.
Finally scrunch or twist into coils. Diffuse like normal or air dry. If you air dry, the key to dream hair is not to touch it at all. It can be hard to resist but occupy yourself with a Rubix cube or something. If you start teasing and messing about it’s going to frizz. Air drying is best left to its own magic.
All hail the curly coming of age.
