As a curly haired beauty, do you feel like you’re suffering from the ‘curse of curls’? You are not alone! Like many fellow curly haired women, Michele Scott-Lynch, curl expert and founder of the Bouclème natural haircare range, also battled against her hair until she was in her 30s. Frustrated by the lack of hair products that would not weigh down curls, she created Bouclème – a natural hair care range that would help lift the ‘curse of curls’ and empower fellow curly heads along the way.
We met with Michele and her hairdresser of choice Lindsey Hughes, a fellow curly head and curly hair specialist. Together, they gave us some tips on understanding and managing curls. If you would like to know more about the range and its founder, read our interview with Michele here.
How to use Bouclème’s 3-step system
Packed with high performance natural actives that restore moisture and life to dry lacklustre hair, Bouclème’s 3 step system aims to give beautiful, shiny, fizz-free curls. Michele and Lindsey showed us how to use the range:
- Start with the Curl Cleanser: Wet hair thoroughly. Then, apply a few fingers of the Curl Cleanser to fingertips and massage into roots vigorously. For correct application, your arms should ache! Massage and rub scalp starting at the top of the head, then work your way front to back, then sides. Loosely detangle curls smoothing the cuticles with fingers. Rinse hair thoroughly. Continue to massage the scalp as you rinse to ensure product and dirt is fully washed away.
- Apply the Curl Conditioner: After cleansing, apply conditioner generously to soaking wet hair. Apply in sections combing through hair with fingers. Drizzle a little water onto each section. Water is essential for hydrating curls – so you need to hear that ‘squelch’ when working through hair. Hair should feel silky and look for a milky consistency. Treat hair softly, rake it out with fingers.
- Rinse and Reapply: Apply more conditioner to drier areas and rinse out partly or fully depending on your curl pattern and hair textures. If you have fine loose curl patterns, apply from the midsection to avoid adding weight at the roots. If you have drier thicker curls, we recommend leaving the conditioner in. If your hair loses moisture quickly, you can also add some pure natural oil over it to seal moisture in and define curls. We like to use virgin coconut oil.
- Finish off with the Curl Defining Gel: This gel smoothes and defines curls without flaking or stickiness. For extra volume apply to wet hair and with your head upside down, take a good sized amount of gel and glide it over the hair and the ends, scrunching it up towards head for 10 seconds to encourage curl formation. Flip head up and do the same to the canopy. For volume control, use fingers to rake gel through hair in sections, starting from the back of the head and working towards the front to ensure even distribution. This method works well for medium to thick textures to elongate curls. Then, flip your head upside down over a bath or sink scrunch curl upwards, pushing the curls ‘up’ in sections. Finally, wrap hair in the Boucleme Curl Towel bamboo and cotton mix towel to dry.
- Drying off: Before moving on to the hair dryer, add two duckbill clips on your hairline to add more body and volume at the crown. Then, dry your hair upside down, using a diffuser. Don’t touch hair while it’s drying as it will cause frizz! Once 80% dry, apply some more gel to any fluffy areas. The gel creates a ‘cast’ that protects the curls. Once hair is completely dry, tip your head forward, shake curls at the roots and scrunch out get to release the cast and reveal soft, defined and hydrated curls. Once hair is completely dry, tip your head forward and scrunch out gel to release the cast and reveal soft, defined and hydrated curls! We recommend washing curls every 1-4 days to maintain moisture levels in hair.
Spot treat any areas of frizz on day 2 or 3 with the Boucleme Curl Cream, which can be applied to wet or dry hair to hydrate curls and minimise frizz.
See Michele’s tips below
Curls DO’s
- What curl type are you? Not all curls are created equal- as such, they need to be treated differently. If you’re not sure what your curl type is, click here.
- Combating frizzy hair? That means your hair needs more moisture. Try Argan Oil and Coconut Oil and apply a little to wet hair after your conditioner either in-between washes or during to seal moisture in.
- Do – Invest in a satin pillow case to sleep on. It’s good for your hair – and your face! Your curls will thank you.
- Do you have any areas of fizz? For day 2 or 3 curls, you can ‘spot-treat’ any areas of frizz using the Curl Conditioner. Mix half a bottle of conditioner and kettle water in a bottle and apply to treat the fizzy areas.
- Use a diffuser, air dry or a hooded dryer: When diffusing, the best way to maintain the shape in the curls is to hang your head upside down, and move the diffuser from downwards, going up.
- Is your hair matted? Generally, colour-treated hair tends to mat more easily. Use coconut oil as a pre-wash treatment or after your conditioner as it binds to the protein in hair and should stop hair strands from sticking together. Also, I usually add more conditioner at the end of my hair and nape of the neck to avoid it matting.
Curl DONT’s
- Ditch the terry towel: This is a curly girl’s nemesis as it draws moisture from the hair, ruffles hair cuticles and messes up the curl pattern. Use a bamboo and cotton-mix towel instead, so curls retain maximum hydration. Try the ‘plopping’ technique: this involves you using a towel to help scrunch the hair and enhance the curls’ natural shapes. You can leave the towel on for 15-20 minutes as you do your make-up and get ready to go out.
- Ditch silicone and sulphate-based products: For natural beauties this is an obvious one, whether your hair is curly or not! Most hair products contain silicone and sulphates: silicone weighs down hair and ruins the curl pattern as it prevents moisture from soaking into the hair, while sulphate is a harsh detergent that strips the hair of moisture. As you can imagine, this is a vicious cycle that damages hair. Think of it this way: zero foam equals maximum hydration! So the less foam, the better your hair.
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