The Coil Comeback: Beating Styling Product Damage

Defined curls WITHOUT styling products?  Yeah right...no really, YES this IS possible.  Can we normalize styling products being used to achieve an awesome look, but not to be shackled to just to leave the house looking decent?

While everyone talks about how heat and chemical processing can damage curls (btw it doesn't always have to, but that's for another time).  No one talks to us Naturals in detail about styling product damage.  My name is Love and I am the Founder and Owner of Love Snow, and have been rocking my natural curls for three years now.  I'm sharing a personal experience so many of us are all too familiar with, a salon experience that went waaaaaayyyy left.  But there IS a happy ending. 

Through my transition from being relaxed to natural (didn't do a big chop) I used only two products the Restorative Hair and Scalp Serum + Intensive Hair and Scalp Tonic.  I've used them as leave-in treatments, detanglers, curl defining products, no rinse overnight treatments, curl refreshers, and more.  I strongly believe being natural shouldn't mean spending a small fortune to look decent, spending days doing hair (or waiting for it to dry), or not being able to live life fully because "my hair".  SIDE NOTE:  these are the same two products I used when my hair was relaxed.  

After 2 years of the pandemic, I had an appointment to even out my afro.  I knew it would be cut, the goal was for a more even continued grow out.  I have never used styling products on my coils, no gel, no curl cream, no mousse, no nothing, and asked to keep it that way because my coils had been thriving for years w/o them.  I actually took product with me and asked for it to be used.  Unfortunately, while I was told they would, none of my requests were honored.

My hair was slathered in shampoos, conditioners, leave-in conditioners, and finally hair treatments I was told worked best for my texture.  Please keep in mind the stylist identified as a master stylist, curl specialist, salon owner, and had a texture near identical to mine.  While the cut was entirely too short and not at all what we discussed (we'll save that for another time) my coils were then slathered in a curl defining cream and gel combo.  She kept talking about products having a great "slip" and getting a nice "cast" for good definition.  While the end result of this $200 cut left the little bit of coils I had left looking defined, my hair felt hard, my scalp started to itch, and within a couple hours the product started to flake ...this explains my face.  No one talks about what's happening to the hair underneath all that slathered product.

To repair my coils I returned to exclusively using the Restorative Hair and Scalp Serum + Intensive Hair and Scalp Tonic, using the leave-in conditioning treatment technique on wash days and the no-rinse overnight treatment in-between wash days (same technique on dry hair and w/o the shower cap).  Products are absorbent, making them perfect for regular use w/o the concern of build-up on hair and scalp.  BONUS, products help decongest scalp reducing excess oils, flakes, and build up, helpful for dry flaky scalp issues like dandruff, eczema, psoriasis, and to keep scalp fresh and clean between wash days. 

The Restorative Hair and Scalp Serum helped lay my cuticle layer back down, helping reduce frizz, help hair hold moisture again, and keep my hair from getting tangled.  The Intensive Hair and Scalp Tonic helped boost elasticity return ...that was already happening with the serum...the duo helps with even quicker curl repair.  The tonic also helped with calming the scalp itch, and together the hair has been growing back really nicely as well. 

A little goes a long way, prior to the damage I was using three finger tip lengths of serum for all of my hair and scalp...a little goes a long way.  When I was repairing damage I had to use a bit more than usual for about a month and a half, and then was able to return to normal amounts.  Consistency is key.  I had tried a few styling products because the damage was so bad, but they kept drying out my hair and I knew they would prolong the problem.