Understanding Natural Movement In Hair
04 LONGEVITY- THE BASE OF LASTING DEFINITION
How do we get longevity between cleansing and keep the curls looking good each day?
IT IS POSSIBLE.
THE FIVE FOUNDATIONS OF LONGEVITY
To achieve longevity (two to six days of not cleansing between Cleanse Days) we create a STRONG BASE OF LASTING DEFINITION on Cleanse Day for the hair to refer back to on the non-Cleanse Days. This helps us not have to RESET the hair often—instead, we lightly REFRESH the hair each day (if needed). This Base of Lasting Definition is important even if your desired outcome is less-defined, tousled curls/waves. You can still end there, it just makes refreshing on the following days more productive if the hair can refer back to some order (definition).
This base of lasting definition is created by combining five things, I call them: THE FIVE FOUNDATIONS OF LONGEVITY. They’re really simple and easy, yet make all the difference. Essentially what we are doing is lining up all of our communication (or interactions) with our hair to say the same thing: Do your natural movement to the best of your ability. We are interacting by encouraging the hair to curl instead of adding confusion into the mix.
FOUNDATION 02:
YOUR CURL PATTERN
SIDE NOTE:
I have to mention that most of us have learned to be discontent with what OUR hair does … “if only I had her hair.” People with natural volume say, “I like volume on other people, just not on me. I wish this would just stay down,” and people with hair that hugs their head say, “how can I make this have more lift?” People with tighter curls tell me they would be happy if their hair lived as waves instead of doing this, and people with waves wish they had a stronger Curl Pattern that would easily curl up. There is something freeing that happens when we decide to discover, accept, and embrace the things OUR hair naturally does well. Having their hair won’t make you content with your hair—all hair has its own challenges, and contentment is a choice. We live in a society that breeds discontentment because it is very profitable. Choose to be content and learn to love your hair. One of the first steps is identifying our negativity about our hair … contemplate what you believe about your hair. A lot of time it gets back to statements made to us that were made without thought and we’ve held onto them for years. It’s time to let go. It’s time to stop trying to be beautiful like them and be beautiful like you.d edit me. It's easy.
Your Natural Curl Pattern & Movement
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We work with what your hair naturally wants to do and where it naturally wants to sit. If we want to be able to refresh the hair instead of having to fully reset it, then we don’t put in false Curl Patterns or twists, or stretch out the curls. These confuse the curls when we go to refresh them–they won’t refresh back to a false place so the natural pattern will fight with the false pattern when refreshing (or when humidity is in the air). There is strength in the fact that your hair tends back to its natural place. When the cut and style considers the natural place and Curl Pattern, then the hair does most of the work and we aren’t sending confusing messages to the curls. It isn’t a struggle or fight to refresh or make them do what we want, because we want them to do what they want to do. So all we have to do is lightly encourage them and give them what they need to do their natural thing on Refresh days.​
FOUNDATION 03:
HAIR MEMORIES
SIDE NOTE:
There are things we can do to help support and speed up the replacing of memories and encourage the curls out of a melty state. I call this the REHAB PROCESS- more on that in Section 07.
Hair Holds Memories
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The concept of training the hair (to sit well with a new part, etc.) is based on this. Hair holds memories, so we have to think about how much time our hair is spending getting to do its curly thing—we want that to be a majority of the time. If our hair spends most of its time out of its happy curly state, then we can’t expect it to just do beautiful things on command. Some curls are living in a MELTY STATE, because they have spent more of their time being stretched and tucked behind ears; in braids; pulled back in a ponytail; living in a pouf; or regularly brushed through rather than living in their natural curl groups and getting encouraged to curl up. It makes sense they look and act confused. (Don’t worry, with a little time and patience most curls can recover.)
For most curly hair, it will always, at least, show its natural desire for movement at some point, even if we put a lot of effort into erasing the movement or even if it has never been allowed to be curly. This is why it isn’t “easier” to just wear it straight. It won’t stay straight, it will keep showing its natural desire, and straightening takes some of the largest tolls on our hair which we have to face at some point. People who have spent years fighting their curls, have rarely seen their true happy curls … the curls that are getting what they need, and have let go of non-curly memories. It is important that curls get to live most of their time in their curly state and have those memories be stronger than the memories of other states. This is when your true curls emerge; and when they are happy we lose our desire to pull them up, or stretch them out, or hide them.
It takes time for hair/curls to let go of the memories, so be patient and keep encouraging your curls (don’t worry, we’ll talk about how). Curls, given what they need and allowed to live curly most of the time, get stronger and stronger, and the Curl Patterns can change drastically. Once most of their memories are curly, then we have freedom to let them be in other states once in a while without it causing much confusion.
​Some people have Naturally Melty Curls that take suggestion easily, and some people have Naturally Strong Curl Patterns that take extreme measures before they enter the melty state. The connection with getting longevity is that the more your hair is allowed to live in its curly state, the hair memory adds another layer of ease to getting longevity with your curls because its memories are also encouraging it back to its defined curly state.
FOUNDATION 01:
NIGHTTIME
SIDE NOTE:
There are some options for lightweight, refresh products that can help when trying to get extra time between cleanses; or dealing with windy days; or hair that has been pulled up—these shouldn’t be needed to refresh daily though—no matter what your Curl Pattern or Hair Elements are. Most days you shouldn’t need to add any more product to help the hair look good and do its thing. If you do, this is a sign that something is off—you either need to apply more product on Cleanse Day; change what products you are using; or adjust some of your interactions with your hair.
Neutralize Nighttime
Nighttime can wreak havoc on your hair—most pillowcases cause friction and absorb the moisture your curls need to be healthy. When nighttime messes with our hair too much, then we feel like we need to fully reset our hair again, or pull it back, or hide it—it is better to minimize the effects of nighttime, so simple refreshes are all that are needed.
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I believe that everyone will benefit from using a silk or satin pillowcase. It is especially necessary if you have natural movement in your hair. Using a silk or satin pillowcase can remove (or at least lessen) the friction and moisture absorption.
It is best not to stretch out or put tension on your curls as you sleep—the more they can live (and sleep) in their natural curly state, the better.
Let’s talk about SATIN or SILK-LINED BONNETS, CAPS, TURBANS, SCARVES, HEADWRAPS, TUBES, ETC. I don’t think of these as always necessary, yet they can be very helpful in some cases. Start with a silk or satin pillowcase (it’s good to have even if you are covering your hair at night—because sometimes you won’t, or it will come off as you sleep). Some people find it helpful to protect their curls even more than what a pillowcase can offer. They want to let their curls spend the night contained or scrunched up to encourage them. This can have great results. I’ve found that what will work for you is very personal. We each have different head shapes and some people move around a lot in their sleep and some don’t; so what stays on one person will slide off another. Some people don’t like the feeling of something on their head and are looking for a looser option, whereas some people like to be able to adjust the tension to make sure it stays on.
The Key Things When Selecting Nighttime Containment for Your Curls:
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Make sure it is silk or satin-lined (not microfiber, t-shirt knit, or anything that will absorb or cause friction when laid on). Most people find satin to fit life better because of the lower price and it can be machine washed and dried.
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Will your curls do best scrunched up or left loose? Where do you want the curls to sit? (Examples: Bonnet = not scrunched or piled on top of head- so less curl shrinkage & volume; Turban = hair scrunched and piled on top of head- more volume & curl shrinkage)
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Do you need it to be adjustable to stay on your head?
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Don’t follow the instructions if they tell you to pull your hair up first. The whole point is to encourage your curls at night by letting them live scrunched up or with their natural movement intact—not have them spend the night with the natural bends stretched out.
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This moves us right into the Second & Third Foundations of Longevity, which explains why we don’t want to have our curls spending the night stretched out.
FOUNDATION 04:
HAIR DRYING
Hair Remembers How It Dries
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The history of hairstyling is based on this—Hair Remembers How it Dries. For the longest time, the cut wasn’t viewed as very important, it was more about setting styles into the hair when it is wet and as it dries. This is still the approach of a lot of hairstylists.
A style has more lasting power if it is created at the wet stage and set in as it dries. This fact is used when we want to force hair to do something that it doesn’t naturally want to do—the industry has used it against curls and natural movement, yet we can use this principle to work with curls and natural movement.
I think about it as the Drying Process and Dried Memory are the strongest communication we have with our hair. It is hard to remove Dried Memory without fully re-wetting our hair again and starting the Drying Process over. WE WANT OUR CURLS TO GO FROM WET TO DRY IN THEIR curl groups. This gives it a lasting base of definition, which is crucial for longevity. (We’ll talk about this more in Section 6 when we discuss the how-to’s of Defining & Drying.)
If we pay attention to when the drying process starts and not let it start until we have the curls defined in their curl groups, then there is no confusion put into the curls. Yet, if the hair is starting to dry before getting into its curl groups or sitting where we want it to sit, then some of its Dried Memory is fighting against definition and order. THIS IS ONE OF THE REASONS WHY WE INTERACT WITH THE HAIR WHEN IT IS DRIPPY WET—we don’t want the drying process to start until we have the product in the hair, and the curls in their curl groups and sitting where we want them to.
Most of how we Refresh curls is by doing little things to the hair to say, “Hey, remember how you dried? It’s also where you get to live most of the time, and it is also where you naturally want to go.” And it will be able to respond by tending back to its organization and curl groups, especially when we add to the mix Good Products that are also getting refreshed and reactivated.
FOUNDATION 05:
GOOD PRODUCTS
Good Products make all the difference with longevity and the ability to easily refresh your curls, yet it can often be the biggest struggle to find the right product fit for your curly hair. We are at a good stage where there is a focus in the industry on creating products that work for curls, yet more to choose from doesn’t always make things easier. In the next Section, we will discuss what your hair needs from the products you put into your hair and what to look out for.