07 THE CURL REHAB PROCESS

The Curl Rehab Process is the most in-depth and supportive way of finding your true curl groups and encouraging them to dry/live there. Not all curly people need to do this process because healthy curls don’t need this much involvement to do their thing, yet I believe it is helpful for all curly people to know this process for times when their curls are confused and need some support (for example: after swimming a ton without protecting your curls). When your curls are confused, then this is the process you can do to break them out of their confusion. For some curls, you only have to do it once to kick them back into doing their thing well. For people who have just discovered that you have curls; for those who have previously straightened or brushed through your curls; for those who have been wearing your curls repeatedly in a pouf style; for those who are only seeing kinks in your hair rather than coils; or even for those whose curls haven’t been curling up the entire strand—you might need to do the Curl Rehab Process for longer. We do it until the hair is grouping into its curl groups well by itself (only a few months at most on average) after applying product and shaking the ends of sections. It’s fun to watch the hair get healthier and begin to take over the process for you.

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For Finding Definition and Supporting Your True Curl Groups

 

I recommend using a  Paddle Brush/Flat Brush. There are lots of other brush options, yet I’ve found that a basic Paddle Brush works for most curl types—we want some space between bristles and them to not be too flexible or cause too much tension. Some Tighter, Stronger, Smaller Curl Patterns do better with using your hands; yet there are a lot of curls that are Tighter, Stronger, and Smaller that do better with a brush (that’s why we don’t make over-generalized rules).

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1. Follow the TIPS FOR SETTING YOUR CURLS UP TO DRY up until the Defining Your Curls step—we will do that step a little more in-depth, so follow the Tips until all of the product is applied.
    

2. SECTIONING. We think of a headband to help visualize the separation between the Front and Back of the head. Everything from behind the ears and forward is the Front; and behind the ears and back we think of as the Back of the head.
    

3. We start working up the side of the head from above the ear in horizontal rows the natural height of your curl groups. We aren’t choosing a size, we are finding the natural size/height of your curl groups. All curls have natural horizontal curl rows that they organize themselves into. The size stays pretty consistent (it might shift a little in certain areas where we have a different Curl Pattern). The healthier the hair and the more the curls have been allowed to do their natural thing, the more clearly the curl rows show themselves. If the curls are a bit confused and not clearly showing the curl rows, then I opt for staying consistent. Getting them to live in their curl rows and groups and getting to live curled up, even if it is with their neighbor row/group, will lead to them getting healthier over time and then they will be clearer at showing you exactly where their true curl rows and groups are. (They will even get to the point where they will get into their curl rows and groups once you apply products without you having to do much besides shaking or tapping the ends to encourage them.)
    

4. We lift or clip the rest of the hair out of the way and work row by row, starting above the ear. We lift the row and put the Paddle Brush in at the roots and then lay the row back down on top. We brush through the row from roots to ends and catch the row in our other hand. We do this as many times as we need to organize the strands next to each other as they come out of the head.
    

5. Then we slide our hand down the strands to the ends to create a little tension. We want to keep the row somewhat flat, as in the strands lined up next to each other.
    

6. Holding onto the ends of the strands in that row, we then Shake them and drop them—and they will pop into their natural curl groups. If they aren’t getting into their groups well then first try spraying them with a spray bottle to make sure they are drippy wet. You can also tap the ends and gently bounce them a little bit—this often makes it more clear how they want to group. For SHORT HAIR, we just Tap the ends since we can’t really shake the strands.
    

7. NO LITTLE GUYS OFF BY THEMSELVES. Curl group sizes stay consistent in areas of the head. Our goal is that all of the strands are drying/living in their groups. If there are strands that need encouragement to stay with their group, then we support them by putting them in their group. Sometimes all this takes is squeezing them together and sliding our hand down the curl group. If the root area is confused then we do one little twist around our finger–following the natural movement/direction the curl group moves in. WE ARE NOT ROPING OR TWISTING THE STRAND to train it to bend how we want it to. We are just gently saying, “Hey, stay in your group and do your natural movement together.”
    

8. We normally work up one side of the head and then the other. For full fringe/bangs, we can set them up in their rows moving toward the face first, and then do the horizontal rows up the sides. We don’t always pay attention to a part because it is normally between curl rows (unless we have put a false part in). 
    

9. Moving to the Back of the Head, we start at the curl row at the neckline (clipping up the rest of the hair out of the way). Since it is hard to see when we are doing it to our own head, focus mainly on staying consistent and trying to feel instead of see. The curl rows stay pretty consistent so we can section out row by row at the same height we did on the sides. Split the row in half and turn your head slightly to the side so that you can bring the hair forward and work over your shoulder on each side. Follow the same steps as the Front of the head.
    

10. Make sure to KEEP THE HAIR WET, with a misty spray bottle, as you go. We don’t want the drying process to start until we are done scrunching.
     

11. We then follow the steps in Section 6 for Scrunching and Drying.