When I was growing up, I had naturally curly hair, so I never needed to think about doing anything to curl my hair. Truth be told, I often wished for straight hair; it seemed so much easier to maintain. However, my younger sister, who I always felt was blessed with straight hair, longed for my naturally curly hair.
Over the years, I saw her try a number of different techniques aimed at making her hair naturally curly. Some worked, and some didn’t, but for the most part they seemed to work better than more permanent, and arguably less healthy for her hair, techniques such as perms. Braiding, foam curlers, and rag curls would be her answer to women wondering how to make hair naturally curly.
She had the most success braiding her hair the night before she wished to have curly hair. This is refreshing news for many women, because in most cases it requires no special products beyond hair ties.
To begin with, she would wash her hair with shampoo and conditioner. At various points, she tried different techniques-such as using conditioner without shampoo, specific brands, or washing it the night before-but it didn’t seem to matter much. After washing your hair, you should comb it to eliminate excess water and towel off excess water. You want the hair to still be wet but you do not want it to be soaking.
Next, braid your hair. You have a great amount of latitude in what you chose to do and this will require experimentation over time with different braids. Larger braids will give you fewer curls, while small tight braids will result in frizzy hair.
For the best results, you will want to leave the braids in overnight. This will allow your hair to dry and will give you the desired curls. If you do not allow the braids to dry completely, the curls will quickly come out due to the weight of the wet hair. This is especially important to remember if you do not want to leave the braids in overnight. You may be able to have success by blow drying your hair, but you will want to make sure that your hair is dried thoroughly-which can be difficult. It wouldn’t be at all surprising if your hair fails to dry all the way through. Once you remove the braids, you won’t want to comb your hair, instead you can run your fingers through your hair if you need to style it at all.
Another option for obtaining naturally curly hair-albeit with some help from modern technology-is to use inexpensive foam curlers. Foam curlers provide a more natural technique of curling hair as they do not burn the hair into place as heat curling irons do.
There are a number of tips to be found for how to curl your hair using foam curlers, but for the most part, it’s pretty easy. You will want to separate your hair into locks no thicker than the curlers and roll it into the curlers. Depending if you roll your hair so that curlers rest on top of your hair or under your hair, you will achieve different effects. Some women recommend twisting the hair before putting it into curlers, but I’m not sure that it makes much of a difference. Foam curlers should be left in over night and typically will produce nice curls by the time you wake up. As with the braiding technique, you should plan to spend some time experimenting to achieve your desired results. You can try different sizes, adjusting how tight you roll your hair, and how you set your hair-all will give you different results.
Another option is to try rag curls. It’s the most difficult of my sister’s three preferred options. To tackle this method, you will need to start by cutting an old bed sheet into strips about 1 inch wide and 6 inches long (they can be longer and wider if needed/desired). When your hair is wet, separate your hair as if you are doing a double braid. You will want to put one side in a loose pony tail while you work with the other side. Separate your hair into a strand and wrap it-beginning at the bottom-around a folded rag. When you get to the top, tie up the strand with the loose ends of the rag. Continue doing this around your head until your hair is all tied up. You will remove the rags when your hair is completely dry, typically after sleeping on it over night.
