Recently, I posted a video in my stories, showing detangling my curly kids’ hair. Since then, I’ve receives tons of messages and emails from other moms in this community who are raising mixed or black kids, but struggle with caring for their hair. So, I decided to share my curly kids hair routine, and favorite curly hair products here on the blog.
As a mom of four curly kids, with different types of hair, I’ve spent a lot of time researching and trying different routines and products. Now that Chloe (17) and Travis (14) are older, I don’t spend as much time on their hair as I used to. A couple of times a month, they ask me to help deep condition or trim split ends, but they have their own routines.
Even though I spend more time on Harry and Mara’s hair, I’ve gotten into a great rhythm with their curly hair care routine. Since they are much younger (and squirmier), I like to keep the process short and sweet, and using a few good products makes it easy as pie.
A Quick Word On Hair Types
Before, I jump into my quick and easy routines for curly hair, let’s talk briefly about hair types. In the 90’s a stylist names Andre Walker introduced his hair typing system on an episode of Oprah. He classified hair types into four categories: straight, wavy, curly, and coily. The hair types are further broken down by texture, definition, and size of wave, curl, or coil.
As the mom of a multicultural family with a diverse hairitage (I mean heritage), raising mixed kids and curly kids that run the gamut of hair types — I’ve had a lot of practice taking care of different hair patterns. I’ll dive into our routines for Chloe’s 3C/4A hair, Travis’ 4C hair, and my 4B/4C hair in another post — but for now well focus on Harry and Mara, who have type 3A and 3B hair, as shown below.
Want to know how to detangle your curly kid’s hair in less the five minutes with no tears?!
Here’s the super easy method I use to do Harry and Mara’s hair every morning. It’s four easy steps, and all you need is a misting water bottle filled with water, leave-in conditioner, and a detangling brush.
How To Detangle Your Curly Kids Hair: Easy & Tear-Free
1 Saturate hair with water, using a misting water bottle.
Using a misting water bottle filled with water, wet hair evenly. It should be wet enough that there are no dry spots, but not so wet that it’s dripping all over.
2 Apply leave-in conditioner
Squeeze a nickel-size amount of leave-in conditioner into your palm (we love one by Mielle Organics). Then rub your hands together, and distribute evenly, making sure to get the ends and roots.
3 Part Hair Into Workable Sections
Using your hands, section hair in four large sections.
4 Detangle
Firmly grip (not pull) the parted section of hair near the bottom, with just the ends exposed — this allows you to work through knots without pulling at the scalp. Using a detangling brush, start brushing the ends, working your way up the hair shaft.
