Product amounts

Have you invested in some of the best curly hair products on the market, only to find that your results turned out greasy? Have you found that your wash day results look amazing but your day 2 results are limp and lifeless curls?

So you’ve finally bit the bullet and invested in those incredible products that everyone is raving about, only to find that when you’ve used them for the first time, your results turned out greasy or fluffy. This is one of the most common issues that curlies experience on their curly hair journey or when trialing new products from a brand for the first time. Here we will discuss our top tips when deciding on product amounts, starting with the most common culprit that quite literally destroys wash days!

Leave-In Hair Cream/Curl Cream/Leave-In Conditioner

All are designed to do the same thing – condition (aka moisturize) the hair strands. These products generally contain water, emulsifiers, conditioning agents, and oils (among other things, but this is the bulk of it). Some conditioning agents form a thin, water-soluble film around each hair strand to help retain moisture, as well as sealing and smoothing over any rough or damaged hair cuticles.

Higher density and coarser hair types will require larger quantities of these creams, as there is simply more hair – higher density means there is more hair on the head itself and coarser hair means the hair strand itself is thicker. This means more product is needed to ensure there is maximum coverage.

Thinner density and finer hair types will require smaller quantities of these creams, as there is less hair – lower density means there is less hair on the head itself and finer hair means the hair shaft itself is thinner. This means less product is needed to prevent ‘moisture overload,’ which is the same thing as ‘over-conditioning’ your hair.

Product amounts will vary depending on the brand as well as your own hair type – a specific amount you use for one brand may not necessarily be the same amount you would use for an entirely different brand. This is because all brands have different formulations for each of their products. For example, one brand may use a higher percentage of oils in their curl cream compared to other curl creams. Meaning that you won’t need as much of the curl cream with the higher percentage of oils as it is more concentrated than the ones with less.

Whether you live in a soft or hard water area will also impact the need for a leave-in hair cream in your routine. Soft water generally needs less conditioning products (if any at all) and hard water generally needs more.

Using too much leave-in cream prevents your styling products from forming a cast, resulting in limp curls that look wet/greasy. This is purely because there is too much cream on your hair shaft, leaving no space for your styling products. The key to anything is trial and error – this product is going to be the one that you’re going to need to experiment with the most.

Shampoo & Conditioner

How can you go wrong with shampooing and conditioning your hair? It’s actually much easier than you might think. We’ve been bred into a society of keeping constantly clean, washing our hair daily, etc. However, daily washing simply isn’t necessary for so many reasons. The main thing for curly hair is how dry our hair is naturally – washing it daily is only going to amplify that dryness. Curly hair usually likes to be washed every 3-4 days, sometimes longer than that. Again, this is going to be something that each individual will need to experiment with.

Whether you live in a soft or hard water area will also impact the amount of shampoo you need to use, as well as whether you actually need a conditioner in your routine. Soft water generally needs less conditioning products (if any at all) and hard water generally needs more. Soft water will require MUCH less shampoo. It will foam much more in a soft water area, making it easier to over-cleanse your curls, leaving them overly soft and fluffy. Hard water requires MUCH more shampoo. It will foam less due to hard water minerals affecting the foaming abilities of the shampoo, leading to curls that aren’t being cleansed effectively (if not using enough) and resulting in greasy curls/build-up.

Living in a hard water area also requires the need for a stronger clarifying shampoo called a ‘chelating shampoo.’ This contains ingredients that remove the hard water deposits (only found in hard water) from our hair shaft. Being that chelating shampoos are usually relatively strong cleansers, you shouldn’t need to use much to be able to create that nice foam that we all like to see when washing our hair. As always, trial and error with your product amount. These cleansers are typically designed to be used once a month.

Styling Products

When experimenting with your styling products, it’s important to note that some products you can layer and some products you can use too much of. Foams (not mousse, but similar) can be particularly tricky to work with. This is due to them containing cleansing agents (used in shampoos to make them foam). Some cleansing agents can be particularly drying on the hair, meaning that some foams can cause dryness to our strands. Start off with a small amount of foam and experiment from there.

Mousse, on the other hand, is very moisturizing, so as a general rule of thumb you will need more than you would typically use of foam. Mousse can leave hair feeling particularly soft due to its conditioning ingredients, so it’s always best to pair this with a gel.

Gels differ from brand to brand. Some can be quite heavy and if you use too much of those particular gels, they will leave your hair looking very ‘producty’ and greasy. Other gels you can layer and layer – the more you use of these lighter-weight gels, the better the cast will be.

If you are struggling to get a cast, you are either not cleansing your hair effectively, you’ve used too much leave-in cream or you’ve not used enough gel.

If your wash day results are greasy, you are either not cleansing your hair effectively, you’ve used too much leave-in cream or you’re using a heavy gel that cannot be layered, and you’re using a little too much of it.

If your wash day results are fluffy, you are either over-cleansing your hair or you’re not using enough gel.

As always, experimentation is KEY to unlocking your curl’s full potential. What works for one will not always work for another.