Having Trouble, Curly Girls?

This one's for all those girls with natural curls. I feel a personal need to help you guys, since I also have natural curls and I know all too well how it feels to not have any control over your hair. Many people go for an expensive Japanese perm or they resort to their old, trusty flat iron every single day to get straight hair because curls are so high-maintenance. Believe it or not, frying your hair actually damages it! (Okay, so that was an attempt at some sarcasm.) But either way, natural curls are beautiful and every straight-haired person is dying to have them. Besides, curls are in this season, so it's best to flaunt your lovely tresses all you can. So don't try to change them, just tame them!
So now that we've learned to love our locks, let's start taming them. Now, I've had to learn everything the hard way, so I pretty much have my hair situation covered. With these few tips and tricks, you'll be good to go in no time.
First, a lot of people complain that oily hair is nasty and disgusting. But that natural oil is actually helping the curls stay, well, curly. So don't wash your hair too often, as it will wash out too much of that much needed oil. Then again, it's still good to have clean hair, so it's probably best to wash it once or twice a week. Everyone is different, so ask someone at your local hair salon what would be best for your hair. Every time you wash your hair and it's nice and wet, comb it knot-less. Those knots can build up pretty quickly so you don't want your hair to get matted. (Trust me, it's not pretty, I speak from experience!) You can even wet (not wash, just wet!) your hair every day if you want to untangle it daily. And do not, I repeat DO NOT, comb your hair while it is dry! This will make your hair explode to no end.
When it comes to styling, everyone does something slightly different. Don't pile on the products, because that can damage your hair as well. For me personally, I wet my hair every day and comb it knot-less. Then, I bend over at the waist and using a towel, I scrunch my hair upward into my scalp to blot out the moisture. Then, I take Enjoy Shaping Lotion and I bend over at the waist again and work it through my hair, scrunching and twisting until I reach every part of my hair. After I stand up, I fix it until it stands the way I want to. Finally, I take a very, very small drop of Herbal Essences Set Me Up Max Hold Gel, rub it between my palms, and gently smooth it over the top of my head to minimize frizz.
Enjoy Shaping Lotion:                                  Herbal Essences Set Me Up Max Hold Gel:

The Enjoy Shaping Lotion is meant to be used prior to defusing your hair, but since I don't own a hair diffuser I use it on its own and it works fine for me. If you wish to get a diffuser you can get one from almost anywhere, but I'd suggest buying one that comes with a hair dryer because then you'll know that it'll definitely fit the hair dryer. When I bought a diffuser, it didn't fit any of my hair dryers and I ended up returning it.
If you're going to use a diffuser, then I would suggest washing your hair once a week and using the shaping lotion and diffuser, and also spraying it over once with some hairspray to hold it (I wouldn't recommend gel for this because you might end up messing up your hair when you keep touching it- hairspray would work out much better.) When you shower for the rest of the week just use a showercap. Whenever I get my hair done at the salon, they use this shaping lotion and a diffuser on my hair and the curls just look so pretty afterwards, you wouldn't want to mess it up so soon by wetting/washing it. To make sure you get all of your hair in, I would suggest bending over at the waist so you can see your hair in front of you.
Now, I don't know if it was just my hair or all curly hair in general, but I always had a huge problem with tying my hair up. No matter what I did, my hair always ended up looking, well, just plain stupid, to be honest. But recently, I had to tie my hair in a high side ponytail. Of course, I wasn't thrilled about it, but when I was done, to see the curls cascading down from the side of my head was actually really pretty. And may I mention, no bumps! I got so many compliments that day and a lot of people were expressing their envies towards curly-haired people because of it. The next time you need to tie your hair, just try tying it a side pony. Though people don't really do it much anymore and it's not a popular fad at the moment, it may end up working out. Also, for those weekends when you just need your hair out of your face, or a bad hair day, just keep a giant jaw clip handy. Gather your hair back, twist it, pull it straight up so the ends are sticking upwards, and clip it in place. You might want to slant it to the side just a tiny bit to give it an effortlessly casual look, but it looks surprisingly nice to see that little tuft of beautiful curls sticking out over the top of your head. Of course, not for a party or anything, but for when your just laying back and chilling.
So girls, next time you doubt how beautiful your mane is, don't worry, just be reassured with the fact that everyone is envious of your amazing curls.