Get your
La Beauté
kink on Get your
La Femme acting editor Sarah Williams, CurlyGirl-at-Large, explores why Dubai’s water is so damaging and what you can do to get your bounce back
We’ve all heard the horror stories: “I used to have such healthy hair — then I moved to the Gulf.” “My hair used to have this beautiful, bouncy curl, but now it’s dry and breaks off so easily.” “I miss having textured hair — since I’ve moved to Dubai, it’s gone all frizzy and limp.” If, like me, you’ve lost your curl since moving to the Middle East, don’t fret — there is hope for you yet! There are lots of reasons why we curly girls go through changes in our curl pattern and bounce — first of all, curl patterns change with every wash — sometimes they’ll be smooth and beautifully laid out; other times they twist into new geographical shapes that seem to
136 la femme
defy the laws of gravity (didn’t we learn at school that everything that goes up must come down? Can someone please tell our hair that?). On top of that, there are a lot of factors that go into why some naturally curly women have hair that looks like an advertisement and some of us just look like we’ve been living in the woods for three months. Your hormones and stress levels, how you’ve slept, the humidity in the air, the air conditioning in your office: all can affect your curlage. We asked the experts over at naturallycurly.com (the internet’s truly amazing resource for curls, whether you’re rocking a slight wave or boasting natural Afro hair) and the gents at Dubai’s Y12 salon how to beat the humidity, a/c and
la femme 137
La Beauté destructive water in the region, and they’ve given us some fantastic tips. For the sake of argument, I’ve personally tried most of the tips below, and they’ve restored my hair from a limp, lifeless fuzzball to a really nice bouncy head full of hair.
1
Get a water filter for your shower... I’ve heard some
crazy shower stories from ladies in the GCC, including buying Evian for each wash (seriously, though, if you have that kind of money, good for you). But the easiest way to remove the moisture-stripping, deposit-building water damage out of the equation is to buy a filter. The best and most widely used is Swiss-based brand Blu, which offers showerheads that can be screwed into almost all existing shower heads. You don’t need to be a handyman, but you will need to remember to change the filter every six months.
2
Avoid shampooing... Yes, I’m
been blow dried a lot, it will take time before it gets back to its natural movement. “Curly hair doesn’t like the heat,” he adds, “so I always recommend that my clients let their hair dry naturally, and to refrain from touching their hair until it’s dry to avoid frizzing.”
4
Rock the weekly hair masque... “Dryness can
contribute to a loss of curl pattern,” Michelle says. “Deep conditioning at least once a week can help restore moisture. Look for ingredients like shea butter, coconut oil and avocado oil. And to get maximum results, leave the conditioner on for at least a half hour.” If you’re a bit tight on budget, one of the things I love to do is an at-home hair masque. I combine raw egg, coconut oil, a little honey (don’t use too much honey if your hair is coloured as it will strip the colour), and an avocado — blend it all up and rub into the hair and brush through. I leave it on for two hours and my hair is shiny, soft, bouncy and curly.
serious. I have semi-curly hair, meaning I have a loose spiral with tons of frizz and some kinky fuzz around Get regular trims... A lot of the hairline. But my hair is so dry on the curly girls avoid regular trims bottom, I can only wash it twice a week. because they want length. But But even if you’re a hard-core fitness buff if your curls have lost their bounce, who needs to wash her hair every day, a trim can eliminate damaged, avoid shampoo. So what do you use? This frayed ends. magical stuff called a co-wash, which is a Michelle explains: “Long hair conditioner-based ‘shampoo’. can weigh down our curls, and a Michelle Breyer, the founder of shorter cut can make your hair naturallycurly.com, explains why: actually look fuller and curlier!” “Shampooing too often with sulfate shampoos can dry out the hair, leading to Don’t towel-dry your excess frizz. In many cases, co-washing hair! This is one of the cleanses our hair yet keeps it hydrated.” worst mistakes you can So try to avoid shampooing with any make. Most of us grew up towel shampoo that has parabens or sulfates in drying our hair with a cotton or a it. If you’re a die-hard shampooer and need terry cloth towel, often wrapping that squeaky-clean feeling, we recommend the towel in a turban around our Jason’s range of paraben- and sulfate-free - lily aldridge, fashion model hair until it was almost dry. But shampoos. In any case, this is great to pick cotton and terry cloth fibres soak up, as, even if you’re co-washing regularly, up all the hair’s natural moisture, every two weeks you’ll need to use a proper meaning no matter what you do to shampoo to rid your hair of build-up that it afterwards, the ends will remain dry. The ends of my hair are can weigh your curls down. never dry anymore — yeah, that’s right, you heard me — this If you’re willing to try the co-wash approach (which has has restored so much moisture to my hair, that I use about 70% changed my hair drastically), my absolute favourites are less serums, oils and creams now. DevaCurl’s Low-’Poo Delight and As I Am’s Coconut Cowash. To follow this, squeeze all the excess water out of your hair Stop straightening your hair! This should be a no(you’ll need to do this a few times: mine usually takes about five brainer, but again, it’s one of the most effective steps to full-length squeezes), and pat dry any excess water, then apply follow for healthy hair, no matter how you wear it. Luca your product, scrunch and go. Comella of Y12 is serious about this one: “In Dubai, ladies that Finally, do yourself a favour and head over to naturallycurly. have naturally curly hair tend to always blow dry their hair com, where you can join the community of women all over the straight or wavy,” he says. “But hair has memory and if it’s world who are saving their curls one natural step at a time!
5
“Girls with curly hair should not get bobs. My hair looked like a circle.”
3
138 la femme
6
DID YOU KNOW?
The gene for curly hair has long been thought to be recessive. But recent genetic research has shown that in Caucasians, a single gene has yet to be found to be solely responsible for the curly hair trait.
Unless you can afford to wash with Evian, follow our tips!
kink on Get your
La Femme acting editor Sarah Williams, CurlyGirl-at-Large, explores why Dubai’s water is so damaging and what you can do to get your bounce back
We’ve all heard the horror stories: “I used to have such healthy hair — then I moved to the Gulf.” “My hair used to have this beautiful, bouncy curl, but now it’s dry and breaks off so easily.” “I miss having textured hair — since I’ve moved to Dubai, it’s gone all frizzy and limp.” If, like me, you’ve lost your curl since moving to the Middle East, don’t fret — there is hope for you yet! There are lots of reasons why we curly girls go through changes in our curl pattern and bounce — first of all, curl patterns change with every wash — sometimes they’ll be smooth and beautifully laid out; other times they twist into new geographical shapes that seem to
136 la femme
defy the laws of gravity (didn’t we learn at school that everything that goes up must come down? Can someone please tell our hair that?). On top of that, there are a lot of factors that go into why some naturally curly women have hair that looks like an advertisement and some of us just look like we’ve been living in the woods for three months. Your hormones and stress levels, how you’ve slept, the humidity in the air, the air conditioning in your office: all can affect your curlage. We asked the experts over at naturallycurly.com (the internet’s truly amazing resource for curls, whether you’re rocking a slight wave or boasting natural Afro hair) and the gents at Dubai’s Y12 salon how to beat the humidity, a/c and
la femme 137
La Beauté destructive water in the region, and they’ve given us some fantastic tips. For the sake of argument, I’ve personally tried most of the tips below, and they’ve restored my hair from a limp, lifeless fuzzball to a really nice bouncy head full of hair.
1
Get a water filter for your shower... I’ve heard some
crazy shower stories from ladies in the GCC, including buying Evian for each wash (seriously, though, if you have that kind of money, good for you). But the easiest way to remove the moisture-stripping, deposit-building water damage out of the equation is to buy a filter. The best and most widely used is Swiss-based brand Blu, which offers showerheads that can be screwed into almost all existing shower heads. You don’t need to be a handyman, but you will need to remember to change the filter every six months.
2
Avoid shampooing... Yes, I’m
been blow dried a lot, it will take time before it gets back to its natural movement. “Curly hair doesn’t like the heat,” he adds, “so I always recommend that my clients let their hair dry naturally, and to refrain from touching their hair until it’s dry to avoid frizzing.”
4
Rock the weekly hair masque... “Dryness can
contribute to a loss of curl pattern,” Michelle says. “Deep conditioning at least once a week can help restore moisture. Look for ingredients like shea butter, coconut oil and avocado oil. And to get maximum results, leave the conditioner on for at least a half hour.” If you’re a bit tight on budget, one of the things I love to do is an at-home hair masque. I combine raw egg, coconut oil, a little honey (don’t use too much honey if your hair is coloured as it will strip the colour), and an avocado — blend it all up and rub into the hair and brush through. I leave it on for two hours and my hair is shiny, soft, bouncy and curly.
serious. I have semi-curly hair, meaning I have a loose spiral with tons of frizz and some kinky fuzz around Get regular trims... A lot of the hairline. But my hair is so dry on the curly girls avoid regular trims bottom, I can only wash it twice a week. because they want length. But But even if you’re a hard-core fitness buff if your curls have lost their bounce, who needs to wash her hair every day, a trim can eliminate damaged, avoid shampoo. So what do you use? This frayed ends. magical stuff called a co-wash, which is a Michelle explains: “Long hair conditioner-based ‘shampoo’. can weigh down our curls, and a Michelle Breyer, the founder of shorter cut can make your hair naturallycurly.com, explains why: actually look fuller and curlier!” “Shampooing too often with sulfate shampoos can dry out the hair, leading to Don’t towel-dry your excess frizz. In many cases, co-washing hair! This is one of the cleanses our hair yet keeps it hydrated.” worst mistakes you can So try to avoid shampooing with any make. Most of us grew up towel shampoo that has parabens or sulfates in drying our hair with a cotton or a it. If you’re a die-hard shampooer and need terry cloth towel, often wrapping that squeaky-clean feeling, we recommend the towel in a turban around our Jason’s range of paraben- and sulfate-free - lily aldridge, fashion model hair until it was almost dry. But shampoos. In any case, this is great to pick cotton and terry cloth fibres soak up, as, even if you’re co-washing regularly, up all the hair’s natural moisture, every two weeks you’ll need to use a proper meaning no matter what you do to shampoo to rid your hair of build-up that it afterwards, the ends will remain dry. The ends of my hair are can weigh your curls down. never dry anymore — yeah, that’s right, you heard me — this If you’re willing to try the co-wash approach (which has has restored so much moisture to my hair, that I use about 70% changed my hair drastically), my absolute favourites are less serums, oils and creams now. DevaCurl’s Low-’Poo Delight and As I Am’s Coconut Cowash. To follow this, squeeze all the excess water out of your hair Stop straightening your hair! This should be a no(you’ll need to do this a few times: mine usually takes about five brainer, but again, it’s one of the most effective steps to full-length squeezes), and pat dry any excess water, then apply follow for healthy hair, no matter how you wear it. Luca your product, scrunch and go. Comella of Y12 is serious about this one: “In Dubai, ladies that Finally, do yourself a favour and head over to naturallycurly. have naturally curly hair tend to always blow dry their hair com, where you can join the community of women all over the straight or wavy,” he says. “But hair has memory and if it’s world who are saving their curls one natural step at a time!
5
“Girls with curly hair should not get bobs. My hair looked like a circle.”
3
138 la femme
6
DID YOU KNOW?
The gene for curly hair has long been thought to be recessive. But recent genetic research has shown that in Caucasians, a single gene has yet to be found to be solely responsible for the curly hair trait.
Unless you can afford to wash with Evian, follow our tips!
