Inside: Naturally curly hair takes time and experimentation to figure out. But you can make your life so much easier with these mixed curly hair hacks!
Naturally curly hair is hands down gorgeous.
But curly hair is high maintenance and biracial hair needs a lot of care to keep those curls on point!
It can take a lot of time and experimentation to get the maintenance right, especially if your child has mixed curly hair and you’re learning from scratch.
While these hacks are geared towards if you have kids with curly hair, they’ll still be helpful for anyone with curls.
16 mixed curly hair hacks to save time and make your life easier!
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1. Get a humidifier
The air in your house may be dry which can cause your child’s hair to dry out too. A humidifier can add much needed moisture in the air. If you don’t want one for the whole house, you may want to get one just for your child’s room.
2. Always detangle this way
When you’re combing their hair, start from the bottom and work your way up to the scalp. It’s much easier to detangle the knots a little bit at a time, rather than pushing them from the top down into one huge clump at the bottom and have to try to comb through all that mess.
Learn more ways to get knots out of curly mixed hair here.
3. Avoid dry ends by doing this
If you’re not putting product in your child’s hair, (like if it’s an in between day or it’s styled) still put some leave in conditioner on the ends. Those ends suck up moisture like a cactus! So they need that daily hydration.
4. Tight on time? Try these hairstyles
Want an easy, no fuss hairstyle for the morning? Do your detangle and conditioning routine for your kid’s hair before bed, put it in a french braid, and in the morning, you can either leave it in or take it out of the braid and go!
If you take it out of the braid, you’ll get a different curl pattern, which can be a fun way to change up your kids hair.
This is great for school days or any other time you need to get out of the house fast!
Another time saving hairstyle is a top knot for curly hair.
5. Use this for your tub
Get yourself a drain hair catcher…you’ll be so grateful you did! The amount of hair that’ll end up in your drain if you don’t have one is insane.
I didn’t have one for awhile, (because apparently I like to torture myself with gross drain problems) and my drain would constantly clog.
I tried drano several times and it didn’t work. Then I had to snake the drain and it was like pulling nasty, wet, probably foul smelling but I’m not sure cause I was holding my breath, rat sized hair clumps out of the drain all while dry heaving…yea I got a drain catcher after that!
6. Don’t use a brush for detangling
Use a wide tooth comb. Not only will you be preventing breakage, wide tooth combs will keep the curl clumps together and help maintain the shape of your kids curl pattern.
7. Try this for low porosity hair
Consider using a steam cap if your child has low porosity hair. These caps can help seal much needed moisture into their hair.
You check out these resources for more info about hair porosity and dry hair.
8. Cleanse the hair without drying it out
Use a co-wash or a shampoo without sulfates to cleanse mixed hair without drying it out. If your child’s hair is really dry, you’d be better off using a co-wash as it’s more moisturizing than shampoo.
9. Don’t dry comb…ever!
Never comb your child’s hair when it’s dry. It’ll separate their curl clumps, (causing frizz) and can cause breakage if you’re accidentally yanking through tangles.
Find out other curly mixed hair mistakes and how to fix them!
10. Apply product like this for gorgeous curls
If you’re leaving your child’s hair down, a great way to get voluminous, defined curls is by using this hack after your normal biracial hair care routine.
After you’ve applied their hair products, have them flip their head over, (so their head is towards the ground and their hair is over their head) and gently scrunch all the curls upwards towards the scalp. You can either use your hands to scrunch, or an old t-shirt.
This helps to avoid the dreaded flat, weighed down hair at the top of their head, (which can happen if your child’s hair is long). Instead their curls will be defined closer to the scalp and have more volume once it dries.
11. Go from the bottom to the top
When applying product, start at the bottom and work your way up to avoid having too much product at the top of the head. Plus the ends are usually the driest part, so they need that extra moisture from the hair products.
See the best hair products for biracial hair here.
12. Use a diffuser if you can’t air dry
It’s best to avoid heat when you can, but if you need to quickly dry curly hair, use a diffuser. It won’t break up the curl clumps and gently dries the hair so you won’t have as much frizz.
The trick to using a diffuser is not moving it around too often. Keep it in one spot for a while before moving on to another section.
This helps to prevent the hair from frizzing.
13. Don’t forget to deep condition
Deep condition at least once a week. For coarse mixed hair you’ll want to use a deep conditioner to put extra moisture in your kids hair. However if your kid has fine curly hair, regular conditioner will do the trick.
14. Use this to tame baby hairs
Tired of the frizzy halo that happens every time you put your kids hair up? Get those baby hairs under control and get rid of frizzy mixed hair with edge control!
13. Protect their hair when they’re swimming
Swimming in a pool or beach can wreak havoc on biracial hair. The chemicals and harsh sun can make your kid’s curls dry and fragile. Make sure you’re maximizing moisture retention by wetting their hair, adding conditioner, and putting it in a protective hairstyle before they go swimming.
Find out what other swim tips for biracial hair you need to know.
Final thoughts
Mixed curly hair can be a bit of a beast if you’re not used to caring for this hair type. But these mixed curly hair hacks will make your life easier, (because no one needs a hair rat in their tub!) save you lots of time, and keep those curls beautiful!
Get the entire mixed hair care routine, tips, and management below!
Related Reading
6 Tips For Managing Fine Curly Mixed Hair
Can Mixed Hair Get Lice? (Yes! Here’s How To Treat It)
