This Woman Shares The Routine That Shaped Her Gorgeous Natural Curls

Because I am a makeup artist, mom, and beauty influencer, the No. 1 question women ask me is what I do to my hair. I won't lie, it's taken me a long time to restore my curls—five years to be precise. Given all the damage I did before, straightening, heat styling, and more, it was all worth it.

Patience in this process is truly key. My journey to natural used to feel like work, but since working with Weleda on a project that asked me to look at the way I connect to myself and to nature – I’ve changed the way I view my natural hair routine and use it as my very own moment of mindfulness during an otherwise busy day. It helps me to connect to what makes me feel like my most authentic, natural self. Nothing makes me feel more connected than caring for my curls.

So you want to bring out your natural curls too? First, I invite you to create a hair ritual that is mindful and therapeutic. I promise it will make the whole transition feel that much easier. I do have one rule that applies across the board: once you make the choice to go curly, don't use any heat—don't straighten your hair, curl it with heat, or even blow dry it (unless you're diffusing). I personally went through serious heat damage. To be totally honest, I liked the versatility of being able to wear it straight or curly. But when I would wear it curly after flat-ironing it, I noticed my curls lost their definition. Then I realized I was onto something—I needed to pick a team, and I picked team curls.

When it comes to maintaining natural curls, hydrating with masks and deep treatments is really important. I do deep treatments every week or sometimes every other week. For more intense hydration I use deep treatments once or twice a month. Some deep treatments I've been loving recently are Shea Moisture's Intensive Hydration Conditioner, Curls' Reparative Hair Mask, and Deva Curl's Melt Into Moisture. To help treat hair breakage and damage I highly recommend treating your curls to a protein pack once a month. My go to for this type of treatment is Palmer’s Coconut Oil Formula Deep Conditioning Protein Pack.

I recommend trimming your ends about every three to four months. I see Mona Baltazar in New York City, who uses a dry cutting technique. She takes each individual curl and cuts it, then she washes the whole head, dries it, and cuts everything again. It takes about two or three hours each time, but it's worth it. Find someone who can cut your hair curly.

I always tell my audience that if they are going through the journey of being natural to have patience. The curls won’t happen overnight. Especially if you’ve been unknowingly damaging your hair for years, it’s going to take a couple of years to bring it back to its natural state. But relish in that journey, and use it as a way to balance and center yourself.