Shrinkage is real

[KrlyHaiz]

My daughter has 3c/4a hair, which has beautiful curl pattern when it's wet. Her hair goes down to her waist. However, when her hair dries, it's all the way up to her shoulders. Is this because her hair is dry? I can't seem to figure out how to reduce shrinkage on her hair. Any suggestions, other than the banding method?

[jozkid]

It's not because her hair is dry (although curly hair tends to be dry) @KrlyHaiz, it's because her hair has dried. Curly hair really does shrink up — a lot. My hair is not as curly as hers, but here's a couple things you can try. First — and you may already be doing this — is leave a little bit of conditioner in her hair. That way it may calm down some frizz that may be contributing to the shrinkage. I use DevaCurl products and they have some really good leave-in conditioners geared towards those with really coily hair. Second, try running some gel down the length of the hair, but don't scrunch it back up. Hopefully that will keep some of the softer curls from springing back up into tighter ones. Again, I recommend DevaCurl Ultra Defining Gel. It doesn't dry crunchy like other gels and helps protect form frizz. Once dry, you break the "cast" that it gets to release softer curls. Hope this helps. You can also pick up "The Curly Girl Handbook" which has a lot of valuable information on how to deal with curls.

[KrlyHaiz]

Thank you @jozkid.

[adm2844]

Try leaving in a little conditioner.

[KrlyHaiz]

Thank you. I deep condition and leave in sometimes doing the LOC method.