Alternative hair tips for ppl with curly hair (and any other texture really)

I have pretty curly hair when it's not straightened to hell and back, around the 3A to 3B spectrum and I see a lot of people struggling with how to style their hair or finding tips about what products to use, so as someone who has found his groove when it comes to how I do my hair, I thought I might as well share some of what works for me. 

Before I give any tips, I just wanna put it out there that it's not a requirement for alternative people to have straight hair, obviously, but a lot of people straighten their hair anyway just because it's easier to manage and gives a more "classical" look I guess. So since I said that I'll give some tips for straightened curly hair as well as tips for when you don't want to straighten your hair but still want to do a cool alternative looking style. 

Lets begin!

First off, getting a good heat protectant for your hair is critical, I'd also try to find a good quality straightening iron that has many settings for different levels of heat, this will be useful when you are just trying to retouch your hair and don't need to go all out. I also strongly recommend getting a good quality hair mask to use once a week or even mix into your conditioner for regular use, this will really save your hair in the end. 

When it comes to goth and emo / scene hair, I recommend getting Got2B glued hair spray and the Got2B spiking gel (which is also great for laying down wigs btw). Those are the two that I use most frequently and have never failed me when it comes to doing hair styles that need to stay in place completely and for an extended amount of time. If you're trying to have a casual look or trying to just keep your bangs down and don't want your hair to be crunchy I recommend Aqua-Net, you can use that for most things as well if you don't like the crispy-ness of high hold hairspray. 

If it worked for the 80s hairmetal-ers it will work for just about anything. 

For styling I use a boar bristle back combing brush and a fine tooth comb with a metal tip that is made to part hair, the bristle brush will give you a really thick tease which is way better than just a fine tooth comb alone in my experience and the addition of the fine tooth comb with the metal end will give you the ability to make super straight parts, I usually use the fine tooth comb near the end to do any precision back combing for things like liberty spikes before I give my hair a final solidifying spray with Got2B glued freeze spray. 

Another great tool is texturing / styling powder, it adds some grit to the roots of your hair which can add any needed volume, it also helps in the process of back combing really nicely. I use this while doing my side bangs pretty often so that it can have more definition between sections of hair. 

If you're doing something like a mohawk or a bats nest, my tip for that is to use a blow dryer on a low speed setting while hanging your head upside down, this will make sure the hairspray dries while in a gravity defying position.  

So like I said at the top of this blog, alternative hair doesn't need to be straight, curly hair has LOTS of volume and is often more dense than straight hair, which can be really helpful when it comes to doing alternative hairstyles. Bats nests and a lot of goth hairstyles look really amazing when the hair is left curly, back combing and hairspray-ing in the same way as it would be done if its straightened will give a pretty similar, if not more enticing, hairstyle in my non professional opinion. 

A fun way I like to style my hair when it's curly is by teasing it up and adding a cool headband, usually in the rockabilly style or something of that sorts, it gives a super retro vibe to any look! A spiked pigtail or twin buns look can also be super great with curly hair, putting the hair into the styles then using some gel and a bristle brush to add crazy random spikes in the pigtails or outside the bun is a nice way to still have an alternative look going on while having your hair off the back of your neck, which makes it a great summer option. 

As for hair accessories, I already mentioned fun headbands but I also love to make use of clip in extensions, some days I just want a little extra fun in my hair, but I'm currently on my hair care journey so I don't want to dye my hair all willy nilly (apart from the black and purple streaks which I currently have of course) , and sometimes I just use clip in extensions to bring an outfit together by matching my hair with my outfits. 

You can easily make designs on clip in extensions with a sharpie, they make for great raccoon tails or even things like cheetah print designs! 

On the topic of fake hair add-ins, I also love tie in bun or pigtail extensions, you can find some really cool multicolored and pre spiked ones on the internet for pretty cheap, they are great for when you don't want to go through the works of putting gel or hairspray into your hair!

Now I will give some about taking the hair DOWN after the process of putting it into crazy styles.

If the hair is left curly it will most likely knot up a lot more than if it was done while straight, so here's my favorite method of getting the hair out of any sort of style that uses a lot of hairspray and back combing, this also works for straightened hair as well. What I will say first is DO NOT try to brush the hair out while its full of hairspray and knots, that sounds like a "well duh" thing to say but a lot of people will just go right in trying to brush it out. The best way to do it is to use a hair mask or a lot of conditioner on your hair while it's wet and let it sit for about 15 - 20 minutes. This will let the conditioner / hair mask dissolve the hairspray or gel while loosening up the knots that were made by the teasing. This will make it super easy to just wash all the knots and hairspray out while also giving your hair some strength and moisture back after all the torture hahah  

If anyone has any other more specific questions feel free to ask in the comments and I will reply with the best of my knowledge!