How often do you finish working out only to find yourself wondering “Should I wash my sweaty curly hair today?”
Sweaty hair that comes from an intense spin or dance class is hardly anyone’s favorite look.
To fix that sometimes post gym hair hacks take the form of dos and don’ts.
Now we looked at the dos to follow after working out with curly hair over at another article of ours. It’s full of ideas, tips and to-dos you’ll want to know.
But to help curls that look a little wilted there are also things to avoid doing. These don’ts can make all the difference between curls that spring back to life faster and curlier and those that just mope around regardless of what you do.
That’s what we’re going to explore here. Starting with the biggie.
Don’t Think You Have To Lather Up Every Time You Hit The Gym
This is probably the biggest misconception about taking care of curly hair and gym time.
It is actually possible to have great looking curls without washing them every time you work out.
The trick is to not give up on your hair too soon no matter how hopeless things look. (Exception being if it’s really and truly disgusting.)
Oh sure. You may have to make one concession here. You may have to lather up a little more frequently. Nothing major. But instead of going five or six days you only be able to squeeze four or five days out of wash.
But is that really so bad?
Then too for some co washing is a good alternative.
Still over shampooing usually isn’t a smart move. Curls need to stay hydrated to look their bouncy best. Even Curly Girl Method approved products can’t guarantee that if used to excess.
So while you be you, please at least try to banish the notion shampooing is a post workout requirement for glam looking curls.
That said …
Don’t Expect a Perfect Outcome Every Time You Refresh
Follow a post gym refreshing routine like this one and your curls can come out surprisingly good.
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Step 1: Dampen your hair by misting with with continuous spray water bottle
Step 2: Add a bit more product using the praying hands technique to run it over your damp curls. Follow that up with some serious scrunching
Step 3: Diffuse or wait out air drying
Step 4: Break any gel cast
Step 5: Finish off with a good fluff and scrunch
Yeah something like that really works. Unfortunately curl perfection won’t always be the outcome.
(If you want to see that process demonstrated there’s a video further on down that does just that.)
Now the products used with this approach is one of the usual suspects – typically gel, leave in or mousse. Although some use a combination.
Still there is nothing surefire about this refreshing stuff given how finicky curls can be. So be prepared with some bobby pins to pin uncooperative curls out of sight.
Either that or if your hair is longer switch to half up half down style to conceal the unruliness.
Don’t Forget To Give Post Workout Curly Hair Volume On Top
Nothing like a little sweat to flatten and deplete any hard won volume at the roots, is there?
Or for some the real culprit is halo frizz.
Either way all is not lost. Cause you don’t have to settle for a subpar style when you have these tricks up your sleeve.
Real quick. Here’s four ways that cover how to fluff out curly hair that has survived the workout wars. You know, ways to show that part of your hair a little love.
One way is to lightly apply product to the hair around the crown of your head. Most likely using the praying hands technique. This can also help with any frizz.
Another way to resurrect lift is with medusa clipping your curly hair at the roots.
Maybe now is the time for a little volumizing mousse.
Or you could spritz in a mix of water and conditioner into the roots to prime them for clipping. Then just lift a small section of hair and clip it.
Finish off with fluffing the roots with your fingers.
Then here’s the promised video that shows how to easily refresh post workout curly hair.
She’s the perfect example of how things can be both simple and complex.
Simple in that some days she only fluffs and nothing else.
Complex in that she uses three products to refresh her hair.
Either way you can’t argue with the results. The curls look pretty darn good with loads of definition. Not bad for post workout hair.
Which brings us to the final three don’ts.
Don’t Overlook The Power Of a Good Fluff
Don’t feel you always have to do a full blown refresh. If things aren’t too far gone fluffing curly hair can work wonders.
What she suggested in the video was to take your hair down from your pineapple and give the curls a chance to come back on their own.
To help things along you can scrunch or fluff the roots.
Tip: Flipping your hair from side to side can help with lift at the roots.
How well fluffing works also depends on what day your last shampoo is on. If it’s day one, or two even, it’s more likely you’ll be able to get away with just a finger fluff.
Don’t Go For Multiple Products When One Will Do
Don’t assume you need to use multiple products. Workout fanatics successfully refresh their hair using one product all the time.
So while she did a mousse / gel / mousse refresh many find either refreshing spray or gel alone do the trick.
Don’t Consider Sweaty Hair to Be To Be The Enemy
Don’t sweat the sweat. Sure you will get to a point where you should definitely wash your hair. But as already mentioned it’s best to avoid lathering up every time you workout.
Just remember sweat is water soluble. So if you must, try washing with just conditioner and see if that doesn’t work.
Besides if you think about it isn’t this just salt spray in another form? Putting this spin on things it’s almost like a day at the beach. Or nature’s hair product by another name. Hey! I said almost.
Since you can’t ever have too much help for curly hair be sure to follow our curly hair Pinterest board for just the sort of ideas you need when curl chaos breaks out.
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