Rogelio documents how his long natural curly hair dries in a video as well as posting a picture of how his curls look when not tied!
I’ve had some readers sending me emails asking about how my hair looks when it is not tied. While I have posted pictures on some other articles, most notably the one about growing curly hair long, I thought it’d be best to just put this one on a specific post so you can see my beast in all its glory.
Without further ado, ladies and gentlemen, I bring you, The Beast:
Yeah, that’s me, Tarzan style
What’s more is that the picture above is part of a mini-experiment I decided to carry out that day. Just like the mini-experiment I carried out recently of running my fingers through my mane to see how many shed hairs I could remove in the span of 8 hours, this time I decided to document how my hair dried on its own after my morning shower by taking pictures every hour as I was chilling out that day and doing some blogging.
As you will be able to see in the video below, my curls look very different when wet as opposed to when they dry completely, a common issue for us curly haired dudes regardless of our curly type. I call this the wet vs. dry effect, and it is one of the reasons why many of us style our waves, coils and kinks in the morning in our chosen hairstyle yet end up hours later with something completely different to what we had intended. I will talk more about the wet vs. dry effect in coming articles and how to control it but, for now, I will leave you with how my beast transforms in the span of 3 hours. Curly dudes, you are not alone in your beastly hair issues!
For the record, I used no hair products whatsoever and I didn’t shampoo my hair either when I showered.
Au naturale curls, baby!
All the best.
Rogelio
Hey Rogelio,
Just wondering what you do to normally dry your hair?
I have curly hair, somewhere between type 2 and 3.
Usually i dry my hair by rubbing it with a towel vigorously, but i wonder if this damages the curls at all/ makes my hair less curly.
Also when preparing to grow your hair out is it best to have it the same length all around?
Thanks,
Conrad
Hello Conrad,
When you dry your hair you have 3 options:
1) Shake your head (referred to as the Shakeout method). Best for long hair.
2) Use your hands to shake your hair (what I call the Palmed Shakeout method). Not the most effective approach but it saves from rubbing your curls against materials as you’d do with a towel, the latter contributing to tangling your curls.
3) Use a towel, or best, an old cotton T-shirt. To dry your hair, think of tapping the towel/T-shirt on your head and squeezing the hair with the towel/T-shirt. Absolutely NEVER rub your curls vigorously with a bathroom towel as this will create frizz and tangle your head. Think of caressing your curls when drying them; any vigorous manipulation will damage them.
To start growing your curls, use an even length. Just in case you haven’t read my article on growing curly hair to shoulder length:
http://www.manlycurls.com/2012/06/growing-curly-hair-how-tips-shoulder-length-men/
If you are going to have fading lengths around your head, make sure that the maximum difference between the shortest and longest hair sections on your scalp is 2 inches.
All the best.
Hey Rogelio,
What about after the third step that you mentioned above? I mean my hair would still be wet after that. Do you just leave it to dry naturally? My hair’s reaching my neck, by the way. What do you think of hair oil? Shampoo, bolt it with a towel and apply oil and comb while damp. Is that the right way?
Hi Parminder,
The steps are:
1) Soak hair.
2) Shampoo
3) Condition
4) Towel dry so hair is left damp (wet withought dripping water)
5) Apply leave-in/oils
6) Rock the mane, let it air dry on its own (no more towel drying). It will take 1-5 hours to fully dry.
In my case and as in the video, I didn’t do steps 1-5. I just went in the shower, soaked my hair, ran my fingers through my hair (what I term the Sebum Coating method) and that’s it.
Let me know if that helped an/or you still have other questions.
All the best.
Hey Rogelio My Name Is Albert I Want To Know If I Can wash My Hair With Conditioner (Only) And Apply Some Leave-In Conditioner And The Following Day Just Wash My Hair With Water Only Solution Is That Okay? And What About If My Hair Smells After Washing It With Water For A Couple Of Weeks Will I Have To Wash It With Conditioner Or Shampoo…?
Rogelio, how long did it take you to grow your hair that long? What was your starting length? Thanks man and great blog!
Thanks for the kind words Luis.
I have been growing my curls now for over 3 years, I started from a High and Tight, about 1 1/2 on top and sides and back cropped.
All the best.
Your hair is stunning, I don’t think I have seen anyone with hair so naturally defined and healthy without using any products. Sorry for the e-drooling but you are a guy, you are supposed to have normal hair like the rest of mortals lol!
Can I ask, so you just soaked your hair in water and let it dry then? What is this 1 on/6 off that you mentioned in the comment? I’m afraid I’m going to spend my day at the office ogling your blog with the rest of the girls in the office :)
xx Luciana
Hi Luciana,
LOL what can I say… thanks?
In all seriousness, thanks for your words but we dudes can also have “good” curly hair! Especially if it is integrated in a balanced life (i.e. not obsessing about hair). That’s what I teach with Manly Curls.
Yes, myself in that video is yours truly without any hair products whatsoever, I just soaked my hair in water, showered and out I was taking pictures every hour. 1 on/6 off refers to my shampoo frequency as per my article on shampooing, which you can find here:
http://www.manlycurls.com/2012/05/no-poo-method-curly-men-shampoo-guide/
So, 1 on/6 off means I shampoo one day out of 6 days.
All the best.
Where do I sign to have your hair???
Sheila, vnless you can gather 7 tears of a virgin unicorn, I don’t think you’d be able to convince me to give you my hair.
Cool curls man. I am using your no shampoo guide and already finding my hair better. What was your shampoo frequency when you took that video?
Hi Jay,
I was doing 1 on/6 off.
All the best.