Cutting curly hair can be a little bit tricky. Since it is so curly, and it shrinks a lot, you could end up cutting too much off. The way I determine how much I want to cut off is imagining how much it will shrink when wet with super defined curls.
YouTube Video
Here is a video of how I cut his hair.
Steps to Cutting Kids Curly Hair
Before the cut, say their hair is 5 inches long, depending on how tightly coily/curly their hair is, if you cut 1/2 of it off, it will be 2.5 inches long, but when wet, curly and/or super defined with product, it may appear to be 1.5 or 2 inches long because curly hair shrinks; some more than others.
His hair was getting super long and I ended up starting to keep it in a ponytail. When it wasn’t in a ponytail, it got so tangled, so fast and would get matted because he laid on his back at times, rubbed his head up against the back of his highchair, car seat and any other thing he was leaning up against, plus he was exploring the world, and it just became too much.
The first thing I do is wash and detangle his hair before cutting it. I then towel dry it, then pick / fluff it out, take a pair of scissors and just start snipping. I also strap him into his highchair and turn on a movie for him to watch.
I knew that I did not want to take him to a barber shop for a clipper cut …I like his curls and I don’t want him to get a line-up, so I figured I’d do it myself.
Some products I use on his hair:
-CURLS – Blueberry Bliss Reparative Leave In Conditioner
-CURLS – Blueberry Bliss Twist N Shout Cream
-CURLS – Blueberry Bliss CURL Control Gelly (Occasional)
-TréLuxe – Curl Renew & Restore – Gentle Cleansing Rinse
-TréLuxe – Untie the Knot – Nourishing Leave-In Conditioner
-TréLuxe – Curl Supreme 4-in-1 Hydrating Creme
-TréLuxe – Reflex – Curl Styling Serum (Occasional)
-TréLuxe – Hi! Definition – Curl Enhancing Styling Gel (Occasional)
— Products you use on your childs hair do not have to be marketed as kids products. — As long as you are comfortable using it on them, it should be fine. Whenever I try something new, I do a test patch on his arm or leg to make sure there is no allergic reaction at least 24 hours before I plan to use it on him. I learned that products you use on your child don’t have to be targeted specifically to kids from 2 natural hair stylists that I trust; Aishia Strickland and Aeleise Harris of Black Curl Magic, Black Girl Curls on Facebook, and formerly known as the 30 Day Hair Detox.
2 comments
Hello. Quick question. What was your purpose of cutting your son’s hair? He’s wearing braids now. Was the hair uneven or at the time, you just didn’t want to style his hair. My son is 2 years old, and he has curly textured hair. I have braided it, but the sides haven’t grown in completely. So now, I’m thinking to hold off on braiding. Don’t know whether I should cut it so I will all grow evenly, or just put his hair in plaits.
Hello… there was absolutely nothing wrong with his hair. I hadn’t even thought to braid it at the time… which I probably would have, if I had. It would just get matted down from the car seat and laying down… I didn’t want to have to wet it every day. It’s your choice, but I would probably just PLAIT IT and keep up with his trims. My youngest sons sides were thinner and shorter at first. Now it has caught up and it’s very long. He’s 3 and his hair has never been cut. I just trim the ends when they get raggedy. Hope this helps. Thank you for checking out my blog and leaving a comment!