Some of the terms we use in the curly community sound a bit odd. Don’t pineapples belong in fruit salad and not on my head? And I’m pretty sure that plopping is what I do onto the couch after a hard day. For those just starting to embrace their curls and learn different ways of caring for them, it can be overwhelming to decipher their meanings. We’ve put together a brief overview of some common terms.
Pre-Poo
Pre-poo is a treatment that is applied before shampooing (before=pre, shampoo=poo) that is made up of oils, a conditioner, or mixture of both. This helps the hair retain moisture while washing. See this video on how to use the Q-Redew for your pre-poo routine.
Plopping
Plopping is a method of drying your hair using a t-shirt or other similar material. The t-shirt fabric is gentler on curls than a traditional terrycloth bath towel but still helps to speed the drying process.
Pineapple
Loosely coifing your hair on the top of your head to preserve a style is called pineappling your hair. The style itself is called a pineapple. It is a perfect way to maintain your hair while you sleep without crushing your curls.
Scrunch
When you scrunch your hair, you are gathering your curls into your hand and delicately squishing them together and upward in order to encourage curl definition and/or to break up products in your hair.
Baggy
One way of infusing your hair with moisture is to apply a product to the ends of your hair and then place a plastic shower cap, also known as a processing cap, over your hair. When you direct heat onto the cap, the hair shaft relaxes allowing moisture to enter. The process usually takes anywhere from 15 minutes to a half hour. This same effect can be achieved by using your Q-Redew’s targeted steam. Watch a video demonstration.
What are some terms that you are unfamiliar with? Let us know in the comments and we will do our best to answer. If you would like to learn more about maintaining your curls using the Curly Girl Method, you can purchase Curly Girl: The Handbook here.
