This one goes out to all my curly, frizzy, wavy, fro-y friends out there.

I’ve been meaning to write this post for some time now and, inspired by my buddy’s piece yesterday, I decided to get all listy on it. Obviously you guys know that what got us in trouble in the first place was a fated chem-filled Brazilian Blowout. And as such we like to encourage women to generally embrace what they were born with, rather than fight their looks at every turn—especially with toxins.

But let’s be real about things too. There will always be women with curly hair who try to make it straight. And just because we want you to love and accept yourself does not at all mean that we don’t strongly advocate mixing sh*t up sometimes. When I get a blowout it’s like a new lease on life! I don’t do it often but when I do, a whole other gal comes out to play: She’s a little more sophisticated than me, this blowout character, a little more polished. I’ll never be her year-round, but I like her style.

But here’s the big surprise, ladies: Going natural—and I mean really natural—is the best thing you can do for your blowout. Consider this a guide to the anti-Brazilian blowout.

1. Stop washing your hair. If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a thousand times: Not washing my hair is the best thing I ever did for this (now less) dry, curly mane of mine. It’s made it more manageable and actually much easier to style. Thanks to the natural oils in there I no longer look like someone who’s been electrocuted when I get my hair blown out. Sure, my ends are still a little ragged but overall my hair looks much healthier than it once did straightened. Also—and this is the clincher—when your scalp is used to not being washed you can keep a blowout for days (and days, and days) without it turning to a greasy mess. It’s like you’ve pre-trained it for the blowout. I kept my last one for over a week easy—and I could have gone longer.

2. Show up with a wet head. Critical if you’re doing it at a salon, otherwise the stylist will force you to wash your hair. Trust me on this one. And even if they don’t they will still use chemy products in there that you don’t want. Which takes me to…

3. Avoid leave-ins. I’m not talking about a little bit of argan oil on the ends here, but if you leave crap in your hair (even of the more natural variety like my new favorite curl cream) you run the risk of your hair getting weighed down and dull looking after a day or two. Even worse, your scalp could start itching. On the contrary, your natural oils will add shine and not weigh your hair down (except maybe at the root, but there’s a solution for that). So keep your hair dirty-clean, yeah?

4. Ask for a loose wave rather than the pin-straight look. I know us curly-haired girls dream of nothing more than shiny, stick-straight locks. But the truth is, no matter how healthy our hair is, most of us are still going to have broken ends that look rough when they’re super straight. It’s just the nature of the curly beast. As dumb luck would have it, the last blowout I had I asked for loose waves because I wanted to wear it in a pony for my friend’s wedding. I’ll never ask for anything else. Having the ends fall into big curls was the perfect camouflage (see picture above for inspiration) The waves also actually got better as the days passed.

5. Use dry shampoo to keep it alive. As mentioned, depending just how used to not washing your scalp is, the top can get a little greasy or flat after a few days. Meet your new best friend, dry shampoo. Siobhan has written about this stuff in the past but for some reason I’d never tried it. Probably because it’s called shampoo—but it’s really nothing like it. The added volume dry shampoo can give you at the root makes it feel more like a styling product to me than anything else. Yes it gets rid of the grease, but also, holy height! (Again, see above pic for inspiration because dry shampoo can do that depending how thick your hair is.) I’ve been using this All Nighter Styling Powder (couldn’t look less natural, but it’s made from rice tapioca and colored with mineral pigments) and I love it. I even use it here and there when my hair’s curly just to get that extra boost on top.

So, who here likes to get a blowout now and again? Got any tips to add?