If you have noticed more hair in your brush or shower drain lately and you have wavy, curly, or coily hair, don’t panic. You are not going bald. Your hair is simply responding to seasonal changes in daylight, hormones, and humidity. But because textured hair behaves differently from straight hair, shedding can look more dramatic.

In this episode, Sarah breaks down exactly why seasonal shedding hits curls harder and how you can support your hair from the inside out, so your texture stays strong, defined, and thriving all season long.

🧴 Key Products Mentioned: 

Pro Products Available at https://studiogaven.com/

• Kérastase Curl Manifesto Bain Hydratation Douceur
• 
  
• Kérastase Masque Réhydratant
• 
  
• Kérastase Potentialiste Scalp Serum
• 
  
• Redken Amino-Mint Scalp Shampoo
• 
  
• Redken Acidic Bonding Concentrate Mask
• 
  
• Pureology Hydrate Shampoo & Conditioner
• 
  
• Pureology Strength Cure Mask
• 
  
• Shu Uemura Urban Moisture Mask

Additional products Mentioned:

• Mielle Rosemary Oil
• 
  
• Argan / jojoba / grapeseed oils
• 
  
• Heeta Scalp Brush
• 
  
• Satin bonnet / silk pillowcase
• 
  
• Microfiber towel (Aquis)
• 
  
• Steam cap
• 
  
• Diffuser attachment
• 
  
• Wide-tooth detangling comb
• 
  
• Nutrafol Women’s Core

✨ Final Thoughts

Seasonal shedding is natural, but with the right internal support, scalp care, and hydration routine, it doesn’t have to derail your curls. Support your hormones, keep your scalp oxygenated, and hydrate consistently and your hair will respond beautifully.

Connect with Sarah

Questions or topic ideas? Reach out- Sarah would love to answer, and your question might even become a future episode.

IG/TikTok: @lessonsfromyourhairstylist • Email: sarah@blacktieandblush.com

Well hello and welcome to the Lessons From Your Hairstylist podcast. I'm your host and hairstylist friend Sarah Cruz. So this week was my birthday week and it has been beautiful. This is really the first week that it truly felt like fall. I have a turtleneck on today. And I had a great weekend. This is actually Sunday that I'm sitting here chatting with you and it's been a great weekend. I think October's a great time to have a birthday.

and we're really enjoying our new neighborhood And last week we talked about hair shedding due to the seasons changing and our hormones changing and all of the things that go into that yearly hair fall or fall fall where your hair seems like it's shedding more than normal. So we talked about that last week and if you didn't get a chance to hear that

Please go back and listen to that episode because if you are going into the fall season right now and you feel like you're seeing more hair in the drain, you're seeing more hair on the floor and just all over the place, that episode will go into a lot of the reasons as to why that's happening and then also how to stop it and how to prevent it. So I think that's a great episode for fall. I was excited to bring that to you and I did tell you last week that this week

We would actually be carrying that same theme a little further, but this week we're going to be talking about curls in particular and how the fall and the changing of the seasons sometimes affects curly hair in a different way and why it can even be a little harder for curly hair. curly, coily, wavy hair.

those hair types all tend to be a little bit drier. And we'll explain why that is in just a little bit. knowing that hair that has any sort of texture to it, whether it's just barely a wave or it's a really coily, very, tight, tightly curled curl, why it is that those hair types are

particularly drier than straight hair. We're going to talk about that. It's good to understand that because it helps you to be able to develop a hair care routine that allows you to grow your hair not only thicker and stronger, but also to feel like it's in better shape and to keep more hair actually locked in the follicles as we're going through the changing of the seasons or hormone changes, illnesses, stresses, things like that. So

how it is that we can really keep the hair locked in and strong and growing, especially for the curly and coily hair type. So I'm excited to get into that because I feel like a lot of times there's not as much information out there for the curly girls. So we're gonna talk about that today.

Okay, so seasonal hair shedding. This is a time when people suddenly start to see more hair in the brush starting in September and October. And hormones can shift with less sunlight. We talked about that. There's a lot happening on a biological level. And we talked about how hair shedding itself isn't just the problem, it's your body resetting and the issue of the scalp, stress, hormones, things like that.

A lot of times that's what's going on inside. Those things are not supported. This week we are going to really be talking about that same conversation and apply that to naturally textured hair, curls, coils, things like that. So we're really going to be specifically targeting hair types that are 2C through 4C because here's the truth, curly hair doesn't just look different, it actually behaves differently.

structurally, biologically, and even hormonally, it just, it reacts differently to stress and seasonal change. So today we are covering why seasonal shedding shows up differently on curls and coils and what we can do about that.

Well, number one, curls shed differently in the fall. So curly hair starts from a different follicle shape first, just to try to understand what's going on below the surface. Straight hair grows straight out of a round follicle. Waves, curls, and coils actually grow out of an oval or an elliptical follicle. And the more stretched that that oval is, the tighter the curl is gonna be. So that's the little shape where the hair is growing

From that follicle, it's the shape of that follicle that determines the shape of the hair or the degree of curliness that the hair is gonna have. So a perfectly round is gonna be more straight, and then if you have the oval and the more stretched that is, the more curly the hair is gonna be. And because of that shape, the hair actually bends as it grows, and that's what causes the curl. So if you've got that real stretched shape, as the hair grows out, the hair starts to bend. And the degree of that stretching

determines how much that hair bends. And that bend does two really important things. First of all, it does not allow for the natural oils, which is the sebum, to actually travel down the hair strand easily. The oil of your scalp is just kind of literally sitting there at the roots. So it's not really nourishing the hair strand, which is...

why curly and coily hair tends to be so much drier because it's not getting all of that oil from the scalp that straight hair gets. You've got the cuticle, which is the outer layer of the hair shaft. It also does not lay flat like it does on straight hair. So it lifts up. So if you think of like, ⁓ if you think of like what a single hair is, it has like all of these little like fish scales at the outer layer. And so when those little scales,

don't lay flat like it does on straight hair, it lifts in tiny areas around the bends. So the bends cause those little scales to kind of come up. If you can kind of visualize that they wouldn't lay flat when the hair is bending, you're gonna see the scales kind of fly up. And when that happens, moisture can actually escape out of the hair shaft as well. So not only is the sebum not coming all the way down the hair shaft,

Now you've got like little breaks and points in the hair that's actually allowing the moisture that was in there to escape. So when fall hits, humidity drops, heaters kick on inside of your homes, we're sleeping under these blankets, the air is getting drier, the curls lose water faster than straight hair. And so layering shedding on top of that, you've got less sunlight, your brain makes more melatonin, just like we talked about in the last episode.

melatonin affects your cortisol rhythm, your stress hormone, cortisol fluctuations push more hair follicles into the telogen shedding phase. So telogen is the shedding phase of the hair cycle. And so when the hair enters the telogen phase, it actually sheds, which is just a normal thing that happens. But when you have less sunlight in the fall, as we start to get into fall, and melatonin picks up, then

then you're actually entering into that telogen phase faster and you're losing even more hair. So on curly hair, when the roots lose volume and the ends are already dry or frizzy, it looks like it's thinning and it looks like breakage. And so even though biologically many times it's just normal shedding that you're seeing in curly hair, when you add to that the dryness

and the frizziness, which can actually look like breakage, you're seeing really a more dramatic result on curls because the definition is actually collapsing and it's looking skinnier.

So just to recap from last week, everything from last week that we talked about with the shorter days and melatonin rising, that all is still applying to hair that is in that 2C to 4C category. When I say 2C to 4C, if you have never heard of that before, that is actually just a range that is one that we go by when we are grading the degree of curl that someone has. So if you're looking at someone who has

what we would say is a 2C level hair. If you look at, say, one to four on a scale, one would be straight. Anywhere within a one A, B, C is pretty straight. Then you get to level two, where you're like a two A, B, or C. That's when you start getting into some wave. And in the three category, A, B, C, you're getting into curl. And then in the four category, you're getting even past the curl to more of a really tight.

in almost a zigzag pattern. So you've got that full range of hair. So when we're talking about 2C to 4C, we're talking about hair that has some wave all the way up to very, very coily texture. And so when melatonin is influencing cortisol timing in the fall, you've got this cortisol imbalance and that actually equals more shedding. But curly hair often needs even

more support internally because people with curly hair are statistically shown to have low or lower ferritin or iron levels.

And so basically you want to still have that internal plan. So same as the last episode where you're really getting internal support through something like maybe Nutrifol, Women's Core Balance that supports

cortisol regulation, inflammation, and growth phase activation. But you also want to add in some curl specific needs.

Some things you might want to think about supplement wise would be a vitamin D3 daily, especially in the fall and winter. Omega-3s or collagen, these are going to help the hair fiber with elasticity.

some plant-based iron plus vitamin C.

Also very, very important to prevent over shedding in the fall is really getting that hydration in as well. So 70 to 90 ounces of water is what's recommended a day, maybe some electrolytes because your dehydrated body is actually going to not be able to feed your curls and so then your curls are gonna be even more dehydrated. just to recap, if you are looking at

how the change of the season and the less light is causing the melatonin levels to go up. And then you're also dealing with the internal things that are going on, hormones changing, causing cortisol levels to change causing you to go into the telogen phase even faster. And then when you think about the structure of the hair, how those little scales are lifting because the hair is curling around,

losing moisture from the inside, also not able to get that oil all the way down to the ends because of the pattern of the hair, you're really fighting an uphill battle, so hydration is super, super important from the inside out, plus your supplements.

now if you're into fall and you're already feeling depleted, tired, stressed, and your scalp is dry, that is when shedding feels very severe. If you prepare nutritionally in August or early September,

shift.

Now, another really important piece of the puzzle for curly hair is scalp care. Curly hair sheds the same number of strands per day as straight hair, but the difference is those shed hairs don't slide down the hair shaft and fall out. A lot of times, they get caught in the coils and they tangle. In the waves, they wrap around the other hair strands, and that's why on a wash day,

you might be seeing huge amounts or what you feel like are huge amounts coming out in the shower all at once. So it's not that you're actually losing more, it's that more is actually collecting in the internal part of the hair because it's getting wrapped around the other hairs. second, sebum doesn't travel, okay, so we already talked about this. Your scalp can be oily while your ends feel straw dry. That leads to buildup on the scalp, oil plus sweat.

plus edge control, plus dry shampoo, plus leave-in formulas, all sitting on the root surrounding the follicle opening. That's gross. So you want to make sure that you are cleansing very well. When the follicle is clogged, oxygen and nutrients can't reach it as well. So the scalp microbiome is getting disrupted. now when that happens, inflammation increases and inflammation can actually prolong the shedding cycle.

So curly scalps actually really need gentle exfoliation once per week, not really a harsh scrub, but something like maybe the Pureology Exfoliate Scalp micro exfoliating shampoo or the Kerastase Fusio Scrub, Ipasant.

to our actual

salon here in Franklin, Tennessee. We have those at the salon at StudioGavin.com, but you can find those also as well on the product websites. We will go ahead and link those in the show notes.

But just remember, you want to truly wash your hair, shampoo your hair once or twice a week to remove buildup.

The Karastase Curl Manifesto line is a great one. Mizani has some amazing products as well. The Redkin Acidic Bonding Shampoo, if the hair is fragile or if you have it colored. Pureology Hydrate, we love that one as well at the salon.

So those are all really great options when you go to cleanse your hair once or twice a week. But it is very important to keep your scalp clean. I don't know where the whole myth of the longer you go in between shampooing your hair, the better it is. It's actually not. You've got to treat your scalp as the canvas that your hair is growing from. And so you want that to be clean, and you want those follicles to be unclogged. So you want to take care of that. And also,

Do what you need to for the ends so that the ends are hydrated, moisturized, and strong, but you've got to get that gunk off of the scalp.

Something else that's very helpful is scalp massage for circulation. And also, there are red light caps that you can get either through your dermatologist. There are lots of options

You wanna make sure you're doing your research because some of those caps can be more effective than others, but red light therapy is actually very effective for hair growth and for scalp health, things of that nature. But massaging the scalp and keeping the circulation going is a really great idea. You can use your fingers. You can use like a silicone scalp brush for 60 seconds.

We will link some of our favorites here as well in the show notes, but keeping that circulation going and those follicles really nourished through blood supply is going to support the overall growth process and the health of the hair. so one of my favorite scalp serums is the Kerastase Potentialist.

That is one that I use so much on myself and also my clients behind the chair. What it does is it balances that scalp microbiome that we were talking about. It reduces itching if your scalp feels irritated, you're experiencing redness, things like that. It really soothes the scalp. It helps oxygen flow. There's just a number of things that the Potentia-Lee Serum can do and it actually makes your hair feel amazing and it smells wonderful as well because we all know.

Right? It's gotta smell good. Gonna link that for you as well. We have that at the salon too. But you know, using a satin bonnet or a silk pillowcase are also great ways to keep the hair from getting roughed up, from losing even more of its moisture overnight. It helps to keep the cuticle calmed down. A microfiber towel when you go to shampoo your hair. So again, you're not roughing up the cuticle as much because it's already

when you're a curly girl, that cuticle is already up and kind of like not laying flat, not closed off. So when you think about the cuticle of the hair, like if you're thinking of scales on a fish, when they pop up like that, everything is kind of divided out. I'm like making these gestures and you can't even see me because if you're just listening on podcasts rather than looking on YouTube, you can see I keep making these gestures. But when something is open like that, it's not

it's not as strong.

When the scales are laying down and all together, you've got strength in that togetherness. And so the hair is not as likely to break. So a satin bonnet or a silk pillowcase, a microfiber towel when you go to shampoo your hair, all of those things will really help to keep that cuticle as calm as possible.

So again, one of the biggest reasons that curls look thinner during seasonal shedding isn't just because of the hair that's falling. It's because the hair that stays in is dehydrated, frizzy, and it's losing definition. Curls are not like straight hair. They don't shine because there's not the light reflection that you have with straight hair. And if they do shine, they shine because of curl clumping. So when each curl strand holds onto moisture and stays grouped with the other hairs, it will reflect the light.

But when the air gets dry in the fall and the winter, moisture literally evaporates from the cuticle.

And this is called transepidermal water loss. And this is why curly hair suffers so much more. You've got those lifted cuticles and that's equaling the moisture escaping faster. You've got the sebum that can't coat the strand. And so there's no natural sealant at all. You've got these indoor heaters, sweaters, scarves, all this friction and breakage.

You've got hard water, sulfate, shampoos, mineral buildup, dryness, all the things. So this is where prevention meets hydration layering. If you wait until your curls are crispy, frizzy and breaking, you're going to be behind. Fall curl prep actually begins in the late summer, just like scalp prep. So here is a good hydration routine you can start to follow now if you are in that 2C to 4C category. So listen up.

Step one, water first, always. Hydration means water, not oils. You can mist your curls with filtered water plus a drop of conditioner and a spray bottle, something like that, before styling. Now why is this? It's because oils don't moisturize, they seal moisture.

Step two, use humectants, but use them the right way. So humectants like glycerin, honey, hyaluronic acid, those attract moisture into the hair. But if the air is dry, they'll pull moisture actually out of the hair. So pair humectants with an emollient cream or a leave-in. Some examples would be the KeraSauce Curl Manifesto, the Creme d'Azur Fundamental,

a leave-in with manuka honey plus ceramides.

Another great option is the Redken All Soft Moisture Restore Leave-In.

Also the Pureology Hydrate Softening Treatment with Shea plus Almond.

Those are all great options. Now, step three, you want to layer using LOC or LCO method.

What the heck is LOC or the LCO method? Well, these work because they mimic what straight hair gets naturally from scalp oils. So L equals liquid or a leave-in. This is a water-based sprayer conditioner.

O is gonna be a lightweight oil, so that's Argon, Jojoba, Marula, it seals in hydration.

C is cream. It's going to be thicker, like a butter, a cream to soften and define.

your hair is low porosity or it's fine. So low porosity means that your hair is not super thirsty. If it's not super, super dry or if it is a very fine strand, mean, so fine, let me just define really quickly between what fine and coarse means as opposed to thick or thin hair. If your hair is thin, that means that there are not

as many individual hairs or hair follicles in a certain surface area within your hair, within your scalp. If your hair is fine, it means that each individual hair is smaller around in diameter than a hair that would be more considered coarse. Coarse hair would be thicker or bigger around in diameter.

If your hair is low porosity, meaning that it doesn't require a ton of moisture because it's already somewhat hydrated, or if it's fine, which means each one of your hair strands, even though your hair might be thick and you might have a lot of it, if each individual hair is skinnier around, your hair is fine. So if your hair is either low porosity or it's fine, you'll wanna go the LCO method. So this is gonna be the liquid, cream, and oil.

and this is gonna help you avoid greasy roots. So.

Just to recap, LOC is liquid oil and cream.

LCO is liquid cream oil in that order.

We're going to link some of our favorites here in the show notes again, but great curl-friendly oil options are Argon oil, Jojoba oil. are several.

but look for products that have really great curl-friendly oil options such as Argon Oil or Jojoba.

Step four, deep conditioning plus protein balance. Curly hair needs both hydration and protein. If curls stretch and don't bounce back, they're over hydrated. Did you know you could actually over hydrate your hair? Who would have thought? But if the curls stretch and they don't bounce back, they're over hydrated. If they snap easily, they are protein starved. So if you stretch it and it just snaps, that means it's not strong and it needs more protein.

Next we're gonna talk about breakage versus shedding, some nighttime routines, and a regrowth timeline if you are experiencing shedding. So at this point you might be wondering to yourself like, how do I even know if it's shedding or if it's breakage? Okay, here is the difference. With shedding, the hair is gonna fall from the root, so you're gonna see a little white bulb at the end. If it's breakage, you're not gonna see any little white bulb. You have to look kinda closely, but you'll see at the very end if there's that little white bulb.

And if there's not, that just means that the hair has actually snapped mid shaft. This often on a curly end looks sort of tapered or frayed. Shedding is actually natural. Breakage is preventable. So to prevent breakage during seasonal shedding, sleeping on a satin or a silk pillowcase is always a great idea. Cotton pillowcases can actually suck the moisture out of your curls and cause some friction. So again, I love the satin or the

or the silk pillowcases, you wanna protect your ends at night. So you can just do like a little pineapple ponytail, like right on top of your head. You can do a satin bonnet, a silk scarf, something like that. Try to avoid tight buns or of course rubber bands, elastic ponytail holders, things like that. I mean, that's just like common sense, I guess, but I will just say it.

Use a Satin Scrunchie or like one of those Invisibobble spirals, something like that. When you are in the shower and you're doing your cleansing and your conditioning, detangle your hair with conditioner in the shower. So get a huge comb. You can find them on Amazon. You can find them anywhere but like the big wide tooth combs. And when you put your conditioner in, go through your hair with the comb with the conditioner still in. That's gonna help to...

prevent any stress on the hair. You won't be doing it when you get out of the shower when the hair is weaker. Of course, you wanna remember to trim your ends. When you trim your ends, that will keep it from breaking. Keep it from looking thin on the ends. So a little dusting, of course, always helps curls to look thicker instantly.

Now, a realistic regrowth timeline. This is the same as the last episode, but this is gonna be curl adapted. Okay, so weeks one through four, you might still be shedding. If you're in it, and you're in the existing telogen phase, just keep going. In your months two to three, shedding is gonna slow, curls are gonna start clumping together better, and the scalp is gonna feel calmer.

Months four to six, you're gonna start to see some baby hairs around the hairline, more volume at the roots, curls that spring back, that kind of thing. and six months or more, you're gonna see noticeably thicker curl density, stronger ends, and less frizz. So just remember that this is a marathon, I would say, again, going back to prevention. You might even wanna start this in the late spring, early summer.

to really get ahead on it so that you can be fortifying the internal parts that need the attention, that need to be addressed before you get to the point of experiencing this fallout. So looking into a product again like NutriFall, starting to take those supplements, making sure that you're super hydrating, doing the treatments, those types of things before you get into fall, that can really help for you to see less hair fall.

when those colder months come and the days start to get shorter. Now, if you're seeing more hair come out in the shower this fall and you have curly, wavy, or coily hair, it doesn't mean you're going bald. It means your body is reacting to a drop in daylight the same way it has forever. The difference is when curls are dry, dehydrated, or inflamed, shedding looks dramatic. So when you support your hormones internally,

Keep your scalp clean and oxygenated and hydrate your curl pattern consistently. You make seasonal shedding a lot less painful.

I hope this information has been helpful to you. We are in the thick of fall. I thought this would be really great information to bring to help you to understand if you are noticing more shedding, more hair in the drain, and it's scaring the heck out of you. You're wondering what's going on. That's what this was all about.

Now if you missed last week's episode, be sure and go back and listen to that. It's got a lot of great information in it as well. I am so glad that you joined me here today. I thank you so much. It's always good to be with you. And I will see you next week on the podcast. Take care.