Here’s How To Care For Curly Hair While Traveling, According To A Hairstylist

A low-maintenance curly hair routine, plus ten expert-backed curly hair travel tips to know before you go on your next vacation. 

I’ve tested a lot of curly hair routines over the years, but my favorite has been the one Annique Krause shared with me three years ago when I first visited her salon in Tennessee. 

Krause is the bubbly hair education expert, licensed hair stylist, and salon owner behind Sand + Sol Collective. She has a gentle sort of sarcasm that makes me laugh every time I talk to her. And when she chats about hair care, her eyes sparkle (literally, sparkle. Is it the salon lights?), and her smile brightens (confirmed: not the salon lights. She’s just delightfully passionate about hair). 

Krause helped me establish the perfect, low-maintenance, curly hair routine for my carry-on-only lifestyle. Today, I’m sharing that exact routine, plus all her top curly hair travel tips. If you’ve ever wondered how to maintain healthy curls while traveling, you’re in the right place.

What Is Curly Hair?

Curly hairs are protein filaments that grow out of hooked hair-growth pores known as follicles. According to Krause, curly hair “doesn’t necessarily have to be a spiral; it could be a body wave, and that could be considered a type of curly hair.”

The Challenges Of Traveling With Curly Hair

I have a mix of thick, curly hairs. Some strands bounce in loose waves, a few loop into little ringlets, and others spiral into tight coils.

Over the years, I let Krause know the challenges my hair faced: that the low relative humidity of airplane cabins made my hair feel brittle. How, on windy days, my curls tangled. That when I entered sticky, humid environments, my hair flattened and seemed to double in size, like those kids’ toys that swell in water. And how hard water, with its high concentration of minerals (typical in many US cities), challenged my hair’s moisture absorption rate (especially when I stayed in Airbnbs).

My scalp oils’ inability to bound down to the tips of my hair was my everyday curly girl issue, but travel, I divulged, added elements that felt overwhelming. I thought my curly hair required a time-intensive amount of care and more product than a TSA-friendly bag could support, but (spoiler alert) it didn’t. 

A Curly Hair Travel Routine, As Recommended By A Stylist

Here’s the gentle curly hair routine that transformed the way I maintain my curls while traveling.

Step One: Wash Your Hair Before Your Trip

“Wash your hair before you travel,” Krause says. “Have it styled and ready to go. Make sure you pack your oil and leave-in conditioner.”

For a short trip (under four days), Krause reveals you don’t even need to bring shampoo. You can simply pack a spray bottle to refresh your hair on day three. “Spray it with water” or “spray it with leave-in conditioner,” then brush through your hair with your fingers, scrunch out the water, and “let it air dry.”

Step Two: Pack A Curly Hair Travel Kit

“A leave-in conditioner and a hair oil” are the two curly hair essentials Krause emphasizes as musts. “Don’t skimp,” she adds.

I usually pour out my conditioner and hair oil into plastic, travel-sized bottles and slip them into a TSA-friendly liquids bag.

I also pack a few dry curly hair supplies into my makeup bag.

Step Three: A Travel Wash Day

According to Krause, your next hair wash day depends on your curl pattern. Tighter curls benefit from longer waits (think: once a week or so), and looser curls can begin a wash routine after three days.

Krause recommends washing your hair in the morning (if you truly want a wash day), so you have time to air-dry your curls (and withhold sleeping on them).

Wash Day Routine

• Shampoo: Gently shampoo your scalp and cleanse. But if the water at the hotel (or Airbnb) is hard (as is often the case), Krause recommends relying on your leave-in conditioner instead. “Use the spritz to revive [your hair] instead of getting it wet.” Then, detox with a detox shampoo when you return home after the trip. Detox shampoos are “more intense”; they “strictly” cleanse the hair, clear mineral build-up, break down residues, and remove the gunky feel hard water fabricates.
• Condition: Slide in conditioner into your hair and work it in from mid-lengths to roots. Leave the conditioner in for a few minutes, and be generous with the product. According to Krause, “curly hair needs more conditioning” to combat frizz.
• Detangle: Detangle “while your hair is all wet,” Krause says, pointing out that “brushing a curl while it’s dry is going to break it more.” If you detangle curly hair while it’s wet, “it’s going to be easy to get the knots out,” “brush through it,” and “distribute your products.”
• Dry Your Hair: Skip the abrasive hotel towel, and use a microfiber towel instead. “Microfiber helps with drying all hair better than cotton,” Krause shares, but it’s especially essential for curly hair “because the cuticles are already raised.” Many curly hair cuticles (the outermost layers of hair shafts) are slightly lifted, making them more prone to breakage when a material (like a loosely-woven cotton towel) brushes against them. So, Krause recommends using a microfiber towel to scrunch out water from the hair.

Step Four: Lock In Your Hairstyle

My go-to styling products? Decanted Redken Frizz Dismiss (the pump version, not the spray), scrunched in according to the instructions, for soft curls. And a coating of Redken Argan-6 Oil (also decanted) to lock in the look.

According to Krause, how long your style lasts depends on the location you’re traveling to. Dry climates (like desert landscapes) require more frequent refreshes, but places infused with moisture (like those along the coast) naturally refresh your hair (so you can wait longer in between spritzes).

Step Five: Protect Your Hair

One of the easiest ways to protect curly hair while traveling is to sleep on a silk pillowcase (I usually bring my own to slip over a cotton-sheeted hotel pillow). Silk pillowcases, much like microfiber towels, reduce breakage by being gentle on the hair.

On longer trips, Krause usually plaits my hair into a protective hairstyle. Her top recs for protective hairstyles? “Medium or larger box braids”, “partial or a full head of cornrows”, or “any kind of twists.” She suggests picking a style that allows your hair to breathe and gives your curls room to rest.

Personalize Your Curly Hair Routine

Krause recommends personalizing your hair care. Everyone’s hair is different, everyone’s hair goals are different, and everyone’s lifestyle is different, so adapt your curly hair routine to fit your needs. “If you find that your hair is dry, add in moisturizing shampoo and conditioner [to your routine],” she says. “If you find that your hair is frizzy, go for products that tame the frizz.”

“Treat your hair like a plant and listen to it.” Listen to your curls while traveling just as you would at home. Notice how your hair responds to weather (and seasonal) shifts and think: what is my hair telling me it needs right now?

One last note, Krause adds, “Your curly hair is beautiful and no, nobody can touch it.”

Did you find these curly hair travel tips helpful? What is your favorite curly hair travel routine? Let me know in the comments below!