Animated characters typically are dreamt up to inspire us on an emotional level. Style-wise? Not so much. So when we saw the trailer for the animated feature, Home, we were seriously surprised—the scenes gave us some very real hair envy. That's right—from a cartoon.
Maybe it's just the Rihanna effect. The girl breathes style into everything she does, and the film's plucky protagonist, Tip, which is voiced by the "FourFiveSeconds" singer, is no exception. As we watch Tip's natural curls bouncing on the screen, we are overcome by the need to to get that look. Now.
So we called upon the expertise of E! Style Collective members and celebrity hair stylists Kimberly Kimble, who styles Beyoncé's hair, and Marc Mena, who works with Christy Turlington Burns, for lessons on how to optimize curls so they look just as fresh as they do IRL as in modern-day anime.
No matter how honed your styling skills, you can't get gorgeous, natural curls without healthy hair. Since curly hair is more prone to dryness and breakage, as Kimble pointed out, giving strands a little extra TLC is essential.
"My number one tip to keep curly hair healthy and fabulous is to hydrate, hydrate, hydrate," Kimble said. To keep hair moisturized, the stylist suggested hot oil treatments infused with coconut oil.
Since over-shampooing can parch hair even further, Mena recommended washing hair only when dirty and cutting washes from twice to once a week to reinstate health.
When cleansing the hair, skip the shampoo and use conditioner only. "Oils remove oils, so conditioner should remove any excess oil," he said. "That will give curls more shine and bounce."
Choose a moisturizing conditioner like MarulaOil Rare Oil Replenishing Conditioner, which is designed to release doses of hydrating marula oil whenever you touch or brush your hair.
Finally, Mena suggested incorporating a hair mask, such as Davines Nounou Hair Mask, into your once-a-week hair care routine to help brittle hair back to health.
We may not be able to program hair perfection like animators, but caring for curls to bring them back to life? Thanks to our pros, we've got that on lock.
Home premieres March 27, 2015.