Styling Curly Hair

Before you begin styling your curly hair, you need to start with a good base. Curly hair is naturally dry and needs to be well moisturized. Try not to shampoo more than 3 times a week or every other day at most because shampoo can be very drying. Always use a thick, moisturizing conditioner during every wash, and try to use a deep conditioner every couple of weeks for extra moisture.

Once you have finished washing and conditioning your hair, rinse it in the shower with the coldest water you can stand. If you can’t stand cold water in the shower, use a pitcher of cold water, bend over the shower, or pour it over your hair when you are finished with the water. Cold water helps to seal the cuticle in order to help keep the moisture from escaping. Also, try not to make your shower too hot and steamy because the steam will open up the cuticles again. If you must have steam, don’t linger in the bathroom.

Next, you will need to apply the products to your hair. Don’t squeeze the water out of your hair yet, keep it sopping wet. This will make sure the products are evenly distributed throughout your hair. You can use any product you like, but I recommend always starting with a leave-in conditioner. You can either leave in a little bit of your regular conditioner, use your regular conditioner as a leave-in, or use a leave-in conditioner. If you have shoulder length hair, use about a nickel sized amount. Use more with longer hair.

Put the conditioner in your hands, coat your hands, and comb your fingers through your hair evenly distributing it throughout your hair. Try to concentrate it more on the ends because the ends are always the driest. Next, you can add in your other products. I suggest using a light curling gel for hold but without crunch. You could also use a mousse instead and you could add in a serum to help defrizz. I like to use a spray gel so that I can just spray it on and then scrunch it. That is the next step, scrunching. Instead of squeezing along the length of your hair, scrunch it up towards your head to help with the curls.

Finally, take a towel and scrunch with it some more to get as much water out as possible. It’s best to let it air dry, but if you want it done faster, you can use a diffuser on a low setting for a few minutes to help speed up the process. Don’t brush or comb your hair or else you’ll break up the curls. Let it dry and then put in some pins or clips if you want.