Styling & Diffusing Curls
Switching from a harsher shampoo over to something more gentle so that your pH on your scalp stays balanced is important. Most shampoo strips our natural oils. If you have any texture in your hair it's more prone to being dry and fragile. Don’t be afraid of over doing it with the moisture, your hair will likely soak it up like a sponge. Switching to a gentler hydrating cleanser is a great place to start. Make sure it’s sulfate, paraben, and silicone free. Many products are packed with fillers and junk that put a film on our hair and feel great in the short term, but leave build up and can actually dry our hair out over time. Depending on your hair type, I find it’s good to use a gentle cleanser a majority of the time and then periodically (either weekly, or twice a month) use a cleanser that has more cleansing and clarifying properties. You could always use a spray in root refresh cleanser between wash days too, this one is great!
When cleansing, or even if it’s not wash day and you’re just rewetting with water, make sure to really massage your fingers at your scalp and scrub vigorously to remove any build up. It’s a bit more labor intensive to use a cleanser that doesn’t “suds up” like we’re used to, but it’s well worth the extra effort. You can also use a palm brush to help break through build up too. Click here for some helpful Co-Washing tips. Remember that part of having good scalp health is also making sure your scalp can breathe. It’s important to make sure your scalp is being cleansed regularly.
You'll want to do the bulk of your detangling in the shower, either with a wide tooth comb or a wetbrush when you're using your conditioner. You can also pre-brush it dry before getting in the shower with a boar bristle brush, or something with the teeth closer together than the wide comb. This will help the process along. (It will get loose hairs out, stimulate your scalp and speed up the detangling process)
Once you're out of the shower, you'll use your fingers or a brush for curly styling like the Denman to comb through your hair and start setting the shape where you’ll want it to dry. The wetter and more saturated your hair is, the better. If you even want to keep a big spray bottle full of water handy for when you get out of the shower, go for it. Mist it down until you see the curl families grouping together. Use your either your microfiber towel or a t-shirt to lightly scrunch some of the moisture out, do not rub the towel on your head, or be rough with your curls!
Once it has been detangled, it’s time to apply your product. There are a lot of different directions you can go with your product depending on your hair density, how defined you like your curls, what curl pattern you have, etc. So this may take some trial and error to find what best suits you. Be careful to find products that aren’t too thick or heavy for your hair.
I typically tend to gravitate towards things that are creamier/moisturizing as a first step, but it’s totally up to you. You could either use a leave-in conditioner, which will be lightweight and not offer much hold or definition. Or you could find a curl cream that offers moisture and usually some level of hold. Depending on your hair, you may to use a mousse or gel layered on top of the leave-in or the curl cream. Oil is always a last step, as it seals the cuticle. If you layer other products on top, they won’t be able to penetrate the hair strand and get in.
Start with about a walnut size amount of product in your palm and rub your hands together like you’re applying lotion. Then you’ll start at the bottom and rake it up with your hands up to the top. This way you’ll have less product on your hands by the time you make your way to your scalp, to avoid build-up or feeling weighted down. Do this all the way around your head making sure it's distributed evenly. If you want to section off parts of your hair and comb the product through to make sure it is applied evenly, that would be great.
Now it is time to let it dry. This can either be with the diffuser to help speed up the air drying process, or you can let it dry naturally. Remember that as the shape is forming you’ll only want to be touching it in ways that encourage the curl, not disturb it. It is still going to setting the shape when it’s almost dry. Do not run your fingers through it, brush, comb, or pull the curl out until it is completely dry.
If you have trouble getting curl through certain areas of your head, you can hand twist some of those pieces and scrunch them to help get more curl in the areas that are a little looser.
Whether you are diffusing or air drying, you’ll want to start getting it off of your scalp if you want to get volume. While you are scrunching, turn your head sideways, upside down, tilting forward, etc.
This video has lots of helpful tips for air-drying!
Another option if you want to get some volume and get it out of the way is to very loosely gather your hair in a pile on top of your head (being mindful to not disturb the curls, so do not pull or secure this tightly) and wrap it in either a t-shirt or a microfiber towel. This can also function as a protective style while you’re sleeping to keep your hair from tangling. A silk cap or silk pillowcase couldn't hurt- anything you can do to prevent friction and roughing the cuticle while you sleep is great.
Once it's dry I mean dry (completely dry!) you can use your fingers to start breaking through the product cast if you want to soften to definition a bit. Shake it out!
If you start to see frizz throughout the day or slept on it and need to re-style:
1. Use your spray bottle! You can make yourself a curl refreshing mist. Fill with water, a pea sized amount of conditioner and/or curl cream and any essential oils you want for a nice aroma. Shake it up and mist it down and re-scrunch! Easy
2. Put a dime size amount of your curl cream in your hand, run it under the sink, lather your hands together to mix them and re-scrunch
Diffusing and Styling
Here are some videos to refer to!
Styling curly bangs
I’ve attached a few videos below for visual reference on styling curly bangs!