Curly Hair Styling Tips

I’m so excited to share be continuing this series where we cover curly hair styling tips.  I think this series is really going to help you party curly hair!

Last time, I covered the challenges of naturally curly hair as well as products to use.

Today, I’m sharing my curly hair styling tips.

But first, there are 2 important guidelines to follow when dealing with curly hair.

1.  Don’t brush your curly hair.  There are a couple of reasons for this.  First of all, the dryness of curly hair makes it more prone to breakage. Also, there is a propensity to frizz up.  We don’t like frizzies.  You can use a wide-tooth comb in the shower when your hair is full of conditioner.  Never brush your hair when it is drying.

2.  Don’t blow dry your hair.  Of course, you can blow dry your curly hair if you intend to straighten it, but if want it to have your natural curl shine through, you need to unplug the hairdryer.  I for one do not like looking like a wet dog but a blow dryer will just cause your hair to frizz and poof up.  (it can also damage it)  When you see how I recommend styling, you’ll realize why a blow dryer is your enemy.  One thing though, *if you really need to speed up your hair drying* use a defuser and try not to blow your hair around.

There are 2 basic routines I follow for my hair.

1st Up *Wash* Days

Wash Hair With Conditioner.  I talked a little about how to wash your curly hair WITHOUT shampoo here. Remember this is the time to comb your hair (when it is full of conditioner).  Most of the time I just use my fingers but, again, you can use a wide-tooth comb. When rinsing your hair, you want to leave a little bit of conditioner in it.  This helps with frizzies and dryness.

Remove Excess Water.  After you have rinsed, you are going to squeeze the excess water out by scrunching your hair. I grab a large section of hair at the end and scrunch it up towards my scalp. All the while, you want to squeeze the excess water out.  This helps to relieve weight off of the curls and aid in them going to their natural curly bounce. Next, I wrap my hair in a towel for a few minutes.  The Curly Girl Handbook recommends a microfiber turban.  I used that for a while but didn’t notice much difference from my regular terry cloth towel.

The main thing to keep in mind is you don’t want to work with overly dry hair and the right amount of moisture is important.  I try to get my hair out of the towel and fixed while it is still wet by NOT dripping.  If it is too dry, it is frizzy and less cooperative for styling.

Apply Oil to Hair.  Next, apply Shea Moisture Argon oil onto the hair. This product comes in a squirt bottle, but I find it’s better to just pour small amounts and smooth it directly on the hair.  Pay special attention to the dryer areas of your hair (mine happen to be around my face, the hair ends, and the crown of my head).

Apply Styling Gel.  After the oil, use an appropriate amount of styling gel (I like Tresemme).  Personally, I have very thick, long hair so I need to apply about half of a palmful but adjust as needed.  Avoid placing gel near your scalp and instead focus on your hair lengths and ends.

Part Hair.
 Once all the product has been applied you’re going to section your hair in half.  Below is a picture of my hair at this stage.  Everyone’s curls are unique this is just to give you an idea of what my hair looks like at this stage.

curly-hair-before-styling

Twist Ringlets. After parting, grab chunks of hair about 2-3 fingers diameter and start twisting the sections to form ringlets.  Alternate the direction of the twisting to get a more random look. At this point, you will be able to tell if there is either too much or not enough gel.  Generally, if there is not enough gel, the curls will not hold their shape from your twisting and will un-twist.  Apply more gel as needed.

This is how my hair looks after I’ve twisted all the ringlets on the one side.

curly-hair-ringletsLet Hair Air Dry.  Do NOT touch your hair until it is dry.  The more it is touched and messed with, the more frizzy and out of control it will become.

Separate Curls.  The look you have going now is similar to Shirley Temple.  You may like that, if so, leave it but it doesn’t fit me.  So you’ll separate the curls. Here is my hair dry before separating…

curly-hair-before-seperating-ringlets

And here is my hair dry AFTER separating…

curly-hair-after-seperating-ringlets

It is a subtle difference, but matters in my opinion.

So that’s it for how to style Day 1 Curly hair.

Now for the Day 2 or Day 3 Hair

BUT FIRST…

If you have long curly hair, and plan on not *washing* your hair the next day, it’s important that you sleep with your curls protected.

You don’t have to get all crazy about it but if your hair is long enough, you want to do a very high loose ponytail so your curls sit safely at the top of your head.

updo-for-sleeping

This way the curls are relatively intact the next morning and you can restyle it without having to *wash* hair again.

The next morning, take your hair down…

bedhead

It’s not terrible…but definitely bedhead.

For Day 2 and Day 3 Hair, I use this product…

curl-enhancing-smoothie

Shea Moisture CES (Curl Enhancing Smoothie)

(I PROMISE I don’t own stock in Shea Moisture, I just love all their products that I have tried).

Take a small glob of the CES  and smooth it over hair to get tame down any dry or frizzy sections.  Some sections of hair will likely need to be re-twisted.  Add a little gel and water to those sections and if the CES doesn’t help form those stubborn curls.

section-that-needs-to-be-fixed

same-section-fixed

After I’m done smoothing out my hair it looks something like this…

bedhead-fixed

At this point, it’s still a little wet and I try to leave it alone while it dries.  The end product is this…

Day-2-curly-hair

On Day 2 Hair or Day 3 Hair, I often use a claw clip to loosely hold my hair back. Some days my curls last and I’m able to wear my hair down just as I do with Day 1 Hair.

For my hair, I *wash* it every 2 to 3 days.

So that is it for my curly hair styling tips.  It was a quick run down through years of trial and error.

Part 3 of the 3-part series is next, where I cover haircuts for naturally curly hair.

Blessings,

110 thoughts on “Curly Hair Styling Tips”

  1. Have you ever used a leave-in conditioner? What are your thoughts on it? I can’t go without it and my hair fairly similar to yours. I wonder if not washing out the conditioner in the showering serves that purpose? I will be trying your technique! Thanks for sharing 🙂

    Reply
    • I have used a leave-in before and you’re exactly right…not washing the conditioner out completely serves the same purpose. So you were intuitively doing what you needed to for your hair. 🙂

      Reply
  2. Hi Julie. Thanks a million thanks for this post! I found you on pinterest and I’m so glad I did. :)) I see above that a poster asked you how you made your bun in the above photos, and you said you don’t know how. Would you be willing to try again? I agree, that bun is stunning and I would love to be able to recreate that look for myself, so if you haven’t already created a how-to for your gorgeous bun, I hope you’ll consider it for the future. <3 It looks chic and effortless, classy and feminine, (and it would be perfect for an upcoming wedding weekend!) I look forward to exploring more of your blog, thanks again! xoxo Rachel

    Reply
  3. I love these tips!!! Defiantly worth trying! Just a few questions though….how long does this process usually take for you(including the drying part)? How do you do the hair style for sleeping and putting your hair up?

    Reply
    • Takes me maybe 10 minutes to do twist everything. For my up-do. I pretty much do a very high loose ponytail and I do not pull the hair all the way through at the end so it loops.

      Reply
  4. Great curly tips! I am a curly girl too…with curly daughters 🙂 I just started using coconut oil in my hair after a wash, and then putting my product in, I use a keratin balm…but I love getting recommendations, because sadly you never know when a product is going to stop being sold! I pretty much do all the things you do. I only wash my hair about twice a week, but instead of piling it up, I re-wet it, re-comb it and start from the beginning each day, with less product. My girls have very different kinds of curls…on them we use a tangle teezer brush : https://www.tangleteezer.com – they are awesome! Only when their hair is wet of course!

    Reply
  5. Your post was very enlightening! I have naturally curly hair and I LOVE it! I feel weird at work because everyone else has straight hair and I waltz around with curls!
    Anyway, I was talking to my hair dresser and asked about only washing with conditioner and she said it actually bad for your scalp. It can cause ingrown hairs since the scalp isn’t as clean as when using a shampoo. Would it be okay to use a moisturizing shampoo once a week?! I have a VERY dry scalp and I don’t want a greasy scalp, but the dryness is driving me nuts!
    Also, do you have any suggestions for hair that is straightening out at the base of my scalp? It is the weirdest thing. As my hair is growing, there is a section of hair at the base of my head that is stick straight except for one inch at the end. It drives me nuts because it is longer than the rest and it looks AWFUL! I don’t know what to do!

    Reply
    • Yes! Embrace those curls!!! I suppose everyone is different but I’ve not had a problem with ingrown hairs at all. I did find a moisturizing shampoo from my hair dresser, Design Essentials Gentle Balance Shampoo. It is sulfate free and I have it on hand if I ever just need wash my hair. 🙂

      As far as you hair straightening…that is really strange!! Have you considered hormones?

      Reply
  6. My hair and I get along on the weekends when I have the time to let it dry. But it’s a whole different story on weekdays. Do you have any suggestions for washing at night? Drying my hair during the day isn’t the same as overnight (even though I use a satin headscarf).

    Reply
  7. Hi!
    My 3 year old daugther has curly hair and I really don’t… really I have no idea how to work her beautiful curls. Are the products you talk about good for the kids? I don’t really like the idea of putting a lot of stuff in her hair so do any of you curly ladies would have tips for me? Rigth now I wash her hair every two days with the head and body no tears soap from Johnson’s baby products. Thanks in advance for your help!

    Reply
    • Hi Claudy! Yes, I would comfortably put all those products on my girl’s hair. You may want to go skip the gel on her hair but definitely up the moisture on her hair. I recently switched to Kirkland’s (costco brand) conditioner and it is sulfate-free.

      Reply
  8. I have long curly hair. I used to straighten it and even undergone rebonding. I didnt like my curly hair before and i never took care of it but i realized that i should embrace my curls. Now I love my hair, but it is still dry and frizzy. And i dont have a good relationship with haircutters.haha. also there is no special product for curly girls like me here in the Philippines. How I love to try Shea Moisture products but not available here. ??

    Reply
  9. I’m 50 years old and have tried short, long, layers…… you name it. I agree with everything you say! Here’s my problem. I have to wear a barette in the top of my head to hold my top layer of hair. I would love to wear it down, but, it’s so heavy it stands straight out. My hair is about 4 inches past my shoulders and the top isn’t is as curly as the rest of my hair. I hate always having to wear a barette. It’s extremely thick and curly. It looks great wet, but, after it dries, it triples in size!! I can’t side part it because it’s just too much on top. Anyone else with the same issues??

    Reply
    • That sounds a lot like my issues before too Julie. I wonder if the top is not as curly because of the weight of your length. Have you tried cutting your hair according to my stylists instructions? You really do need to get short layers in there and that would help it to not expand so much and lay correctly.

      Reply

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