Curly Hair Style Techniques

Smooth and Tame Naturally Curly or Wavy Hair

This page details specific curly hair style techniques to smooth and define curls or enhance wavy hair styles.

These tips will help you harness those beautiful coils and make the most of even the slightest wave pattern in your hair.

For best results, also see these related pages:

Smooth, voluptuous curls on medium length hair.

Preparing the Curls

Complete Guide to Growing Longer and Healthier Curly Hair
This book is packed with useful tips for curly hair care.

Issues like hairline breakage, lack of moisture, brittleness, curl-killing buildup and more are covered in this in-depth, curly hair encyclopedia.

To begin, part and comb your hair in the shower while the conditioner is still in the hair. Comb gently from ends to roots with a wide toothed comb.

You are laying the foundation here for the finished curly hair style, so make sure it's parted where you want it. (Take a small mirror in the shower with you if you need a visual)

Tilt your head at a steep angle so the hair falls away from the scalp, wriggle your fingers through gently and rinse. Be sure to tilt to the right, left and back separately. Concentrate on rinsing the scalp most thoroughly.

The idea here is to clump the hairs together. (oooh, doesn't that sound attractive) When strands of curls are separated, they tend to be fuzzier. We want to form smooth, defined curls.

Drying Curly Hair

Okay, all washed up and ready to dry that curly hair style?

Tilt your head to all three angles again (side/back/side), pile the ends into the towel and squeeze from ends to roots.

Allowing the hair to fall away from the scalp prevents that oh-so-common flat top/wide bottom scenario by lifting and encouraging the wave pattern at the root. Squeeze hard and push against the scalp gently.

DO NOT COMB!! Apply your chosen hair product by either scrunching in gently from ends to roots or spraying if that's the case. Tilting works here too and will help ensure that you get the product underneath, especially near the scalp.

Avoid raking your fingers through the hair so you don't separate the curls. If your hair tends to be flat on the top, lift sections gently and spray the roots underneath those top sections.

Let your hair dry naturally, scrunching occasionally, or diffuse by tilting to all three angles again (even upside down, but carefully), gently piling the ends of the hair into the diffuser and pressing it up against the scalp.

Again, if your hair tends to be flat on top, make sure you're lifting those root sections slightly as you dry, the shape hair dries in is the shape it'll hold until it's washed again.

Stop diffusing when the hair is still slightly damp, not visibly though. This will prevent frizzy hair and brittleness from over drying.

The less you disturb the hair during this process, the better your results will be. This technique effectively clumps the strands together, creating a well-defined curl or wave pattern and maximum shine while reducing frizz.

Once the hair is dry you needn't be quite as cautious, looser curls can even be brushed gently and individually for more fullness and a slightly softer look. However, if your curls are very tight or tend to be fuzzy, stay away from brushes altogether!

Finishing Your Curly Hair Style

Try out new hair colors and styles on your own photo.

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