Jump to:
- Wash your hair (properly!)
- Condition your hair
- Style your curls with a gel
- Dry your hair (diffuse or air dry)
If you have wavy or curly hair – or even if you believe you have straight hair that just “dries a bit fluffy” – following a curly routine will definitely help decrease your frizz and boost your definition.
Below is a pretty quick step-by-step routine. It should take about 10-20 minutes (not including drying, sadly). Your results will vary depending on how dry/damaged your hair is and what kind of curl pattern you naturally have, but it’s enough to get you acquainted with the basics. Once you know what you’re doing, you can start to tweak it and maybe add different techniques or extra steps until you’ve found something that works for you!
For reference, my hair is fine and wavy/curly (I have a mixture of both, and that’s normal!). I don’t bother worrying about my porosity (here’s why). There is a tutorial video at the bottom if you need a proper visual aid!
I’ve also mentioned some of my favourite products – where you see a discount code, this is an affiliate code, meaning I get a small commission if you use it.
Wash your hair (properly!)
With what? Most curlies will find the Curly Girl Method online and switch to using sulphate-free shampoos, and while I mostly use sulphate-free shampoos too, I still like a sulphate occasionally for clarifying (more on that in this post!).
There are a kajillion shampoos out there so it can feel a bit overwhelming, but the important thing is to find one that makes your scalp feel clean. That’s the whole function of shampoo! If you struggle with dandruff or dry scalp, by all means go for an anti-dandruff or gentler shampoo.
The Curly Girl Method recommends co-washing only, and while this is good for very dry and damaged hair, it can quickly become overkill for finer hair or as your hair gets healthier, causing curls to become too soft and lose their hold.
My favourite shampoos for curly hair:
Only Curls All Curl Cleanser – Only Curls website (get £5 off your order with code COAST5) | Amazon | Boots
Bouclème Hydrating Hair Cleanser – Boucleme website (get 15% off with code COAST15) | Boots | LookFantastic (and get 21% off with code LFTFCOAST) | Marks & Spencer | Amazon UK | Amazon US
Budget option: Noughty Wave Hello Shampoo – Noughty website | Boots | Superdrug | Amazon UK | Amazon US
Method: I don’t mean to state the obvious, but make sure your hair is completely soaking wet first. This might take longer than you realise! Then, get your shampoo, distribute a little in your hands, and apply it to your scalp. Ensure that your whole head, including the back of your head and your temples, is getting some shampoo.
Then scrub your scalp with the pads of your fingers for a couple of minutes. With sulphate-free shampoos, you sometimes need that little extra effort to ensure it’s lifting the dirt. Add a trickle of water partway through and you might find your shampoo lathers up more.
Shampoo twice if you feel you need to. I like to double shampoo if I’ve had a lot of styler in my hair.
Condition your hair
With what? At this stage, any conditioner you have! Again, the Curly Girl Method will advise that you use silicone-free conditioners, but if you have a stronger shampoo to occasionally clarify with, then silicones shouldn’t be an issue.
Coarser hair can take on heavier conditioners better (these contain butters and thicker oils), whereas finer hair will get on well with lightweight conditioners where butters are either lower down the ingredients list or not included.
My favourite curl conditioners:
Bouclème Seal & Shield Conditioner – Boucleme website (get 15% off with code COAST15) | LookFantastic (and get 21% off with code LFTFCOAST) | Amazon UK | Amazon US
Hair Dance Strengthening Growth Conditioner – Hair Dance website (get 10% off with code 10NATALIE44) | International Stockists
TréLuxe Untie the Knot (this can be used as either a rinse-out or leave-in!) – TréLuxe website | International Stockists
Budget option: Umberto Giannini Frizz Fix Conditioner – Umberto Giannini website (use code COAST20 for 20% off) | Boots | Amazon UK
Method: Again, on soaking wet hair, take a blob of conditioner and rake it through the lengths of your hair, or use praying hands if your hair is tangly. Avoid the roots at this point, so you don’t overload your scalp with conditioner. Then, “squish to condish”: scrunch your hair upwards to distribute the conditioner further up your hair.
This is when you’ll detangle your hair too: you can use your fingers or a gentle brush. Start from the ends of your hair and gently work your way up. With this combination of conditioner and water, your hair should feel quite slippery, like seaweed! If it doesn’t, add a trickle more water. Less is sometimes more here – don’t add palmfuls of conditioner straight off the bat. See if adding water helps first before you add more.
Once you’ve detangled, you can rinse all of your conditioner out, or leave a tiny bit in to keep your strands lubricated. You can also rake in some leave-in instead, but once your hair gets healthier you might find you don’t need it anymore.
Add a curl styler
With what? Stylers include curl cream, mousse, gel, foam, hairspray, custards…anything that provides hold to the hair. If your hair still feels rough, you could rake through a little cream first, though bear in mind that creams do not provide a lot of hold on their own. Foams and mousses are better for adding volume, so they pair well with other stylers. But if you’re a complete beginner, I would start with just one decent-hold gel, to keep things simple.
My favourite curl stylers:
Ouidad Advanced Climate Control Gel, Stronger Hold – Ouidad website | Amazon UK | Amazon US
TréLuxe Hi! Definition Styling Gel: TréLuxe website | International Stockists
Boucleme Super Hold Styler – Boucleme website (get 15% off with code COAST15) | Boots | LookFantastic (and get 21% off with code LFTFCOAST) | Marks & Spencer | Amazon UK | Amazon US
Budget option: Umberto Giannini Curl Whip Activating Mousse – Umberto Giannini website (and get 20% off with COAST20) | Boots | Superdrug | Amazon UK | LookFantastic (and use code LFTFCOAST for 21% off)
Method: Make sure your hair is still wet – some people prefer it to be dripping wet, but I prefer mine to be wet-but-not-damp. If your hair is not wet enough, you may end up with stringy, frizzy curls.
Rake through your styler, and then use a praying-hands motion to smooth down your hair. This helps create curl clumps, while smoothing any excess frizz.
Once your hair is covered with your styler, start scrunching! No need to go crazy here – simply gather your hair in your palms and pulse gently at the top of your head. You should hear a “squelch” noise as you do this. If you can’t hear anything, it means your hair is already drying out, so spray some more water back onto your hair.
Dry your curs (diffuse or air dry)
Once you’ve scrunched all over (don’t forget the back and your roots!) take a flat-weave towel. This means not a normal terrycloth towel, as the raised loops on those cause frizz. Instead, grab something like a microfibre towel, or even an old t-shirt or tea towel.
With your towel covering your hands, do that scrunching motion again. This is called microplopping, and the aim here is to remove any excess water from your hair, so that it doesn’t take an age to dry. 😑
If you’re air drying, you’re done! Off you go! Now make sure you don’t touch your hair again until it’s completely dry, otherwise you’ll disrupt your curl pattern and introduce frizz.
Otherwise, start diffusing. What I like to do is hover diffuse upside down on a higher heat and speed, then start cup diffusing on a medium heat while slowly working my way upright. I describe what on earth that means, along with some other diffusing methods, here.
My fave curl-friendly towels:
JSL Essentials Microfibre Curl Towel (get 15% off with code COAST15)
No Knot Co Waffle Texture Towel
Budget option: any old t-shirt!
Two diffusers I like:
Bellissima Diffon
Laifen Tech Swift Special (get $10/€10 off with code NATALIELF)
When your hair is 100% dry, the styler might have left a crunchy feeling. Time to scrunch out the crunch by smoothing or scrunching your hair until the crispy feeling disappears.
That’s it! 🎉
This might seem like a lot, but once you know what you’re doing, the process will speed up. Just think, it used to take me half an hour to straighten my hair, and it wouldn’t even stay straight all day!
To make your washday last a few days, be sure to protect your curls while you sleep and learn some curl refresh techniques. Check out the links for tips on both of these things!
Watch this beginner curly routine on Instagram:
Curls by the Coast 
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