July 14, 2019

VIDEO: How to Make Hair Curlier – 10 Tips for Tighter, Defined Curls

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Today’s video is part of my Curly Haircare for beginners playlist, where I break down how to take care of your curls in simplified steps, explain the basics, and provide tips for transitioning to your natural texture. Full video here on transitioning tips.

When you stop damaging your hair with heat and chemicals, you will be amazed at the curl pattern that you have naturally. It’s a long process to grow out your hair, and it takes patience. With following the Curly Girl Method, and implementing the tips I’m sharing today on how to make your hair curlier, your curls will come to life over time.

These tips are also great for incorporating in your curly hair routine to get a more defined look and create ringlets. Beware, most of these tips will cause your hair to shrink up and appear shorter, but many prefer to have more defined curls over length.

1. Get a trim. This is a big one! Just look at how much tighter my curls were last time I got a trim. Without those dead ends and tangles weighing down my hair, my curls are able to shrink up.

2. Use Olaplex No. 3, one of my holy grail hair products. I’ve done a few video on this already you can find here and here (1 year later). Essentially this product repairs the broken bonds in your hair’s cuticle, which encourages your curl pattern to tighten up.

3. Clarify to remove build-up. Over time, curls can easily get weighed down with silicones and hair products. Cleansing with a clarifying shampoo, apple cider vinegar, or a sulfate shampoo every once in a while will give you a deep clean.

4. Deep condition once a week, consistently. Moisturized curls are healthy curls! Use a mask that contains protein to strengthen and create definition. Be mindful of protein overload though, which can make hair too hard and brittle. Always balance protein treatments with moisture-based deep conditioners and stylers. Click here to watch How to Deep Condition Curly Hair for Beginners.

5. Twist and finger coil your hair to train your curls. I love doing this when I’m applying Olaplex or deep conditioners.

6. Use styling products labeled as “curl defining” or “curl enhancing” that contain ingredients such as:

Flaxseed
Slippery Elm
Aloe Vera
Hydrolyzed wheat protein
Hydrolyzed rice protein

7. Use the Denman brush when applying products to create ringlets. Angle the brush down like you would when using a curling wand as you glide down the strand. As the hair wraps around the edge of the brush, it smooths curls to create cork-screw ringlets.

8. Scrunch products into your hair when it’s soaking wet with your hands, and/or scrunch using a cotton towel or t-shirt.

9. Plop curls using a Hair RePear Towel or t-shirt before diffusing. This encourages more definition and volume compared to air drying, where curls can be weighed down by gravity. Click here to watch How to Plop Curly Hair.

10. Diffuse hair with a diffuser that has long prongs/teeth on it. Flip upside down and cup hair into the diffuser, pressing up towards your scalp. Or, flip hair upside down and “plop” over a flat surface, hovering the diffuser around your head.

Products and tools shown in the video: