How to Prevent Stringy, Dry, Crunchy Curls ft. Curlsmith

This post is sponsored by Curlsmith. I am not an affiliate partner with Curlsmith. All opinions are my own.

Do your curls come out stringy, crunchy, and dry feeling? This is such a common struggle with naturally curly hair, especially in the wintertime when our hair is much drier. For today’s video, I’m sharing all the common causes of stringy curls, and how to get moisturized, clumped curls while maintaining volume.

This routine is featuring products from the Curlsmith Style & Sleigh Holiday Kit, which contains 3 styling products with various amounts of hold. The Holiday Kit makes a great gift or is a perfect way to try out different stylers for a really good deal. The kit is only $25 and includes 3 2oz. stylers, a $36 value. Individually, these stylers are about $27 for the 8oz.

Keep in mind the shipping cutoff for Christmas delivery is Wednesday, Dec. 9, 2020.

Causes of Stringy Curls

• Build-up on the hair that is preventing moisture from absorbing, leading to dry hair. Learn how to clarify here.
• Not deep conditioning often. I recommend deep conditioning weekly for dry and transitioning curls.
• Wringing out too much water after wash your hair. Instead, gently scrunch out excess water.
• Using a bath towel instead of a hair towel. This leads to dry, frizzy hair and can cause breakage. Use a HairRepear towel or cotton T-shirt to prevent breakage.
• Not having enough water in your hair when applying stylers. Hydrated curls = curl clumps!
• Skipping leave-in and/or cream if you have dry hair. Going straight in with a hard hold gel on dry hair will cause stringy, crunchy curls.
• Not evenly applying your gel can cause various crunchy spots. Rake or comb product through before scrunching.
• Using gel or mousse with drying alcohols. Avoid these drying alcohols:
  • Alcohol denat.
  • Ethanol alcohol
  • Ethyl alcohol
  • Propanol alcohol
  • Isopropanol alcohol
  • Benzyl alcohol 
• If you want curl clumps, try creating ringlets with a Behairful Brush.
• Once dry, scrunch out a little bit of the crunch to soften your curls. Leave some in for a longer-lasting hold if desired.

Wash Day Routine Steps for Clumped Curls with Volume

1. Gently detangle wet hair with pre-poo treatment or dry hair with oil
2. Clarify to remove any build-up (I clarify about 3 times a month)
3. Deep condition for 20-30 min
4. Rinse. Gently scrunch out excess water.
5. Loosely wrap hair in a HairRepear towel or cotton T-shirt, if you prefer to damp style for volume and reduced dry time.
6. Take off towel/T-shirt, and lightly spritz hair with water
7. Apply a leave-in conditioner and/or curl cream evenly
8. Rake in gel or mousse to lock in moisture and provide hold
9. Use a brush to create ringlets and clumps if desired. Learn more here.
   Separate curl clumps for more volume & then scrunch
10. Scrunch out excess water with a HairRepear towel or cotton T-shirt.
    Apply another light layer of gel if the towel removed some product
11. Diffuse or air dry until 100% dry
12. Scrunch out any unwanted crunch or gel cast with dry hands or a little serum. Fluff roots and lift hair off the scalp.

Products Used:

• Curlsmith Super Slip Pre-Biotic Primer
• Curlsmith Wash & Scrub Detox Pro-Biotic
• Curlsmith Post-Biotic Calming Conditioner
• Curlsmith Hold Me Softly Style Balm
• Curlsmith Curl Defining Styling Souffle
• HairRepear The Ultimate Hair Towel
• Flarisol spray bottle
• Boar bristle brush
• Infiniti PRO by Conair 1875 Watt Texture Styling Hair Dryer

Don’t forget to place your Curlsmith orders by Wednesday, Dec. 9, 2020 if you plan on getting the Holiday Kit as a gift.

If you decide to try out these tips for preventing stringy curls, send me a photo or tag me on Instagram! I would love to see how your curls turn out!