How to Simplify Refreshing & Do LESS REFRESHING | Olaplex Gel
Refreshing can be such a pain, and often just makes curls look worse. You should not be having to soak your hair down and restyling
Refreshing can be such a pain, and often just makes curls look worse. You should not be having to soak your hair down and restyling every day. Here I will explain how to reduce the effort and time on your curls in between wash days.
Purpose: Avoid adding product, and if needed, determine which products to use
The first step is to assess what your hair needs. We want to avoid refreshing where possible. Before we refresh, we have to cover what you used on wash day because it makes all the difference.
The chart explains how your wash day products are most important, followed by styling techniques (including diffusing which makes curls last SO much longer), then sleep protection, then how you refresh last.
We have to let go of perfectionism with curly hair, because it’s so much healthier to just leave your hair alone.
Also know that healthier hair lasts longer than damaged hair. If you’re still transitioning, it will get easier in time.
Purpose: Prevent damage to the hair, prevent buildup/product feeling, save time
Products: Same gel or mousse from wash day
Refresh with as little water and product as possible. Avoid soaking your hair down with water every day as this puts a lot of stress on the hair so your curls won’t be at their full potential. Not to mention, it’s very time consuming.
Use just water where possible, then if you need more gel, use the same gel that you used on wash day.
This is something I help my curl coaching clients with all the time. So many of them come to me and say “It’s just how my hair is, I have to wash it daily or I have to soak it down daily.”
Unless you have a very oily scalp which needs to be washed more frequently or wash due to exercise, you can achieve longer-lasting results by fixing the problems on wash day. It’s not “just your hair.” I can help make your life easier!
DM me the word “coaching” on Instagram (@genamarie.co) or email ([email protected]) to discuss or book here.
On wash day, I used the new Olaplex No 10 Bond Shaper Curl Defining Gel. I am still testing this out but it appears to be a light-medium hold gel.
When analyzing this formula, the gel has a lot of moisturizing and conditioning ingredients. There is one main holding ingredient, Polyamide-1 which is below a lot of the moisturizing ingredients which can indicate a lighter hold.
Lighter hold gels like this one can still be used, but you may need to do more refreshing in between wash days if your goal is to tame frizz.
Benefits: Moisturizing gel with bond-building ingredients to strengthen hair without protein
Key Ingredients:
Moisture Level: Medium
Hold Level: Medium
Protein: None
Hair Types: All
Styling products used on wash day are important because those without enough hold will cause frizz or your hair to fall by the end of the day.
Strong hold products with film-forming ingredients last longer and require less refreshing. Film-forming ingredients create a protective barrier on our hair.
For all climates and especially humidity, I look for a styling product with multiple polyquaternium ingredients. These provide hold, humidity protection, and condition the hair.
Let me know if you’re struggling with product selection and I can help you.
✓Long-lasting hold
✓Hold that reactivates with just water
✓Slip (if you have tangly hair)
✓Moisture (if you have dry hair)
Purpose: Prevents refreshing issues and saves time & effort
Product options:
If you want really easy refreshes where you can just add a little water and your cast returns, then you need a gel that can be reactivated easily.
The gel from wash day is still in your hair the following days, so you don’t need to add more unless it didn’t give enough hold. When you wet your hair, you should feel the slippery feeling return. When it dries, the cast comes back.
Another thing to look for is a gel that has slip if you struggle with very tangly hair that feels sticky or gummy. Sometimes this is inevitable if you’re using a thick gel that gives you texture and grit, but the trade off is they can be harder to refresh or require adding some slip to refresh.
The Olaplex gel is a very slippery consistency and emulsifies well with water. This makes refreshing easy because when you add water when refreshing, you can feel that slippery gel in your hair.
Purpose: Tame frizz, reclump stringy curls, increase longevity
Product: Just use your hands or a brush if needed for stubborn curls
If you’re mainly struggling with frizz, you want to focus on smoothing out the frizz. Avoid primarily scrunching if you have frizz because this will create more frizz, especially when our hair is not that wet.
With product on my wet hands, smooth over the surface and tuck in the frizz. Just focus on the curls that need it and not your whole head. Pick the curl, then smooth over it. If you feel tangles, you can gently remove some. Finger coil to redefine the ringlet if needed.
For loose curls and waves that fall easily, scrunching can help to get the curls to return.
Purpose: Reset the gel cast and curl shape, prevent stringiness, and frizz
Once you’re done refreshing, I highly recommend diffusing. If we air dry, the curls would just freeze in that position.
When applying water, some curls are more elongated than others. Diffusing helps to shrink everything back up evenly, preventing that stringy, frizzy look with refreshing.
It will also set your gel cast to prevent frizz and will set your curl shape. This is very helpful for those with looser curls and waves that fall straight easily.
Since our hair is not soaked, diffusing should only take a minute or so. It will also create more volume and some root lift.
Avoid speeding it up, and instead just clip a few key parts/movements. After diffusing, you can scrunch out the cast for a softer look, or leave it in and your curls will last even longer.
If you’re feeling frustrated with your curls and you can’t get more life out of your curls, I want to help diagnose what is causing the issues on wash day that is impacting your next-day results. If you’re lost on which styling product or gel you should use based on what we talked about here, I can help with personalized product recommendations too. Book a curl coaching session here.
A recent client shared how she was struggling with her routine and using so many products. After her session, she now knows where she was going wrong.
My curl coaching session with Gena was so helpful. I have struggled with my curls and have used so many different products. Gena was able to guide me towards the best products for my hair and was also so helpful with advising on how best to style my curls . She went through every step from start to finish. I feel that I now understand my curls and where I was going wrong. I could tell that Gena had done research into what I was using before our session. The follow up pdf and recommendations is so useful and something I can refer to as and when I need.
It was truly a great experience. Thank you Gena.
You can reach out to me by sending me a message on IG or Facebook with the word "coaching" or email [email protected] to discuss if you're a fit and which package you need.
To see another refresh routine, check out my Harsh Truths About Curly Hair video.
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