You need to begin by moisturizing your hair the best you can. You will need a lot of moisture if you have curly hair. Don’t shampoo every time you shower. Condition every time you wet your hair, but only shampoo a few times a week or every other wash at most. This will ensure you get the most moisture possible. Deep condition regularly as well.

After you’ve finished conditioning and are done showering, do one final rinse of your hair with the coldest water possible. Stand out of the way or use a pitcher of cold water so that you don’t get wet because the cold water can be shocking. It’s only necessary for your hair.

The cold water will help seal the cuticle. This keeps the moisture from escaping. Steam will open the cuticle back up, so don’t let the bathroom get steamy, or get out of the bathroom as soon as possible.

Now you are going to use your products. Don’t squeeze out the water from your hair just yet. You want it to stay sopping wet. This will help the products to get evenly distributed without breaking up your curls.

You can use any product you like, but I recommend always starting with a leave-in conditioner. You can either leave in a little bit of your regular conditioner, use your regular conditioner as a leave-in, or use a leave-in conditioner. If you have shoulder length hair, use about a nickel sized amount. Use more with longer hair.

Put the conditioner in your hands, coat your hands, and comb your fingers through your hair evenly distributing it throughout your hair. Try to concentrate it more on the ends because the ends are always the driest. Next, you can add in your other products. I suggest using a light curling gel for hold but without crunch.

You could also use a mousse instead and you could add in a serum to help de-frizz. I like to use a spray gel so that I can just spray it on and then scrunch it. That is the next step, scrunching. Instead of squeezing along the length of your hair, scrunch it up towards your head to help with the curls.

Finally, take a towel and scrunch with it some more to get as much water out as possible. It’s best to let it air dry, but if you want it done faster, you can use a diffuser on a low setting for a few minutes to help speed up the process. Don’t brush or comb your hair or else you’ll break up the curls. Let it dry and then put in some pins or clips if you want.