Hi curlies! It was definitely about time that I posted an updated routine – it’s been too long since I’ve shared my curly hair routine. 

I am still mostly applying the same techniques, because they have worked so well for me, however I have some new products that I use each time I wash my hair.

Pre-Washing Routine

About half an hour before I wet my curls, I add some of the Darshana Hair Oil to the ends of my curls. I don’t comb it in, because I don’t want to brush my curls while they are dry.

I begin my washing routine by adding some Oil to the ends

Cleansing Routine

I then wet my curls and shampoo them with a sulfate free shampoo. While doing so, I am careful to only apply the shampoo to the roots and not the ends. Lately, I have been using the DevaCurl NoPoo to clean my hair. I think this shampoo is good at getting rid of product residues even without sulfates in it. I shampoo my curls by massaging my scalp (just like a hairdresser would).

I clean my curls by adding some shampoo to the roots and then massaging my scalp

Combing and Conditioning Routine

When I am done massaging (after 2-3 minutes), I thoroughly rinse the shampoo and continue my routine by adding the Kinky Curly Knot Today  (KCKT) detangler to the ends of my curls. The KCKT really facilitates combing my curls! To be as gentle as possible, I only use my hands and start bottom up. Whenever I feel like the knots are becoming difficult to resolve, I add more water and then more detangler. I do this until I can rake my curls with my bare hands without encountering any more knots.

I have previously described the amount of KCKT I use to detangle my hair. Meanwhile I reduced the amount to about half of it, because I noticed that the KCKT has caused some product build-up.

To comb my curls, I add the Kinky Curly Knot Today

To finish combing my curls, I add a little bit of the MopTop Daily Conditioner and quickly finger-comb my curls, then rinse. I usually rinse all of the conditioner, because my curls are easily over-conditioned.

Styling Routine

After rinsing my curls, I apply the MopTop anti-frizz medium gel to my still dripping wet curls by moving down the out- and then the inside of my curls. At this point I don’t rake my curls at all and try to only touch them when necessary, because combing or excessive touching results in unwanted frizz.

I apply the styler by just moving along – I don’t comb it in

When all of my curls are covered with styler, I spray a bit of my new favorite product, the AG Curl Trigger (review will be up soon!), onto my curls. This spray is really helpful if you are looking to get tighter curls. I then finish by scrunching my curls about 5-10 times to get rid of excess water.

I scrunch my curls just like I would squeeze a lemon

Pre-Blow-Drying Routine

To get my curls ready for drying, I usually plop for about 10 minutes. To plop my curls, I usually use a cotton towel – don’t ever use normal terry cloth, because this will again cause unwanted frizz. If you’re not yet sure if plopping is the right technique for you, just use an old t-shirt!

Plopping also help to get my curls as dry as possible before blow-drying them

Blow-Drying Routine

I always blow-dry my curls, because I like the additional volume. Whenever I let them air-dry the look limp. If you decide to blow-dry your curls always use a diffuser! While blow-drying I don’t move the dryer unless it’s turned off (this also prevents frizz) and I make sure it’s on low power.

Blow-drying helps me get more overall volume

Clipping Routine

This step is supposed to help with root volume. I have noticed a big improvement of my root volume after clipping my curls. Usually, I just leave the bobby pins in for about 10 minutes (depending on how much time I have).

Clipping your roots increased your volume

Almost done…

To finish off, I scrunch and shake my curls to make sure any hard drying products becomes soft.

To finish my styling routine, I shake my curls

And that’s it!

Done! My curls from the front and…

… from the back