I’ve been wearing my hair curly for almost five years now. I grew up with wild curls but — like so many of us — chose to style my hair with very high heat all through high school, college, and post-grad.

It wasn’t until I got my hair cut by a stylist who exclusively worked with curly hair that I finally had the cut I needed to rock my curls with confidence (or at least begin learning how to do that).

Flash forward five years and I’ve tested out a lot of products, dealt with build up and changing curl patterns as my hair healed, and have lost and regrown parts of my hairline thanks to pregnancy and postpartum hormones.

All this to say, it’s about time I updated my curly hair routine! The last one I published was years ago. My hair has changed since then and so have the products I use.

So let’s jump into it!

STEP 1: SHAMPOO

The first thing I do when I step in the shower on hair washing day is soak my hair. I have low porosity curls, which means my hair resists absorbing water. I take my time making sure my hair is fully saturated from the ends to my roots.

Next is shampoo. I use the Seeds Phytonutrients Anti-Frizz Shampoo on my curls. My hair naturally parts in the center when it gets wet, so I cleanse one half of my scalp at a time with about a pump of shampoo per half. This has turned out to be the best way for me to make sure my whole scalp gets clean and has helped me avoid build up too!

STEP 2: CONDITIONER

INITIAL CONDITION

My current favorite way to condition my hair is in two parts. First, I use the Trader Joe’s Tea Tree Tingle Conditioner to give my hair a first wave of moisture and slip. I detangle using my fingers and a half dollar’s amount of conditioner per half of my hair. If I come across an especially difficult knot, I’ll use a wide tooth comb or a Wet Brush to get the tangle out, but I try to just use my fingers, since it’s the gentlest way I’ve found to get tangles out and avoid breakage, something my hair is unfortunately prone to.

SQUISH TO CONDISH

I also make sure to “squish to condish,” a phrase one of my curly hair stylists taught me when I first started on my curly hair journey. The move is simple: you take a piece of your conditioner-covered curls and you squeeze your hair in your hands until your hair squeaks. In the words of my wise curl wizard, you want your hair to be as loud as a squirrel is when they squeak. A silly illustration, I know, but it works! If you’re not getting a good squeak, it means you need some more water! I quickly dip my head into the stream of water when this happens and get back to squishing.

SET IT AND LET IT SIT

Once I’ve completely rinsed out my first conditioner, I take a three pumps of the Seeds Phytonutrients Anti-Frizz Conditioner and evenly work it into my hair. I always, always focus my conditioner on the pony tail parts of my hair, meaning I avoid applying product to my roots and scalp. I work the conditioner through my curls, using my fingers to finish detangling anything I missed the first time and continuing to squeeze the product into my curls. When that’s done, I wrap my hair up in a top knot to give this conditioner time to really sink in. Once I’ve washed my body, maybe done a body scrub, and shaved my legs, I rinse the conditioner out with slightly cooler water.

STEP 3: STYLING

As soon as I turn the water off, I apply a quarter-size amount of Carol’s Daughter Hair Milk to each half of my hair. I concentrate this on the parts of my hair that would form a ponytail and I make sure to continue my squish to condish move. Because my hair is low porosity, I skip using a towel on my hair altogether. I want my hair to absorb as much moisture as it can and my hair is never sopping wet for long. By the time I’m done applying styling products, it’s already more damp than wet.

The next product I use is the Eleven Australia Keep My Curls Defining Cream. I take a quarter-size amount and work this heavier, thicker styling cream into the front parts of my hair and the patch of hair that has grown back after falling out due to postpartum hormones. That new growth can get very puffy so I need something a little heavier to give it good definition. This cream isn’t heavy though! It’s just thicker than the very slippy hair milk.

After about 20 minutes, I use five pumps of the Seeds Phytonutrients Moisture Leave In Treatment to smooth out the top of my hair and give a little extra help to any section that seems like it needs it. Then, I take whatever product is left on my hands and use it to gently move my part from the center to the side.

It’s incredibly important to avoid breaking up the clumps of curls that have naturally formed! Splitting up the natural grouping of your curls is the second easiest way to create frizz (the first is to take a regular towel to your curls and towel dry like in the movies). I don’t worry too much about creating a perfectly straight part, instead I work with what my hair is doing to get the look I want.

STEP 4: AIR DRY

Maybe it’s because our studio apartment didn’t have a single outlet in the bathroom, or maybe I just never really cared to learn, but I don’t own a blow dryer or diffuser. Like I mentioned earlier, I also don’t really use towels on my hair because my hair dries pretty quickly, so once I apply my products and move my part over, I leave my hair alone! The more you mess with your hair when it’s in between wet and dry, the more you’ll end up with frizz and poor curl definition so just let your curls do their thing!

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There you have it! My current curly hair routine. It’s been five years of trial and error with products, but I’m really happy with how this routine is working for me! It’s minimal, it’s simple, and there’s very little fuss to it. It’s exactly how I like to approach beauty!

If you’re on a curly hair journey, I hope you find this helpful! I know when I was first starting out, I took so much inspiration from those who were sharing their curly hair favorites and routines, so I hope this inspires you to learn about your hair and to experiment with rocking your natural texture. 🤍

XO, Alex