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Home • Wavy

Scrunching: The Secret to Defined Curls

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Scrunching: The Secret to Defined Curls
By Diane Mary · Updated May 13, 2014

Forget diamonds, scrunching is a curly-wavy’s best friend! If you have a looser curl pattern like me and try to get as much curl definition out of your waves at possible, you are going to want to scrunch, scrunch, scrunch and then scrunch some more. Paired with a great styling product, this will make the most out of your beautiful hair. I promise once you practice and get the hang of it, it will be almost like second nature.

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scrunch hair for defined curls

Wash & Condition

After washing and conditioning your hair, add a leave-in or regular conditioner back in. Us curly girls can never have enough moisture (actual amount varies depending on length, thickness and density of your hair“>. Once conditioner is applied, gently squeeze out the excess water.

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scrunching curly hair

Apply Product

Apply product to hair in small sections. I usually do about 7- back left, back right, left side, right side, top back, front left and front right. Applying in sections helps make sure all the hair is coated evenly.

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wavy diane scrunching tutorial

Squeeze

As you are applying product, work to smooth it through the hair so it coats all the hair and then SCRUNCH the excess water out. Basically cup all the section of hair in your hair and squeeze. If you hold the squeeze a few seconds each time, it helps to define the curl even more. Keep scrunching until no more water is dripping.

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scrunching tutorial

Layer Product

If you like layering products like I do, apply one product and then the next on top per hair section and do the scrunch after all products have been applied by section. I sometimes like to add a foam mousse under my gel for even more curl definition. Repeat for all sections of hair.

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scrunching curly hair

Scrunch

Once you applied product to all sections of hair take both hands and scrunch some more for a couple of minutes around the whole head. Take a microfiber towel or old t-shirt (I use a Curl Ease Towel“> and scrunch even more with the towel! This will help absorb some of the water. Do this around the whole head.

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wavy diane

Plop

Next you can either plop or very loosely wrap the towel around your hair while down to keep it out of the way while doing your face and skincare regimen.

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get defined curly hair

Don’t Touch

Once the towel is removed here is the important part: Try not to touch your hair while drying! Yes, we touched our hair a lot while scrunching to help form and define the curls. This was to set them up to dry nicely. Touching can result in frizz and messed up curl definition- two things we don’t want.

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ur curly serum

Add Oil

You can add a hair oil or serum as a finisher once the hair is completely dry by scrunching it in. Pictured: U R Curly Sili-Free Serum, in CurlMart.

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For a visual step-by-step, watch my tutorial video her! Leave me comments, and let me know if you have any questions.


Diane Mary (known to the YouTube world as CurlyWavyDiane“> caters to helping those with a looser wave/curl pattern. Subscribe to her channel and follow her blog, CurlyWavyDiane.

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