The NaturallyCurly Texture Typing System can be super helpful when it comes to caring for your curls, but oftentimes I think people get tripped up in thinking that they must fall into just ONE of the types. The truth is, most people have several curl patterns on their one head of hair. It’s natural and completely normal. I personally have a mix of Type 2b, 2c and 3a curls and waves. The great challenge of having several curl patterns is that some sections are much looser than other curlier sections, but luckily I’ve discovered a few techniques to help make wavy hair curl evenly.
Pin curls
When I have loose waves that don’t want to curl, I like to wet those waves with a splash of water from the sink and then take a drop of styler between my fingertips. I wrap the curl around my finger all the way up to my root, and then place a bobby pin to hold it there. I repeat this on all of the loose waves that need help curling. Then I finish brushing my teeth, doing my makeup, getting ready for the day, and by the time I’m about to head out the door my pin curls have dried. When I remove the bobby pin I have nice, bouncy ringlets that will drop into S-shaped curls that match the rest of my hair.
You can watch me doing these pin curls in my 2nd day curly hair routine here.
Diffusing
When I’m on second, third or fourth day hair my waves tend to get looser and stringier in some areas while other sections have kept their curl. On days like this, I encourage the looser waves to curl up by wetting them either in the sink or with a spray bottle, like the Curly Hair Solutions H20 bottle. When I really want my hair to curl up the best way to do this is with a diffuser. I use a diffuser attachment for my hair dryer, but I’ve also used a strainer before which worked surprisingly well.
Curling wand
I don’t do this anymore, but I used to use a skinny (half inch”> curling wand on just a couple face-framing curls. I would only do a curl here and there, and it would create the illusion that all of my hair was uniformly curled. If you’re going to do this, then always do it on completely dry hair, always use a heat protectant, and always use the lowest amount of heat that you can. The problem with this method is that, if you have curls that don’t want to curl then using heat is only going to make that worse. Heat damage will cause your curls to become looser, so I would encourage you to use this very, very sparingly.
Braid out
I personally do not use this method, but I know other wavies and curlies have had success with braidouts. You simply braid your hair into several braids while the hair is wet or damp, and allow the hair to dry completely. Then remove the braids and shake them up so that they’re not too defined. The great thing about this method is that you can control how loose or tight the waves are through how many braids you do.
You can watch my full curly hair routine here for all of the techniques and products I use.
