When it comes to my hair, I live a lie most of the time.  As I’ve mentioned before, I almost bankrupt myself every month maintaining my dyed blonde hair. I also spend a fair amount of time fighting against my natural curls and beating them into submission with blow-drying, flat ironing and curse words.

But every now and then I say screw it and let the curls fly free.  As any curly girl knows, it takes some product and practice to get your curls to behave and look their best.  Here’s my tried and true curly hair routine and favorite products:

Photo Credit: fashionista.com

• Curl Activating Shampoo and Conditioner

Do curl activating shampoos and conditioners really help your curls be the best they can be? I think so.  Is it all a placebo effect and I’m just lighting my money on fire?  Maybe.  Either way, I use the L’Oreal EverCurl Hydracharge Sulfate-Free Shampoo and Conditioner  because I think it gives my curls a little more oomph and makes them soft and shiny.

Photo Credit: drugstore.com

• Thou Shalt Not Use A Towel

Towels might seem all warm and cuddly and non-threatening but rub one on your freshly washed curls and you’re in for trouble and a LOT of frizz.  Instead, use an old, soft cotton T-shirt to blot your hair (don’t rub, don’t you dare rub) and squeeze out the excess water.  The key to frizz-free curls is to touch them as little as possible.

Photo Credit: target.com

• Define Those Curls

Now we’re getting somewhere.  While my hair is still fairly wet, I scrunch the curls with Paul Mitchell’s Round Trip Curl Definer.  This stuff is great because it’s not a gel but more of a serum that helps separate and define your curls without weighing them down and making them stiff.  Gel + wet curls = crunchy late 80’s Jessie Spano hair and we don’t want that.  What we’re going for is more “Penny Lane in Almost Famous” curls.

Photo Credit: teachmix.com

• Don’t Touch

This is one of the most important steps: Do nothing.  Walk away.  Do not touch your curls.  Let them air dry for a bit while you put your makeup on or do whatever else your heart desires.

• Mousse and Style

We’ve reached the home stretch!  Once your hair is almost completely dry, scrunch/carefully comb through a golf ball-sized amount of mousse through your curls.  My go-to is the Aussie Mousse + Leave-In Conditioner because it smells AMAZING and the leave-in conditioner leaves my hair super soft.

Photo Credit: makeupalley.com

• Finishing Touches

If you’ve got the time, I highly suggest using a curling iron roughly the size of your curls to define the top layer.  I like to randomly pick small pieces and alternate the direction of the iron so that it looks more natural.  My curls aren’t tightly wound so I stick with an inch or 1.5 inch iron.

Photo Credit: ulta.com

And that’s it! Enjoy your curls 🙂