Mijn Hair Routine #2: Styling

Which products do I use for my hair and how do I apply them?

After washing 

...After washing my hair, I squeeze the water a little, but don't dry it with a towel for example. I make sure that my hair still feels very wet, so that the products can mix with the water in my hair. This ensures that my hair starts to shed less.

Curl activator

First, I use Yari's curl activator (Cantu's also works very well with my hair). Hereby I apply bit by bit to my hands and spread it over my hair like a comb made of my fingers. 

I do this while holding my head down so that my hair hangs down. I start at my ends and then go straight to the roots of my hair. I make sure that I apply enough. Because in the next steps I will scrunch and dry my hair, it does not matter if I put in too much. 

So I'm never afraid of this. Of course I make sure that I do not do too much, because that is a shame. But I always say, "Better too much than too little!" Because if I do too little, it makes no sense to put it in, because my hair will look much more unkempt and dryer. But it is just trying out and feeling how much you need for your hair.

Scrunching

After this step I 'scrunch' my hair. It is important that you really hear the 'smashing' sound. If you hear this, you are doing well! 

And beware, don't go through it anymore with your fingers, because then you will 'ruin' the natural shape of your curls! When I've done this, it's time to grab a hydrophilic towel or an old shirt. I personally like an old shirt, but that varies per person.

Still keep your head down and place the shirt or towel under your hair and 'scrunch' it from bottom to top. Make sure you take all the picking. Make sure all unnecessary stuff is out and your hair is no longer dripping wet.

Gel

After this I always use a CG friendly gel (without silicone and drying alcohol), for a hold and it is light which makes your curls settle less quickly. 

Use gel on wet hair. Some types of gel become hard ('gel cast' / 'crunch') when your hair dries. This is not bad, it helps maintain the natural shape of your curls until your hair is dry. When your hair has dried completely (not before!), you can remove the 'gel cast' by gently 'scrunching' your hair. The result is soft, well-defined curls. 

I use the olive oil gel from ICON (€ 2.99 from Kruidvat). I also distribute this evenly over my hair. I also 'scrunch' this into my hair, because if I go through it with my fingers, I will only ruin my curls. If you want to get rid of the superfluous gel, then scrunch your hair very short with an old shirt.