Wet styling vs damp styling? This refers to when you apply products on hair. Dripping wet or damp. If you are trying damp styling for the first time, here is my routine on how to damp style wavy curly hair.
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To start off, determine how your prefer your curl pattern. Experiment by trying multiple combinations of water and styling agents.
Damp styling gives my low porosity curls soft, large curl clumps. Wet styling gives me smaller, tighter curls and much more “crunch.”
1. wash
Give yourself a scalp massage and wash with Giovanni Tea Tree Triple Treat Shampoo.
2. Condition
Rather than deep conditioning with a heat cap opt for a quick conditioner. Specifically, Surface Bassu Hydrating Conditioner.
3. DETANGLE + LEAVE IN CONDITIONER
Finger comb and squish Kinky Curly Knot Today.
4. plop
Plop curls with a microfiber towel. The longer you plop, the shorter your diffusing time should be.
5. Curly hair products
To damp style wavy curly hair, you add the styling products after plopping or air drying.
- Scrunch in a curly hair cream. I use Davines This is a Curl Building Serum. It’s a salon product for curly hair.
- Scrunch in a strong hold gel. My favorite so far is Kinky Curly Original Curling Custard.
Tip: When damp styling wavy, curly hair DO NOT mix your hair cream and gel together before scrunching into hair. I made this mistake and had little white gel balls all through my hair. With low porosity curls, if your hair is not wet enough, the product may sit on top of the hair follicle. If this happens to you, my suggestion is to use less leave in conditioner and apply a little water to your styling products before distributing through hair.
6. Diffuse
Diffuse curly hair switching between medium and low heat. You should notice a noticeable reduction in drying time. My favorite hair dryer is by BaByLiss.
conclusion
While my low porosity, 2c 3a curls do best when styled with heat, too much makes my hair feel brittle. Damp styling my wavy, curly hair gave me clumped curls with low to no frizz. The extra plopping time allowed my roots to dry more naturally. This meant less time under the hair dryer! I also liked the fact that I didn’t lose most of my curly hair styling products to the microfiber towel. Here are my results.
What do you think about damp styling curly hair? Have you had positive or negative styling results? Please share below!
6 Comments
What does it mean to “plop” hair? It to use “praying hands”? Thank you for articles and recommendations!
To “plop” your hair is to wrap it in a 100% cotton t-shirt. You start by placing the shirt on a chair or bathroom counter with sleeves closest to you. Flip your head forward “plopping” your hair onto the shirt. Place the bottom of the t-shirt at the base of your neck. Then tie the shirt sleeves in a knot behind your head. How long you plop all depends on your own personal results. Hope this helps!
Yes, love this. Going to dry damp styling on my next wash day 🙌🙌 Love those clumps! Haha
Jessica, it’s a total game changer! Good luck with your styling. Let me know how it works for you.
How do you get the hair out of your face? Do you ever clip or just pull back (rake) with hands? Hair on my forehead is strait.
Hi Susanne,
That’s a great question! I can’t stand when my curls are constantly in my face. I’ve tried the following with positive results.
One, part the front and use a Denman Styling Brush to brush up and toward the back of your head (with styling products). This creates volume at the roots and styles your curls the way you want them.
Two, after diffusing, I’ll separate the front and pull back loosely with these claw clips. When I’m ready to SOTC, my curls have volume and stay off my face naturally.
These two styling techniques have worked for me and my 2c 3a curls. For reference, I have tighter, spiral curls around my forehead.
Good luck and let me know how it’s going!
Jennifer
Shine with Jennifer Leigh