How to Style Curly Hair for Volume

Washing Your Hair

Wash your hair 2-3 times each week. If you shampoo your curly hair frequently, it may dry out. To keep your hair from looking and feeling dry, wait a few days between washes.

Use a sulfate-free shampoo. Shampoos that contain sulfates may also contribute to dryness and frizziness, so it’s best to wash with a sulfate-free shampoo each time. Check the ingredient list on the product before buying to confirm it doesn't include sulfates.

Use a moisturizing conditioner. Your curly hair benefits from hydration. Invest in a moisturizing conditioner to greatly diminish and prevent frizziness. Condition your hair right after you rinse out your shampoo. Look for a conditioner that contains a type of oil, such as coconut, grape seed, or argan. These ingredients all help moisturize and prevent dryness.

Leave some of your conditioner in. Even though it’s meant to be rinsed out, leaving some of your conditioner in can give your curly locks a moisture boost. Just after you apply the conditioner, give your hair a very brief rinse. Then, leave the rest in to get smoother, shinier hair. Don’t skip the quick rinse, or else the conditioner may weigh down your curls too much.

Drying Your Hair

Detangle your hair with a wide-toothed comb. Using a brush to detangle your curls will only create unsightly frizz. Instead, use a wide-toothed comb after washing and conditioning your hair. Start combing your ends and slowly work your way up to the root area instead of combing root to tip.

Let your hair air-day half way. If your hair is thick and coarse, it’ll take longer to air-dry. If your hair is fine and thin, it’ll dry quickly. Let your hair dry naturally for however long you need to in order to get your hair about 40% of the way dry.

Scrunch your hair with a small towel or microfiber cloth. Hold your towel or cloth flat in your palm just below the ends of a small section of your hair. Bring the towel or cloth upward while simultaneously squeezing your hair. Once your hand is close to your head, hold the squeezed position for a couple of seconds. Then move onto a new section of hair. Repeat this process for your entire head. This will remove the excess water from your hair and also give you natural, bouncy curls.

Plop your hair with a cotton t-shirt. Lay out a cotton t-shirt with the bottom of the shirt facing you. Flip your hair over onto the center of the towel and then place the shirt’s bottom on the nape of your neck. Use the shirt sleeves to tie a knot towards the back of your head in order to secure the shirt to your head. Untie the knot and remove the shirt after about 10-20 minutes. Plopping works well for hair that is medium to long in length. It adds volume and curl because the hair is squished against the head; It also removes moisture from the hair.

Blow dry your hair with a diffuser. A diffuser is an attachment that can be put on the end of a hair dryer. This attachment is made specifically to maximize volume and even out your curl pattern while also minimizing frizz. Blow dry your hair with the diffuser pressed up against your head until it’s 70-80% dry. Drying it completely with a hair dryer can cause frizz. Make sure to put a moisturizing and/or curl-enhancing product in your hair before blowing it dry in order to minimize frizziness and dryness.

Styling Your Hair

Volumize your curls with a sea salt spray. In general, you want to keep your hair products lighter, to avoid weighing down your hair and decreasing volume. Hold a sea salt spray bottle about 6 inches (15 cm) away from your hair and give your locks a quick spritz. Move the bottle around your head as your spray about 5-8 times so that all of your hair gets an even application. Salt sprays create a very dry, natural finish on your roots (almost as if they've been teased). You can still tease your hair a little bit with a comb if you want, but you don't have to do it so vigorously because of the salt spray. Sea salt spray will hold the strands of your hair together well without giving your hair the “crunchy” texture that other products often do. You can also get some extra volume by applying a volumizing foam to your hair.

Moisturize and/or de-frizz with leave-in conditioners. Apply a leave-in conditioner to your wet hair in order to give your hair the moisture it needs, and also lessen frizz. When hair frizzes, it is moving outwards in search of moisture, but it will lie flat when well moisturized. You can also apply an oil serum to your hair to help de-frizz it. It’s also beneficial to apply some leave-in conditioner to your hair 1-2 days after you’ve washed it to help revitalize your curls.

Curl a few pieces of hair with a curling wand. Plug in and turn on a curling wand. Take a flatter/straighter strand of hair that’s about the same size as one of your curls and wrap it around the wand. Hold this position for a couple of seconds. Let go of the strand and slowly pull the wand away from your hair. Using a curling wand on some strands in your top layer will add definition and shape to your curls. Repeat this process for about 10-12 strands evenly spaced around your head.

Use dry shampoo to lift your roots. Using dry shampoo on a regular basis can help you get away with washing your hair less, which means avoiding dryness and frizziness. You can also use it to add some volume to the root area. Apply the dry shampoo to your roots to give them a nice lift.

Clip your hair at the root. Get 6-12 small jaws hair clips. Lift up a chunk of your hair near the root area where it’s flat and secure a clip to the roots of the hair underneath. Repeat this process with the rest of the clips on various points of your head. This will create the illusion of volume at the root area. Wear the clips in your hair all day and then take them out before going to bed.