Curly hair deserves a curly hair routine curated specifically for its shape, rather than taking a straight-hair routine and stretching it to make it work. Correct steps help ensure your curls stay hydrated, defined, and frizz-free all winter long in Canada's dry climate and all summer long in humid weather. Products are important, but so is order and application. Follow along for how to create a routine that works for you, from initial detangle to final scrunch.
What Is the Best Curly Hair Routine?
Six curly hair routine steps make up the best curly hair routine: detangle, cleanse, condition, apply a leave-in, style, and finish. The steps build upon each other by sealing in moisture before applying the next product.
Doing your curly hair routine this way will ensure your curls stay moisturized and defined rather than defying your natural curl pattern. Miss one step or do them out of order, and you'll likely experience frizz or limp curls by day's end.
How Often Should You Do a Curly Hair Routine?
Curly hair should be washed about twice weekly to every other week. Washing daily, or even once a week, will wash out the moisture your curls crave.
Once a week, treat your curls to a deep conditioning treatment if they are dry or damaged, or every other week when your curls are in good shape. Leave-in, styling cream, and serum are used every time you wash, no matter your curl type or washing frequency.
A Simple 6-Step Curly Hair Routine
A simple curly hair routine for beginners should begin by resisting temptation. You don't need to buy every curl care product under the sun when you first start curling your hair. Begin with shampoo and conditioner, a leave-in, and styling cream.
Buy a deep conditioner and serum once you see how your curls like what you give them. Starting simple allows you to see what works because you aren't altering everything at once.
1. Prepping Your Curls
Start with curls that still have some slip, either from your previous conditioning treatment or with a spritz of water. Loosen knots with a wide-tooth comb or fingers, always starting at the ends and working your way up in sections.
Why start at the ends? Curly hair needs extra protection against breakage more than any other hair type. The bends and twists in each curl make it harder for the scalp's natural oils to travel down the hair shaft, which is why curly hair tends to run drier and more breakage-prone than straight hair. Dermatologists at the American Academy of Dermatology recommend keeping curly hair moisturized at every wash and detangling gently to protect against this added breakage risk.
Dry detangling is one of the quickest ways to cause snappy strands and more frizz than you had before. Yanking on a knot instead of gently loosening it with your fingers is the number one reason why a five-minute detangling job can lead to actual breakage you can see.
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Use a wide-tooth comb or your fingers. Detangle while hair is damp or conditioned.
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Always work in sections and detangle from ends to roots.
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Never use a brush on dry curly hair. Brushes are bad news and will only pull the curl pattern apart, causing frizz.
2. Cleansing Your Hair
Your curly hair wash routine should start at the scalp and work your way down. Your ends are last because stripped, dry hair cannot hold a curl, no matter what you put on it afterwards.
Apply a coin-sized amount of a Moisturizing Shampoo, which is best for normal to dry, coarse curls that need moisture daily without leaving buildup on your scalp, and massage in small circles. Allow the suds to rinse down your lengths instead of rubbing your shampoo into them. That’s where all the dirt and oils are, and washing your scalp has no purpose other than waking you up in the morning, so running shampoo through the lengths of your hair only lifts the cuticle for no reason.
The frequency of washing is completely up to you and your hair, but most curly-haired girls find a good routine somewhere between twice a week and every other week: Wash too often and you run the risk of stripping your hair of the moisture it needs to define, but go longer than two or three weeks without washing your hair and you’ll begin to notice product buildup on your scalp. Dermatologists recommend finding a happy medium.
Immediately follow up with our Moisturizing Conditioner, which is best for normal to dry, coarse curls that need daily hydration, made to coat and hydrate each curl without weighing it down. Apply generously to your hair from the mid-shaft to your tips. This is the section of your hair that needs moisture, since your scalp produces enough oils on its own and requires little to no moisture. Liberally squeeze curls upwards as you rinse to prevent tangling.
3. Conditioning and Deep Hydration
While your rinse-out conditioner will provide day-to-day care, curly hair generally benefits from a deeper level of conditioning at least once a week to prevent hair from feeling straw-like by Sunday.
According to a trichologist interviewed by Healthline, if your hair falls on the dry or damaged end of the hair spectrum, you should use a deep conditioning mask once a week. This aligns with once or twice a week for most curl patterns.
Distribute a generous amount of our Deep Conditioner from mid-length to ends (best for dry, damaged, or color-treated curls in need of some serious care), wait approximately 20 minutes, then rinse out with cool water to help seal in the cuticle.
Enriched with GK Hair's exclusive Juvexin (non-hydrolyzed keratin protein complex), these smaller molecules enter the hair cortex to help repair damaged hair from within. At the same time, larger molecules envelop the cuticle to protect hair from daily wear and tear. It's this two-phase repairing process that GK Hair has been perfecting in over 75 countries.
If you're going a few days between washes, here are some DIY tips to recreate the salon effect of a deep conditioning treatment to keep your curls nourished until next time. Fine or thin curls won't require as much product application as thick or coarse curls. Understanding whether your hair is fine or thick will help you determine the right amount of conditioner for every step.
4. Leave-In and Detangling
After you shower, seal in that hydration before it disappears. Moisturize your hair with the Leave-In Conditioner Cream. Best for: detangling and preventing knots and sealing in moisture before you style your hair. Apply leave-in to damp hair, concentrating on the mid-lengths and ends.
The curliest hair dries out the quickest. Comb through each section, making sure it spreads throughout the hair rather than concentrating in one area. If you follow these steps properly, you will see a reduction in visible frizz once your curls are air-dried.
5. Defining and Styling Your Curls
Curl-definition cream or mousse matters here, but technique is just as important. While your hair is still saturated, work the product into your hair from ends to roots by squeezing curls together, section by section, making sure you cover the entire head.
In fact, the curl pattern begins at the follicle. Studies on hair curl formation have found that when hair grows from a more flattened, elliptical-shaped follicle, the hair forms a tighter curl. That's why diffusing and scrunching enhances your natural curl pattern rather than reforming it.
Using a diffuser on low heat can help add volume without disrupting your curl pattern. Just remember to keep it moving. It's not the diffuser itself that causes frizz and damage, but rather leaving concentrated heat on one section of wet hair.
Stylist's Corner: When styling GK Hair sessions, stylists will scrunch down towards the ends of your hair, not upwards. This is something we teach in our professional training. Scrunching upwards will cause your curls to loosen and stretch out, whereas scrunching down towards the ends of your hair helps them to bunch together, creating a tighter definition.
6. Finishing Touches
Apply a few drops of Argan Oil Serum. Best for: taming flyaways and adding shine without buildup to dry or almost dry hair. Apply it to your curls from mid-length to ends only. Two or three drops should suffice for most curl patterns. Using too much will weigh your curls down rather than defining them.
Try air-drying as often as possible. Or use the cool shot button at the end of drying to lock in your curl pattern without opening up the cuticle. The rules for getting a good hair day every day still apply to curly hair.
Dry gently and avoid using heat. At night, either twist your curls loosely on top of your head into what is known as a pineapple or change your pillowcase to silk or satin. Both methods reduce the friction caused by your pillow, which can flatten curls and create frizz.
Curly Hair Routine Products You'll Need (In Order)
Prep and styling steps require no specific product, so here are the curly hair routine products in order of the five steps that do need one, starting with cleanse and ending with shine.
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Step |
Product |
Best For |
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1. Cleanse (shampoo) |
Normal to dry, coarse curls needing a gentle, non-stripping cleanse |
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2. Cleanse (conditioner) |
Sealing in the moisture the shampoo step left behind |
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3. Deep condition |
Dry, damaged, or colour-treated curls needing extra repair |
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4. Leave-in |
Detangling and sealing in moisture before styling |
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5. Finish |
Taming flyaways and adding shine without greasy buildup |
Common Mistakes to Avoid
The best haircare routine can derail at predictable stages. Be on the lookout for these:
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Untangling curls when they’re soaking wet. Few habits cause more breakage than this.
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Aggressively rubbing your hair with a towel to dry. Opt for pressing hair gently with a microfibre cloth or an old cotton T-shirt instead.
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Neglecting leave-in conditioner and jumping straight to styling cream. You need something underneath to lock everything in.
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Scrunching, touching, or fixing curls during the day. This separates clumps and encourages frizz.
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Loading up on all the products at once. Build up your routine gradually over a few wash days.
FAQs
How to do a curly hair routine, step by step?
Typically, a simple curly hair routine consists of detangling when wet, shampooing with a moisturizing shampoo followed by conditioner, deep conditioning once or twice a week, applying leave-in while hair is still wet, scrunching on styling cream, and topping off with serum followed by drying upside down or air drying. Performing your curly hair regimen in this order (wet to dry) helps seal in moisture throughout the process.
Curly hair routine for men: does it need to be different?
No, not really. If you were searching for a curly hair routine men can use, expecting fewer steps, you still have six: detangle, cleanse, condition, leave-in, style, and finish. The difference is often one of preference. Most guys opt for lighter styling cream in place of mousse and forgo the diffuser so they can air dry for a less defined, "messier" look.
Can you use a curly hair routine for wavy hair?
Yes. For waves, you'll use the same six steps but with less product (less leave-in and serum, especially since waves are less dense and can be weighed down more easily). Also, the scrunching technique matters more for waves, since they don't hold their shape as tightly as curls do.
Curls Worth the Effort
A curly hair routine only requires six steps, not fifteen products. Detangle, cleanse, condition, leave-in, style, and finish, and let your curl pattern work its magic. Check out GK Hair's Moisture & Hydration collection to stock up on the essentials to get your routine started. Be sure to stick to it for a few wash days and watch your curls learn how they were supposed to look.
