How to Care for Fluffy Curls for a Soft and Voluminous Mane

Big curly strands are having their moment on social media with more and more people trying to achieve a springy mane. It’s almost like the big hair trends of the ’70s and ’80s are coming back with people embracing the disco era and high-teased rockstar hair. While those with straight or wavy hair will have to grab a curling wand or curlers to achieve a voluminous mane, curly and coily-haired folks have it a little easier. That doesn’t mean it’ll be a completely quick process.

If you want to embrace your natural hair texture and prove that big hair never really went out of style, keep reading this guide to learn how to style hair for fluffy curls. Here, explore how to tackle limp curls with the right hair techniques and discover the curly hair products you’ll want to use for fluffy and voluminous curls.

How to Make Curly Hair Fluffy and Voluminous
Step 1. On Wash Day Use a Moisturizing Shampoo and Conditioner
When it’s time to wash your hair, shampoo and condition strands as regular with a focus on volumizing and moisturizing hair care. Products like Goddess Strength Fortifying Shampoo with Castor Oil and Goddess Strength Fortifying Conditioner with Castor Oil strengthen weak hair and combat dryness that can lead to breakage. This shampoo cleanses gently without stripping hair of the oils it needs while the conditioner introduces castor oil, black cumin seed oil, and ginger to moisturize dry strands.

If you’re dealing with extremely dry hair, consider using a pre-shampoo treatment like Goddess Strength Ultra Shield Pre-Poo with Castor Oil. This pre-poo adds a layer of protection over hair to minimize breakage while the moisturizing formulation detangles strands for an easier shampoo and conditioner process. It’s good to use detangling products like this to avoid ripping hair while you comb or brush through it.

Between wash days — when you don’t have time to completely wet your hair — use a styling spray to revive curls and wet hair enough to manipulate it again. You’ll also want to make sure you’re wrapping your hair at night to preserve your curls for easier styling in the morning.

Step 2. Use Lightweight Styling Products
The type of hairstyling products and how much you use them are a very important part of achieving soft and fluffy hair. You’ll want to use lightweight products like hair foams, water-based hair gels, and hair mists to add moisture and hold to curls (more on that in the next section). When styling dry hair, slightly wet it with a conditioning product that’ll add moisture and reactivate curls.

Mist your hair all over with Hair Milk Refresher Spray to soften and detangle curls for better manageability. This spray is nourishing and conditioning and can be used on dry or wet hair. If you use a thick styling cream or hair gel with a strong hold, your curls may look more defined but these products ultimately weigh down strands and could lead to crunchy curls. This doesn’t mean you should skip out on styling products, you’ll still want to use them for nourishment and moisture that minimize dryness and frizz.

Section hair before applying any product to guarantee even distribution without clumping strands together. Use a small amount of product to avoid build-up that may result in the need to wash your hair sooner than desired. As you apply the product, lightly rake your fingers through the hair to separate curls. Then, finger coil hair by wrapping pieces of hair around your finger to encourage a more defined curl pattern.

Step 3. Diffuse, Diffuse, Diffuse
Use a blow dryer with a diffuser attachment to speed up the drying process and set curls in their most defined state. As an extra measure, before drying hair, lightly spray it with a product like Monoi (Repair + Protect) Multi-Styling Milk to add a layer of heat protection up to 450 degrees.

Try not to touch your hair with the diffuser as you dry it, just pass the tool over your strands and let the slight heat do its thing. As your hair becomes more dry you can go into the scalp with the dryer and scrunch hair with the diffuser for more volume.

Step 4. Shake and Pick Curls Out
After your curls are dry, give your hair a good shake. Have some fun with it and play your favorite song to shake your head to. Then, flip your hair over, run your fingertips up to the scalp, and shake the strands between your fingers. This will separate any curls that are clumped together and promote more volume.

You can also use a wide-tooth comb to pick at the underside of your hair to elongate strands and give hair even more volume. These tricks help combat shrinkage (the thing responsible for curls drying compact) that may be keeping curls and coils tightly together.

How to Style Fluffy Curly Hair
If you follow the guide above you’ll be set for soft, fluffy, and voluminous curls, but you probably want more details on one specific part; styling. One of the most important steps is to use lightweight styling products to add moisture, maintain curl definition, and minimize frizziness.

You’ll want to skip using any heavy hair creams or gels that can weigh curls down, or worse, leave curls feeling crunchy and flaky with product build-up. Stick to water-based products (meaning the first ingredient is water) for lightweight hold and definition. For soft, fluffy, and voluminous curls consider the following products.

Hair Gels
Using hair gel to style curly hair is all about balance to avoid the dreaded crunchy curl that looks good, but can feel brittle. You’ll want to use gel to achieve the volume part of a fluffy and voluminous look to give curls the lift and hold they need. Reach for a hair gel like Coco Crème Curl Shaping Cream Gel With Coconut Oil which will define and hold curls without leaving strands feeling stiff. Formulated for very dry hair, this gel also offers curls the moisture of a leave-in conditioner with the hold of a gel, all in a lightweight formula.