The 10 Minute Curly Refresh
The typical morning of a curly girl:
Scenario 1: Wake up, look in the mirror, see your hair spiraling in every which way, and look at the clock. You have to leave in 10 minutes, and you think that your hair is going to take much more than 10 minutes to redo. Soooo... what do you do? You slick it back.
Scenario 2: You are insanely type-A like I am and do what I used to do. Schedule yourself 2 extra hours in the morning just to completely restyle your hair.
But what if I told you that you don’t need those 2 hours and that 10 minutes is just enough time to get your curls looking shiny, clean, and defined.
Top 5 tips for a speedy curly refresh
1. Skip the full soak
The most common thing people do when “refreshing” their curls is completely drenching their hair. But that defeats the point of a refresh. I suggest getting a continuous misting spray bottle because it releases a sustained fine mist that can target problem areas. Typically, it is the top layer and face framing pieces that get the most frizzy, flat, or stretched out overnight, so start there.
You would be surprised just how much power a light mist has. Completely wetting your hair just means more drying time, when a light spritz reactivates product and brings your natural curl pattern back to life without starting from scratch.
2. Just a touch up
You do not need to redo your entire curly routine every day. The reason we spend so long doing a routine on wash days is for it to last! In fact, adding too much product is probably contributing to your frizzy and limp curls. Thin of this tip as “spot treating” your curls rather than restyling your entire head. I recommend diluting a curl cream or gel by putting the product in your palm and then spraying some water on top of it. This will overall help prevent more product build up.
Source: Gena Marie
3. Pray and scrunch?
Ok, I do not mean literally pray (because if you follow this routine, no prayers are necessary). But seriously, the praying hands technique is a curly styling method where you smooth product over your hair using flat palms, almost like you’re pressing your hands together.
Instead of raking product through your curls you gently glide your hands over sections of your hair. This helps evenly distribute product while keeping your curls clumped together—aka more definition, less chaos.
Then, go in and scrunch. But don’t overdo it. Just a few controlled scrunches per section is enough to reshape your curls and add bounce.
This combo is what takes your hair from “kind of fixed” to actually defined and put together.
4. Lift it and Clip it
Flat roots can make even defined curls look unfinished. To fix this quickly, I recommend buying double prong curl clips. These have been a complete game changer for me. After misting the crown of your hair, take small sections at the roots and clip them upward so they’re lifted away from your scalp.
Leave the clips in while you finish getting ready (getting dressed, doing makeup, etc.). Even just a few minutes can make a difference.
Source: Krista Leavitt
5. Go with the curly flow
Lastly, as simple as it sounds, embracing the fact that your curls are going to look different every day has become one of my favorite parts of being a curly girl. I feel so lucky to have fun, interesting hair that looks different every day!
Instead of fighting with your hair to look a certain way every day, work with what it wants to do that day.
If I wake up and my hair is extra flat, I’ll use my double prong clips, or call it a day and do a ponytail or claw clip.
Or if I look in the mirror and I have a ton of volume the next day, I’ll tame it down with the praying hands method or lean into it and do a fun middle part.
Learning a few go-to hairstyles takes the pressure off and gives you some fun ways to mix up your look!
Source: sophiemariecurly
