Once you understand how your curls work and follow their lead, styling becomes simpler than ever. In this article, we’ve gathered some essential tips and tricks to have a safety net against some of those bad hair days.

Here are the top 5 curly hair styling tips coming straight from experts—keep reading!

1. Start Styling With Wet Hair

With curly hair, it’s essential to start with a wet foundation, aiming for a wash-and-go style. As you rinse your hair, it’s crucial to use a conditioner to deeply texturize it to make the curl patterns pop. You get the most definition out of it when you start with super wet conditioned hair and apply your styling products to wet curls.

2. Use a diffuser to tame the frizz!

One of the biggest curly hair problems is the frizz that comes with it—the hair that refuses to align with its surrounding strands. It curls or stands up independently, creating an irregular or fuzzy texture. To deal with this issue, the best thing you could do is to use a diffuser, as it brings out a more controlled look in your curls. Star stylist Chris Appleton suggests using it with high heat but a low blow because a high blow would in turn create more frizz.

Other factors, like the products you use, will also have an impact on frizz. Certain styling oil products can significantly help tame them manageably. Moreover, getting your haircut from an experienced professional also plays a huge role in frizz control. If you happen to be based in Sydney, here are some tips for finding the best hairdresser in Sydney to ensure professional treatment for your curls.

3. Use Mousse

Expert curly hairstylists like to use mousse to help control and define the spirals and coils that come with curly hair. So, if you’ve never tried using it, now’s the time to add mousse to your next hairstyling sesh!

4. Switch Up Your Brush

With styling, having the right tools is key—especially when it comes to curly hair! Experts suggest having a versatile selection of combs and brushes to use in the right scenarios. For instance, the density, texture, and kinks would vary at the bark, roots, edges, and the head’s crown. Each of these areas require different variations of tools to address them properly, so it’s better to have more than one option.

5. Less Scrunching, More Twisting

You might have been told to scrunch your curly hair to style it properly, but that’s old news. According to expert curly hairstylist Laura Polko—a T3 ambassador—using the right diffuser with twisting techniques along with suitable products is ideal. After twisting with a diffuser, if you still think your curls need a hand to be more prominent, feel free to touch it up using a curling iron with a diameter that closely matches your curl patterns.

Since natural curls are diverse in different areas, you don’t necessarily need to use a curly iron over the entire section, but rather only a small part where the curls seem off.

With these 5 key tips added to your arsenal of curly hair life hacks, you’re better equipped to deal with frustrating bad hair days. All the best!