M ost curly haired people understand how tough it can be to keep your freshly washed curls looking good for a long time before having to repeat the process. To be honest, it feels impossible. You may spend hours cleaning your hair and layering it with high-end products, only to have it become dull, dry, and flat by the end of the week. You may be disappointed if the end result does not last. Hinshara Habeeb and Yuba Khan, co-founders of Manetain, discuss three ways to refresh your curls or keep them for a longer period of time:

Use a silk or satin bonnet or scarf. A bonnet or scarf can do double duty by shielding your hair. Not only do these hair add-ons keep your hair from rubbing in opposition to your bedding and getting frizzy, but they also protect your hair whilst you sleep, shielding your curls’ shape. The steadier your hair is, the fewer hair strands are rubbing up against other follicles or towards your bedding. Simple twists using bobby pins or small elastics, as well as well-secured braids, can stabilise the shape of your curls throughout the night. You can also tie them into a pineapple bun and secure them with a satin scarf.

If you have tight curls, your hair shaft doesn’t have the same thickness all the way through, which can make strands more vulnerable to breakage. When you toss and flip your head in the course of the night, it can place pressure on your hair follicles and make breakage even more likely. To keep frizz and breakage at bay, change the surface where your curls relax. Cotton pillowcases (even the excessive thread-be-counted number ones) soak up your hair’s natural oils and scratch against your hair strands. A pillowcase fabricated from silk or satin can help shield your hair’s structure. As a bonus, it'd keep your head cooler and help prevent your scalp from getting oily. This could reduce the need for washing.

Fill a spray bottle with water (blend in a few leave-in conditioners for additional moisture) and spritz this all through your hair. Secondly, rub a styling product in between your fingers and run your fingers over your curls, scrunching from the ends up to the roots. Your curls need to be looking rejuvenated at this point, but you could see that some are nevertheless out of shape. Next, you can rub a dime-sized quantity of gel among your palms and use your palms to spot treat your curls, twisting them around your palms and retaining them in an area with a bobby pin. Once your pin curls are dry, remove the bobby pins. Flip your head forward and zhoosh up your roots, meaning rub your palms on the scalp to create volume, fluffing up your curls and avoiding any crunch.

Bonus tip! With your curls, you can also get away with extremely versatile fun hairstyle techniques such as a messy bun, braided pigtails, mini bantu knots, amped up ponytail, half up, half down top knot, patterned bandana, floral embellishments, dutch braids etc.