Do your curls feel sticky, flat, or look worse after refreshing? You’re probably doing too much. Today, I showed you how to refresh your curls the right way — light, bouncy, and without that producty feel.

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What I Used on Wash Day

A good refresh starts with using the right products on wash day and using my Strong Hold Method to apply them for maximum longevity. This was a day 3 refresh. On wash day, I used:

Innersense I Create Lift Volumizing Foam

Innersense I Create Curl Memory

If you used a strong-hold gel like this on wash day, you should be able to refresh easily with minimal product — sometimes water only.

How I Protected My Hair

I sleep with my hair in a bonnet. I’ve recently been using this silk bonnet with a tie, which makes it adjustable. This one is a small-medium size, making it a good option for those with low to medium density hair and short to medium length hair.

YFONG Double Layered 100% Mulberry Silk Bonnet

Step 1: Prep & Assess

The first thing I do on a refresh day is assess how my hair feels. Start by taking your hair down from your sleep protection and fluff out the roots in all directions. Even if you sleep on a satin or silk pillowcase, your hair can get a little matted down, so shake out those roots and bring some air back in.

Next, separate any large curl clumps that have formed overnight — this adds fullness and helps fill in gaps, especially for fine or low-density hair. You don’t need to separate everything; just focus on the thicker sections where curls like to cling together.

If your hair feels very dry and brittle or you have a lot of tangles, you can use a little oil when doing this step. This is what I consider a “dry refresh.”

Then let your hair settle. This step is so underrated. When you give your hair a few minutes to fall back into place, you often realize it needs less refreshing than you thought. I’ll usually do my fluffing, then finish getting ready, and reassess once my hair has settled. If it looks good here, STOP! A little frizz is totally fine and gives you some volume. Sometimes all you need is a dry refresh and to “organize” your curl clumps.

How to Assess Your Hair

Now that it’s settled and if I’ve determined that I need to refresh, here’s what I look for:

The goal is to add as little water and product as possible. Adding more product to hair that already has product is what leads to that heavy, coated feeling. Another big mistake is grabbing a foam or refresh spray just because you see frizz.
Most of those “refresh products” layer poorly over your existing stylers and can leave your hair sticky or stiff.

Step 2: Add Water Little by Little

If your hair looks elongated, stretched, or misshaped, that’s your sign it needs a bit of water to reset the curl shape. Start slow — I like to wet my hands at the sink and smooth them over sections before using a spray bottle. This helps avoid soaking your hair, which is one of the biggest causes of flat, weighed-down results.

A mistake I see all the time is people completely rewetting or even rinsing out all of their stylers in the shower — sometimes they’ll even apply conditioner again and restyle without actually shampooing. That might feel like a “reset,” but it often makes things worse.

Bouclème Flairosol Mist Spray Bottle

If you’re not cleansing with shampoo, a lot of your original stylers are still coating the hair, and then you’re layering more product on top of that. This can lead to buildup, limp roots, and that heavy, coated feeling — plus, all the extra manipulation puts unnecessary stress on your hair and can cause frizz or breakage over time.

Instead, think of refresh day as reactivating, not restarting. Use small amounts of water to bring your existing gel or stylers back to life, and only add more product if your hair truly needs it. It’s unrealistic to expect your refresh days to look like wash day. The goal is not to get your hair back to “wash day” state.

Step 3: Add Product Only If Needed

If the cast doesn’t return or you can’t feel any hold in your hair after adding water, it might need a little gel boost. But don’t coat your entire head thinking more hold will fix everything — that’s how hair gets heavy and sticky.

Instead, mix a tiny amount of the same gel you used on wash day with water in your hands. This thins out your gel and prevents you from over-applying it. Using too much will cause weighed down hair.

Then spot-treat only the areas that need it. I usually glaze it over the top or lightly scrunch it into the ends. If your hair feels brittle or tangled, add a drop of leave-in first to add slip, then a touch of gel afterward to restore hold. This combo helps reduce frizz while keeping definition.

Step 4: Diffuse for Lift + Volume

Air-drying after a refresh almost always leads to flat roots and stretched curls. The water adds weight, and without enough hold, the curl pattern won’t reform properly. So I always diffuse my refresh.

Since your hair isn’t soaked, diffusing should only take a few minutes. Start by focusing on any elongated curls or stringy ends, then you can hit your roots to rebuild volume. Even a short diffusing session gives instant lift and helps the curls shrink back to their shape.

Curlsmith Defrizzion Hair Dryer & XXL Diffuser

Step 5: Fluff + Finish

Once your hair is completely dry, it’s time for the finishing step that makes all the difference: fluff and shake everything out. If you skip this, your curls can stay stuck together and flat at the roots.

So I flip my head over, gently shake everything loose, and scrunch out a bit of the cast — but not all of it. Leaving a little cast in areas that frizz easily helps your style last longer. This is also a great time to separate any remaining large curl clumps to fill in thinner areas and add the illusion of density.

If you want extra lift, you can use a flexible-hold hairspray or texture spray. Just know those can add a little grit, so I save them for the last day before wash day. Use sparingly.

The Living Proof texture spray is a great option for those with overly soft, silky, or oily hair because it will counteract some of that softness and give volume.

Living Proof Full Dry Volume Texture Spray

Final Results

A light, bouncy refresh — no heavy buildup, no sticky feel, and plenty of volume. My initial after results don’t look as soft and fluffy as before, but they will soften up nicely as the day goes on. The goal was to get that cast back to help the curl hold its shape as it dries, and tame frizz. This will help my hair last through the next day until wash day.

Set Realistic Refresh Goals & Strengthen Your Foundation

If your refresh results aren’t turning out the way you’d like, don’t get discouraged — that’s usually a sign that something in your wash day routine needs adjusting.

Refreshing only works as well as the foundation you set. If your stylers didn’t have enough hold, or your balance between moisture and hold was off, that will always show up when you try to refresh.

It’s also important to adjust your expectations when refreshing curly hair. Your goal isn’t to recreate your wash-day curls exactly — it’s to get your hair back to its best version for today, given how many days it’s been, your environment, and what products are still in your hair.

Still stuck?

If you’re still struggling to get results like mine, I recommend starting with my Strong Hold Method Cheat Sheet — it walks you through exactly how to create the foundation that makes easy, buildup-free refreshes possible. And if you want to see the wash day I did before this refresh in action, you can watch the full process in this YouTube Short.

For even more help understanding why your curls aren’t lasting, watch this video on how to balance your moisture and hold which is the key to a successful, long-lasting routine that doesn’t require much refreshing