Wavy Hair vs. Curly Hair Styling - Testing the Differences on My Curls!


What happens when I style my curly hair using a routine meant for wavy hair? In this portion of a two part series, I highlight differences between what wavy hair needs vs what curly hair needs, including styling techniques and the best products for each.

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Many of my group coaching clients have wavy hair and struggle with hold, clumping, wonky-shaped waves, and longevity. Through helping them, I’ve learned more about how to get waves to their full potential.

Check out some examples of my wavy curly clients’ gorgeous hair below!

Coming soon will be part 2 of this wavy series, where I’ll be sharing some key differences when washing.

Water Content When Styling

Key Difference: Wavy hair clumps better when styled soaking wet, while curly hair may benefit from damp styling for better product absorption.

Wavy Hair Needs:

Soaking wet styling to encourage wave clumps. I share below how I decrease dry time with soaking wet styling before diffusing.

Curly Hair Needs:

Damp styling may work better for those who want more fullness and volume.

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Hair RePear Ultimate Hair Towel
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⚠️ Water content is going to depend more on desired volume/fullness. For volume, use less water. For clumping, use more water.

Products

Key Difference: Less is more when it comes to maximizing hold. Wavy hair is easily weighed down, so it benefits from lightweight products with grit (depending on texture). Strong hold products prevent waves from falling out.

Wavy Hair Needs:

  • Skip creams and oils that can weigh waves down, unless you have coarse-textured or very dry waves.
  • Mousse or foam for lightweight moisture, clumping and texture.
  • Opt for lightweight gels (few to no oils & butters) or gels with grit.
  • Add in a foam, texture spray, or hairspray for additional grit and hold.

Curly Hair Needs:

  • Skip creams and oils that can weigh waves down, unless you have coarse-textured or dry curls.
  • Opt for lightweight gels (few to no oils & butters) or gels with grit if you have fine-textured curls.
  • Add in a foam, texture spray, or hairspray for additional grit and hold if you have fine-textured curls.

⚠️ Product weight and grit content is ultimately going to depend more on hair texture. Take my free quiz to find out what your hair’s texture is.

Not Your Mother’s Curl Talk Leave-In Conditioner
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Umberto Giannini Curl Whip Curl Activating Mousse
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Umberto Giannini Curl Jelly Scrunching Jelly
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Styling Technique

Key Difference: Wavy hair benefits from minimal manipulation, while curly hair may need more structured styling techniques.

For this routine, I styled upright. To prevent water from soaking my shirt, I wrap my hair towel around my shoulders.

Upright versus upside down styling is going to depend on things outside of your curl pattern, such as your density and your desired look. Low-density or thin hair may benefit from upright styling so you have more control over scalp covering and styling the back.

Sectioning is important for high-density hair, whereas lower density may not need to section.

It’s up to you whether if you apply your stylers before styling or after styling. Try either way and see which you like better.

Wavy Hair Needs:

  • Praying hands method for encouraging clumps over brush styling.
  • Brush styling with light tension can be used to smooth out frizz and clump waves, but skip it if it just straightens them out.
  • Lots of scrunching to enhance the wave shape. Spend some time scrunching versus just 1-2 quick scrunches and see the differences.
  • Scrunch with a hair towel + add extra gel, mousse, or hairspray to speed up dry time.

Curly Hair Needs:

  • Finger coiling and brush styling help enhance curl definition and spirals.
  • Brush styling with light to high tension can be used to smooth out frizz and clump curls.
  • Minimal scrunching to prevent frizz.
  • Scrunch with a hair towel + add extra gel, mousse, or hairspray to speed up dry time.

Tangle Teezer Naturally Curly Detangling Brush
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Bounce Curl Volume Root Clips
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Drying & Diffusing

Key Difference: Wavy hair needs special attention to hair placement in the diffuser to prevent misshapen curls, while curly hair may not struggle with this as much.

Wavy Hair Needs:

  • Diffusing over air drying to prevent elongation and enhance wave pattern and volume.
  • To prevent wonky or misshapen curls, carefully place the hair in the diffuser before turning it on and pressing up. Turn off the drying in between placement. This does make diffusing take longer, but it significantly minimizes the likelihood of wonky curls.
  • Avoid hovering first if you want to enhance your waves. Hover to dry the waves in their “current state”

Curly Hair Needs:

  • Diffusing over air drying to prevent elongation and enhance curl pattern and volume.
  • May not experience misshapen, wonky curls as often.
  • Hover to dry the curls in their “current state”

Curlsmith Defrizzion Hair Dryer & XXL Diffuser
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Scrunch Out The Crunch

Key Difference: Wavy hair may benefit from leaving the cast in longer before scrunching it out and using a hairspray to retain structure, whereas curly may be able to scrunch it out right away and use an oil.

Wavy Hair Needs:

  • After diffusing, do not scrunch out the cast right away
  • Let it gradually release on its own or wait to scrunch
  • Finish with a hairspray instead of oil

Curly Hair Needs:

  • After diffusing, scrunch out the cast once the hair is fully dry
  • Let it gradually release on its own or wait to scrunch
  • Finish with a hairspray for extra hold, or oil for softness and shine

Curlsmith Flawless Finish Hairspray – Flexible Hold
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Need more help with longevity? Watch this video for styling overly soft hair that won’t hold.

Results Compared

My results look very similar, but I was not necessarily trying to “make” my hair look wavy. Instead, I used styling techniques that would benefit wavy hair and skipped a lot of “spiraling” techniques that I typically do to enhance my curls.

If you have wavy hair, you could certainly still do coiling techniques but if you don’t have a natural spiral to your curls, they may not be worth your time. Instead, I wanted to focus on techniques that can really enhance S and zig-zag shaped wave patterns. I can definitely tell my curls are less coily and are more of a zig-zag shape. For my hair pattern, this would be considered “wonky” but for someone with waves, it would be nice and defined! It’s also a but more elongated compared to my curly routines which have more shrinkage. I still like how it turned out and it’s a fun way to switch up my look.

Best Styling Products for Wavy Hair

Connect with other Wavy & Curly Curlfriends Membership

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Gena Marie

Curly hair coach helping you better understand your naturally curly hair through easy-to-follow tutorials, science-based haircare tips, and problem-solving.

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