If your curls look frizzy and stringy while they’re wet, they often dry that way too. You’re probably overlooking a few application steps that rarely get talked about.

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As a curl coach, I watch my clients style their hair, and these are the steps I end up adjusting most. My Rake, Lift, Define method breaks product application into three simple steps. Here’s how it looks at a glance:

Below, I’ll walk you through prepping your hair, each of the three steps, and how to set everything in place. This guide is part of my Beginner Curl Series.

Before You Start: Prep Your Hair So It’s Evenly Wet, Smooth, and Tangle-Free

Prep sets you up for even product coverage. Here’s what usually gets in the way:

❌ Mistake

• Styling in the shower or right out of it because your curls already look clumped.
• Going straight from the towel to scrunching product in.

✅ Correction

• Towel first, then mist, so you control how much water is in your hair. Your roots don’t need to be soaked.
• Mist until evenly wet first. Skipping the water leads to patchy frizz, wet frizz that dries frizzy, and stringy curls.

How to prep:

1. Mist until evenly wet. I use the Bouclème Flairosol Mist Spray Bottle. Press the water in if it beads up, which is common with healthy hair.
2. Rake the water through and lift. Run your hands through and lift your hair off your scalp so it’s easier to section.
3. Apply a prep product. Use a leave-in conditioner or heat protectant, starting on your ends and dry areas. My gel has heat protection, so I used about a dime-size amount of the Tootilab Soft Leave-in Cream. It pairs nicely with their gel.
4. Brush it through. I use the Tangle Teezer Naturally Curly Detangling Brush.
5. Section if it helps. Sectioning is optional, but it helps you get even gel coverage, especially with very thick hair. I use Bounce Curl Volume Root Clips, then mist again anywhere that has started to dry.

Checkpoint: Before any gel goes on, your hair should be evenly wet, smoothed out, tangle-free, and lifted off your scalp. How can you tell it’s starting to dry? Those areas look lighter, puff up, and start to frizz. Mist as you go so each area is evenly wet when product goes on.

​Bouclème Flairosol Mist Spray Bottle​

​Tootilab Soft Leave-in Cream​

​Tangle Teezer Naturally Curly Detangling Brush​

​Bounce Curl Volume Root Clips​

Step 1: Rake Your Gel Through Until Every Strand Is Coated

Rake is the step that matters most, and it’s the one that gets overlooked most. These mistakes are what usually leave patchy product, dry areas, and stringy ends:

❌ Mistake

• Starting with a big blob of gel, especially a thick gel.
• Barely touching your hair because you’re afraid of straightening it.
• Only scrunching, or using “crab hands” that grab at the hair to lift it too early.
• Quitting before you reach the ends.
• Missing areas, like forgetting the back.

✅ Correction

• Start with less than you think and pick up more as you go. A blob ends up mostly in one area and is hard to spread.
• Rake with tension. Worrying about curliness right now is skipping ahead.
• Rake to smooth first. Lift comes next.
• Follow through until the hair drops out of your hands. Coating every strand from root to tip helps your curls last longer.
• Coat the whole section before you move on. Missed areas lead to uneven curls and patchy frizz.

How to rake:

1. Apply your gel. I used the Tootilab Extreme Weather Styling Water, my favorite gel lately. It’s watery with lots of slip, so it spreads easily.
2. Work each section in thirds. Rake one side, then the other side, then the back.
3. Use your hand like a brush. Curve your fingers like a claw and pull them through like a comb. A brush also works and can be faster.
4. Go by feel, not by how curly it looks. Feel for areas that need more gel and for hairs that are crossed or bumpy. Lining the hairs up gives you even coverage and less frizz, and it helps define your curls later.
5. Mist again if your hair starts to dry.

​Tootilab Extreme Weather Styling Water Gel​

Checkpoint: Your hair should look practically straight and feel smooth and evenly coated from root to tip. Is wet frizz forming? You probably need a little more water, and maybe more gel in that spot. A little wet frizz is okay when you know you have enough product in.

Step 2: Lift Your Roots Off Your Scalp

After raking, your hair is usually stuck to your head. If it dries that way, your roots will be flat and stretched, without much volume.

❌ Mistake

• Going straight from raking to scrunching.
• Lifting straight up.

✅ Correction

• Lift before you define so there’s space at the root.
• Lift away from your scalp without over-directing the hair.

How to lift:

Watch the direction your hair comes out of your scalp, since that determines how it falls. You can lift with either tool:

• Brush: This is best if your roots tend to stick down. It grabs the little hairs and directs them where you want them.
• Hands: Combine lifting with raking, and direct the hair away from your scalp.

I lift the most around my crown so it has volume and my scalp doesn’t show.

Checkpoint: Your roots should be off your scalp, with nothing stuck down.

Step 3: Define Your Curls the Way You Want Them to Dry

This is where you finally bring out your curls, so they’re formed, clumped, and back in their pattern instead of smoothed and stretched. I call it “define” instead of “scrunch” because some people don’t want shrinkage.

❌ Mistake

• Skipping define, which leaves curls stretched out and wonky.
• Scrunching with crab hands.
• Expecting curls to re-form when your hair is starting to dry.

✅ Correction

• Define every section before you move on.
• Scrunch slowly, without grabbing at the hair and pulling out frizz.
• Add more water first. Hair that’s drying won’t bounce back.

Choose your technique:

• Shake or bounce the ends. This lets your hair settle into its natural pattern without manipulating it.
• Scrunch. If scrunching keeps causing frizz after you’ve tried everything, bounce and gently scrunch only the ends instead.
• Finger coil. This works well if your hair has a spiral. I finger coil around my front, where it tucks in frizz and keeps my curls intact longer around my short baby hairs.

Repeat rake, lift, and define on each section until your whole head is done.

❌ Mistake

• Avoiding praying hands because they straighten your curls.
• Skipping the final scrunch.

✅ Correction

• Use praying hands on stringy areas. They smooth and clump the hair, and your final scrunch brings the curls back as long as you have enough water.
• Scrunch all the way around, focusing on your roots. Your hair holds the most water right now, and this really helps waves and loose curls spring up.

How to finish:

1. Blend your sections. Take out your clips, shake out the section lines, and blend with praying hands and a little raking. Check that your clumps aren’t too large.
2. Do a final scrunch. Mist first if your hair has started to dry.
3. Listen for a squishy sound. It tells you there’s enough water in your hair. It’s quieter on low-density hair, and it doesn’t mean water is dripping or product is oozing out.

How much water did I use in total? I used an entire spray bottle that was about three-quarters full, partly because talking slowed me down. The faster you get with practice, the less water you’ll need.

Checkpoint: Fix wet frizz and stringy ends before you dry. Look at your whole head and fix anything now, while your hair is still soaking wet.

Optional: Microplop and Glaze for Faster Drying and Stronger Hold

This step balances the water you need for clumping with a faster dry time. It leaves you with less water weight, stronger hold, and smooth clumps.

❌ Mistake

• Rubbing, pulling, or squeezing hard with the towel.
• Skipping the earlier scrunch because you’ll scrunch with the towel anyway (a question my clients ask a lot).
• Restyling or re-coating every strand during the glaze.

✅ Correction

• Go slowly, and press into the hair instead of squeezing to avoid frizz.
• Scrunch with water first so your curls form, then remove the water. Clients who skipped it had waves that dried more stretched out.
• Glaze lightly. You can use praying hands and scrunch the curls back, unless your hair is too dry for them to return.

How to do it:

1. Microplop. Using a damp area of my Hair Repear Towel, I gently scrunch the parts of my hair that hold the most water. For me, that’s the underside. Removing the water weight helps your curls spring up.
2. Glaze. With wet hands, lightly glaze a little extra gel over any frizzy areas. For me, that’s my hairline and ends. Gel on hair that’s starting to dry is less diluted, so it boosts hold and gives you a cast, especially with watery gels like Tootilab.

​Hair RePear Premium Cotton Hair Towel, Not Dyed​

The glaze is part of my Strong Hold Method. For every step in one place, grab the free Strong Hold Method Cheat Sheet.

Checkpoint: Look for any frizz and fix it now. It’s much harder to fix once your hair is dry. Checking at each stage is how I control my results, so my hair doesn’t turn out like a mystery.

Diffuse to Set Everything You Just Styled

Diffusing sets the cast and curl shape, so it locks in everything you just did. That’s why the checkpoints matter. You want defined clumps, lifted roots, and set curls, not dry frizz, flat roots, or stringy pieces.

I use the Curlsmith Defrizzion Hair Dryer & XXL Diffuser on the lowest fan speed and highest heat. A lot of your definition comes out here:

• To enhance your curls, scrunch diffuse.
• To elongate them, skip scrunch diffusing and hover.

​Curlsmith Defrizzion Hair Dryer & XXL Diffuser​

Checkpoint: Once you’re dry, check that your cast is even, with no patchy frizz. What if frizz shows up after diffusing? If it wasn’t there before you diffused, your diffusing technique needs work. My Diffusing 101 for Beginners video walks you through it.

What Even Application Looks Like on Day 1 and Day 2

Day 1:

My hair dried defined, with virtually no frizz and an even cast without patchy spots. Hair is never completely frizz-free, and low-density areas (like my problem areas) can still get a little stringy. That balance takes practice, but it mostly comes down to paying attention.

Breaking the cast: I wait until my hair is completely dry, then scrunch out the cast with dry hands. You can leave the cast in for longer wear, but I prefer a softer look. After breaking it, my hair was soft with more volume and still virtually no frizz. This gel always turns out amazing for me.

Checkpoint: An even cast that breaks easily tells you the earlier steps went right. What if you can’t break your cast? You may have used too much gel, not had enough water, or not gotten even coverage.

Day 2:

I didn’t need to refresh with water, just a quick dry refresh to fluff and separate some clumps. I only style twice a week and barely touch my hair in between. I had normal frizz, plus one spot that probably didn’t get quite enough gel. A little water would fix it, since this gel reactivates well.

My curls were very clumped that morning, which means they weren’t stringy. When you prevent wet frizz and stringiness on wash day, your curls don’t get progressively worse. If you start with them, it often looks worse the next day, because there are no clumps to hold the frizz.

How to Keep Building Control Over Your Results

If you take one thing from this guide, I hope it’s to pay more attention during the steps that often get overlooked, especially prep and rake. Once you get the hang of it, it doesn’t take long. You’re just being more intentional with steps you already do.

That’s why I focus so much on technique in my Group Curl Coaching Program. These skills work no matter what products you use or what hair type you have. Without solid application and styling technique, it’s hard to get longer-lasting results, even with the best products.

We do several guided styling sessions in the program, because sometimes it takes a second set of eyes to spot the small things you’re doing. If you’d like that support, you can request your seat now for my Winter Program, which begins in December.

For more beginner styling help, explore the rest of my Beginner Curl Series, which covers diffusing, building a balanced routine, and choosing the right styling technique for your define step.