How to Define Curls Without Frizz | The Pixie Garden Hair Podcast Ep. 17

The fix for frizzy curls is not a stronger product, it is a different motion. In this episode Delena, a licensed cosmetologist, explains why curls frizz because they are dry, and how she uses the Curl-Define Brush to laminate a curl into its own groove instead of brushing the pattern apart. She finishes with the microfiber hair turban for friction-free drying and the alcohol-free Hair Finishing Stick for the halo of baby hairs around the part.

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Episode Summary

Curls frizz because they are dry, not because they are misbehaving. Licensed cosmetologist Delena Markland explains why a standard brush destroys a curl pattern, how turning a curl-defining brush into the groove of the curl laminates it into shape while holding moisture in, and why the wet-hair advice most people have heard is backwards. A salon-grade method rather than a product pitch.

The written companions to this episode: How to Use a Curl Defining Brush and How to Define Curls: A Licensed Cosmetologist's Guide.

Full Episode Transcript

Jess: Welcome back to The Pixie Garden Hair Podcast. I'm Jess, here with licensed cosmetologist Delena Markland. Delena, curly hair is the request I hear most from friends. They say their curls look great wet and then turn into frizz the second they dry.

Delena Markland: That's the whole problem in one sentence, and it's why the Curl-Define Brush is the tool I put in curly clients' hands before anything else. Because here's what almost nobody is told: curls frizz because they are dry. Not because your hair is difficult, not because you did something wrong. Dry. And the answer is moisture plus definition, never force.

Jess: Say more about force, because I think that's what most of us are doing.

Delena Markland: Most people take a regular brush to curly hair and then wonder where the curl went. You cannot brush curly hair out and expect it to still be curly. A normal brush is designed to separate every strand and lay them flat and parallel. That is the exact opposite of what a curl is. A curl is a group of strands agreeing to travel together. Break them apart and you don't have a curl anymore, you have frizz.

Jess: So what does the Curl-Define Brush do differently?

Delena Markland: You don't brush with it. You turn it. You set it into the curl and rotate so it settles down into the groove the curl is already making, and it laminates that curl into its own pattern. I use that word on purpose. Laminating, not brushing. It's helping the curl find its way and holding the moisture inside it at the same time, instead of ripping the pattern open and letting all that moisture escape.

Jess: Does that work the same for someone with loose waves versus really tight coils?

Delena Markland: Exactly the same. Both need defining, both need help finding their way. The difference is just how much of a groove you're working into. A loose wave needs a lighter touch and fewer passes. A tight coil you work in smaller sections and let the brush sit deeper into the pattern. But the motion and the principle do not change.

Jess: When in the routine are you doing this, wet or dry?

Delena Markland: Wet, and I want to correct something you'll hear everywhere, because it's one of the most debated things in my industry. People say hair is weakest when it's wet. Wet hair is full of water and actually has more elasticity than dry hair. The danger was never the water. The danger is the pulling. So you work on wet or damp hair, and you make sure there's slip in there first, a leave-in or a curl product so the brush glides through instead of dragging. Less pulling, better curl, healthier hair. That's the trade every time.

Jess: And after the brush?

Delena Markland: Dry it gently. This is where a lot of definition gets destroyed at the last second. Rough-drying curls with a regular terry towel is friction, and friction on a curl is frizz. I switch clients to the microfiber turban we carry, it absorbs the water without roughing up the surface of the hair. Then diffuse on low or let it air dry, and here's the hard part: do not touch it while it dries. Every time you touch a drying curl you break the cast you just built.

Jess: What about the pieces that never cooperate? The halo of frizz around the part?

Delena Markland: That's the Hair Finishing Stick, and it's the last thirty seconds of the routine. Once the curls are dry and set, those short broken pieces around the hairline and the part are not curls at all, they're baby hairs and breakage that will never join the pattern. The Finishing Stick is a water-based gel in a wand, no alcohol in it, so you smooth those down without drying the hair or leaving a crunchy film. You are not fixing the curls with it. You are cleaning up the border around them.

Jess: Is there a maintenance rhythm, or is this every wash day?

Delena Markland: Every wash day for the brush, and then between washes you're protecting, not restyling. Sleep on something smooth, refresh with water and a little product rather than starting over, and resist the urge to re-brush. The single biggest thing I can tell a curly client is that most of their frizz is not created on wash day. It's created on day two, when they pick up the wrong brush out of habit.

Jess: Where do people find the brush?

Delena Markland: thepixiegarden.com. The Curl-Define Brush, the microfiber turbans, and the Hair Finishing Stick are all there, and all three are things I use on curly hair in my own chair.

Jess: Everything's linked on this episode's page, along with our full written guide. See you Thursday.

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Hosted by Delena Markland, Licensed Cosmetologist and Owner of The Pixie Garden. New episodes weekly. Browse all episodes.