By Cassidy of Natural Selection
CASS! HOW DO I GET MY CURLS TO HANG!?”
Because natural hair has a tendency to grow up and out rather than down, this is a question I get pretty often. But today is your lucky day because I have an answer! There is just one simple step that will help you get hang. Check it out:
Here’s a picture of me without the Hang Technique:
Annnnd a picture of me with the Hang Technique:
In both of these photos, my hair is equal amounts wet with a very similar cream-gel styling product, but as you can see my curls hang more when I use the technique.
There are three magic ingredients for this Hang Recipe. Here’s the rundown:
How to Get Hang
Ingredients
- A decent amount of length: You need a few inches of hair that can’t hang. Yea, it’s cute and all, but your TWA can’t defy gravity.
- Your shower: And you need to be in it with clean hair and conditioner still in dem curls.
- Styling product: Your favorite one! Whether it’s a cream or a gel, pick your fave and get it in the shower WITH you.
Instructions
- Cleanse your hair as usual
- Apply conditioner
- If you are leaving your conditioner in (to use under a gel for example), proceed to step 4. If you are using a rinse out conditioner, pay extra attention here: when you’re rinsing tip your head forward to under the shower. People often will have their backs to the shower and tilt their head backwards to rinse, but by tipping your head forward you’re rinsing the direction you want your hair to hang. Here, allow me to illustrate.
Rinse your hair like this!
NOT like this
- Apply your styling product to soaking wet hair. No plopping here! And use A LOT. More than you think you need.
- Turn towards the shower and let the water run through your hair. Just a bit! Not enough to rinse the product out, but think of the water as more of a product application tool, allowing it to set your curls and elongate your strands.
- Now shake the crap outta your hair and VOILA! HANG!
The next step might take a bit of practice. Sometimes I also cup my hands and fill them with water to scrunch water into my curls, either way the key is to use water to your advantage.
Good luck and lemme know how this works for you! Shout out to Dickey of HairRules for introducing me to this technique. It has become my go-to and Lola loves it!
If you’ve got other tips to get hang, leave ‘em in the comments!
Her cut and haircolor are awesome!! Omg.
Let me just say, THANK YOU! The last time I had great, natural curls is when I went to DevaChan salon (can’t afford that every week) but every time I attempted to do a “wash n go” myself, it turned into a “mini fro”…no ma’am. I followed every step you recommended and BAM…beautiful, natural curls with so much hang!
Wow! Who woulda thought that a simple change in the shower would yield these results! I was wondering how to keep my coils and get them to hang after getting out of the shower. Turns out, I always rinse(d) my hair with my head back. Thanks for sharing this!
I am of Italian backround, and many times find black women have better tips on how to care for hair. It is extremely curly and can get very dry. I tried this technique and it worked wonderfully, as my hair tends to go UP and OUT rather than DOWN…this looked great and I was grateful to find it. Thanks!
Me too! It worked wonders on my kinky coily curls :)
Beautiful hair! But, can someone please tell me what lipstick/lipstick shade she’s wearing in the pic with the glasses? I LOVE it! Please and thanks!
That’s All My Purple Life! It’s the Afrobella limited edition MAC lipglass!
I have found I can only get this curly look from washing my hair after a twist out. Otherwise, my hair is not curly enough for a simple wash and go. However, I have not tried to figure out how to maintain the curly look because after my hair dries, those cute little wet curls look horrible. Not to mention my hair is kinkier than majority of the people attempting to show others how to work their hair.
Therefore, if what I’ve been doing wrong is simply thinking conditioner would help me maintain those twist out curls; when I attempt this using the styling product, should I work the product through my hair almost as in a manner of finger detangling or simply do the water, product scrunch method and let the curls I have be?
BTW I’m seriously considering that cut. I think I’ll go for it now.
Are you using all natural products? My hair tends to dry out quickly when I’m not following a strict natural regimen. Try using a spray bottle with water and aloe vera juice. At night before you re-twist and in the morning when you untwist, lightly mist your locks and see if this doesn’t help you retain a bit of moisture.
Truly hope this helps.
MotherNapture
Thanks Mother Napture for the advice. I will make an honest attempt to do a wash and go from a twist out using the aloe and water mix. I must admit though I do need to stay consistent with my styling aids, but I had given up on the wash and go cause it seemed too difficult to figure out. And my hair is too thick and course for that shingling mess.
What is ur color. I love it.
nice blog!thanks for sharing :)
Wow nice nice!! I never thought about it it downward.
so if you have longer hair flip it over your face and rinse it?
I wanted to report back after trying this method. Woohoo! I’m sooooooo happy I did. It worked! My hair was the best it’s been ever…. My curls usually shrink up so much you can’t see them but for some reason they opened up so much and stayed opened. I was amazed and my hair dried faster than normal. Go figure! I diffused pointing downwards for about 15-20 min and then let it air dry the rest b4 going to bed when I braided it up and left the ends out. In the morning!,,, i got all kinds of stares and compliments all day. This is my new thing. Thanks SO much! I’m on 4th day hair now. Just pineappling now.
This was humbling. When I first read this I was all kinds of skeptical. Then I saw the part about not plopping and it occurred to me that turning my hair upside down and tying it down may not be the best idea if I want my hair to look longer and not be as poofy. I wash my hair in twists so the direction of rinsing doesn’t come into play for me. Skipping the plopping step changed everything. My hair is more moisturized, softer and has a more flattering shape to it. I am loving the results. Thanks so much for the advice.
I will definitely be trying this technique this weekend. Wish me luck!
A friend referred me to this site when I asked her for tips on my first wash n go. I’ll definitely try this out. Thanks for sharing (^_^)
I found this technique on a whim and tried it out. I didn’t really take a before pic, but I’ll include a pic from the day before I did this technique and the after picture. I was seriously debating cutting off the back of my hair because the curls are looser and hang more while the rest of my curls are tighter, so the shape was very weird. This elongated my tighter curls and gave my hair the shape I desired without me having to cut off my hair, thank goodness! Thanks Cass!
You are drop dead beautiful!
I love that i found this tip/site…on this site I see all this beautiful natural hair, and a way to care for it. Many people with super curly hair were never taught what works and how to care for it; I didn’t…and most people don’t know that curly hair is VERY dry and prone to breakage. No more broken damaged hair and no more nappy ugly friz up. Soft sexy sproingy curls!
This information rocks and the women who post here are sexy/wonderful.
Thanks again Cass!
to the author of this post,
YOU are the first person i have ever seen that has the same crazy curls that i do! my mother is italian so she never knew how to deal and my dad is black but he’s a dad so he was lost too. my whole life i have been searching and experimenting to try and manage my curls! your post is awesome, please make more!
See? I read your post and was laughing…same thing here…Italian side of my family never knew what to do with my hair. SO much HAIR! At one point my mom gave up and just hacked all the hair off. Forget trying to straighten it. I LIKE my curly hair…and now i do not battle with it.
Let it CURL!
So excited to try this technique! My hair very much resembles your texture and curl pattern. Do you have a tutorial posted anywhere? Thanks!
THat makes sense! I was wondering when i would get some hang! i asked a curlfriend of mine who is very far into her natural…when do i get my hair to go down instead of up? this makes great sense! thanks