3 Ways to Use Leave-In Curl Creams

The combination of styling techniques and products a curly-haired person uses is as unique as each individual's curl pattern. Through trial and error, we find our favorite styling method. It is important to remember that no matter what type of styling products you use, the most important part of healthy curls starts in the shower with your shampoo, conditioner, and lots of water! Styling products preserve the curls you've created in the shower, they are not a magic cure for lack of proper cleansing and hydration.

Now, that being said, there are many different types of styling products and techniques you can use to preserve your curls. We are going to take a look at our leave-in creams and 3 ways you can incorporate them into your routine.

We offer two different leave-in creams; the Aqua Aura Curl Cream and the Apple Aura Curl Serum.

The Aqua Aura Curl Cream is a thick leave-in with the primary focus on providing moisture and protein to dry, coarse curly hair. Those who love this cream the most have hair that just soaks up as much moisture as it can possibly get. The look they are going for is a more controlled, slick look to counteract their naturally thick, poofy hair. I should note, I am using words that I commonly hear from those who love this cream; there is nothing wrong with big, poofy hair, this is just a preference. The Aqua Aura Curl Cream provides moisture and control with a soft hold and a boost of keratin protein that enhances the natural curl or wave pattern.

The Apple Aura Curl Serum is a lighter-weight cream that is packed full of hydration and protein for hair that gets easily weighed down with heavier products. Hyaluronic acid provides hydration without weight, and a curl-complex of proteins and amino acids helps curl clumping and retention while providing protection and reparative properties to damaged or color-treated hair. Bamboo extract helps smooth frizz and flyaways. This creamy serum is great for those who have finer hair or those who like volume, but still want to add in the proteins to really make those curls pop.

In this tutorial, I am using the Apple Aura Curl Serum. I happen to be a fan of big, voluminous curls, so I typically go for lighter-weight leave-ins even though I use the Aqua Aura Shampoo and Conditioner because my hair does tend toward dryness. Let's look at 3 ways to use the leave-in curl creams.

1. Foundation Styler

I am usually a 2 product styler. A leave-in cream topped with a hardhold gel is what works best for the results I want. For this example, I shampooed with Aqua Aura Solid Shampoo and conditioned with Aqua Aura Solid Conditioner. I don't wash out all of my conditioner; I rinse until the water just starts to pour off clear, but my hair still feels like seaweed (soft and slippery).

Then, while my hair is soaking wet, I run a wetbrush through to get my part where I like it and lift the hair off my scalp. To use the leave-in as a foundation styler, I scoop out just enough to cover both of my hands.

I gently run the cream through my hair, gliding my hands a long the hair shaft.

Once I feel like I have evenly distributed it through my hair, I scrunch it lightly into my hair all the way around. I don't want to scrunch too hard because I still want there to be a decent amount of water in my hair when I apply my hard-hold gel.

To apply the gel, I repeat steps 1-4 (reference the pictures), then I scrunch even more. I make sure to move my head from side to side and upside down to get the hair off of my scalp so I can achieve some volume at the roots.

I'm a big fan of diffusing to 100% dry. Diffusing increases definition and prevents scalp issues (you can see my full explanation here). It also helps curls to be more springy and voluminous because the amount of time your hair is wet can pull the curls down; water is heavy!

2. Scrunch out the Crunch

If you are like me and use a hard-hold gel, or any styling product that gives you a cast, then the final step is to scrunch out the crunch. Once your curls are completely dry but still in that crunchy stage, you can move onto this technique.

I learned to scrunch out the crunch with a hair oil, but I really do not like to use oils in my hair. Oils by themselves really build up, and I find that my curls don't tend to last as long when I use oil for this step because they start to get weighed down.

So, I tried using the Apple Aura Curl Cream instead, and it works so well! For this step, you only need the slightest amount. I barely dip a finger in to get just enough to coat my hands so thinly you can barely see it. Then, I scrunch it through my hair, dig my fingers in at the roots to shake, then boom; the curls are ready!

3. Refresh

Finding a method for refreshing your curls on non-washdays takes some trial and error as well. I've found that a mini version of my washday styling routine works well. 

I used to take a little bit of gel and mix it with water in my hand and repeat steps 1-6 from above, but the Apple Aura Curl Serum works well by itself. Since it has hyaluronic acid, which holds a ton of hydration, it works well to re-seal frizz and bounce into second and third day curls.

If you refresh with the Aqua Aura Curl Cream, I suggest diluting it with water in your hand and then working it through.

For refreshing, water is your friend! Extra hydration causes those curls to clump back up and recieve a nice top coat to re-define.

There are so many different ways to style your curls, but if you're struggling to find what works for you try adding some of these methods in and see if it's a good fit!