If you’re trying to build a curly hair routine for men, it’s easy to end up doing far more to your hair than it actually needs. One bad wash day turns into a new product, then another styling step, and before long the routine is harder to manage than the curls.
That’s where I think a lot of curly hair advice goes wrong. You shouldn’t need to second-guess your routine every morning or keep buying something new every time the result is off.
For me, a good men’s curly hair routine should make your curls easier to manage without making your mornings more complicated. That’s the standard I’d use.
Curly Hair Routine for Men at a Glance
Wash day: Shampoo when your scalp and hair need cleaning → condition → apply one styling product while your curls are still wet or damp → air dry or diffuse without constantly touching the hair.
Between washes: Lightly dampen any curls that have gone flat → reshape them with your hands → add a small amount of styling product only where you still need more control.
What you actually need: Shampoo, a rinse-out conditioner and one styling product are enough to build the basic routine. A wide-tooth comb, microfiber towel or diffuser can be useful depending on your hair and how you style it, but none of them needs to become another compulsory step.
Time to wash again: Greasy roots, obvious product buildup or curls that no longer respond well to a water refresh are good signs that it’s time to reset.
In this article
Your Curl Routine Should Start With How Your Hair Behaves
Before you copy someone else’s curly hair routine, look at what your own hair is actually doing.
Two men can have a very similar curl pattern and still need different routines. Your curls might be fine and lose their shape under too much product, while someone with almost the same curl shape has hair that feels dry soon after washing.
I’d pay more attention to how your hair responds than whether it fits perfectly into a 2C, 3A or 3B category. Those labels describe the shape of your curls, but they don’t tell you how quickly your scalp gets oily, whether your ends stay dry or how much product your hair can handle before it looks flat.
If your curls become heavy easily, start with smaller amounts of conditioner and styling product. Dry or rough ends point in a different direction, and longer curls may need more attention through the ends even when the hair near the scalp feels fine.
You can also learn a lot from when the problem appears. Hair that feels rough as soon as it dries may need a change in the washing or conditioning routine. Curls that look good at first but fall flat a few hours later may be getting too much product. Frizz is less straightforward because styling, drying and handling can all play a part, so more moisture isn’t automatically the answer.
Change one part of the routine and watch what happens. If your curls improve, keep it. If they get heavier, drier or harder to manage, you have a much better idea of what caused it.
Most Curly Hair Doesn’t Need Shampoo Every Morning
Shampoo is one of the easiest parts of a curly hair routine to overdo. If you wash your hair every morning simply because it’s part of your shower, you may be cleaning it more often than necessary.
For some curls, that can mean hair that feels drier and takes more effort to style.
There’s no useful number of shampoo days that I could give everyone. If you train regularly, sweat heavily or use a lot of styling product, you may need to wash more often.
If your scalp still feels comfortable and your roots aren’t greasy several days later, there’s no reason to shampoo just because you’ve reached a certain day. A little sweat on its own doesn’t always mean you need a full wash either.
When you do shampoo, put most of your attention on the scalp and roots. Work it through gently with your fingertips, then rinse it through the rest of your hair. You usually don’t need to scrub the lengths in the same way unless there’s obvious product buildup there, particularly if your ends already tend to feel dry.
Don’t push wash days too far in the other direction either. Greasy roots and curls that feel heavy with old product are good reasons to shampoo. At that point, trying to revive the hair with fresh styling product usually makes things harder rather than better.
Conditioning Matters More Than Adding More Styling Product
If your curls are difficult to manage after washing, look at your conditioning before reaching for another styler. Curl cream, gel and mousse can help with definition or hold, but they cannot fix every problem.
After shampooing, work conditioner through your curls. Keep it simple with short hair. With longer curls, focus more on the mid-lengths and ends, especially where the hair feels driest.
If your curls tangle, work through them gently with your fingers or a wide-tooth comb while the conditioner is still in. I would rather detangle here than pull through dry curls later.
The amount matters too. If your curls still feel rough once dry, try a little more next time. If they feel soft but heavy or lose shape, use less before switching products.
With a rinse-out conditioner, follow the directions. If your usual conditioner already leaves your curls manageable and ready to style, there is little reason to add another conditioning step.
The Best Time to Style Your Curls Is Before They Start Drying
Once you’ve rinsed out your conditioner, style your curls while they’re still wet or damp. Let them dry too far and you’ll have to disturb the hair again to spread product, which can lead to more frizz and uneven definition.
How wet your hair should be depends on how your curls respond. If they keep drying flat or heavy, remove a little more water before styling or use less product. If the product is hard to spread evenly and parts of your hair start drying before you finish, style it a little wetter.
Spread the product through the hair before spending too much time shaping the front or scrunching the curls. I’d rather get an even amount through the hair first, then shape it.
Once you’re happy with the result, stop repeatedly running your fingers through the curls. Going back through hair that’s starting to set can break up the shape and bring more frizz into the finish.
Keep the product side simple too. If your curls are easily weighed down, use less or start with something lighter. If they look good initially but lose their shape too quickly, more hold makes more sense.
If you’re not sure what to use, our guide to the best curly hair products for men breaks down the options by what you actually need from your hair. You don’t need to layer a cream, mousse and gel just because that’s common in curly-hair routines. Start with one product and only add another when you know what you need it to do.
How You Dry Curly Hair Can Undo Everything You Just Did
You can get the washing, conditioning and styling right and still end up with frizz if you’re rough with your hair while it dries.
Rubbing curls back and forth with a bath towel is one of the first things I’d stop. It disturbs the shape you’ve just created and makes the hair harder to control.
If your hair is dripping wet before you style it, gently squeeze out some of the excess water first. A soft T-shirt or microfiber towel works well, but I care more about how you use it than what it’s made from.
Press or squeeze the hair rather than rubbing it. Once your styling product is in and the curls are shaped, avoid going back in with the towel unless you really need to.
Air drying is perfectly fine when you have the time. A diffuser is useful when you want to speed things up without blowing the curls all over the place.
Keep the airflow controlled and avoid going straight to the hottest setting. You want to dry the hair without constantly moving and separating the curls you’ve already shaped.
Then leave the hair alone while it finishes drying. This matters even more if you’re using a gel that forms a firm cast.
Let the curls dry fully before gently softening that stiffness with your hands. Breaking the cast too early can leave you with less definition and more frizz.
You Shouldn’t Have to Repeat the Whole Routine Tomorrow
The next morning, don’t assume you need to wash and style your hair again from scratch. If most of your curls still look good, fix the areas that have flattened overnight and leave the rest alone.
Start with a little water. Dampen the sections that have lost their shape and work them back into place with your hands. On shorter curly styles, that can be enough. If one area still needs more control, add a small amount of styling product there rather than putting another layer through the whole head.
This is where a lot of next-day routines go wrong. You are trying to bring the shape back, not repeat everything you did on wash day. Keep adding product every morning and the hair can quickly start feeling heavy and harder to style.
There is also a point where a refresh is not worth forcing. If the roots are oily, product has built up or water is doing very little to bring the curls back, wash your hair and reset. At that point, starting again usually gives you a better result than trying to stretch the style another day.
If Your Curls Still Aren’t Working, Check This First
| What you’re seeing | Check first | What I’d change first |
|---|---|---|
| Curls feel rough after washing | Washing and conditioning | Look at how you’re shampooing and whether your hair needs more conditioning before buying another styler. |
| Curls feel soft but look flat or heavy | Conditioner or styling product amount | Use a little less of one product next time and judge the result before changing anything else. |
| Curls look good wet but turn frizzy while drying | Drying and handling | Stop rubbing with a towel, keep diffuser airflow controlled and leave the curls alone while they set. |
| Curls look good at first but lose their shape quickly | Hold | Look at the amount and hold of your styling product rather than automatically adding more products. |
| Curls are flattened the next morning | Overnight and refresh routine | Start with water and reshape only the areas that need help before adding more product. |
| Roots are greasy and the hair feels heavy with old product | Buildup | Stop trying to refresh it and wash the hair. |
Verdict: Keep Your Curly Hair Routine Simple
A good curly hair routine for men should make your hair easier to manage, not give you more things to think about every morning. If your curls respond well to a simple routine, I wouldn’t complicate it with extra products or steps just because somebody else’s routine has them.
The biggest mistake is changing everything when one part stops working. Dry, heavy or flat curls give you somewhere to investigate. Make the smallest useful adjustment, see what happens and build from there.
You will know the routine is working when your curls are easier to shape on wash day and still worth refreshing afterward. Once you have that, keep doing what works.