Guys with straight hair may be curious about how to get curly hair for men. Luckily, with good men’s styling products and tools, there are a number of ways to make straight hair curly. Whether you want to curl short hair or get naturally curly hair, this guide will walk you through the steps of making thick, straight hair wavy or curly.
Check out our tutorial to learn everything you need to know about getting curls for men. From using the right hair products to blow drying and creating tight curls that will last, here’s how to curl men’s hair.
How To Make Your Hair Curly For Guys
It may seem difficult to change your hair texture, but going from straight to wavy or curly hair is pretty easy and straightforward. Curiously, guys with curly hair are often trying to blow dry their hair straight, whereas men with straight hair are trying to get curly hair. To make short, medium or long hair naturally curly, the process is much the same. It starts with investing in high-quality men’s hair products: sea salt spray, heat protection spray, styling cream, and a good hair dryer.
How To Curl Men’s Hair
Wash Your Hair
You’ll need to start with clean hair. Damp hair is more manageable when styling, and readily absorbs sea salt spray. Take a shower and wash your hair with a natural moisturizing shampoo and conditioner. Make sure to condition to add volume and minimize frizz. Gently towel-dry, but make sure your hair is still slightly moist.
Use Sea Salt Spray To Create Curls
Sea salt spray is essential for achieving a wavy or curly hairstyle. Salt spray naturally enhances beachy curls and waves while giving you a medium hold and textured soft finish.
Spritz a few clicks of product on your hair and use your fingers to work it through from the root to the tips. As the active agent in achieving natural-looking wavy or curly hair, make sure to evenly distribute the sea salt spray all over your head.
Apply Heat Protectant
Heat protectant spray will shield your hair from heat damage that can dry out your curls or cause frizz. Similarly, heat protection products enable your hair to dry faster when blow drying. Work the spray through your hair, making sure to coat the surface evenly.
Blow Dry Hair
After prepping your curls, it’s time to apply heat. If your blow dryer comes with a diffuser, attach it. Diffusers disperse the air flow from a single source into multiple streams. By spreading out the blast of heat, guys can form tight curls, boost volume, reduce frizz, and style their hair better.
If your dryer doesn’t come with a diffuser, remove the nozzle to improve heat distribution. Always start on a low heat setting to prevent heat damage.
Make Your Hair Curly
To start curling the hair, you’ll want to blow dry while scrunching up and lifting the hair. Make sure to aim the blow dryer at the roots and slowly move from the bottom up as you clench a fist of hair. This way, you’re shaping and forming the curls while activating the hold of the sea salt spray.
As your hair dries, feel free to add more salt spray to areas that need to be curled more. Consistently scrunch hair all over the head, and you should start to see your straight hair get curly. Continue drying until you train your hair to curl for that perfect finished look.
Style Individual Curls
While you’re in the scrunching phase, you can also create individual curls by twisting small sections of hair around your finger and blasting the warm air on it. This process will lead to a more defined curl, and can be especially trendy for your bangs.
Do this wherever you feel necessary, particularly if there are less-curled areas on the head. Once the hair feels dry, enhance the curls by applying an additional coat of sea salt spray for a beautiful natural texture.
Apply A Styling Product To Finish
Once you’ve styled and let your hair dry, use a styling product like cream, pomade, mousse or hair spray for hold and texture. Apply the product to your hands or spray directly onto your hair and softly run your fingers through with a light touch.
Since the sea salt spray already has a medium hold, start with a small amount of styling hair cream or pomade. Men with thick, straight or short hair will need to keep those finished curls in place if they want to style a modern curly hairstyle with volume and flow.
Products To Make Straight Hair Curly
Sea Salt Spray
To initiate, reinforce and tighten your curls, be sure to invest in a sea salt spray. Salt spray offers hold and texture while also taming frizz. With just the right balance of salt, you can create natural beachy waves in your hair for a smooth and tousled finish.
There are numerous types of sea salt sprays on the market, but we highly recommend OGX Moroccan Sea Salt Spray because it also comes with argan oil, which will get you soft curls without frizz.
Another excellent option is Beauty by Earth’s Texturizing Sea Salt Spray. Lightweight with a great smell, this spray is infused with aloe, green tea, algae, vitamin E, shea butter, argan oil, castor oil, and coconut oil. The result is a powerful all-natural formula that conditions and styles your curls for healthy, shiny hair.
Heat Protectant Spray
Heat protection spray does exactly what its name infers: shields your hair from the damaging effects of heat. Heat protectant products act like barriers between your hair and heat to prevent breakage or a dull, dried out look. After all, drying out your hair can cause frizz, meaning your curls will look messy.
When choosing a heat protectant spray, pick a water-soluble product with all-natural ingredients. This will make the spray easy to wash out while still giving you the most protection.
Styling Products For Curly Hair Men
Styling products for curly hair provide hold and texture without weighing down curls or making your hair feel crunchy, greasy, or stiff. Whether you want a good cream, pomade, mousse or hair spray, there are a number of quality products to try.
We recommend starting with a medium-hold shaping cream that is easy to work with but maximizes volume, flow, and movement. Reputable brands like Paul Mitchell have mastered the balance between control, shine and pliability for the best natural-looking curls.
Curl-Enhancing Creams
Curl-enhancing hair products offer extra definition, get rid of frizz, help form tighter curls, and generally keep your style in place longer. Most curl creams work well on both damp and dry hair. Given the thick creamy consistency of curl-enhancing smoothies, make sure to use these types of styling products sparingly for a lightweight finish.
Hair Dryer
A high-quality versatile hair dryer is crucial to getting sexy wavy or curly hair. In addition to having multiple heat settings to protect your hair from damage, a good blow dryer needs to come with a diffuser.
If you’re serious about styling curls regularly, buy a durable tool from a well-known brand like Conair or Revlon.
Stylish Curly Hairstyles For Men
These cool curly men’s hairstyles are simple, stylish and versatile looks that will show off your curls while making your locks easy to manage. Ask your barber for a fade or undercut on the sides and pair the cut with short to medium length hair on top.
Curly Fringe
The curly fringe is a cool men’s hairstyle that’s easy and fashionable to style. Start with short hair on the sides and back with 3 to 4 inches of length on top. Curl your thick, straight hair but leave the front loose and hanging over your forehead. The finished look is chic and classy.
Curly Hair Fade
The curly hair fade encompasses a number of short sides, long top haircuts. Guys have the option of picking a high, mid, low, or bald fade haircut. The curly hair on top can be shorter or longer, depending on your personal sense of style.
Short curly hair looks good tight and coiled, while long hair is perfect for kinky, loosely curled styles. Experiment with different styles by adding a hard part, line up, or growing a beard.
Short Curls
Curling short hair can be a challenge for some guys, but short curls are definitely stylish if you can pull them off. Oftentimes, a short haircut on top looks fantastic with a high skin fade. The edgy contrast combined with an edge up to clean the hairline makes for a masculine look.
Long Curly Hairstyle
Long curly hairstyles require growing out and maintaining your hair. But if you have nice locks, long styles with curls are handsome and unique.
How To Get Curly Hair
Use this quick guide to getting curly hair for men.
- Wash your hair and start with clean, damp hair!
- Apply your products. First, use sea salt spray. Then, spritz on heat protectant spray. Next, bring on the heat with a hair dryer.
- Blow dry. Begin with a lower heat setting, drying from the bottom-up, scrunching your straight hair, and making individual curls by twisting hair in your fingers.
- Use a styling product for good hold and texture. Finally, set those curls with a product. Consider a styling cream, pomade, curl-enhancing smoothie, hair spray, mousse or clay to keep your curly hair styled and in place.
