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Nobody should have to wash and style their hair every morning. A wash day done well ought to last three or four days, and what makes that possible is the refresh: a short routine that reactivates the product already in your hair instead of adding a new layer on top.
The instinct on a flat, frizzy second morning is to reach for more cream or more gel. Resist it. Your hair still holds most of what you applied on wash day. What it has lost is water.
Start the night before
A refresh can only revive what survived the night. Gather your curls into a loose pineapple on top of your head and cover them with a bonnet, or sleep on a satin or silk pillowcase. The difference in the morning is considerable.
The ten-minute refresh
1. Assess before you wet anything
Take your hair down and shake it out at the roots with your fingertips. Look at it properly. Often only the top layer and the pieces around the face need help, and the curls underneath are fine. Treat what needs treating and leave the rest.
2. Mist with water
Dampen your hair lightly. It should be misted, not soaked: enough to make the product in it pliable again.
3. Reshape
Scrunch the dampened hair upward toward the scalp. For curls that have gone straight or frizzy, wind each one around a finger in the direction it naturally turns, then release. Five or six finger-coiled curls around the face will change the look of the whole head.
4. Add product only where needed
If water alone has not brought a section back, add a very small amount of product to that section. The lighter, the better.
A pump of mousse scrunched into damp hair also works well, particularly for waves. So does a pea-sized amount of leave-in conditioner emulsified with water in your palms.
5. Dry
Let your hair air dry for a few minutes, or diffuse on low for two or three. Then leave it alone.
On the second day your hair does not need more product. It needs water, and the product it already has.
Fixing specific problems
| Problem | Fix |
|---|---|
| Flat roots | Shake at the scalp; clip the roots upward for five minutes; diffuse with your head tipped over |
| Frizzy top layer | Smooth damp palms over the surface, then scrunch |
| A few straight pieces | Finger-coil them wet |
| Dry, rough ends | A drop of leave-in, on the ends only |
| Oily scalp | Leave the lengths alone and rinse or co-wash the scalp only |
By curl type
Wavy hair loses its shape fastest and is the most easily weighed down. Use water and a little mousse, and nothing creamy.
Curly hair responds best to misting and finger-coiling, with a refresh spray where needed.
Coily hair usually wants moisture more than reshaping. A water-based leave-in, followed by a little oil on the ends, restores softness. Styles such as twist-outs can be re-twisted loosely at night to keep their definition.
When to stop refreshing
Each refresh works a little less well than the one before. When your hair feels coated, your scalp is itchy or oily, or no amount of water revives the curl, it is time to wash. For most people that is day three or four. Go back to The Wash Day Routine and start again.