On wash day, the curls are crisp. The next morning, all that's left is an indistinct, shorter mass. You wonder what you missed in between. Most often, one step was missing.
Definition isn't decided at the moment you style. It happens before, in the condition of the fiber, and after, in the way you dry it and protect it at night. For the basics, our step-by-step tutorial details the six steps of the Rituel Texture®.
Defining curly hair doesn't mean forcing it into a curl of a different texture. What I'm looking for is a crisp, mobile curl without losing an inch of length, and that depends much more on the order of the steps than on the product you add at the end.
Ghana Elin, founderWhat we call defining
On curly hair, defining means grouping already formed spirals so they dry without dispersing. On curly hair, the pattern isn't a regular spiral: the strand changes direction several times, intertwines with its neighbors, and shrinks significantly as it dries. Defining, therefore, means something else: giving each strand a shape it doesn't take spontaneously, then letting it dry in that shape.
This changes two things. First, the process is done strand by strand, which takes time, and no quick method can bypass this constraint. Second, anything that compresses the hair works against you: that's why plopping and scrunching, which are very useful on curly hair, result in flattened rather than defined curly hair. We detail this point in our article on plopping, scrunching, and finger coiling.
Step 1Preparing the fiber
This is the step that is rushed, and it is the one that makes the difference. A tangled strand cannot be defined: it will resist. The Rituel Texture® begins with detangling using the African threading method, with your fingers and on dry hair, section by section. This is not a backup precaution; it is the first step of the method. What breaks hair is not the dry hair itself, but a comb passed over dry, untreated hair.
Next comes cleansing. The complete routine begins with a gentle clarifying cleanse, followed by the Repairing Shampoo: the fiber, cleared of residue, welcomes the treatment, and a curl cannot form well on weighed-down lengths. The Repairing Mask is then left on for 10 minutes, under a shower cap if possible, and it is on this mask-coated hair that the Man Dol' Comb is passed, from the ends toward the roots, without forcing. Our complete detangling method details the steps.
Only at this stage does the question of definition arise. On dry or poorly detangled hair, none of the following techniques will yield a result, and you will wrongly conclude that your hair cannot be defined.
Step 2The twist out
This is the method to choose when you want volume in addition to definition, and it is the most time-efficient. We work on damp hair, The Styling Cream applied generously section by section, then we twist two strands around each other to the ends, which we seal well.
Two details make all the difference. The first is the size of the sections: the thinner they are, the crisper the pattern and the longer the styling time, which remains a personal choice. The second is the moment you unravel them. The hair must be completely dry, without exception, with fingers coated in a drop of light oil so that the twist opens without snagging. Unraveling on still-damp hair always causes frizz. The twisting technique is detailed in our article on vanilles.
Step 3Finger coiling
Finger coiling gives the most uniform definition: we take small damp sections, coat them with cream, and wrap each strand around the finger until it holds on its own. No accessories, just great precision.
It takes one to two hours on dense hair, and it wraps each strand around itself, so that the result often appears a bit flattened and the length is less visible. It is a legitimate aesthetic choice, to be made knowingly rather than by default.
Step 4Drying, the decisive step
Protective drying is step 05 of the Rituel Texture®, and it is the one that sets everything. The Styling Cream is applied to damp hair, throughout the length. Then we dry with a hair dryer, in small sections, from the roots to the ends, with short, direct drying, the hand always in motion, never stopping on one area. The hair opens up, soft and supple, and the length is visible.
The diffuser has long been presented as the tool for textured hair. It is not for us, and it only works in rare cases on curly hair. The reason is mechanical: it applies heat without moving it, it presses the strand against the head instead of opening it, and on dense hair it mostly dries the surface while the core remains damp. It is therefore not our go-to tool, and it does not replace protective drying. Between two routines, however, air drying works very well, provided you do not manipulate the twists while they dry.
Once the product is applied and the strand is shaped, you do not touch anything until it is completely dry. Every pass of the hand undoes the shape as it sets.
Step 5Making it last several days
What destroys definition is the night. Rubbing against the pillow opens the strands and brings back frizz in a few hours. In the evening, undo the day's hairstyle, apply a little more Styling Cream, focusing on the ends without applying too much, and make six tight twists around themselves, never tight at the roots. Tie them with a silk scrunchie or tie a silk scarf, and sleep on a silk pillowcase. See our nighttime hairstyles.
In the morning, you are tempted to spray water to wake up the curls. This is precisely what you should avoid: wetting your hair every day does not maintain hydration; a complete Rituel Texture® every 7 to 10 days does it much better. A dab of Styling Cream worked into the hands is enough to revive the hair.
There remains the question of the third or fourth day, the one where the pattern has opened without being yet undone. Rather than starting over, re-twist the only strands that have lost their shape in the evening, generally those on top and around the face, and unravel them upon waking. It takes fifteen minutes, compared to a full session, and it often gains two more days.
What a trained stylist does
There is a point where working at home reaches its limit, generally when the cut itself prevents the strands from falling back together: no styling technique can make up for a cut length without taking shrinkage into account. That is where a stylist we have trained takes over, with our second method, the Rituel Définition®, distinct from the Rituel Texture® and practiced only in the salon.
