Crochet Curly Styles: What to Buy

Curly crochet is the fastest full transformation in this whole category. The hair comes pre-looped in curl patterns from loose waves to tight coils, it hooks into a cornrow base in an hour or two, and the finished style is a full head of curls with none of your own hair exposed to heat or manipulation. It is also the crochet style where technique shows most, because curls hide a poor install badly.

Choosing a curl pattern

Tighter coils give volume and hide the base better; looser waves give length and movement but let the cornrows show through more easily. Water wave and deep wave patterns sit in the middle and are the most forgiving for a first install. Look at the pack length as installed rather than stretched, since a tight curl pattern can lose half its stated length once it springs up.

How much to buy

Five to eight packs for a full head, more for tighter patterns because coiled hair fills less space per piece than it appears to. Curly crochet is the style where buying an extra pack is most worthwhile, because the crown almost always needs more density than you planned to keep the style looking full from above.

Hiding the knots

This is the whole game. Do not install the first row directly along your part; set it back slightly and either leave a thin strip of your own hair out to cover it, or install that front row at a downward angle so the hair falls forward over the knots. Vary the direction of pieces across the head rather than hooking them all the same way. A little edge control on the perimeter finishes it.

Fluffing and separating

Curly crochet arrives compressed from the pack and looks thin until you separate it. Work through with fingers, pulling each piece apart into two or three smaller sections, and the volume roughly doubles. Do this as you install rather than at the end, since separating a finished head is slower and disturbs the knots. A wide-tooth pick can lift the roots, but never take a fine comb to a curl pattern.

Refreshing

Curls flatten and frizz over a few weeks. A spray bottle of water with a little leave-in conditioner brings the pattern back; some synthetic curly hair also responds well to a dip in hot water, which resets the curl. Keep oils light. At night, pineapple the hair loosely on top of the head under a satin bonnet. Four to six weeks is a normal run.