Using a Diffuser on Curly Hair

A diffuser is the bowl-shaped attachment with prongs that clips onto a blow dryer. Its whole purpose is to slow the air down and spread it out, so the hair dries without the airflow blowing the curl clumps apart. Used properly it gives volume and definition in a fraction of air-drying time; used like an ordinary dryer it gives frizz faster than no diffuser at all.

What it is doing

Air moving fast across a curl separates the strands that were clumped together, and separated strands are frizz. The diffuser breaks the stream into gentle air across a wide area, so the curl dries in the shape the product set it in. The prongs also lift the hair at the root, which is where curly hair loses volume.

Hovering against cupping

Two techniques, used at different stages. Hovering means holding the diffuser near the hair without touching it, drying the surface gently, and it is what to do first while the hair is very wet and the cast is still forming. Cupping means gathering a section of hair into the bowl, bringing it up toward the scalp, and holding it there while it dries, which builds volume and encourages the curl to spring. Cup the roots, hover the lengths.

Settings

Low heat, low speed. This is not a compromise, it is the correct setting. High speed defeats the purpose of the attachment entirely, and high heat dries the outside of a clump before the inside, which is where frizz comes from. Diffusing takes longer than blow-drying, and that is the trade you accept for definition.

Do not touch it

Every time you run your hands through drying curls, you break the clumps. Set the hair with product, pin it or leave it, diffuse without rearranging, and only touch it once it is fully dry. If you used a gel, break the cast at the end by scrunching gently. Most of the frizz people blame on their diffuser comes from handling the hair while it dried.

Getting root volume

Flip the head forward, or to each side, and diffuse the roots from underneath. Gravity does the rest. Root clipping, using small clips at the roots while the hair dries, achieves the same thing without heat, and the two combine well. Finish with the head upright so the hair falls into its natural position while still slightly warm.