Are you a curly queen? Or maybe you aren’t sure if you fall into the curly hair category? No worries. We have all seen the tiktoks on finding out we might have curly hair and seeing people bring them life. Maybe you know your hair is curly already, but you need a little assistance managing it. Don’t stress, ladies and gents. I’ve got you covered. I can guarantee this method will change your life. I have lived 23 years without realizing I have curly hair, and plopping has become a lifesaver.
So now that you are on board. Are you struggling to master it from a 30 second tik tok video? How about a full step by step guide on how to plop hair? I thought so. Let’s not waste any more time. Get your pen and paper and start taking notes.
Step By Step
There are a lot of variations of hair plopping, as we will get into later on. However, we are going to teach the basics and let you decide on the details for what fits your hair and access to items.
- First and foremost, you need to have your hair fully washed and wet. This is crucial to allow your curls to reform to the best ability. Be sure to use curly friendly shampoo and conditioner. This will give your hair the best chances to create bouncy and beautiful curls that we are aiming for!
- Next, add styling products to help reduce frizz. This can include your regular hair routine products, but make sure to include a leave-in conditioner to help regulate frizz and keep your hair full of moisture for the plopping process. You can add some split end treatment, an oil treatment or a hair masque to give a bit of extra moisture locked in.
- Next, hand scrunch your hair gently to form your natural curl pattern. If your hair is not wet enough, you can rinse your hands under water quickly to keep them from adding frizz. gvf
- Grab your microfiber towel or t-shirt. There are many arguments for one over the other. Some claim a t-shirt absorbs more water than a microfiber towel and some claim vice versa. Give both a try and see which merges works with your hair to give the best curl, hold the most moisture, and prevent frizz. Lay your option out flat in front of you.
- Flip your hair over and gently lay your hair into the towel or shirt, allowing for your hair to scrunch into it. Grab the excess of the shirt or towel and wrap it around your head. Make sure your hair is not stuck in the excess and scrunched into the bulk of the towel.
- Let your hair sit in the towel/t-shirt for about 20 minutes before taking your hair out and letting it air dry!
Plopping curly hair is a method that involves no heat or tool. This is much healthier for your hair, and allows for damaged hair to heal from years of heat damage and breakage. Using a diffuser might have beautiful results, but over time it damages your hair and ruins your natural curls. That is why plopping is recommended by so many curly hair stylists. It is not only good for extremely curly hair, but wavy hair curls can benefit from this method!
It also requires little supplies and is the best means to achieve your natural curls with little to no effort. There is a learning curve to perfecting the scrunching into the towel, so give yourself a few tries before writing the method off for you! Get your natural curl on!
Tips and Tricks
Another helpful tool if you are having issues with plopping is adding a curling gel to your hair. This gives more definition to your curls and prevents frizz even more than a leave-in conditioner. You will need to saturate your hair with this before you plop it into the towel. There are loads of curling gels on the market, so seek out some of our other posts on curly hair routines for some guidance.
Be mindful of your specific curl type, your level of oiliness and hair type. These will make or break the way the gel works on your hair. The wrong gel can make your hair look permanently wet, dry hard, or make your hair frizzy and oily. None of these we want.
Another trick to try is using a headband or hair tie to secure your towel or t-shirt into place. Depending on the size of them, they can be difficult to secure down. Having some extra security can help. Be sure that whatever you use does not indent your hair, however. That can have a not to attractive affect on the plopping process.
If you are in a rush after plopping your hair, you can blow dry it to speed up the process. However, we do not suggest this, as the biggest bonus of this method is the curling without damaging your hair with heat. Give yourself the extra few minutes to let your hair air dry. Your hair will thank you later.
So there you have it. You can now make a tik tok for yourself. Be sure to give us a shoutout when you go viral!
