h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Throughout the years of fighting with my naturally curly hair I've learned one thing: Stop Touching It!!! The more you fuss with your curls, the more diffused they get, creating that oh-so-sought-after "electrocuted" look.

My main stategy of attack starts with mousse on freshly washed hair, let that air dry, give it a quick once-over with a blowdryer to give it some lift, comb out the mousse-formed dreds that develop with a wide-toothed comb (do NOT brush it), and then resist the temptation to "do something with it". Okay, so you can give it a quick spritz of hairspray and goup some extra mousse or gel for a more polished look, or go ahead and let it fry a bit under the blow-dryer to get it to look bigger and fiercer than it really is, but once you've gotten it, Leave It Alone!

If you have extra time to spend with your hair, then once you've put the mousse onto it and it's still wet, take a bunch of strands about 2/3mm think and loosely twist them all together. Make sure that they're all close neighbours to each other otherwise it'll end up a mess.

Work around most of your head in this way. You don't have to do all of it, but spread the effect out evenly. Then follow the drying tips in the thread above. The more you do, the more controlled it gets and I prefer to go for something in between. What it does is reduce the fizz, but accentuates the curls and you end up with a shower of spiral locks.

The more hand done locks you have, the more your hair weighs down. The fewer you have, your hair retains it's body giving it a fuller look. Whether this kind of styling works for you may depend on what kind of hair you have.

...and one more thing: It never hurts to buy the "moisturizing" shampoos and conditioners. Curly hair isn't too good at retaining moisture, causing further frizz.

(and if you're going to go for a really nice curly look (see above), make sure you do it on your Whole Head. I've seen it happen more than once that a girl's face will be framed in ringlets while the back is left to it's own devices; frizzing, matted down in some places, and generally misbehaving itself, ruining the look.)