When I was new to the curly girl method and embracing my natural waves, I tried refreshing my hair a few different ways. I tried using conditioner, I tried wetting my hair, I tried using oil. These were things I heard other curly girls were doing. My hair holds onto water like crazy. It takes me over an hour to diffuse my hair dry after a shower. So, I really don’t like refreshing with water because if I dampen my hair, then I have to diffuse for at least 20 minutes. I just prefer to put as much work in on wash day, and then have a couple days off of dealing with my hair. I enjoy putting effort into my hair to some extent, but I don’t want it to be a chore. So once I found how to get second day wavy hair without refreshing, I preferred that. I’ve continued to just avoid refreshing most of the time. However, lately I’ve been struggling with losing definition fast, even when I use gel. I am pretty certain it’s a protein issue, so I’ve been working on adding in more protein. But in the mean time, my hair has been falling apart quite a bit, losing definition and forming a few BIG fat waves/curls instead. I don’t actually mind this “day 2” look, but if I just leave it and keep going about life, my hair will fall flat by the 2nd of day 2.

I’ve been curious about trying products specifically for refreshing for quite a while, but many that I’ve seen recommended are $20 or more. I just don’t want to spend that much. I’ve come to love a variety of Not Your Mother’s and Not Your Mother’s Naturals products though, and they’re all pretty affordable, usually around $8. So when I found the Not Your Mother’s Curl Talk Refreshing Foam, I decided to give it a try.

The directions on the bottle say to dampen your hair and then apply. I did that at first, but I just really don’t like having to wet my hair and then diffuse my hair dry or wait hours for it to dry. So I decided to just try using the foam on dry hair, without adding additional water. It works pretty well for me! So, I’ve been refreshing with about 2 pumps of this foam on each side of my head (so 4 pumps total) on day 2, and it gives me 3 days worth of hair that I feel is ‘wearable’.

The two photos on the left (no glasses) were ‘before’ refreshing. Again, I don’t dislike this soft, loose curl look…but if I didn’t refresh it, it would fall apart even more. The right two photos (with glasses) re my hair after adding the foam, letting it dry and then scrunching out the crunch. Back to more defined hair!

If you’re looking for a curly girl approved affordable curl refreshing product, I’d recommend the NYM curl talk refreshing foam.