How to Use a Hair Diffuser to Get the Best Waves of Your Hair

We all hate it when we are drying or styling our naturally curly hair with a blow dryer, and the dryer just makes the hair frizzier than it naturally is. Getting frizzy hair or having our natural waves disrupted is something that makes us all annoyed and even ruins our looks.

The hair diffuser is a perfect solution that allows you to dry your wet hair maintaining the curl pattern and the natural look of your hair.

Continue through our comprehensive guideline to learn how to use a hair dryer diffuser to maintain the beautiful natural state of your hair. No matter if your hair type is straight hair, curly hair or, wavy hair, this article will surely change the way you dry your curly hair and feel about it.

How Does a Hair Dryer Work?

A dryer is a miraculous tool on which billions of women around the world rely on a regular basis. Before getting into how to use a hair dryer diffuser, why you need a hair diffuser, and what it can do for your curly hair, it is important to know how a hairdryer works.

Continue reading below to find out how a curls hairdryer works step by step for a detailed understanding.

A hairdryer operates with the help of electricity. When it is turned on, a motor inside helps spin a little yet powerful fan.
The sole function of the fan is to draw room temperature air inside the dryer. It has little holes through which the normal air that flows in is covered by a screen so that nothing else gets dragged inside the dryer.
Most dryers that we see use nichrome wires through which normal air is forced. After passing through the coiled wires, the air that comes out is hotter than regular air. The water in your wet hair gets evaporated and helps dry your hair much quicker than natural air dry when it comes in contact with this heated air of a hair diffuser.
Now, the power or speed settings on the dryer indicate how fast or slow the fan is going to spin. The more power is used, the faster your hair will dry. It is also important to remember that using too much heat regularly is likely to cause damage to your hair in the long run.

Why Should I Use a Hair Diffuser?

Many of you may be wondering why we actually need to use a hair diffuser with a hair dryer to dry your hair. Let us take a look at the science behind a dryer diffuser’s purpose.

The hair dryers take room temperature air and then heats it up in order to dry your hair. Speeding up the evaporation of the water present in your curl’s hair is the key contribution it makes.

The direct heat of hair dryers often turns out to be bad for hair, especially when it comes to wavy and curly hair shape. It can ruin the look of the natural curls instead if you use a diffuser, it can help your hair to reduce frizz.

A hair diffuser is just a different hair dryer attachment at the end of the dryer itself. As a diffuser diffuses or scatters the air flow, the extra amount of heated air cannot reach your hair; this greatly protects the cuticle and prevents frizz. It also significantly helps to speed up the drying method without increasing the frizz.

Those who use this dryer with a diffuser also face an added protection against the heat the dryer emits.

Those who have straight hair do not generally need hair dryer diffusers as the curly girls do but a hair dryer diffuser still can add volume to your straight hair also can act as a heat protectant to your natural hair. And no matter what, we all want our hair to look bouncy and healthy.

How to Properly Use a Hair Dryer Diffuser?

Knowing how to use a dryer diffuser is crucial in order to reap the benefits it offers. We are confident that after realizing the difference between hair dryer diffusers before and after, you will never want to use a hair dryer without a diffuser ever again. Women with all types of hair can greatly benefit from it.

Choose Your Diffuser

It is important that you choose a proper diffuser for your hair. Many hair dryers come with diffusers, but not all of them work properly. When choosing a dryer, it is wise to also take a look at the diffuser that might be accompanying it.

Besides that, you can always buy separate hair diffusers for your dryer. There are tons to choose from many reputable brands or trusted sellers online shop in a wide price range.

Gather Necessary Items

Gather all the items you will need before proceeding with the drying process with a hair diffuser. We have listed some common items below –

Styling oil/styling cream/curl cream/mousse (Optional)
A hair dryer.
A dryer diffuser attachment.
Wide tooth comb / hair brush.
Hair clips.
Heat protecting product (optional).
A microfiber towel.

After knowing about and gathering all the necessary materials, we can now go forward with the process of using a hair diffuser.

Dry Your wet Hair Partially

Most people like air drying their wet hair before proceeding with using the diffuser. How much you want to air dry beforehand will depend solely on your preference. This drying should be done with a soft t shirt or a microfiber towel rather than a regular towel.

Drying beforehand will take the excess moisture out and makes the whole process of using a hair diffuser faster and more efficient. Do not use it directly dry hair no matter what you do, as that will ruin the purpose of using a diffuser in the first place.

Detangle Your Hair

Once you have partially dried and took excess water off from your hair, the next action is to detangle it. Most of the users prefer wide tooth comb to detangle their natural curls. Comb through your hair will help air drying process to take extra moisture out of your hair.

What if your hair gets too much tangled? Then we recommend you apply a little bit of conditioner first and not use any regular comb. Using a hair diffuser without detangling your hair, your hair will very likely get even more tangled and it will get difficult to prevent frizz.

Apply the Product

After you are done detangling your curly hair, you can apply a wide array of products to this partially dried hair for a smooth finish. Some people use styling products such as oil, curl cream, or mousse. Use the product that suits your hair. You know your own hair and its curl pattern to choose your product.

It is important to make sure that the product you use can protect your curl’s hair against heat also. Although this step is optional, we highly recommend this part for those who regularly use heat-styling instruments.

Part Your Hair in Sections and Keep Them in Place

To make your task easier and dry your hair quickly, part your Natural curl hair into sections. It is recommended to have larger sections. You can make more sections based on your hair length. With longer hair length, more sections to ensure no excess hair in diffuser cup. Excess hair in a diffuser cup may create frizz. Secure them in their place using duckbill clips and then proceed with using the diffuser section by section.

Set Your Blow Dryer in Medium Heat & Speed

Set your hair dryer in medium heat and speed setting. To diffuse your curly hair don’t use high speed as it may cause frizz. You may try heat as per your preference but the speed setting must be medium.

Many users prefer high speed and heat settings while blow dry their straight hair.

Diffuse Away

After this, you can start using the diffuser on your curly hair. Start diffusing sideways of your head and placing your head upside down. It is also important to make sure that your hair gets diffused evenly from the root to the tip of your hair shaft.

Put 1/4th of your hair in a diffuser cup and place the diffuser against your head scalp to turn the blow dryer on. You can make more sections of your hair to dry one time based on the length of your hair and volume of your hair. Diffuse maximum 2-3 minutes one time.

Don’t forget to turn the blow dryer off before moving it from your head scalp to avoid frizz. Do the same process throughout all sections of your hair. Flip your head from one side to another to make sure diffuse properly.

You can move the diffuser towards your head to make sure that the roots also get the air. Proceed section by section to use the diffuser throughout your hair. and make sure your hair completely dry.

Finally, scrunch your hair to make sure no extra moisture left to dry without compromising your curl definition.

Finishing Touch

This one is an optional step, but it is guaranteed to make your hair look more voluminous and healthier. Finishing products can be applied after the diffusing is done; this works great for those with curly hair or wavy hair. For straight hair, the hair product may also be used to ensure more root volume.

Another finishing touch technique is scrunching your hair. It is helpful for your hair and adds more depth to the overall look. Some of you may wonder if it is of any use to scrunch straight hair. You will be glad to know that scrunching straight hair adds more volume and definition to it.

You may shake your hair gently to add an extra boost to your hair volume.

Some people also prefer applying hair’s natural oils lightly to add shine to their hair. But be careful not to apply too much oil as that will end up making your hair look and feel greasy.

Diffusing Your curly Hair without Using a Diffuser

One of the most looked-up hair hacks of all time is how to diffuse your hair without using a diffuser. The internet is full of techniques for this process, and many of you surely have looked up this too. Let us explain some most popular hacks that work.

Leaving It as It Is

A great technique that is very common is leaving your hair as it is. After taking a shower, wrap your head in a towel or t-shirt and leave it that way for about an hour and let them dry naturally.

Once you take it off, you will have loosely defined curls without using any styling product or applying any heat. For those who are on a tight budget, this hack is extremely useful.

Using a Sock

This one is another sworn upon hack. Judging by its popularity on social media or online-offline shops, it is natural to ask yourself that can you use a sock as a diffuser.

The technique is to wrap a breathable fabric at the end of your hair dryer- cheesecloth and sock both are said to work just perfectly. You can secure it with hair ties or only elastic bands, and it will work like a diffuser nozzle on a hair dryer.

After that, use your dryer machine just as you would use it usually. This technique is said to work because the fabric or sock at the front is supposed to restrict the heated airflow and only make part of it pass through.

For this technique to work, you must make sure that the sock or cheesecloth you are using at the front of the dryer is neither too thick nor too thin. Also, mind the fabric that you will use to bar the airflow. Some fabrics are actually sensitive to heat and may melt after facing the heat from the dryer.

A Sieve Or a Strainer

This technique surely does seem funny but is also said to be effective. First, place your hair in a kitchen sieve or a strainer. After that, place the blow dryer below the sieve or strainer and use the blow dryer in an upright motion. Relatively, this works less well than a sock or cheesecloth.

Diffusing Tips for Curly Haired Girls

This part is for our lovely readers with curly hair. We know that frizzle hair demands extra attention and care to the way it is styled. Let us take a look at some much-needed tips for curls hairdryer diffuser hacks.

Prep your hair carefully before proceeding with the diffusing. A good way to do that is to start the shampooing process by using regular shampoo.
Make sure you do some air drying beforehand. Wrap your hair with a t-shirt or a microfiber towel to dry.
Use the conditioner and product such as curl-defining cream that you are used to with.
If you want to use a hair styling product after you are done shampooing your hair, make sure that it is also curl-friendly.
Detangling your just shampooed hair is also necessary. As frizzle hair generally gets tangled much easier than other types of hair, skipping this step will make the diffuser drying difficult for you.
Proceed slowly and make sure that every section is taken care of thoroughly before moving on to the next.
Last but not least, do not use a heat setting that is too high. High speed and heat setting may cause frizz.

Volume Diffuser Attachment for Hair Dryer

Those who do not have curls can also greatly benefit from a dryer diffuser. To achieve hair that looks voluminous, this blow dryer attachment can do wonders. Besides adding more volume to your hair, a hair dryer diffuser is advantageous over air dry or blow dry as it can be used for a curly and wavy look to your hair. Some tips:

Use regular shampoo, conditioner, and styling products like curling cream, wave spray, etc. that suit your hair.
Choose a diffuser that has fingers and will diffuse your hair gently.
Do not overuse a hair dryer diffuser that will very likely lead to frizz.
Use hair products after doing thorough research regarding if you actually need that.
There are tons of brands to choose from both online and offline shops. Before choosing one, make sure it is reliable and has satisfactory reviews.

Diffusing short natural curl for volume

Short hair is easy to handle and less expensive to manage. Short curly hair is less prone to get frizzy. Also, take less time to air dry and diffuse. For those who think that the curl can’t be cut short, the below tips can help.

You can use regular shampoo in the shower to start with. If your hair is unclean shampoo has barely any alternative to clean. You can use conditioner prior to using shampoo if your hair is unhealthy, damaged, and gets unmanageable after shampooing. A long story short you need to find the balance of products that works for you the best considering the hair type. There are thousands of new products with distinctive benefits to find out for your hair.
Brush it through with a denim brush. You may use a wide-tooth comb too. This is upon your choice and what you are comfortable with. The purpose is to remove extra water and get the hair ready for using the product to diffuse finally. After brushing all the areas, need to detangle with your own hand. And let them air dry a little.
Scrunch your hair thoroughly. Make sure you scrunch the entire sections shake them to dry a little for making them ready to use products.
Now you can use curl conditioner cream, curl defining cream, etc. Again this is absolutely about what brand you prefer that you have chosen after you have done research and experiment on your hair.
Use natural coconut oil milk afterward. Coconut oil is known for nourishment to your hair and scalp.
Wear a thin microfiber towel and make sure your hair is positioned at the top of your head. This helps to get more volume. You can use a t-shirt for this purpose too but It is strictly recommended that you do not use a regular towel. Take off the towel after 5-10 minutes.
Then it is about diffusing your hair till they are completely dry. Very important you use a lower heat setting to diffuse. More heat will make the chance to get frizzy and in long run may cause damage to your hair. Make sure you diffuse all the areas sideway upside down.
Once you have done diffusing, scrunch your hair and shake them gently to shape them as per your preference.

Final Words

After reading our article on how to use a hair dryer diffuser, we hope you have gathered sufficient information regarding how to properly use a diffuser for different hair type.

Specially this article focusing on diffusing curly hair we believe will serve you enough information to take care of your hair avoiding frizz. To style your beautiful hair with natural texture, you only deserve the best of the tools and the richest guidelines we hope we have provided.

How to Use a Hair Dryer Diffuser?