Natural curls’ best friend: a diffuser!

Collaboration with Lyko. This post contains affiliate links, and I may earn a small commission if you buy through them.

Quick answer: A diffuser is a hair dryer attachment that spreads airflow so curls and waves dry with more definition, volume and less frizz. Start with towel-dried hair, add curl gel or cream, use low or medium airflow, cup small sections into the diffuser, keep the dryer still, and stop when hair is about 70% dry.

wavy curly hair after drying with a diffuser

 

My natural curls have received an uplift, because I have learned how to use a diffuser. Ever since I switched to a curly hair routine and started to learn about taking care of my curls, I have wanted to try that interesting tool. A diffuser.

Diffuser is awesome for naturally curly or wavy hairtypes. Especially if your hair is heavy and long – or your curls are waves and you would like some more definition on them.

My curls are a mix of waves and curls and I feel like diffusing them makes the curls even more defined. Diffusing my hair also gives it a lot of volume – although with curly hair, volume is not usually a problem.

 

How to use a diffuser for naturally curly hair

towel-dried wavy hair before diffusing

First of all, make sure your hair is about towel-dry. No use in putting wet hair in the diffuser as diffusing already takes a longer time than your regular hair drying.

how to hold a diffuser under naturally curly hair

Using a diffuser is quite simple. You just attach the diffuser part in your hair dryer and dry your hair with that.

But I have a few tips so that you’ll succeed no matter what.

  1. Work in sections. Don’t try and get all your hair on the diffuser at once.
  2. Be patient. The more you move the diffuser and your hair – the frizzier it gets. The same applies to curly hair anyway, especially when it’s wet. The more you touch your hair the frizzier it gets.
  3. Use low heat. Curly hair is already dry and all that, so let’s be as gentle as possible.
  4. Want to get more definition (=tighter curls)? Use a curl cream or gel – I also have a guide to lightweight products for wavy curly hair – and be especially careful to not move the diffuser too much. You want the curls to set.
  5. Scrunch out the stiffness. Sometimes your curls might look weirdly stiff after diffusing them – especially if you’ve used a curl gel. But then you can just carefully scrunch them out. Then they are nice and soft again! You can also separate some sections if you feel like some of your curls are too clumped together.
  6. Want to get extra volume? Diffuse your hair with your head upside down! It also helps to tilt your head even just a little. Like in these photos.
defined curls after diffusing with a Remington hair dryer
Diffused curls!

Using a diffuser helps your curls, because it keeps them up. As you can see from the photos, all I’m doing is lifting my hair on the diffuser and just letting them form their own curl pattern while lifting the diffuser closer to my scalp. When you dry your curls this way, in their natural shape, well, they dry that way. Diffusing your hair even for a short time helps. I usually don’t even dry them completely, maybe about 70% dry.

Here I diffused my hair in four sections. Two on each sides, while tilting my head. When I was about finished, I tilted my head upside down and did a final round to get extra volume. I used aloe vera as my curl gel. Recently I wrote about aloe vera, so if you’re interested to read how it works for naturally curly hair, go check my aloe vera gel curl styler post out. When I was done, I scrunched out the stiffness to make my hair soft.

before and after diffusing wavy curly hair
Before and after diffusing my hair.

Remington diffuser options from Lyko

The blowdryer and diffuser I used in these photos was the Remington Your Style Dryer Kit. That exact kit is now an older model, so I would check current availability before trying to buy it.

Current Lyko options I checked in June 2026:

Lyko is a Nordic beauty store with makeup, skincare and hair care products, including several Remington styling tools.

In these photos I’m wearing a lip gloss also from their site. It’s Burt’s Bees lip gloss in the shade Rosy Dawn. Such a beautiful shade, which I’ve used a lot lately. The consistency in it is nice as well, moisturizing and comfortable.

wavy curly haircut after diffuser styling

Oh – and one more thing about the hair. I’m so happy I cut it. The ends no longer stick out as these straight dead ends, but they actually curl and look healthy.

If you try diffusing your curls, come share your result with me on Instagram.

 

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