Product, to very little product, plopping for so long or little, patience when diffusing. My hair always feels icky or when I try to sleep I it just morphs even with all the methods. I just wanna like my curly hair and not feel like a frizz ball. It looks the best right before I go to diffuse it but it’s just not as cute when diffused 😔
So ik some people really dislike this brand, but I have found that the absolute best brand of shampoo and conditioner for my wavy/curly hair is Aussie. Once I get out of the shower, I wring a little bit of water out of my hair, but while it’s still wet, I apply a small amount of cer-100 serum thingy (the bottle says “essence oil”) and I scrunch. I do all of that bent over so my head is upside down. I then wrap my hair in a microfiber towel, and let it sit for a few minutes.
From your description of it being a wet mop or feeling icky it sounds like you’re using way too much product for your hair type. Use a light amount of product, and when you do make sure your hair is dripping wet, don’t let it dry at all before styling. You can use a spray bottle if that helps. Make sure you’re scrunching your hair to the side and with your head tilted forward it helps give volume to your hair. Then I personally don’t diffuse my hair, I prefer letting it air dry.
I’ll scrunch it with a microfiber towel but then leave it as is. If you really want to diffuse it then don’t use a high heat setting, that’s what causes frizz. Use a lower heat and set the power to low as well. It takes forever yes but otherwise you’ll get frizz. Also never sleep with wet hair. Unlike straight hair, curly hair is weakest when wet and prone to breakage as you sleep and basically undo all the work you just did. Dry your hair completely first before sleeping.
If it’s daytime, I’ll unwrap it and bend over to scrunch some more, with no extra product. If it’s nighttime I’ll do the same, but then plop it and sleep like that. I should add, my hair is low porosity, so it takes a while to dry, and I find a lot of leave ins and such make it worse
Is that real??? Your hair can grow mold???? That’s terrifying!! Tbh I very rarely sleep with the wet hair plopped. I make sure the t shirt I use to plop (it’s 100% cotton) is clean and dry before I use it. It may help that I keep my hair fairly short (shoulder length), but idk mold is not something I’ve really worried about…