DASHU Curl Cream Guide: Styling Waves, Perms and Curls for Men

Wavy hair on men used to be something to cut short or comb flat. That has changed. Longer tops, perm waves and loose curls are everywhere, and they ask for a different kind of product than the wax that built a spiky crop.

Wax fixes hair in place. A wave does not want to be fixed. It wants to keep its bend, hold together as a group of strands, and still move. That is the job of a curl cream. We make 3, each with a printed hold and shine figure, and this guide explains how they differ, which one suits which wave, and how to apply them so the hair looks styled and not coated.

All three creams are rated on the same 6-point scale printed on our wax jars. They sit at the low end for hold, on purpose. A wave carries its own shape. The cream only has to keep the strands together and stop frizz.

One note on the ratings. The three creams are sold as one product family, so buyers rate them together: 4.0 from 293 ratings for the family as a whole. The figure tells you how the line is received. It does not rank one cream above another.

Daily Natural Hair Cream: the lightest

Daily Natural Hair Cream has a hold of 1 of 6 and a shine of 2 of 6. It is the product for hair that should look like hair, only tidier. It smooths flyaways, takes the dry edge off the ends and rinses out easily. With a hold that low it will not keep a shaped style in place. It finishes hair and does not fix it. It costs $15.48 for 5.07 fl oz (150 ml).

Daily Volume Up Curl Cream: the bouncy one

Daily Volume Up Curl Cream has a hold of 2 of 6 and a shine of 3 of 6. It is built for loose curls and perm waves that have gone limp. You scrunch it in, and the curl springs back with a light hold that is not stiff. It washes out in one shampoo. It costs $15.48 for 5.46 fl oz.

Daily Wet Curl Cream: the glossy one

Daily Wet Curl Cream has a hold of 3 of 6 and a shine of 6 of 6, the top of the shine scale. The shine is the point of this one. It gives the damp, defined look of hair that has just been towel dried, and keeps it after the hair is dry. It costs $15.48 for 5.07 fl oz (150 ml).

If you want curls that look dry and natural, this is the wrong tube. Take the Natural Hair Cream.

Before you choose a cream, look at your hair when it is clean, dry and has nothing in it. What it does on its own tells you what it needs.

Loose waves

The hair bends in a soft S and falls back toward straight by the afternoon. This is the most common wave on men who have grown the top out. It needs little hold. Too much product pulls the S flat. The natural cream on dry days and the Volume Up cream on humid days cover most of it.

A perm

A perm gives hair a regular, even curl. It looks its best on the first day and loses bounce with each wash. Perm waves take a curl cream well, because the curl pattern is uniform and the cream finds it easily. The Volume Up cream was built for this hair.

Natural curls and coils

Tighter curls are drier and more fragile than waves, and they need moisture before they need hold. Our creams are light. They can define a natural curl, but they are not a deep conditioner, and one buyer with tight curls found the Volume Up cream too firm. Start with a small amount on one section before you do the whole head.

Hold is the smaller decision with curl creams. Shine is the bigger one, because it changes how the haircut reads from across a room.

A low shine looks casual. The hair seems to have dried on its own and happened to fall well. It suits offices, daytime and anyone who does not want to look styled.

A high shine looks deliberate. The curls are separated and glossy, the way they are for a minute after a shower. It suits evenings, shorter curls and darker hair, where gloss shows as depth and not as grease.

There is a middle path. Use the natural cream for shape, then add gloss only where you want it with Pro Airy Polish Oil. Pump a small amount into a palm and layer it from the mid-lengths to the ends. Stay off the roots. It is an oil, and one buyer found it transferred to a pillow hours later, so use little.

No cream fixes hair that was washed badly. Waves and curls are won or lost in the shower.

That dryness is why wavy hair frizzes. A dry strand lifts away from its neighbors to look for moisture in the air. So the routine is built around keeping water in.

• Wash when the hair needs it, not by habit. Straight, oily hair may need a daily shampoo. Wavy and curly hair usually does not.
• Shampoo the scalp. Let the foam run through the lengths as you rinse.
• Condition the whole length if your hair is dry or curly, not only the ends.
• Detangle in the shower with a wide-tooth comb or your fingers while the conditioner is in.
• Wrap the hair in a towel or a cotton T-shirt to take up the water. Do not rub.

Those five points follow the hair care advice of the American Academy of Dermatology. None of them needs a product from us.

If you want one bottle for the job, Anti-Hair Loss Scalp Shampoo is a pH 5.5 shampoo in a 16.9 fl oz (500 ml) pump that washes and conditions in one step. The label reads Anti-Hair Loss. That is the name on the bottle. A shampoo is not a treatment, and one buyer saw no change after a month.

Curl cream goes on differently from wax. You do not rub it in. You press it in.

The last step is the one men skip. Touching a curl while it dries breaks it into frizz. Once the hair is dry you can loosen it with your fingers at the roots, and the curl will hold.

Air drying is the gentle choice. If you are short of time, use the lowest heat that does the job and keep the dryer moving.

Second-day hair

Waves rarely need a wash every day. On the second morning, wet your hands, run them through the hair to wake the cream that is still there, and scrunch again. Add a half dose only where the curl has dropped. Dermatologists also suggest protecting curls overnight by gathering the hair loosely on top of the head or in a loose braid, which cuts friction against the pillow.

Put together, the routine is lighter than daily wax styling. Most of the work happens on wash day, and the days after are a matter of waking the hair up.

Treat the table as a starting point. An oily scalp may need the wash every second day. Dry, thick curls can go longer. The hair will tell you: when the roots look flat and the curl feels coated, it is time.

Notice what is missing from the week. There is no brush, no daily shampoo and no high heat. Waves do better with less handling, and the cream is there to keep them together between washes, not to rebuild them each morning.

Some hair has a good wave through the lengths and nothing at the roots. The top lies against the head and the style looks heavy. A cream cannot fix that, because the problem is lift and not curl.

Classic Grooming Hair Tonic is made for it. It is a light liquid that goes into towel-dried hair before the blow dryer and builds volume as the hair dries. It leaves no sticky feel. It is a primer and not a styler, so follow it with a cream. The scent is warm and strong, with vanilla, leather and musk. It costs $13.44 for 6.76 fl oz (200 ml).

Tools for lift

Classic Styling Pik is a metal pick with wide-spaced teeth, 6.69 in long. Slide it in at the roots and lift, and the hair gains height without losing its curl. It also separates thick or curly hair that has clumped. On fine, short hair go gently, because the teeth are metal. It costs $8.98.

Daily Volume Pick is a heat-resistant clip for the fringe. Set it at the roots, warm the hair with a dryer, let it cool, and lift it out. It works on the fringe and the front. Buyers who wanted lift across the whole top were let down, and several felt the price was high for a plastic tool. Its rating says the same: 3.3 from 176 ratings.

A word on the spray. Mega Hold Super Hair Spray has a hard hold, and on waves that can be too much. Do not mist the whole head. Spray two or three pumps into a palm and press it only onto the pieces that will not stay.

Frizz is a wave that has lost its group. Each strand has gone its own way, and the outline of the hair turns soft and wide. Damp air is the usual cause. Dry hair takes up water from the air, swells and lifts.

A cream helps in two ways. It coats the strand lightly, so less water gets in. And it holds neighboring strands together, so the wave stays a wave. On humid days, step up one cream: from the natural cream to the Volume Up, or from the Volume Up to the wet cream. The extra hold is small, and it is often the difference between a curl at five o'clock and a cloud.

What does not help is brushing. A brush pulls a dry wave apart and makes frizz at once. If the hair needs resetting during the day, wet your hands and scrunch.

Men who are growing their hair out often stand between the two. The test is simple. Dry your hair with nothing in it and look at the top.

• If it stands up or lies in one direction, with no bend, it is wax hair. Start with our hold and shine scale.
• If it bends in an S, or curls at the ends, it is cream hair. A wax will fight the bend.
• If it does a little of both, with straight roots and wavy ends, use the tonic for lift and a cream on the lengths.

There is one product that sits on the line. Wild Design Muscle Wax is a clay wax with a hold of 4 of 6, made for volume and waves. It gives more grip than any cream and less stiffness than the firm jars. For a short, messy, wavy top it can replace a cream.

Length matters here too. Under two inches a wave barely has room to form, and a wax or clay does more for the hair. Past three inches the wave shows, and a cream starts to earn its place.

Creams and oils are easy to overuse, because each dose looks like nothing. After a week of daily styling without a proper wash, the hair turns dull and the curl goes soft. That is build-up, and more cream will not solve it.

Our creams are made to rinse out. The Volume Up cream washes out in one shampoo, and the natural cream rinses easily. Still, if you layer a cream, an oil and a spray, give the hair a thorough wash once a week and start again from clean.

Classic Grooming Hair Tonic is the lowest at $1.99 an ounce, and Pro Airy Polish Oil is the highest at $5.91. A cream is used a coin at a time, so even the smaller tube lasts for weeks of daily styling.

• Using wax on a wave. A firm wax straightens the bend you were trying to keep.
• Applying cream to dry hair. It sits on top and looks greasy. Dampen the hair first.
• Rubbing with a towel. Rubbing roughens the hair, and rough hair frizzes.
• Touching it while it dries. Hands off until the hair is fully dry.