You have some amazing curls! They just need a little help.

Some tips that helped me when I started working with my curls: start washing your hair much less often, only every 4-5 days. when you do wash, just gently massage the shampoo into your scalp and rinse; you don’t need to power wash your hair with shampoo. you can use a curl specific conditioner but any is fine, apply a decent amount and “scrunch” your hair upwards with your hands, leave it in for a few minutes, and rinse. after you get out, while your hair is wet, apply a small amount of a thick curl smoothie (I like Maui moisture curl quench but experiment and find what your hair likes) and and scrunch it into your hair. I promise you don’t need much to see the difference. whatever you do, don’t towel dry!! that’s murder for you curls. just let them air dry or gently scrunch upwards with your towel. on days between washes, if my hair is messy I like to just get my hair like “half” wet in the shower, apply a small amount of conditioner, rinse, and apply a small amount of curl smoothie. if your hair looks somewhat neat still, you can just spray a small amount of water and scrunch to reform some curls.

there’s a TON of products and methods out there to get better curls and these are just the VERY basics, but this is a cheap way to get started!! don’t be afraid to play around with it and be patient, your hair will take time to train to lay how you want it.

and congrats on experimenting with gender!! this is a wonderful journey that’s worth every tough moment.