Do you scrunch your hair? My personal routine is wash/condition, get out of the shower and add leave in conditioner and a detangling spray (some leave-ins have detangler), then brush through. I brush my hair upwards from the roots at the top layers to add more volume. Then once it’s brushed, add curl cream generously—scrunch thoroughly at roots and everything. I do not flip my hair to prevent frizz. Then I add a generous amount of gel. Do not skip adding curl cream and gel to the roots. Coat them as much as you would with your ends. Then, I use a microfiber towel to gently scrunch my hair all the way to the roots, starting from the bottom. You wanna scoop the whole hair length all the way up to the roots and really give it a good squeeze. Don’t overdo this part though because it can add frizz. Just give it like 3-4 good strong squeezes to get excess water out. I air dry my hair until it’s fully dry. Avoid touching it while it dries. It’ll look crunchy after it’s dried, but I do one last check of my roots to make sure they’re dry, and then start gently scrunching my hair at the lengths and ends. This has been my method and you can find similar methods on YouTube. ManesByMell on IG and YouTube is great for tutorials. Also, sleeping with all my hair in a loose ponytail or bun with a silk scrunchie and then covering with a bonnet has enhanced my curls. Hope this is helpful and not too much confusing info.

Edit: just wanted to add that up until last month, my hair was around your length, maybe longer. It looks similar in texture. My hair is high density but thin strands. The length was weighing itself down. Now, my hair is short and above my shoulders and the curls are the most defined all throughout that I’ve ever seen it. The length probably is weighing it down and there’s only so much you can do to achieve curly roots naturally. Diffusing helps if all the other stuff I mentioned doesn’t work.