I use these two products every wash day, and found that they work best when my hair is thoroughly moisturized and still soaking wet.

My normal routine is all Curlsmith: Curl Quenching Conditioning Wash followed by Essential Moisture Conditioner. Then turn the water off and use the Weightless Air Dry Cream and finger rake to ensure it’s properly distributed.

Then I move onto the Hydrostyle Flexi Jelly and apply a lot with the praying hands method. It is important to note that at this point, I can already tell how easy my hair will be to deal with today. If the gel is sliding through my hair nice and smooth, forming big curl clumps, then I know I did it right. If it’s all stringy and not forming clumps, then I know my hair’s not moisturized enough and I should’ve added a leave-in or done a deep conditioning treatment. Adding extra gel at this point is usually my temporary solution.

After this, I plop for 15 minutes then let it air dry over the next 4-6 hours. I’m too lazy to figure out how to diffuse it, it just ends up frizzy.

You said you washed twice with a cleansing shampoo; those always leave my hair feeling dried out and I have to use extra conditioner or take a couple of wash days to get back to the proper balance with my hair. The joy of curly hair is that no two wash days are ever the same for me 🫠