Top Diffusing Mistakes (and What You Should Do Instead)

1. Slinkying with High Speed

I get it—you want to get your hair dry fast. But slinkying your curls (that’s when you gather your curls into the diffuser bowl) on high speed is a hard no. Start with low speed, high heat. Cold air takes forever, and blasting wet curls with high-speed air just blows everything around and ruins your curl pattern. For wavy hair types especially, slinkying is key—but be slow, gentle, and deliberate about it.

2. Touching Your Hair While It’s Wet

This is a big one. And probably the #1 reason you’re dealing with frizz. If your hand is reaching for your wet curls, I’m gonna need you to stop right there. Fingers. Create. Frizz. Keep your hands completely out of your hair until it’s 100% dry. Trust me, your curls will thank you.

3. Moving Too Fast

You think if you move the diffuser around quickly, everything will dry faster. Nope. That’s not how this works. We want slow and steady—especially at the beginning. Start on low speed. Let your curls form and your products set. Once that cast is in place and things are starting to feel more solid, then you can switch to high speed just to get the water out.

4. Slinkying on High Speed

This one’s a sneaky mistake. Once you’ve moved to high speed, you should not be slinkying anymore. That technique is for low speed only. On high speed, we go into the side of the curls, never up from the bottom. You know how we always blow dry down the hair shaft to smooth the cuticle when straightening? Same rule applies here. We’re still protecting that cuticle!

So next time you pick up your diffuser, do it with purpose. With technique. And please, with patience. Because when you get it right? Your curls can go the distance—lasting all week long with barely any effort.

You’ve got this. Let that diffuser work for you, not against you.