so i've been trying for the longest time to figure out a way to style my curly hair that is (A) low-maintenance, (B) not damaging to the hair long-term (in order to minimize frizz), and (C) looks okay for daily use
the one thing i have going for me is that my hair is naturally very curly; so i don't need to do anything particularly special to get the above defined curls; however the downside is that (A) curly hair is much more prone to frizzing, (B) curly hair looks like shit if you brush it and (C) shoulder-length curly hair is heavier than shoulder-length straight hair and that weight really works against you when styling it. in particular, the more weight you put on the hair the less volume and curl you get near the top so it leads to a very unbalanced hairstyle that doesn't look good IMO
so i tried a whole bunch of stuff including hair dryers / diffusers, various styling products, but what ultimately worked out well ended up being very simple: let my hair air dry and as it dries i periodically turn my head down and let my hair fall over my face (kind of like headbanging); this helps promote a more balanced shape with more volume and curliness near the top and also helps dry out the hair faster, too. plus, since you never touch the hair or use a dryer you get very little frizz
this even works without any specialized shampoo or conditioner (the above picture is just using plain old head and shoulders 2-in-1 shampoo and conditioner which i borrowed from my girlfriend), although in general i'd probably still do something a little fancier (e.g. separate shampoo and conditioner) just to avoid shampooing too frequently or overusing conditioner
i'm still working on growing out and styling my bangs better, but one step at a time …