At 36, I've finally figured out my curly hair routine. The Bounce Curl brush has changed the way I style my hair.

• It's taken me decades to figure out my hair routine.
• I've found a new go-to product, and the Bounce Curl brush has changed how I style my hair.
• My curly hair has never looked better, and I actually look forward to washing it now.

I may be 36, but it's only within the last few months that I feel like I've finally gotten my routine dialed in for my curly hair. I spent years wrestling it into submission and would wake up extra early before high school to flat-iron it, resulting in brittle split ends so bad they branched off into more split ends.

Now, it's been about a month since I've used any heat at all, aside from a diffuser once my hair is about halfway dry. My hair has never looked better, and it's mostly due to three things: my new favorite product, Sea Slip Mineral Infused Curl Slime from Curls; a microfiber towel; and the Bounce Curl Define EdgeLift Brush.

I actually look forward to washing my hair now

I wash my hair every few days. In between washes, I refresh my curls by wetting sections that look a little fuzzy, adding product to those sections, and letting them air dry.

On days I wash my hair, I usually use Nexus Humectress Shampoo and Conditioner, though I also use a clarifying shampoo every two weeks to get any built-up product out. I use a wide-tooth comb in the shower to distribute conditioner.

Straight out of the shower, when my hair is still pretty wet, I separate it into two sections to distribute the Curl Slime, which spreads really well throughout the hair. I have a lot of thick hair and often feel like I need a lot of product, but this has enough slip that it feels like it's evenly spread through my hair without needing to use too much.

The Bounce Curl brush has changed how I style my hair

Then, I section my hair and use the Bounce Curl brush to "brush style" it. It takes a few minutes but is worth the time I save by not having to use heat to fix my curls in the long run. I brush through a small section of hair at a time, lifting at the root and letting the edge of the brush create clumps that will turn into defined curls as it dries.

After finishing this step, I flip my head over, wrap it in a microfiber towel, and forget about it for a while while I watch an episode of something or chase my dog around the house, trying to teach him how to play with his toys.

Once it's at least halfway dry, I'll finish it off with my blow dryer with the diffuser attachment, which lets me dry my hair without blowing it around and disrupting the curls. If I'm in a rush, instead of letting it air dry for a bit, I'll gently scrunch some water out with the towel after brush styling and then go straight to diffusing it.

Then I'm good to go! Once it's fully dry, if there are any curls that are too big and defined or "clumped" together, I might pick them apart for some more volume, but that's all I need to do; I don't need to mess with any of my curls with a curling iron anymore to fix them because they're not cooperating, and it's made things so much easier.