Why curly hair should be ‘squelching’ before you dry it, according to Jonathan Van Ness

The word ‘squelching’ is not one we often include when describing our beauty routine (“My foundation is squelching today,”… see? It doesn’t work), however, Jonathan Van Ness is about to change all that.

This week, the Queer Eye star, who launched his YouTube channel back in 2021, was joined by Damn, Glam! Studio founder Tiffany Hunter for a hair tutorial video entitled ‘Curly Hair Styling & Maintenance’. In short, the 15-minute video does exactly what it says on the tin: gives viewers all sorts of juicy tips on how to effectively look after and style our curly hair, specifically 2a to 4c curly hair. 

It goes without saying that every word out of JVN’s mouth must be respected, but there was one piece of haircare advice bestowed upon us mere mortals that particularly stood out. In response to Tiffany explaining that, “It’s so important to keep the hair super moisturised before you diffuse because you’re going to be putting hot air on cold wet hair,” JVN had a special tip of us own to add:

“You literally want to hear a little bit of squelch in the hair,” he says. “If you don’t hear that squelch in your curls it’s going to be frizzy, I can already tell you. You have to have that amount of product in there for it to not get frizzy on you.”

That’s right, do not even THINK about touching those tools before hearing the sound. Never, not even if you’re in a rush because you got sidetracked watching compilation clips of Daphne Bridgerton and the Duke of Hasting’s sexiest moments on YouTube (do hit us up with any new versions though). 

The comment came while the pair were working on model Jamika Martin. They started with a shampoo treatment and mask, emphasising the need for hydration when working with and styling curly textures. 

Then, after sectioning Jamika’s hair, they applied a serum designed to balance the porosity, which helps curls appear more uniform.