curly ladies.....help, please!

[chiver78]

I chopped about 8" off my hair yesterday morning, kind of on impulse. it's also layered, which is my normal cut...for a long time now. the only variable has been the length. when wet, the longest layers now reach just below my shoulders. my hair is naturally a little curlier than Meg Ryan in this pic. I normally straighten my hair, b/c I never learned how to properly "do" my curls. this weekend that I crashed w/my sis, I tried out a few different curl products in an effort to find something that would let me wash 'n go. since I'm couch surfing most weekends lately, I'm kind of at the mercy of everyone else's bathroom situations. weekdays, I can blow out and flat iron like I usually do. I'm inept with diffusers, and quite honestly...if I'm going to blow dry my hair, I'll just blow/flat iron as normal. I feel like it would take less time anyway, I have that down to a 45-minute routine now.

this weekend, I tried Suave knockoffs of Redken mousse and spray gel as well as a (likely expired) Aussie curls mousse, and was not impressed with any of them. I swear by the Suave Nexxus knockoffs for S/C, so I figured I'd give 'em an inexpensive shot. going to try the mousse again, I think I used too much of it this time. the rest, meh.

what do you do for wash 'n go, if anything? I'm kind of wondering if my layered cut - which looks awesome straightened - kind of shoots me in the foot for wash 'n go unless I pull it back into a hair clip and spray it down. I'm totally going to try that out in the morning before I blow out/straighten, just to see whether it's long enough to do that. I *may* have gone just a little too short. ugh...

[sarcasticgirl]

Layers are a must for curls!
I wear wash and go... The trick is finding the right product and unfortunately Evey girl is different! I use a mousse and a sculpting lotion by joico.
I throw my product in and blow dry with Mt hair upside down for a couple of minute and around the crown. Less than 5 mins.
My hair always looks better on day 2. A few spritzes of water and some dabs of sculping and I am good to go.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using proboards

[chiver78]

day 2?!    when I shower at night before bed, I flatiron the dry hair in the am. my overall look fresh out of bed those days isn't anything I'd ever consider wearing out in public w/o a hat.

I'll look out for the joico label though, thanks. would I find it outside salons?

[busymom]

I have a lot of natural wave in my hair, & like you, the shorter my hair is, the more curly it gets. My current favorite "wash & go" product is Pantene Curl Perfection. I use both the shampoo and the conditioner. But, I'm suddenly having problems at times finding that product in the stores, & I'm praying it's not being discontinued.

[JustLurkin]

Like Sarcastic said, every one is different and it is way to hard to find the right product.

I use Beautiful Textures Curl Control Defining Pudding that I got at Walmart.  I think it's in the Ethnic care section, I've had the jar several months so really don't remember. It maintains my natural curl and controls the frizz.   I let my hair get wet in the shower every morning (yea, all the Black readers can sharply inhale--I don't wash it, just let it get wet), brush it, I'm in the car about 40 minutes before I arrive at work. Once I'm at work, I tease it out a little so it's not flat. Any areas that start to get dry, I just add a little more. Like I said, the jar has lasted several months.

I just looked it up on Amazon (where it's twice the Walmart price), and the biggest complaint was the smell. I'm sensitive to smell, and a migraine sufferer, and it doesn't bother me. The smell does fade, but I don't find it bad to begin with. So, since that was the biggest complaint, I would suggest opening it in the store.

[wvugurl26]

Oddly enough I swore my hair was straight when it was short. When I grew it out I noticed the waves. If I go too long between cuts it weighs the waves down. I use either Suave spray gel or the sexy line volumizing blow dry gel and the sexy line mousse. Then I scrunch it all up and let air dry or I dry for a few minutes with a diffuser. The worst thing for me is untangling it on day two. It's so awful. 

[wvugurl26]

I get my stuff at Ulta. They are having a buy 2 get 1 sale right now on professional styling products. 

[sarcasticgirl]

Yeah, day 2. I don't go to bed with wet hair. If I did it would be a scary mess. I wash in the morning or in the evening right when I get home. It is mostly dry after 4 hours. I will spritz with water and dab on some product where needed for a day or two. I only wash my hair twice a week... Any more and it gets horribly.dry.
I buy joico on amazon. I used to buy it at beauty supply stores or salons.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using proboards

[chiver78]

oh man, I go to bed with wet hair all the time! between late hockey games in the winter and coming home from volleyball covered in bug spray all summer. some days, I wash my hair more than once.

I'm looking for stuff that I can either spray in, mousse in, scrunch and go. no heat tools needed. sounds like I need to just get used to packing the flat iron until my hair grows out enough to pull the whole thing back into a clip when wet - which was what I had been doing before the cut. it took me about 50 minutes to get out of the house this morning - shower, hair, makeup, pack up lunch, find the umbrella. so maybe packing the flat iron won't be as bad as I expect.

[sunshinegal1981]

Oh my goodness, I just went through the exact same thing. My hair has been changing textures on me, and I recently found myself with a head full of natural, tight waves (I used to have stick-straight, un-curlable hair....wtf!), and NO CLUE how to manage them.

I tried a thousand random drugstore products with little success, and finally threw in the towel a few months ago and went for real help. A stylist in an Aveda salon changed my life with just two little products. I was skeptical ("MORE products you want me to buy? Come on", and now I'm a believer.

Step 1: Scrunch this into your hair: www.amazon.com/Aveda-Curly-Enhancer-6-7-Ounce-Tube/dp/B002CMLS8M/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1406555337&sr=8-1&keywords=aveda+be+curly+products

Step 2: Scrunch this into your hair: www.amazon.com/Aveda-Confixor-Liquid-Gel-Ounces/dp/B0007CXWUG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1406555441&sr=8-1&keywords=aveda+confixor

Step 3 (optional!!!!): Dry with a diffuser for more volume. (I usually just air-dry and it comes out great.)

I don't know what magical curl-enhancing, bounce-inducing, shape-keeping, non-crunchifying potion is in these products, but I absolutely love them and will never buy anything else again, even if they quintuple in price.

Hope it helps!

[Malarky]

I never blow dry my hair.  

If I shower at night, I towel dry it and put it in a loose bun with a scrunchy on top of my head.  This keeps the Marge Simpson look to a  minimum.  

In the morning I either rewet it for the spiral curl look, or pull it back with clips and braid it for work.

Every time I wash it I oil the ends and use Suave captivating curls mousse.  It's dry, so it never looks greasy.

Occasionally I'll straighten it, but only the day after it's been washed.  

I just went to a new hairdresser and she was amazed at how healthy my hair is.  She also didn't realize that I dye it myself.  She was impressed that I had no greys and asked if it was a family trait.  Umm, no, I've been dying it for 12 years.  

[wvugurl26]

Mine is thick and the ends were trashed by winter and me being long overdue for a cut. However, anything thick makes my hair look greasy. If I let it air dry without scrunching it looks like a greaseball on day two.

[goldensam]

I have 3a/3b curls (visit naturallycurly.com to learn about curl patterns).  I have been in trial and error mode for years.  I live in Houston, so humidity control is a must, but it's Texas so I like my curls to be big    I'll come back later when I have more time to list things that have and haven't worked for me.  In the meantime, check out that website.  There is a lot of useful info there. 

[zibazinski]

Back in the Stone Age when I had short hair, I also had layers and the messier my hair was, the better it looked. Combed, not so hot. I use to keep my hair down Garnier intensely smooth leave in conditioning cream. It's less than $3 a bottle and it works and lasts. I spent a lot more on John Frieda frizz ease and it doesn't work nearly as well.

[chiver78]

Jul 28, 2014 12:23:21 GMT -5 goldensam said:

I have 3a/3b curls (visit naturallycurly.com to learn about curl patterns).  I have been in trial and error mode for years.  I live in Houston, so humidity control is a must, but it's Texas so I like my curls to be big    I'll come back later when I have more time to list things that have and haven't worked for me.  In the meantime, check out that website.  There is a lot of useful info there. 

thank you for that site! mine sound like they are 3a, totally dependent on the weather and very easy to straighten - people I've known for years don't believe my hair is curly b/c they have only ever seen it straightened and it doesn't "look like it's been straightened" if that makes any sense.

can't wait to see your list. it sounds like I might have the best luck with things that have worked well for you. it's like a sauna here in MA today, thankfully I've been inside all day in air conditioning!


thanks for all the tips. this is one thing I've learned over the years - everyone's curls are different, and it's totally a trial and error process. I don't have patience for that, esp. knowing that it's not that tough to straighten mine and it looks great that way. so I gave up on the curls. but if I can wash 'n go, that would be a nice option too.

[chiver78]

Jul 28, 2014 8:54:27 GMT -5 Malarky said:

I never blow dry my hair.  

If I shower at night, I towel dry it and put it in a loose bun with a scrunchy on top of my head.  This keeps the Marge Simpson look to a  minimum.  

In the morning I either rewet it for the spiral curl look, or pull it back with clips and braid it for work.

Every time I wash it I oil the ends and use Suave captivating curls mousse.  It's dry, so it never looks greasy.

Occasionally I'll straighten it, but only the day after it's been washed.  

I just went to a new hairdresser and she was amazed at how healthy my hair is.  She also didn't realize that I dye it myself.  She was impressed that I had no greys and asked if it was a family trait.  Umm, no, I've been dying it for 12 years.  

I think this is the mousse I tried this weekend and used too much of. I left the bottle w/my sis to try out, so I can't check. is it a Redken knockoff? whatever that one is, that's what I used.

[chapeau]

Jul 27, 2014 21:26:55 GMT -5 sarcasticgirl said:

Layers are a must for curls!

I have the exact opposite reaction. My hair is really, really curly, and the couple of times I have tried layers I can't get through a door sideways because of the frizz. Doesn't matter what product I use, it just goes nuts. Mine is really thick, though, which might have something to do with it. I have quit going to stylists who insist that layers are the only way to manage thick, curly hair, and recently dumped another stylist who said the only way to cut my hair included doing that thing with the scissors where they run the cutting edge along the length of your hair and sort of slice off hair at random lengths. That's a recipe for frizz city for me.

My hair is about the same length as yours, Chiver. I have also had luck with the Aveda curl enhancer and also with an olive-oil based hair oil? that I got at Sally's. The other thing that I love is Pantene night repair serum (I think it's a serum). I often shower at night, then put the serum in and braid it or otherwise pull it back, mostly to keep it tangle free. In the morning I use either the the hair oil or the curl enhancer depending on how I want to wear my hair that day. I don't even own a blow dryer, I just don't have the time/talent/desire to use one, with or without a diffuser.

[justme]

I like the Aveda products. I wash my hair at night, work in their Be Curly Prep and go to bed with it wet. I usually only run my fingers through it when I wake up. They have a be curly spray and lotion if you're wanting to define your curls more. It's all I've been using for the last 3 years or so.

ETA: And my hair is more wavy than curly. But it's also been getting close to a decade since it's been above my shoulders, so maybe it's curly when it's short for all I know.

[bobosensei]

I'm embarrassed to admit this, but I didn't know that I had naturally wavy hair until I was 30 and went to a good salon for the first time! So I am still learning how my hair works best more than 2 years later. I spent every day of my life that I washed my hair since I was 14 blow drying it straight. I always had super long and heavy hair as a kid with no layers so the wave didn't show it just looked horrible if it dried on its own. Now I keep it shoulder length with lots of layers. My last stylist cut a lot of them in and it does look better. For the last couple of years I just wash and go, but it is more difficult in the winter when it can take my hair all day to really feel dry. I have trouble with frizz, and even using a diffuser I tend to get some frizz, but my hair will also look a little frizzy if dried straight too here in Germany.

I always use a really good shampoo and conditioner. I have had luck with the Matrix Biolage line and Paul Mitchell which can be found in a lot of salons and easily online or Prive (there is an accent over the e) and Moroccan Curl Cream's products.  I also regularly try products made for ethnic and biracial hair most recently I have used a Mixed Chicks conditioner.  The best curl creams I've ever used are the Moroccan Curl cream and Prive's curl cream.  Paul Mitchell's stuff made my hair all goopy, and didn't provide any extra curl where the two I just mentioned help bring out the waves.  I did have a stylist use mousse on my once and my hair looked great for most of the day, but by evening the curls had all gone away.  I haven't tried a mousse/curl cream combo, but I think that might work for me.  Right now I am using Biolage Shampoo and Conditioner, combing my hair in the shower before final rinse, applying a leave in conditioner from Biolage to slightly towel dried hair, then putting the Moroccan Curl cream on top and gently curling sections of my hair around two fingers and allowing it to air dry.  If I scrunch the waves look better while my hair is wet, but the sections tend to break apart when they dry and make me look like I put a finger into an electrical socket.  It sounds totally high maintenance now that I write it out. 

I wish I had more natural curl.  I remember when everyone flat ironed the hell out of their hair, but now when you watch tv almost all of the women have curly hair.  I know that their hair is done with curling irons for the most part, but curls are so popular these days.

[ՏՇԾԵԵʅՏɧ_LԹՏՏʅҼ]

I used to have the (natural) "Meg Ryan" hair - like the pic in your link. In the last few years though, if it grows that long, the curl seems to "sag" or be non-existent.

I get a more curl from my natural curls when it's regularly trimmed (and layered), and about shoulder-length or slightly longer.

It also is quite dry, so I have to constantly keep it conditioned/moisturized - I found that Tea Tree Oil (available at salons) that you apply to your hair after washing/conditioning and before drying or styling, really brings back the curl - and also is really good for your hair and scalp.

Don't let the name fool you - it's not oil, but more a "lotion" or "conditioner" texture that comes in a pump bottle and you apply it to your scalp and hair by just massaging it in before styling.

The one I use is Paul Mitchell Tea Tree Oil - It also makes a fabulous body moisturizer.



paulmitchell.com/en-us/Products/TeaTree/TeaTreeSpecial/Pages/TeaTreeHairandBodyMoisturizer.aspx

[tloonya]

Jul 28, 2014 13:20:43 GMT -5 chapeau said:

Jul 27, 2014 21:26:55 GMT -5 sarcasticgirl said:

Layers are a must for curls!

I have the exact opposite reaction. My hair is really, really curly, and the couple of times I have tried layers I can't get through a door sideways because of the frizz. Doesn't matter what product I use, it just goes nuts. Mine is really thick, though, which might have something to do with it. I have quit going to stylists who insist that layers are the only way to manage thick, curly hair, and recently dumped another stylist who said the only way to cut my hair included doing that thing with the scissors where they run the cutting edge along the length of your hair and sort of slice off hair at random lengths. That's a recipe for frizz city for me.

My hair is about the same length as yours, Chiver. I have also had luck with the Aveda curl enhancer and also with an olive-oil based hair oil? that I got at Sally's. The other thing that I love is Pantene night repair serum (I think it's a serum). I often shower at night, then put the serum in and braid it or otherwise pull it back, mostly to keep it tangle free. In the morning I use either the the hair oil or the curl enhancer depending on how I want to wear my hair that day. I don't even own a blow dryer, I just don't have the time/talent/desire to use one, with or without a diffuser.

chap,
I have mine curly as well. And no layers because it would look like an afro.
A few years ago I just tried to mix hair conditioner with water in a spray bottle.
In the morning I spray the mixture all over my hair and they go down and stay beautiful all day.
People compliment my hair all the time.
I use panthene cond or fruktis.
Also I have fruktis curl maker or somehitng like that. Jell tube.
Also diluting with water and spraying after cond mixture sometimes.
It is hardening curls and makes them stay put.

My life is so easy right now. I do not even brush. Just spray and go. Also after spray crunch it with your hands.

[movingforward]

My hair is curly and dry.  I use an Olive Oil leave in conditioner for frizz along with Redken Fresh Curls.  Typically I wash my hair at night and just wet it in the morning with either a spray bottle or by sticking my head under the kitchen faucet. 

[cktc]

Marshalls has pretty good prices if you want to test some different salon products. I'm not crazy about the Derma Organix line, but I like Joico and Rusk. 

[Malarky]

I now "know" more people with curly hair online that I do IRL.   

[yogiii]

I think I have 2C hair.  I pretty much give up from April-Sept and just wear it up.  It's more manageable in the winter. 

[wvugurl26]

If I comb mine out after showering and don't dry it, I get 2A. If I don't comb out out then it's more like 2B. It's hard because it is so damaged by winter but heavy conditioners make it a total grease ball. It needs cut but my hairdresser has been less than available lately and she only works two days a week. 

[buystoys]

My hair gets curlier as it gets longer.  I have somewhat kinda spiral curls once it gets past my shoulders.

I don't go to bed with wet hair EVER.  I wet it in the morning (shampoo every second or third day, condition it every day), finger comb a Fruictise moisturizing something or other into it with a little Fruictise moroccan oil something or other into it, pull it back with a head band, into a pony tail, or push it behind my ears and voila!  Hair!  ROFL

I never blow dry my hair.  If I'm wearing it down, I finger comb the curls apart a couple of hours after I've gotten out of the shower.  It gets full and the curl looks nice.  I don't touch it at all after that.  Sorry I'm not more help on products, but I tend to use what's affordable as I've always had issues with my hair.

For what it's worth, I found that doing hot pink ombre on the ends made everyone think it looked great.