Wurly and Curly thread!!!

[redcelticcurls]

Welcome RainbowHawk!

Unfortunately, a lot of us deal with loosened curls as our hair gets longer. Right now my hair is almost BSL when curly and the top 1/5 is pretty much straight. Only the lower portions have maintained a lot of curl. I don't know of a way to deal with this. I think it's a trade off

That's why I keep a length that isn't long by LHC standards, even it is longer than some curly hair seen in the wild. What's the point if having awesome curls if they just get dragged out?

Every curly is going to have to find her own happy place on the curl/length spectrum.

[kitschy]

I'm kinda hoping that my curls will weigh down at some point. My shortest layer is at BSL when pulled straight and my longest layer is at hip length. I haven't notice a reduction in curl yet.

I'm trying to grow out my layers and see if I can get my hair to calm the heck down just a little bit.

[redcelticcurls]

I'm kinda hoping that my curls will weigh down at some point. My shortest layer is at BSL when pulled straight and my longest layer is at hip length. I haven't notice a reduction in curl yet.

I'm trying to grow out my layers and see if I can get my hair to calm the heck down just a little bit.

Is your root pattern the same when short? With our similarities, I just sort assumed that you had tighter roots at a shorter length like I do.

Well, that's what I get for assuming!

[RainbowHawk]

That's why I keep a length that isn't long by LHC standards, even it is longer than some curly hair seen in the wild. What's the point if having awesome curls if they just get dragged out? .

Exactly!

[kitschy]

Is your root pattern the same when short? With our similarities, I just sort assumed that you had tighter roots at a shorter length like I do.

Well, that's what I get for assuming!

My roots are as curly at a longer length, but they do tend to weigh down and flatten against my head more. I've been experimenting (not too successfully) with face framing layers so I can get a little lift around my face - however, those layers tend to frizz. As for the rest of my hair - it is just wild, full and as thick as ever. I was hoping the length and weight would help get rid of some of the bulk.

[dulce]

1've noticed for my hair it is curly long or short but when 1 had it to tailbone length the curling then started at shoulders and down,the hair above was fairly straight.If my hair is shorter, the curls start closer to scalp.

[CurlyMopTop]

The longer mine gets, the straighter it gets towards the roots of the top layers. That's why I love layers!! I'm very curious to see what it will look like as it gets longer. The longest that it has ever been is between apl and bsl. My longest layers underneath also have a habit of clumping up into chalk sized ringlets that start shortly past the root. Curls are a mixed bag!

[AceOfCurls]

I'm hoping that I'll like my curls when they are weighed down. I want my 3b/c to turn into a 2c/3a.

I always see curls on tv or in a magazine with pretty curls, but the curls are looser and I want my hair to be like that instead of a tighter curl. I'm hoping for more of an S shape rather than a twister shape.

I always thought layering was a good idea until I came here because it helps to remove volume and makes the hair able to move more freely instead of one big mass. I still think its kind of a good idea. I'm scared to try it now though incase I hate it and have to start the growing out process all over again.

[RainbowHawk]

My hair is so fine that layers just add floof. *heh* I'm in a huge battle with floof these days.

[katsrevenge]

Hello! I'm new at LHC, and I have not read this entire thread (it's 525 pages long, and I have way too many things to do! ) so please forgive me if much of this has been covered.

As I posted to the introductory board, I'm a multiracial curly girl-- I go with 3b because most of the time I do have nice spiral curls, but as other curlies will know curly hair can vary tremendously with the weather. My hair is also extremely fine-- it's own weight will pull it straight or very nearly so when it's bra strap length or beyond, and even a loose ponytail or bun results in stick-straight hair for me. I love my curls, and that's one of the reasons that I've cut it over the years. Now I'm thinking about growing my hair longer, but I will want to find a way to maintain my curls throughout. . . though I am not entirely certain that it's possible, especially at the top.

In any case, I'm eager to learn more about hair care, though I have never met anyone with hair quite like mine before. It is more common among multiracial individuals than anyone else, but even there it seems to be quite rare. *shrug* I'm tired of my thin, super-fine hair breaking off if I look at it funny, let alone touch it. I went water only a few months ago and developed an awesome waxy coating over my hair that I just loved, because my hair was smooth and shiny and well-behaved whether curly or straightened (again, not with heat or chemicals but just by putting it back into a bun). Last week, after reading here, I tried an egg/honey/oil conditioner and it stripped the waxy coating away, so I'm back to ultra-fine floofiness and constant breakage. Yeah, it's soft and shiny, but it was shiny before-- now it feels like baby hair again, it's constantly tangling and floofing and breaking and it's driving me up a wall. Aside from henna (I'm g-6-pd deficient) what can I do to thicken my hair up a bit, preferably without squashing my curls? I'm back to water only, but the waxy coating does not seem to be returning. In fact, I'm starting to think that maybe it wasn't my own sebum at all, but a leftover residue from the conditioner I'd been using before. I would rather not start conditioning my hair with the same silicone-laden stuff again (I like being a hippie!), but if that's all I can do then that's all I can do.

I can sort of understand where you are coming from. Most of my hair is rather fine too (I do have thicker strands that I can feel easier though...and I have a lot of hair, too much I feel sometimes!) and it is really easy for the curl to leave my hair as more wurly or even straightish depending on the weather/what I've done to it. Even then, it is never smooth or tangle free. When it is short, I've got curls everywhere and they are rather boingy. Now that the hair is longer, I only really get curls in a few places; mostly in the front, at the bottom and underneath. I'm going for length over curl right now, so I'm OK with that.

Not to mention it is almost always up to protect it these days... never a bad idea. Can you wear it up yet? Braids, buns, twists, things with silky scaves..all of these will protect the hair and help keep it from breaking.

I did WO in high school for a while. For a few months it was great. And then, things just got nasty. That seems to be pretty common from what I've read on it, a few lucky sorts get good results and the rest of us don't. I do condition/wash with conditioner (CWC). This means I hop in shower, wet hair, glop conditioner in it and massage that in, do shower stuff... rinse my hair, add soap (gentle stuff) to the part above my ears, add conditioner to the part below my ears, massage gently till clean and then rinse out. CO gave me soft hair with defined curly bits but it got lanky/flat too quickly.. my hair is fine and I think that works better for coarser hair then I have. I use no cone stuff. Suave Naturals works great. Cheap, gentle and works!

I'm guessing your g-6-pd deficientness means henna is out? There are other plants that do kind of the same thing from what I have read here. Alma I think is one, and there is the one they call 'neutral henna' (I'm blanking on the real name.. cassia? maybe?) that also coat the hair. Certian oils right after washing while still wet also seem to make my hair less tangle prone, virgin olive oil is a good place to start. Right now I'm trying out a coconut mix called Vatika... jojoba from the health food store is next month.

Sorry for the book, but I don't see too many other curly fine haired folk! Hope I'm a little helpful at least.

katsrevenge, that hair is gorgeous! I absolutely love the wurls, and the colour is so rich!

A question of my own: How does everyone "refresh" curls after sleeping? When I wake up, my wurls are still there, but they're all kinds of messy, and if I so much as finger comb, they straighten out a lot. Is there something I can do to keep the waves but have them look presentable?

Squee! I know! And thank you! I'm in love with it!! It is a bit darker today.. it remindes me a bit of what a gothic Irish vampire might have.

It doesn't work too well for me, but when I do try to keep the curls for the next day after pineappling on top of my head (that took getting used to mind you!) I'll dampen my hands with water and aloe vera gel and then let it dry after running my hands through my hair. It doesn't look as curly... but it is not poofy either. Like I said, not the best.. but it is the best I've been able to come up with.

Every curly is going to have to find her own happy place on the curl/length spectrum.

Exactly! Right now.. I want long. All the way to my butt long. My curly parts are a bit of an after thought right now.