Wurly and Curly thread!!!

**DarkSky** · July 26th, 2011, 08:15 AM

Unbelievably gorgeous C.H.!! Never in my life have I seen such amazing ringlets that are so long and healthy looking. I'm in complete awe!!!

**Xandergrammy** · July 26th, 2011, 09:01 AM

Originally Posted by C.H.

The pictures I promised--it happened! This is the day after my first attempt at the curly girl method. I think it looks a better now that the curls softened over the course of the day.

I will never, ever have hair like this and it breaks my heart!

So beautiful!

**chahuahuas** · July 26th, 2011, 10:35 AM

Originally Posted by DarkSky

Hi guys! Ive been reading the last few pages and am so thankful for the great advice and inspiration so far. After seeing some really gorgeous and inspiring curls from all of you .. (btw Chahuahua is my new hair idol) I am feeling like continuing my so far short journey to stop flat ironing my hair.

*Squee!* Thanks, DarkSky! That's exciting to hear!

Your hair is really stylish though, just so ya know. Those loose ringlets/big wurls you have are very "in" right now, especially with all those layers you have. Taylor swift has popularized curls, but mine are tighter than hers, and most of the celebrities stick to gentle waves... My curls are just a little too tight to truly be in style right now.

It's a good thing I like my hair to stand out!

Btw, if you don't believe me that tighter curls (as opposed to waves) are still not in style, google "curly hair trend." Except for Halle Berry and a few random pics that look like they're from the hair magazines you see in the lounge area of a beauty salon, most of the "curls" google images turns up are actually looser "wurls." It's just all about waves and wurls!

**QueenJoey** · July 26th, 2011, 10:38 AM

Hey! I've never visited here, because my hair is very straight, kinda wavy at best. But today after I washed my hair, I noticed it formed curls allover! I'm shocked, my hair has never done this before. I'll post pictures later.

ETA: my siggy pic shows how my hair is normally.

**emelnd** · July 26th, 2011, 11:37 AM

CH, your hair looks gorgeous!

Darksky, my hair is probably similar to yours, mine looks a lot like that sometimes.

But maybe since you used to have curlier hair, if you do the curly girl method, you will have better results than me? I will admit to not doing the full curly girl method too. The plopping with microfiber towel didn't work for me, so I am using a terrycloth to take out the excess moisture, and drying with a diffuser sometimes even. I used to wash with sulfate shampoo and cone conditioner. Pretty much the only changes I made are switching to washing my hair with a cone free conditioner every other day and shampoo bar every week or so. Also I don't use the brush (that often) anymore. I need to get better at it, I like the texture of my hair more already.

**emelnd** · July 26th, 2011, 11:44 AM

QueenJoey, how old are you? I had a friend back in high school who had very straight hair. Her hair just kept changing texture little by little I guess and we never noticed. She was styling it straight with a blow dry... One day she woke up and her hair had waves all over.

People didn't believe her, they thought she got a perm hahaha. I think it is hormonal changes.

**C.H.** · July 26th, 2011, 12:10 PM

Originally Posted by Theobroma

C.H., WOW!!! Those curls! Your hair is breathtaking!

Thank you. I keep thinking it looks much better in the pictures than it does in the mirror, but that perhaps that's the eye adjusting thing.

Originally Posted by GRU

C.H., even before I scrolled down to read the comments (and your question), my first thought was that you're a 3c rather than a 3b. Love love LOVE your hair!!!!

Originally Posted by PinkyCat

Holy. Moses. CH!

I agree with GRU: with curls that stay that boingy at that length, I'd deffinitely say 3c.

Originally Posted by chahuahuas

OMG! Those are GORGEOUS! What is this nonsense with S-curls you were talking about?! Those are some damn fine ringlets.

Agreed. Not 3b at all, IMO. In fact, your curls remind me alot of the girl from tightly curly. Only I like yours better than hers!

Thanks for all the encouragement and great compliments. I really appreciate your support when it comes to letting my hair go completely natural.

I hear what you're saying about my hair type. My hair definitely doesn't look like other 3b's. On the other hand, I don't think it really fits as a 3c either. Check out some examples of 3c from naturallycurly.com:

http://www.exposay.com/celebrity-pho...als-12DlBO.jpg (I had to find another beacause the one on their site is basically a thumbnail)

http://www.naturallycurly.com/curly-...r-headley-6405

http://www.naturallycurly.com/curly-...ett-smith-6408

http://www.naturallycurly.com/curly-...ures/view/8847

http://www.naturallycurly.com/curly-...s-3c-8694.html

My hair isn't even close to being this curly. Even when my hair was in a bob, it never looked like that. The LHC hair typing guide describes 3c as "tight corkscrews" (3b is "bouncy ringlets"), but I don't have any corkscrews or ringlets at all, just squiggles until the very tips which finally form an actual spiral. If the bottom half, or the bottom quarter of my hair spiraled, I would assume weight is the primary cause. But it's only the last two inches of hair that does this. Not a two-inch spiral, the little bit of spiral is only two inches of hair stretched out.

In mass it does look like a huge amount of curl is going on, and there's no question that I have very curly hair. But you can kind of see in the 2nd and 4th picture, the curls that are separate from the rest, the s-shape--all the other curls are just like that. Those are not anomalies.

This is actually fairly similiar to my curl pattern:
http://lib.store.yahoo.net/lib/yhst-...95/sabine3.jpg

The shape of the curls is what makes it hard to categorize, I think. The width (it doesn't makes sense to say diameter, because they're not round) of each curl is small, but on the other hand, they don't curl very tightly, just wiggle their way down. I think this is born out by the fact that I only have 3 inches of shrinkage. You can see in the back view the curls almost reach the top of my pants, but my hair touches the upper part of my hip bone when it's bone straight--not much of a differene. In the CG book 3 inches of shrinkage falls smack in the middle of the wavy range. I don't think a 3c would have so little shrinkage.

Trust me, I have no natural spirals, ringlets, or corkscrews, only S's of varying tightness. I wish I did. If I want them I basically have to do some version of a twist-out.

Originally Posted by DarkSky

Unbelievably gorgeous C.H.!! Never in my life have I seen such amazing ringlets that are so long and healthy looking. I'm in complete awe!!!

Thank you, that's so kind.

Originally Posted by Xandergrammy

I will never, ever have hair like this and it breaks my heart!

So beautiful!

But you see, I always envied the looser curls, like yours.

**DarkSky** · July 26th, 2011, 12:13 PM

chahuahuas you are totally right! I did a google search LOL!! Also seems alot of those youtube gurus are doing beachy waves looks (not natural ones though) Maybe next year the curl style will be tighter. It seem like they get curlier every year... but like you, when it comes to my hair, I do like to stand out and am not one to be too trendy with hair styles.

Queen Joey can't wait to see some pics!

Emelnd You might be right about our hair types/curls!! I'm still in denial though that I could be a 3a/2c or 2c/3a but if I do try a more gentle washing routine and use no-heat I might find more of my old curl again. Not sure if I'll do the CG method though. It gave my scalp issues before (years ago)... but CWC every 3-4 days with maybe a water wash in between when needed is a good start for now (hopefully).

You know despite what fashion and media tell us.. I'm sure a good majority of people out there love the spiral curls. Even though my hair is not that curly I still get more compliments when I do curly as opposed to straightened. That is also what is encouraging me... the people that "say you look better going natural" or "wow is that your natural curl/wave"

BTW I am thinking during this non heat styling experiment the head band will be my best ally. When I have a bad hair day and can't spend time on my hair I just throw it on and it looks ok. I'm not an updo girl.

**chahuahuas** · July 26th, 2011, 12:19 PM

Originally Posted by C.H.

I hear what you're saying about my hair type. My hair definitely doesn't look like other 3b's. On the other hand, I don't think it really fits as a 3c either. Check out some examples of 3c from naturallycurly.com:

http://www.exposay.com/celebrity-pho...als-12DlBO.jpg (I had to find another beacause the one on their site is basically a thumbnail)

http://www.naturallycurly.com/curly-...r-headley-6405

http://www.naturallycurly.com/curly-...ett-smith-6408

http://www.naturallycurly.com/curly-...ures/view/8847

http://www.naturallycurly.com/curly-...s-3c-8694.html

My hair isn't even close to being this curly. Even when my hair was in a bob, it never looked like that. The LHC hair typing guide describes 3c as "tight corkscrews" (3b is "bouncy ringlets"), but I don't have any corkscrews or ringlets at all, just squiggles until the very tips which finally form an actual spiral. If the bottom half, or the bottom quarter of my hair spiraled, I would assume weight is the primary cause. But it's only the last two inches of hair that does this. Not a two-inch spiral, the little bit of spiral is only two inches of hair stretched out.

In mass it does look like a huge amount of curl is going on, and there's no question that I have very curl hair. But you can kind of see in the 2nd and 4th picture, the curls that are separate from the rest, the s-shape--all the other curls are just like that. Those are not anomalies.

This is actually fairly similiar to my curl pattern:
http://lib.store.yahoo.net/lib/yhst-...95/sabine3.jpg

The shape of the curls is what makes it hard to categorize, I think. The width (it doesn't makes sense to say diameter, because they're not round) of each curl is small, but on the other hand, they don't curl very tightly, just wiggle their way down. I think this is born out by the fact that I only have 3 inches of shrinkage. You can see in the back view the curls almost reach the top of my pants, but my hair touches the upper part of my hip bone when it's bone straight--not much of a differene. In the CG book 3 inches of shrinkage falls smack in the middle of the wavy range. I don't think a 3c would have so little shrinkage.

Trust me, I have no natural spirals, ringlets, or corkscrews, only S's of varying tightness. I wish I did. If I want them I basically have to do some version of a twist-out.

All of the 3c pictures you linked to are of people with short hair. Yours is miles longer than theirs, so I really do think the "s" pattern is due to the length. Have you ever gone "natural" when your hair was as short as the women in those pictures? I think you would have a LOT of volume if you did, just like for those women.

I think the s-shapes might also be due to your hair not have room for curling. Sometimes my hair underneath, near the nape of my neck, takes on wierd curl shapes. Like the curls will be VERY tight and lengthened, because they don't have room for a wide curl (almost like a long dreadlock, the way it curls around itself). When my hair was much shorter, those curls at the nape of my neck would have room & would not be weighed down, so they could become their full bouncy selves.

Finally, if you just recently started (or restarted) the CG method, your hair might take a while to find its full curl pattern. Give it time, I say.

**GRU** · July 26th, 2011, 12:21 PM

I think that curl pattern / typing refers to the "curve/radius" of the curl rather than whether it's a ringlet/corkscrew or an S curl.

Not all curls spiral -- S curves are very common. Think of it like this: would you say that someone with coffee-mug sized ringlets is "more curly" than someone with pencil-sized S waves?

Tightness matters, not spiralness... that's my story, and I'm sticking to it!