Air-drying: I'm doing it wrong /o\

[Nesoi]

I know this has come up before, but I'm really struggling with it. I hope nobody minds me asking again.

I'm not new to air-drying, as hairdryers make my hair go enormous and terrible, but I am new to realising that my hair isn't straight :rolleyes: So in the past I would always brush my hair (I KNOW) when wet to part it etc, then wonder why it dried frizzy and terrible.

Now I know I shouldn't touch my hair while it's air-drying as this will break up the wave pattern and cause frizz. My problem is this: I co-wash, then apply my rinse-out, then detangle with either my fingers or a TT while my hair is full of nice thick conditioner. It detangles very easily, partly because it's not very long. I then rinse with water as cold as I can take it until the rinse-out is mostly gone, and then gently squeeze the excess water from my hair. I blot dry with a T-shirt, then wrap the shirt around my head while I finish drying and lotioning etc.

When I take the T-shirt turban down, my hair is all pointing straight back from my forehead, right? Because I've been careful not to move it while blotting dry. But then if I don't touch it, it dries like that! I get this straight-back flat helmet on top, and the bottom layers ringlet up around my neck so that I look like a Mario mushroom shudder: And that's not my natural texture! I am a 2a and my waves start quite high up on my head as I don't have enough length to weigh them down yet - so if I let them dry like this they are frizzy, too, because they haven't clumped!

I tried parting my hair while the conditioner was in it and rinsing out that way, standing under the spray with my hair pointing down towards my ears instead of back towards my neck. The result was extremely flat roots, with none of my usual lift. :doh: I feel like maybe I'm missing a step. I don't use leave-in or gel as I don't like the crunchy feeling - but should I still be 'scrunching' my wet hair before leaving it to dry? And bring it forward into place that way? LOL I feel so stupid asking all of these questions, you would think that air-drying would be the most natural thing in the world!

[Coolcombination]

After you get out of the shower, shake your head so that it goes crazy volumised, then gently part it with a rat tail comb and leave it

[MonaMayfair]

I think you might be over thinking it a little bit. I just wrap a micro fibre towel round mine for 15-20 minutes, then just part it with my fingers when i let it loose and leave it. I only comb it through (with quite wide-toothed Kent comb) when it's more or less dry.
That's what works for my hair anyway, if I comb it through sooner, it goes straighter, which I don't want.

[Nae]

If you want a little lift at the roots you can always put a few little clips in and let it dry like that. Minimal touching and then you don't get that slicked back look.

[Firefox7275]

Questions are not silly at all!

What are you putting in your hair to encourage clumping, any leave in conditioner or styling product at all? If you use a hard hold gel you simply 'scrunch out the crunch' when dry. Alternatively you can use less crunchy/ non crunchy stylers like a curl cream, flaxseed gel or okra gel. If you don't want to DIY there is Sweet Curls Elixirs on Etsy (store owner is a wavy).

Do you mean a regular turban twist or a 'plop'/ 'plunk'? It sounds like you are either taking too much water out of your hair: I certainly cannot scrunch and then plop or my underlayers get too dry and stick out, I do it the other way around so can scrunch out the excess only from areas that need it like the top. Some shorter haired wavies don't like the results of plopping at all, they just gently scrunch/ squeeze out the excess water with a t-shirt or flour sack towel.

For volume after you take your hair out of the towel, gently move the hair into position and clip. I do a sort of mini quiff with my grown out bangs and a couple of bobby pins, some use Deva clips or mini jaw clips. There are a couple of shorter haired wavies posting bits of their routine on YouTube, check out Chupie or Pedaheh: both are very active on the Wavy Hair Community on Facebook alongside other shorter haired wavies like Sciencey Hairblog (AKA Goosefootprints on Etsy doing hair analysis). Do join us, it's a really nice group.

[HintOfMint]

Some wavies and curlies do twist outs to reduce frizz and get more even curl/wave formation. Basically, you make twists in each section of hair, maybe fluff up the roots a little and then leave that to airdry. This is, of course, with some product in it.

It works pretty well for me, but I prefer damp bunning. Of course, this is exchanging my natural texture for something that comes from a bun, but it works.

[Nesoi]

Thank you all for being so helpful! :flowers:

Coolcombination I have just got a comb like that, so I will try shakin' it up.

MonaMayfair LOL if you'd told me 6 months ago I would have been fretting over this, I shouldn't have believed you! LHC messes with your head...thanks for your advice! I'll try a wide-toothed comb.

Nae, thank you! I have some mini claw-clips which I think might work for that. I'll try it!

Firefox7275, font of all knowledge! ;) I haven't been using any product, but perhaps I might try a curl creme or something? I will definitely check out that Etsy store, thank you! WRT the T-shirt turban: I just kind of tip my head forward and tie it up. I don't 'plop' exactly, I did try it but it made my hair look weird. Maybe I am leaving my hair in a turban too long, and that's part of the problem? It's getting too dry, like you said. I will try just squeezing it with the T-shirt to get out the excess water, then maybe try a curle creme, and definitely try clipping the roots into place. I will also check out those YouTube channels. I don't really use Facebook but I'll give the Wavy community a try - it sounds nice!

HintofMint I've seen people referencing this twisting method before! I thought about trying it. I wonder if my hair is long enough to hold the twists while it dries.

SO many things to try! Thank you so much, lovely LHCers :)

[MonaMayfair]

Haha, I know, there's a lot of info on here. Everyone (and their hair) is different, so it's all about a bit of experimentation and discovering what works best for you. Good luck! :)

[Saldana]

I don't have nearly as much wave as you do, but maybe you can gently scrunch it a bit at the roots as it dries? That's what I do, and it helps it not be flat on top.

[sweetinlace]

It may not work for you, but this is my current routine (it's always changing). With a lot of conditioner in my hair, I part my hair and then detangle (ends to roots of course). Then I rinse out my conditioner completely. Aftwerwards when it's still sopping wet I put a dime sized amount of my conditioner back in my hair. Then I kinda scrunch it in there a bit. I don't rinse again. The I squeeze out the excess water with my hands and run a couple of drops of oil over my hair and scrunch some more(at this point I don't fingercomb it in, i just run my hands over the top and underneath). Then I use my towel (sack cooth I think?) and scunch out the excess water while hanging my head in various directions. Then I flip my over and put it in a sating sleep cap for the night all loose but scrunched up in there. In the morning I take it down and let it dry the rest of the way if it isnt dry yet.

I find that parting it with conditioner helps keep my wave/curl pattern, the leave in and the oil help with frizz, and the sleep cap keeps it somewhat scrunched all night for a tighter wave/curl pattern.

[spidermom]

I will often throw my head/hair back and forth a few times, bending at the waist and getting my hair to fall toward the ground, then reverse the bend and throw my head back so that my hair goes in an arc in the air; know what I mean? That breaks up any dents caused by wrapping my hair in a flannel pillowcase to take the drips out.

To get definition, I'd always finger-comb some aloe vera gel through the length, finishing by running my palms along the surface of my hair on top to get the short fluffies to lay down.

You could try that.