Second/third/fourth day 3a hair? Site question too :(

[Merrybethable]

Hi all,

I hope that everyone is going well.

I love my curls and a random encounter with a lovely customer at work has got me thinking:
She said "you have dimples and blue eyes, you would be perfect if you had curly hair too" I had to tell her I do have curly hair and described my curlyness because my hair was all bunned up that day. She was very sad :(

I would love to wear my hair curly more often but I have the best curls when my hair is CO washed and allowed to air dry with gel in it. The next day it is always sticky (even with non-sticky gel) and I feel like I have to do at least a WO wash. Anyone know how I could get a few days out of my curly hair? I don't like over washing and I don't like wet hair every morning either.

Is there a trick to searching this forum? I tried to search for a thread like this and "second day curly" came up with no results :( I don't want to be making a thread that already exists and clogging up the forum. I'm still a noob here so I hope someone can help me.


Thanks!

[Kherome]

Have you tried diluted aloe?

[Merrybethable]

No I haven't tried aloe... *puts on shopping list* I supppose if it doesn't work at least it would be good for other things, unlike the pile of gels and stuff I tried a few times and didn't like. That is a big pile.

[Kherome]

Haha I have had the product pile too.

Yes, try the aloe. Make sure it's 100% aloe and not "after sun" etc. It really should be clear in color, and the ingredients should only be aloe.

[Merrybethable]

I thought that is what you meant. That after sun crap is all full of all sorts of garbage.

[walterSCAN]

Hi all,

I hope that everyone is going well.

I love my curls and a random encounter with a lovely customer at work has got me thinking:
She said "you have dimples and blue eyes, you would be perfect if you had curly hair too" I had to tell her I do have curly hair and described my curlyness because my hair was all bunned up that day. She was very sad :(

I would love to wear my hair curly more often but I have the best curls when my hair is CO washed and allowed to air dry with gel in it. The next day it is always sticky (even with non-sticky gel) and I feel like I have to do at least a WO wash. Anyone know how I could get a few days out of my curly hair? I don't like over washing and I don't like wet hair every morning either.

Is there a trick to searching this forum? I tried to search for a thread like this and "second day curly" came up with no results :( I don't want to be making a thread that already exists and clogging up the forum. I'm still a noob here so I hope someone can help me.


Thanks!

No advice on the rest of it since I don't (sadly) have curly hair, but you might have better luck using google to search the forum. The on-site search is kinda wonky. To search here with google, enter your search terms then put 'site:longhaircommunity.com' after it (without the single quotes). Example: ' second day curly site:longhaircommunity.com ' That's how I search here most of the time anymore-- I just can't seem to get the on-site search to give me useful results. Good luck, and welcome to LHC!!

[Merrybethable]

Thanks walterscan, I will try that next time I want to find something.

[Silverbrumby]

I have curl but don't highlight it because of this very problem. Great on day one but looks terrible day two, three and four.

[Beborani]

There is an index up at the top to popular thread--there is curly, curly wavy and 3s thread all of which must have ideas for this problem. I can wear my hair down on second and third day. Instead of gel or mousse I started using leave in conditioners which greatly improved the quality of my curls without making it sticky. I also use a dab of mineral oil, dab of silicone serum or dab of one of nut oils on top of the curls--I use judgement based on weather--most of it is just practice.

[lapushka]

I would love to wear my hair curly more often but I have the best curls when my hair is CO washed and allowed to air dry with gel in it. The next day it is always sticky (even with non-sticky gel) and I feel like I have to do at least a WO wash. Anyone know how I could get a few days out of my curly hair? I don't like over washing and I don't like wet hair every morning either.

You might try a styling cream instead of a gel. The naturallycurly forum should be full of suggestions on that account!

[tinydanicer]

I'm 2C/3A, and I cowash once a week, and my curls last until wash day. After washing I gently squeeze out as much water as I can with my hands, then squeeze again with microfiber towels, then I air-dry for a bit while getting dressed, etc. Next, I generously apply coconut oil, section by section, to make sure all of my hair is well coated, from about an in away from my roots, down to the tips. Then I French/German braid my hair, usually in 2 braids because it's more comfortable to sleep in, and let dry. It takes at least 18 hours for my hair to dry this way, so I usually wash on Saturday and unbraid on Monday. I finger comb as necessary to separate the curls a bit. I keep it in a high bun around the house and for sleep. Monday and Tuesday I can get away with finger combing. On Wednesday it starts to get a little fuzzy, so I used a wide-tooth comb and comb it out, then gently shake my head and the curls look perfect again. I comb as needed until I wash again.

[oatmealpie]

I recommend Kinky-Curly Curling Custard (http://curlmart.com/product/kinky-curly-curling-custard/), which I found out about on NaturallyCurly. It helps define my waves and isn't sticky like gel. A little goes a long way.

[Firefox7275]

Leave in conditioner under a gel or a curl cream without ingredients that build up: perhaps flaxseed curl cream (DIY Sciencey Hairblog, to purchase from Sweet Curls Elixirs on Etsy).

[Anje]

Is there a trick to searching this forum? I tried to search for a thread like this and "second day curly" came up with no results :( I don't want to be making a thread that already exists and clogging up the forum. I'm still a noob here so I hope someone can help me.

Thanks!
No problem starting a thread to ask a question -- for site stuff, the Site Support section is particularly good.

Searching this forum has always been a bit tricky. Chances are that there actually haven't been many instances of the exact phrase "second day curly", which is why your search didn't turn up anything. I can usually coax a few more results out if I use a combination of Boolean search terms ["second day" OR "2nd day" AND curly], but you might have more luck the using Google, as others have suggested. ["Search term" site:forums.longhaircommunity.com] in Google will give you results from here. Admittedly, our searching is clunky and our server can be lag considerably.

---------

As far as curls go, what I know tends to be second-hand. The "Curly Girl" method described on Naturallycurly.com tends to be popular, where you tend to end up leaving in a bit of regular conditioner. Next day, you can moisten it (perhaps with some conditioner-water mix) to encourage the curls that have frizzed to re-form. I'd encourage you to look around on their website. We do have plenty of curlies here, but so many of us tend to wear hair up to protect it and keep it out of the way that I'm not certain a huge number have experience getting as many loose-hair days as possible out of a wash.

[Merrybethable]

I probably should have mentioned that I have been mostly curly girl for the last year. No cones, no sulphates, no heat accept for the occasional diffused blow dry for a couple of minutes to kick the air dry into action on a cold day. Scrunchy microfibre drying. No colouring. Only using sulphate free shampoo about once a month.

Kinky-Curly Curling Custard sounds promising, but curl products seem to be hard to find in Australia for some reason, they stick cones in everything. Even the natural organic stuff seems to have cones in it. So it will be online purchasing which I hate :(

[Wisé]

Just my 2 cents on curly hair:

If you have curls that form easily, you could just use some leave-in and spray the curls with a bit of water (not really wetting, only dampening) everyday to refreshen them (That's all I ever found on naturally curly).
But I guess this does not work for you, or you might have already figured it out and needn't ask. If your curls are like mine and easily disrupted (no braiding or bunning at all if I want curly here before the next wash) I can tell you what I do and hope that it helps.

First of, I do get to wear my hair curly for ~ 4 days in the summer and only ~ 2 days in winter. I'm not completely satisfied with that, as I only wash once a week, but it is the best I managed thus far. I am still experimenting to enhance the results.

For me, the only way to wear curls that long is to avoid crushing them, I have yet to find a way to refresh them without having to wet thoroughly and plop afterwards for a night. The one thing that undoubtedly brought me to the 4 days in summer (I was on 2 before) was starting to wear a satin cap (made it myself). I just plop (google plopping if you don't know what it is) my hair in the cap so they are not stretched out while sleeping. I used a silk pillowcase before that, but it squished my hair even when pineappleing. On addition to the sleeping cap I leave a lot conditioner in my hair (you need to find one that does not make your hair look greasy) after showering and I finish it off with gel, which I can go without, it's just a bit harder. If I find the time and have the patience for it (which I don't always) I separate the individual curls carefully at least every morning (e.g. while sitting in the bus), that helps too. If I do this, my hair will go from curls to waves after a few days, but I can still wear them open until the next wash. If I don't do that I hardly do any detangling at all, at the most I run through the last 5-10cm (~ 2-4 inches) of the curls, because the ends are the only parts that will not loose the curl when I detangle.
If only parts of the hair loose the curl I opt for hairstyles to hide that. E.g. if they hang out in the middle I wear a low side ponytail, if only the top looses the curl I make a half-up, if it's an underlying layer I braid it to a headband.

When nothing helps and I have to wear them up, I often leave the ends out because they will still hold in a single curl, plus I always have one chin length curl on the side of my face (originally from breakage, but I liked it and decided to keep it.) so I even look curly to others when most of my curls straightened out.

[Merrybethable]

Thanks for the tips Wise! I am sure it is sleeping that does it. I move all the time sleeping, so much that I pull up the fitted sheets from my bed. How did you make your sleep cap?

[Wisé]

I used the instructions on this site (https://sites.google.com/site/habioku/home/do-it-yourself). I have hardly any experience in sewing and it still came out ok, so it is really easy :)

ETA: I just remembered you said you have problems with gels sticking to much, have you ever tried flax seed gel? You can do it yourself and at least for me it was never the slightest resemblance of sticky, even when putting handsful in. It just gets very crunchy while drying, but you can scrunch that out.

[Firefox7275]

Not sure if its already been said but there is an Aussie Curly Girls group on Facebook. You don't need specialist curly products, for the most part they contain the same sorts of ingredients as regular hair products. There are drugstore brands everywhere: certain products from Garnier, L'Oreal or Tresemme Naturals, conditioner 'bases' from online cosmetic base suppliers, and of course DIY.

You don't have to be 100% silicone free if you are struggling: water soluble ones (prefix PEG-) and amine functionalised (eg amodimethicone) resist building up. The spirit of CG really is not to end up with hair coated in a thick layer of plasticky silicones, not to use drying/ damaging cleansers, to condition, condition, condition. It is - and should be - a fairly flexible system.

[CraftieKittie]

I too have curly hair and would like to find a way to have my curls more defined and less frizz. I would like to try aloe vera as recommended by Kherome. Can you tell me when you dilute it what percentage water to aloe vera? Does this make your hair feel stiff - I don't use gels because I don't like stiff hair. How do you apply it to dry hair - using a mister? On the days that I wet my hair - is this something that could also be applied to wet hair to help with frizz?

Sorry about all the questions. I am just beginning to try to find ways to make my hair look nicer, less frizzy, healthier, shinier, etc.

[MissHoney]

I am able to minimize wetting my hair if I wear it in a twist (French twist?) To sleep. I mist it with a spray bottle either before or after I wear it like that. It is just enough to allow the curls to re-situate themselves and then dry within 30 minutes. I don't always wear gel, either.

I am also able to wear a damp bun/braid all day, then shake my hair out for a relaxed/fluffy curl pattern by night. It gets poofy when I go out to dance, anyway. :D

[MissHoney]

Also, I personally found kinky curly custard much stickier than normal gel. I liked the result, but it took all day from sunrise for my hair to dry (which usually is very quick for me) and all that time my hair felt sticky like honey. Not saying you shouldn't try it, but I usually don't like how gels feel myself and I have been able to go without, so don't feel like you 'need to' for polished-looking curls.

[Mya]

I second the idea of a curl cream. Not sticky, but holds the curls together.

In my experience, leave-ins and diluted conditioner always get sticky.

However, curl creams tend to be drying (much less than a gel but still a bit), so you may want to put a layer of moisture sealer before using a curl cream. You may use oils or something else. I use a body cream that contains petrolatum and wax, as weird as it may sound it works great with my hair.

[Wisé]

@CraftieKittie:
A lot of gels tend to get stiff while drying, but most of the time you can "crunch out the scrunch" once completely dry and afterwards your hair will look and feel pretty normal, but holding its shape better than without.