Curly Hair

[queenovnight]

I have a question for the curly folks! When I say curly, I mean CURLY. Not wavy or the like.


Okay so, I never wear my curly hair down because it's like.. a nightmare. The curls start coming together and just creating a big knot. I have healthy hair, but it's just unruly. I literally cannot wear it down, and never have. My hair also expands.. So not only is it knotted, but it's HUGE and knotted. - I also have multi-textured hair. - This also makes me question just how long I'll be able to grow my hair.



Does anyone else have this issue?



My hair is not wavy. It's curly. In my photo, it's braid-waved. That's the only way I'll wear it down.


My routine:
I co-wash and oil whenever I wash my hair. No shampoo, no chemicals. I just co-wash, oil and toss it in a bun. - It's not a matter of moisture. My hair is moisturized quite well since I've started co-washing, it just gets so knotted and so easily. If warn down for just 10min, tangles start appearing. - I also don't use any products because they tend to make it worse. Especially leave-in conditioners. I also only use a wide-tooth comb and only comb while im in the shower with a head full of conditioner. That's the only time I comb my hair.

[Hootenanny]

Can you talk a little bit about your washing/styling routine? Do you CO-wash? Use a leave-in? Any gel or other styling products? My hair did all the things you describe here until I learned about the Curly Girl method, cut out all sulfates and silicones, started using significant amount of leave-in, and finishing with a gel or curl cream. Have you tried any of these?

[MissHoney]

Your hair looks more wavy than curly, and already quite long, so I'm not sure how much help you will get but in my experience, the only way to wear curly hair out without too many tangles/poof is to set it in braids and let it dry before you comb it out. Which technically gives you waves rather than curls. The basic idea of 'curl' is that they are 3D, they spiral in some kind of way. If you're expecting to be able to run your fingers through it without creating tangles/poof, you have the wrong mindset. Comb it when it's wet, let it dry, and assuming you used the right products, it will look the way it intends to look.

[lapushka]

Can you talk a little bit about your washing/styling routine? Do you CO-wash? Use a leave-in? Any gel or other styling products? My hair did all the things you describe here until I learned about the Curly Girl method, cut out all sulfates and silicones, started using significant amount of leave-in, and finishing with a gel or curl cream. Have you tried any of these?

This. If I don't take care of my wavy hair (and I understand it's "just" wavy), it gets to be a knotted mess as well. I can't go without tons of conditioner, and use the LOC method on top of that. Maybe give that a go!!! It's part of the curly girl routine! :)

[Kimberly]

Many hair conditioners make my hair tangle and knot in a horrifying way (I suspect it was waxes), and most of the others make my hair limp. I finally gave up on conditioner altogether.

Have you tried an acid rinse (apple cider vinegar, lemon juice, or citric acid diluted in water)? I find my hair tangles a lot less when I use one every time I wash. I have hard water, so it helps with that, but I also understand the acid also helps close cuticles, so hair tangles less.

[CurlyCap]

Also agree: Please post your hair care routine and it gives everyone a place start with giving recommendations.

But I think the biggest advice I have to give is that you cannot treat curly hair like "straight hair....but it curls". Take most straight hair care advice with a grain (or spoon) of salt. Curly has different needs and different types of products are required to maintain it and wear it out comfortably. Even your hair goals are different. For example, my hair is LEAST likely to tangle when it is most curly and well defined. Anything less than that allows individual hairs to have a chat and start a tangle. Most people without curly hair think it must be the opposite way around.

As you know (I saw your comment), my hair routine is in my blog. I recently updated it with some tips for hip+ length hair. Feel free to read through that and ask any questions. I prefer to wear my hair down and only put mine up to get it out of my face for physical activity. So it's definitely possible to grow long hair while wearing your curls out.

[Beborani]

What hootenanny and curlycap said. If I comb out my curls I pretty much have to wear it up as it will tangle indiscriminately but if I wear it down it remains frizz free and polished all day as the curls are self contained units and stay that way with the right products. Lots of leave-in--globs and globs--not dime or pea sized on wet hair is the trick that works for me and it seems for most curlies.

[Jumper]

Are you brushing it? Because all my issues with tangling were resolved when I just quit brushing my mixed textures (some spiral curls, mostly extreme waves) hair.

It was such a hard habit to give up but solved so many problems.

[jeanniet]

I agree 100% with the other posts. If you're doing anything to disrupt your curl pattern-even just finger combing--that's probably the problem. When I was treating my hair as wavy and detangling 2-3 times a day, I constantly complained that it tangled at the drop of a hat, but what I didn't realize was that I was breaking up curls. When you break up curls the hairs try to clump back together, but they may not go back into their regular curl pattern, so you end up with tangles. Once I stopped trying to detangle all the time and stuck to only detangling in the shower (which can be anywhere from every 2 to 6 days), the tangles went away. Completely. I just don't get tangles now--sometimes it looks like I do, but there really aren't any.

Knowing your complete routine and products will get you more and better advice, too.