Any SUPER straighties?

[Chlorophylliac]

Please link if I'm missing an existent thread.

Anyone struggling with the straightest of the straight hairs? Have you wasted time heat-curling your hair for naught? Does your hair get progressively straighter as the humidity rises? 1a's unite!

I've had perms twice in my life...neither really "took." My hair was somewhat wavy after, then completely straight, lank, and then thoroughly damaged. Heatless styles are a real hit-or-miss, because there isn't any pre-existing texture to help the awkward kinks and bumps that inevitably ensue. I can braid my hair for days, and one week I'll get braidwaves that would make Eowyn (of LOTR fame, not a potential LHC member that I'm not aware of) jealous, the next - STILL STRAIGHT. What have you used? How do you wash/condition/treat? What have you done to combat?

[Lauraes]

I have super straight hair too. The only time I get decent braid waves is if my hair was in a (completely dry) french braid all day. I remember one day last year, I had curled my hair using hot rollers. It looked great, I got to school, two hours later I had gym class outside, and my hair was completely straight again, despite all of the hairspray I used (I wasn't apart of this forum, then, obviously). :P Slipperiness is also a huge issue. Buns fall out all the time, and it doesn't help how thick/heavy my hair is, either.

Coconut oil really likes my hair, just not as a leave in as it looks too oily. I've found Tresemme's shampoos/conditioners make my hair feel "waxy"/coated and they're hard to rinse out. There's been a lot of controversy over the Organix brand but I personally like them. Their shampoo gets oil out easily but it's not harsh, either.

[gwenalyn]

1a here! I love this: "Heatless styles are a real hit-or-miss, because there isn't any pre-existing texture to help the awkward kinks and bumps that inevitably ensue." This explains completely my troubles, I've never seen anyone else describe it before. I had heat curls work ... once. My perm did seem to work, though, and has left the bottom part of my hair a little more 1b-y than 1a, which I have to admit is really nice! Also nice--no ponytail dents!

[Doreen]

I have this problem too, and I agree with gwenalyn that you describe it perfectly when it comes to heatless styling! I have never had any success whatsoever with any heatless methods, and they usually create more tangles and frizz than actual pretty waves. Especially as my hair has gotten longer and heavier, gravity is really working against me.
When I use heat I have to turn the iron up to the 350 or 375 degree level for the curl to actually take, and then use a ton of hairspray! The last time I did this on my whole length was three years ago (at TBL) and it took a couple hours with a friend helping. While there was damage it was concentrated to the bottom two inches which I trimmed off soon after anyway -- and the curls did last a total of 7 sweaty hours (it was prom night). Now at FTL if I want a curl for a special occasion, I will do a ""ponytail"" updo, ie some variation of a bun to eat up length with the tail hanging down of 8-16 inches, and curl and style the end there. Still have to spray the heck out of it, but I can get away with the curling iron being between 250-300 instead, depending how much length is out. Instead of smoothing the top back I will do a small french or lace braid diagonally to give it a bit more texture and to blend the style together overall since I can't figure out any way to get waves at the roots with my hair. I could probably find success with doing some heatless curl on the end part that's left hanging only, but I'm lazy and don't find medium heat to be terribly damaging. After I use heat, I will do 2:1 coconut:olive oil mixture and leave it overnight, or over a couple nights if possible. In general my hair doesn't really like oils but after heat it works very well.
I also am a regular trimmer on top of S&D. I think splits are quite noticeable in my hair since it is straight and very coarse. I trim off anywhere from 1-4 inches per year and I think it makes a big difference.

[Nettyx]

I put myself as a 1b but I think I am just kidding myself, I should be a 1a and proud. My braid waves have already fallen out (my hair has been "down" for 30 minutes) and my hair fell out of a bun three times yesterday just while at work. It just slinks out and spits out my hair toys. I've never noticed the lack of pony tail dents though as I thought that was normal, I always wondered why other people had odd little dents in their hair, I didn't realise this was from a pony tail! At least we don't have to use straightening irons.

[Chlorophylliac]

my hair fell out of a bun three times yesterday just while at work. It just slinks out and spits out my hair toys. I've never noticed the lack of pony tail dents though as I thought that was normal, I always wondered why other people had odd little dents in their hair, I didn't realise this was from a pony tail! At least we don't have to use straightening irons.

Haha, true! That bun will feel so secure, then bam, you're sexy librarian, letting your hair down when you least suspect it! Though I do get massive ponytail dents for some reason. It's a kind of cruel joke that fine hair is more easily damaged by heat, yet needs higher temps to set a curl. My hair will ignore the wet set I tried to do with rollers, but a ponytail dent will last for days. One friend tells me I have cat hair, another says cobwebs. I do love it, though, and have found a few things to help, when I'm of the mood. Stretching washes took a long time because this hair type tends to look greasy fast, but totally worth it - the extra sebum no longer looks greasy and gives hold. I used to wash 1-2x a day, now my hair is happiest at 2x a week. Dry shampoo right after washing (and drying), volumizing powders, dry texture sprays, and sometimes salt spray are helpful. My hair loves Jeterforks because his woodgrains and thick tines give my hair something to grip.

[lapushka]

I think you're looking for this thread:
http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=22766

[DeadlyUnicorn]

My hair seems to keep braid waves alright and I slept in a bun one night and that gave me soo much volume and waves it was crazy! I think doing the hair while wet and keeping it that way as long as possible makes the best waves but I know what you mean about it going really straight after. I have to say I haven't really gone out of my way trying things to get curly or wavy hair. I use this Suave Moroccan oil shampoo and conditioner.. I only wash my hair when it starts getting to oily for my liking so maybe 2-5 days depending. Sometimes it's just more oily. And then I use Moroccan oil maybe like 2 pumps of it on dry or almost dry hair but I don't do this every day or anything just when I feel it needs it or if I go out because it smells divine :inlove: I'm not sure how good those products are but they seem to be working ok for me.

I saw this video recently maybe it could be helpful? :) I kind of want to try it! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_wF2rYDPWAE

I really can't think of anything to help but lots of strong hairspray? And definitely not combing or brushing too much after releasing the hair from a braid and stuff. I don't know.. Curls even from heat tools have never stayed for me and everything slips out :( Blah

[Shibe]

Super straightie here! I really love my straightness, I actually very much dislike the waves from braiding my hair at night.

[Chlorophylliac]

I've seen that video, DeadlyUnicorn, It reminds me of the process of using flexirods. Looks like it would take a long time to put up. My flexirods have given me great waves, just very inconsistently. My hair tends to fly off the rollers.

Shibe - have you found a way to combat the braid waves? I like mine, but sometimes I just want to wake up with it straight. It picks up a lot of random kinks from bending on the pillow/scarf/sleepcap/etc, and the braidwaves, while more consistent than other styles, tend to fall *mostly* out, leaving....yup...weird kinks.

[DeadlyUnicorn]

I've seen that video, DeadlyUnicorn, It reminds me of the process of using flexirods. Looks like it would take a long time to put up. My flexirods have given me great waves, just very inconsistently. My hair tends to fly off the rollers.

Shibe - have you found a way to combat the braid waves? I like mine, but sometimes I just want to wake up with it straight. It picks up a lot of random kinks from bending on the pillow/scarf/sleepcap/etc, and the braidwaves, while more consistent than other styles, tend to fall *mostly* out, leaving....yup...weird kinks.

Yes I thought so too..

I haven't really sought out a way to combat my braid waves but it's straight after a shower and has dried so maybe spritzing a little water and combing/brushing it would get rid of them? :) I'm not sure how long your hair takes to dry.. Mine dries very fast compared to what I see other members post about.

[MINAKO]

Not really, but i mastered the art of immitating a natural 1a like an orchid mantis that looks like a flower, hehe.
However i know the struggle with updos on straight hair well, i think its good in that case to have thicker sticks and fork tines on a toy, at least thats what works for me. Also i pick up hair from my head several times when doing a bun, kinda wiggling the toy up and down in a weaving motion as i go. Bobby pins can be prevented from fallin out by putting hair spray on them. But actually i like to wear my hair down when its straight or in low pigtails.
Anote thing that hold really secure in a bun is these hairagami things. I use two and can make epic complicated looking buns with these.

[Mehry]

Yup, super-straight here, and TBL (or just past?). Won't hold a curl to save my life, and buns ALWAYS fall out. I'd really like to find some easy, fast up-dos that hold and aren't "school-marm" severe. Mostly favor the nautilus bun and side braid, but I tend to look like I've slept in it by afternoon. Also, I just can't do the whole stretching washes thing, as it looks stringy and greasy by the end of the day. Every other day is about as much as I can take. Had gorgeous curls for a college dance once, thanks to a dedicated roommate and half a bottle of hairspray (it took days to wash it out). My hair is really pretty when freshly brushed, but looks stringy and tangled as all get-out five minutes later.

[kelseyxface]

I find that aloe vera REALLY helps me keep some curl in my hair. (: I bought an aloe vera spray off of a user on etsy (https://www.etsy.com/transaction/238403518) but of course you can always make your own. I find when I spritz this on my wet/damp hair and do a cinnamon bun I get some very lovely waves that stick around all day. Also the SMT with it's aloe vera base also gave me some INTENSE volume and waves. I actually debated on dumping some aloe vera into my conditioner to help maintain such lovely waves and body...

And as stated above I find I have most luck getting some curl when putting my hair up in a cinnamon bun - my hair usually looks good with one but if you want "even" curls on each side you could do a cinnamon bun on either side of your head.

I also find that people with straight fine hair have a "Grease" issue. I would highly suggest trying out the sulfate free route. I used to be a TOTAL grease ball but ever since ditching the sulfates my hairs perked up. I think it's cause sulfates strip hair of oil, but because we have such fine straight hair on our heads it takes out too much oil. Our hair over compensates by making too much because we're being stripped of it, and if you're super lucky you also get dry ends on top of it. I also found that the sulfate free life helped me extend my washes - which is the other crutch of sulfates. It makes you so greasy you have to wash more often which just exasperates the issue :P. Just my two cents though on what's been helping my flat hair. (:

[chen bao jun]

Minako does your straightened hair really behave like 1a? It looks exactly like 1A in your avatar, but knowing its not, I am just being curious.

Hairdressers used to straighten my hair to poker straight (I didn't want them to, but they would use the strongest relaxer and then blow dry on high heat and then flat iron on high heat) and it behaved nothing like 1A hair even in that state. it definitely wasn't slippery, for one thing. Braids still held together at the bottom without hair ties being needed and while it was too short to make buns, it definitely stayed up.

In short, they could get it straight but it was definitely never either silky or slippery. Is a keratin treatment THAT different from normal relaxing that you've got slippery hair?

[Chlorophylliac]

Love the look in your avatar, Minako! I've had some inconsistent luck with aloe juice misting and homemade flaxseed gel. I haven't bothered trying to keep any waves or curls lately. It's all kinds of benign neglect for me these days.

[Chlorophylliac]

I used to use soapnuts for cleansing with awesome results for keeping cobwebby-new at bay. I just get lazy in the winter and go back to SF shampoo and cone free condish with decent results. Diy season is coming, though, and with it will be hair and beauty concoctions!

[Nettyx]

Chloro - How do you use your soapnuts? I have a bunch that came in my vegan box last month and I am tempted to try. Our water is really hard here though so if it is anything like using a soap bar I may need to give it a miss as that just sticks to my hair like glue.