"Poof" on the back of my head? What do?

[Parisian Dozen]

For whatever reason it seems like the rear of my head is poofing out. My head looks gigantic - I know I'm a smart ass, but I'd like to believe my head isn't that huge. It's frustrating.

Anyways I don't know what's causing this, but I'm open to suggestions. WHABAM, PICTURE http://i.imgur.com/zyjfSda.jpg (will post more man-candy if requested)

State opinions, tell me how I am melodramatic, express your hatred towards the mining industry, all words acceptable.

[Arctic]

Thick hair + waves + coarse strands = volume

Looks nice :D

[MINAKO]

is it possible that you altered your texture in some way? The roots look very wavy, almost as if the should turn into 3a/b curls down the length, but then the rest of your hair continues straightish. Im just askin because thats what i often see when people are due to get their permanent straightening touch ups.
The hair itself looks nice, but i would try to balance that volume out by either encouraging the length to curl or straightening out the top. You could try damp twin braids or mouse ear cinnabuns to dry your hair and see if it evens out the texture to your liking, just dont pull and twist too tight.

[Parisian Dozen]

Thick hair + waves + coarse strands = volume

Looks nice :D
You don't think it's too fluffy at all? :/ I feel like it looks giant... You wouldn't make it any less poofy? NOT EVEN A SMIDGEN?

[DreamSheep]

I like it :)
Volume is good!

[Parisian Dozen]

is it possible that you altered your texture in some way? The roots look very wavy, almost as if the should turn into 3a/b curls down the length, but then the rest of your hair continues straightish. Im just askin because thats what i often see when people are due to get their permanent straightening touch ups.
The hair itself looks nice, but i would try to balance that volume out by either encouraging the length to curl or straightening out the top. You could try damp twin braids or mouse ear cinnabuns to dry your hair and see if it evens out the texture to your liking, just dont pull and twist too tight.
I've done keratin treatments twice (not totally voluntary), but the last time was a year ago... and that one was over a year after the first. As far as I know, that's semi-permanent and would be mostly gone by now.

You think it might how I sleep on it?

[cat11]

is it possible that you altered your texture in some way? The roots look very wavy, almost as if the should turn into 3a/b curls down the length, but then the rest of your hair continues straightish. Im just askin because thats what i often see when people are due to get their permanent straightening touch ups.
The hair itself looks nice, but i would try to balance that volume out by either encouraging the length to curl or straightening out the top. You could try damp twin braids or mouse ear cinnabuns to dry your hair and see if it evens out the texture to your liking, just dont pull and twist too tight.

^I second the damp braids for evening out texture and compressing it. My hair is curly/wavy and often gets rather large and when I need it to "compact" I braid it and leave it for awhile. Using some good hair oil or product on the braids instead of water works too. If you aren't good at three strand braiding rope braiding is quite easy.

I don't think your hair looks unnaturally poofy. It's kind of cool like a lions mane or something. It has a very unusual crimped like texture, like what MINAKO said, it looks like straightened hair that had tighter curls. If your hair is naturally curly I think it would look better curly. It will always have that body and pouf even if you straighten it but with curly hair that is normal and accentuates the texture.

of course I'm speculating because you haven't told us if this picture is natural, straightened, air dryed but the hair has chemical relaxing, ect. Regardless I don't see a problem poof. That's just the body and volume of your hair type.

edit: I hadn't seen your last post before I wrote this

[MINAKO]

I've done keratin treatments twice (not totally voluntary), but the last time was a year ago... and that one was over a year after the first. As far as I know, that's semi-permanent and would be mostly gone by now.

You think it might how I sleep on it?

Ah, i see. Thats what i suspected. Trust me, you hair is nowhere near reverted. The claim that these wash out over the cause of a few weeks or months is false in most cases. I do these treatments too and if i wait to long my roots get wavy as well, they stay flat due to the weight of my hair but i can feel the difference. Theres really not much you can do apart from adding salt to your shampoo which takes out a bit more of the treatment but is also drying of course. You could try to plop your hair to encourage more texture or as i said, dry it controlled so it stays down.
I really see a hairtype 3 and spirals coming through when it all grows out. If you like your natural texture you just need to be patient.

[Parisian Dozen]

Ah, i see. Thats what i suspected. Trust me, you hair is nowhere near reverted. The claim that these wash out over the cause of a few weeks or months is false in most cases. I do these treatments too and if i wait to long my roots get wavy as well, they stay flat due to the weight of my hair but i can feel the difference. Theres really not much you can do apart from adding salt to your shampoo which takes out a bit more of the treatment but is also drying of course. You could try to plop your hair to encourage more texture or as i said, dry it controlled so it stays down.
I really see a hairtype 3 and spirals coming through when it all grows out. If you like your natural texture you just need to be patient.

I've dabbled in the thought of doing it again just to get rid of my frizz, but I'm not certain of what I want, really. I mean, I'd kill to get those glorious waves going, but I never really had them to begin with. My hair has always been a really weird texture.

http://i.imgur.com/Xn4zkBs.jpg

Here's a picture right after I cut a foot off for charity 4 years ago - completely virgin hair. Ends where still kinda straight-ish, but definitely not curly. My hair hates me.

[Islandgrrl]

Do ya need some moisture? Just looking at your pictures I'd guess you're a curly. Do you brush your hair?


I've dabbled in the thought of doing it again just to get rid of my frizz, but I'm not certain of what I want, really. I mean, I'd kill to get those glorious waves going, but I never really had them to begin with. My hair has always been a really weird texture.

http://i.imgur.com/Xn4zkBs.jpg

Here's a picture right after I cut a foot off for charity 4 years ago - completely virgin hair. Ends where still kinda straight-ish, but definitely not curly. My hair hates me.

[Parisian Dozen]

Do ya need some moisture? Just looking at your pictures I'd guess you're a curly. Do you brush your hair?

Lol, sometimes I think I use too much conditioner, but I will admit that I have never deep conditioned. It's been on the bucket list. I'm currently trying out Biolage, but before I used Devacurl.

As for brushing; no, not really. I wide tooth comb every morning, though. I'll follow up tomorrow with unbrushed/combed pics.

[Islandgrrl]

If you're a curly, even combing dry hair can cause frizz and weirdness of texture. Have you heard of the Curly Girl Method? Check it out.


Lol, sometimes I think I use too much conditioner, but I will admit that I have never deep conditioned. It's been on the bucket list. I'm currently trying out Biolage, but before I used Devacurl.

As for brushing; no, not really. I wide tooth comb every morning, though. I'll follow up tomorrow with unbrushed/combed pics.

[gthlvrmx]

Curly Girl Method or CO washing may help you out. Other than that, I wish I had your hair thickness! It looks THICK.

[amanda_the_tall]

I wish my hair had *half* the fluffiness of yours! It looks so thick and full! If you don't like the poof, have you tried a leave-in conditioner? That might provide additional moisture and make it slightly less poofy if that's what you want.

[Remi]

Waves are fun! It's not that bad. :)

[swords & roses]

Your hair is epic.

Definitely looks like the roots are coming in wavier than the length. That may be encouraged or discouraged by how you arrange your hair as it dries and/or when you sleep. Not sure what you do with yours, but I'd imagine if you slept with it flipped up above your head, that would encourage more volume at the roots. Conversely, the volume may be tamed a bit if you sleep with it in a low braid, or let it dry in a low braid, encouraging a general downward direction of the strands. Hope that helps!

But your locks are awesome! Rock on, sir!

[Auni]

Yep, looks like your natural texture growing behind your keratin. I had a keratin treatment done, um, in 2009? growing out was the reason behind my big chop in 2010, I was sick of the 2 textures. They say it washes out eventually, but I tell ya, it didn't for me! My ends were straight while my roots were wavy/curly!

[spidermom]

Deep moisture treatment - STAT!

[JustPam]

Seconding a deep condition, and the damp braiding. I don't have curly hair but my OH does so I know how it behaves, he used to wear it in a ponytail to keep it from pouffing, but last year he got me to cut it right up to nape length and now his hair dries big and fluffy, even though he's a F/i. I've tried to nudge him toward LHC care habits, but he's having none of it and just slaps it back with pomade instead. Anyhoo, try the DC and the braiding, a gelatin treatment might also work, it made my hair very sleek and totally defrizzed!

[gwenalyn]

I think the way your hair is cut is also accentuating the "poofiness" somehow. I'm not an expert, so I couldn't tell you how to fix it, but I imagine more length and growing your natural texture out will help. I happen to think you look AWESOME though :)

[CurlyCap]

Yeah, only the top ~3" are your real texture. The rest is straightening damage/remaining-treatment.

You can be patient and just wait for more of your natural texture to grow in while gradually trimming the older damage away.

You can start over with a super short cut.

You can baby your hair now with lots of moisture to hopefully prompt reversion to curl/wave....or at least make the two sections match more....and over the years the demarcation will be less obvious.

Hair that has texture that is forced into anything but it's natural curl pattern will look big. But in America we like big hair so sometimes we do this as a fashion choice. Your hair doesn't look odd at all. Just high volume. Rock it or tame it by compressing or bunning it...whatever you prefer.

[lapushka]

I'd try treating it as if it were wavy/curly, the usual methods (curly girl, tightlycurly, modified versions, ...) and then see what that does. It may bring out more of your natural texture, making the Keratin damage even more visible. Maybe you could make a clean break, cut the damage off and start afresh.

[Parisian Dozen]

I'd try treating it as if it were wavy/curly, the usual methods (curly girl, tightlycurly, modified versions, ...) and then see what that does. It may bring out more of your natural texture, making the Keratin damage even more visible.

Yay, back from the dead and now officially on spring break. I've been CO washing for the last... uhhhh, christ... 1 and 1/2 years with not a whole lot of change, but that's neither here nor there. The ~5in of new growth I have is pretty much what it was like before. I think I'll try to get an upclose picture for you guys. It's definitely not as curly/wavy as a lot of you guys.


Maybe you could make a clean break, cut the damage off and start afresh.
Don't make me cry. I've considered it and it breaks my heart every time I think about it.

[M.McDonough]

Your hair looks fine I guess but you're gonna have to tame the frizz somehow!

[Parisian Dozen]

OH SNAP SON, WHAT DOES THIS BE?!

http://i.imgur.com/e5kFKSY.jpg

Here's a better picture of my new growth. It's not really a curl so much as a wave with a really short wavelength. Like, I don't get ringlets or anything. It's a really awkward wave... But what do I know? I'm just an insecure guy trying to validate my concerns via internet strangers. My words have no value.

[meteor]

Don't make me cry. I've considered it and it breaks my heart every time I think about it.

^ Hey, hey, no need to cut it off at all! :D

You've got such a great mane! :applause

And if you really want to reduce the root volume, just damp-braid it or damp-bun your hair as it's drying. The way you are drying your hair will help it take the shape you want.
Also sleeping on silk/satin pillowcases helps flatten out and smooth out the poof a bit, too.
I'd recommend oiling (pre-poo, leave-in, added to conditioner...), deep treatments and hydrolyzed proteins (they are good for chemically treated hair).

[MINAKO]

I kind of have the same wavepattern naturally, a bit more stretched like theres about one wave every two inches. But even mine poufs out rather quickly and close at the root.
Its really not half as dramatic as you percieve it right now, but you need to eventually decide on a texture and then get your styling technique down. There is no way you can just let your hair airdry loose and not have it look like this for probably the next 2years, thats the backlash of the treatment in case one stops using them. Deep conditioning might help and the more you wash, wet and treat your hair the more of a texture is coming back in, but no matter what you do, it wont fully revert and the state your hair is in is not the same as if it was damaged. Technically i dont see a reason to cut either.

[lapushka]

Don't make me cry. I've considered it and it breaks my heart every time I think about it.

I'm sorry, didn't mean to do that. It's just, straight ends can be... hindering if you want to go wavy/curly again. In which case it's better to chop a bit off. You'll have to see what it does. But that's my opinion only. If you don't want to "big" chop that's all up to you.

[Daylilly]

When my hair is bothering me I just put it up and forget about it. We all have aspects about our hair we don't really like and we just have to accept the imperfection. I think your hair looks nice though so don't worry about it.

[butter52]

I would recomend 2 things to reduce the poof.
1. Dont comb it at all once you are out of the shower. Just dont touch it. You can try using a bit of gel and scrunch it see if you get clumped waves.

2. Get some layers if you like the style.

[ravenheather]

I would go with your natural texture if it were my hair. Micro trimming out the damage. Also try no dry combing. Imho messing with natural texture never gives as good of results as leaving hair as nature intended.

[MINAKO]

I would go with your natural texture if it were my hair. Micro trimming out the damage. Also try no dry combing. Imho messing with natural texture never gives as good of results as leaving hair as nature intended.

I have to disagree on that one. these treatments stuff the hair with additional bonds, it does not get straight due to dmage and original bonds are not broken in the process. Of course it needs some moisture right after the heat application, but for some hairtypes all this can be highly beneficial. I would have never been able to grow my hair out so qiuckly without keratin treatments and my hair is in far superior condition compared to its natural state.
The anatomy of curls can be so tricky and perfect ringlet or waves are not achiveable for everyone. The problems is just that theres more commitment to these treatments than companies tell you and many people are not willing to maintain them.

[Parisian Dozen]

I would recomend 2 things to reduce the poof.
1. Dont comb it at all once you are out of the shower. Just dont touch it. You can try using a bit of gel and scrunch it see if you get clumped waves.

2. Get some layers if you like the style.

I've been resurrected from the dead yet again!

Does that include wide-tooth combing? And I have considered doing layers, but I haven't had those since the I was 10. I just don't know how well waves + layers would work out...

[spidermom]

Waves and layers play beautifully together.
Here's my layered, wavy hair at about your length:
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c79/spidermom/October2005.jpg (http://s25.photobucket.com/user/spidermom/media/October2005.jpg.html)

Of course you might have a much different wave pattern.

[sarah.j.xx]

Like what everybody else is saying, I would say to just trim your hair gradually and embrace your natural texture. That should solve the "poof" problem. :)

[ravenheather]

I have to disagree on that one. these treatments stuff the hair with additional bonds, it does not get straight due to dmage and original bonds are not broken in the process. Of course it needs some moisture right after the heat application, but for some hairtypes all this can be highly beneficial. I would have never been able to grow my hair out so qiuckly without keratin treatments and my hair is in far superior condition compared to its natural state.
The anatomy of curls can be so tricky and perfect ringlet or waves are not achiveable for everyone. The problems is just that theres more commitment to these treatments than companies tell you and many people are not willing to maintain them.

I didn't say you can't grow long hair that has been straightened. I just said in my opinion natural texture is best. I don't think perfectly formed curls are a requirement for lovely hair.

[butter52]

No wide comb either once you are out of the shower!
Well try it at least, who knows. I would also check curltalk, those girls have lots of tricks for texturized hair worn down.

[Parisian Dozen]

I have to disagree on that one. these treatments stuff the hair with additional bonds, it does not get straight due to dmage and original bonds are not broken in the process. Of course it needs some moisture right after the heat application, but for some hairtypes all this can be highly beneficial. I would have never been able to grow my hair out so qiuckly without keratin treatments and my hair is in far superior condition compared to its natural state.
The anatomy of curls can be so tricky and perfect ringlet or waves are not achiveable for everyone. The problems is just that theres more commitment to these treatments than companies tell you and many people are not willing to maintain them.

This was kinda on my mind. It's hard for me to say whether or not my hair would have been better off without it because I never pampered my hair like I do now, but it did-kinda-sorta make things work better for me. I want waves, but it's too early for me to tell what exactly would be best. I've never had beautiful perf hair - just a lot of kinda okay hair...

It's a hard decision... but I can safely say it didn't make my hair feel worse. I feel like it's more a choice of style.

[Parisian Dozen]

No wide comb either once you are out of the shower!
Well try it at least, who knows. I would also check curltalk, those girls have lots of tricks for texturized hair worn down.

Oh jeeze... Here comes the English language to come screw up my day :P

Do you mean:

A) "No, do not wide tooth comb out of the shower, you dunce!"
B) "Wide tooth comb after the shower"
C) "The government's coal mining operations are undermining the struggle of middle class Americans."

I am completely over analyzing this. Help me, I am useless. Stupid interjections and their arbitrary contribution to social cues.

[MINAKO]

I didn't say you can't grow long hair that has been straightened. I just said in my opinion natural texture is best. I don't think perfectly formed curls are a requirement for lovely hair.

It was not only the curl pattern, but also tangling and breakage. My hair would be far more damaged and crunchy feeling now if it left it as it grows, unfortunately. Now damage might be a natural thing as well, but i wouldnt find that appealing on myself. Sometimes nature does not care about our expectations and esthetics, aint nobody got time to embrace that imho. :eek:

[Arctic]

D) wide tooth comb while in shower, with conditioner in your hair, or maybe under running water. After that, no combing or brushing till your next wash :)

Oops, I think that was your A). lol

[Arctic]

PS. Parisian, I hope you stick around here, your posts are entertaining and you seem like a fun person!

[butter52]

Oh jeeze... Here comes the English language to come screw up my day :P

Do you mean:

A) "No, do not wide tooth comb out of the shower, you dunce!"
B) "Wide tooth comb after the shower"
C) "The government's coal mining operations are undermining the struggle of middle class Americans."

I am completely over analyzing this. Help me, I am useless. Stupid interjections and their arbitrary contribution to social cues.

I totally meant C off course. Sorry I write from my phone. I meant dont even use wide tooth comb once you get out of the shower. Try letting it air dry without touching it. If it doesnt work try scrunching a bit of gel see if you can enhance those waves to clump so its not poofy.

[Parisian Dozen]

D) wide tooth comb while in shower, with conditioner in your hair, or maybe under running water. After that, no combing or brushing till your next wash :)

Oops, I think that was your A). lol

This is what I do, and I shall remain doing it until instructed otherwise.


PS. Parisian, I hope you stick around here, your posts are entertaining and you seem like a fun person!

I will accept this compliment - especially from a Finn with an adorable duck quote :3 (all hail Finnish music)


I totally meant C off course. Sorry I write from my phone. I meant dont even use wide tooth comb once you get out of the shower. Try letting it air dry without touching it. If it doesnt work try scrunching a bit of gel see if you can enhance those waves to clump so its not poofy.
Oh, it's ok. English is stupid some times. A comma would have completely changed the structure/meaning of that sentence, and I'm overly analytic... so... uhh... Coal mining and stuff...

I do believe I am capable of not combing my hair.

[cocoahair]

Oh jeeze... Here comes the English language to come screw up my day :P

Do you mean:

A) "No, do not wide tooth comb out of the shower, you dunce!"
B) "Wide tooth comb after the shower"
C) "The government's coal mining operations are undermining the struggle of middle class Americans."

I am completely over analyzing this. Help me, I am useless. Stupid interjections and their arbitrary contribution to social cues.

lol, i laughed. At least you have a sense of humor about your hair woes. Nothing to add just browsing
Good luck :flower:

[Arctic]

This is what I do, and I shall remain doing it until instructed otherwise.
--
I will accept this compliment - especially from a Finn with an adorable duck quote :3 (all hail Finnish music)

He he, yeah we Finns are not the best to give compliments, at least the stereotypical Finn :D I'm glad you like Finnish music(me too! Rock especially!) , and I hope you get to a point with your hair where you can enjoy it! I don't personally think your hair looks bad, but I have no knowledge about keratin treatments and aftermath. But you came to the right place to find hair help, I'm sure!