Handling hair with mixed textures

[TheGray]

Hello all! I was wondering if anyone else out there has hair that seems to be different textures depending on the part of their head. The front of my hair is very wavy- even though it's actually a little longer than the rest of my hair the two front pieces lose a lot of length and look almost like side bangs. The underside of the rest of my hair is wavy with a big flip at the end, with my top layers being pretty much straight and laying flat (though not pin-straight). I've searched through the archives and understand that some people simply have mixed textures, but would appreciate advice on how to handle the different characteristics of my hair.

My hair is pretty thin and I usually keep it between shoulder and collarbone. I think part of my difficulty in growing it out is that it doesn't lay nicely - it doesn't hang straight, nor does my hair have a nice consistent curl pattern. Even on days where it seems a little more 'curly', all it takes is one comb-through for the hair to lose its curl and become an awkward curve, except in those curly front parts :shrug: Any advice? I'm currently at chin length from a pixie and hoping to grow out to BSL (a daunting goal for me), does hair usually settle into a more even subtle wave after it's gained some length?

[antler_tines]

I have the same problem! I have no advice unfortunately, I'm also looking for answers.

[Dessi]

I think that length will help. I mean, maybe the whole hair will became more straight, the longer it gets. Or maybe if all your hair is one length, there won't be such a difference in texture. I've heard lots of people saying their layers are different texture from the rest of their hair.

[Arctic]

I have mixed hair type. I used to call it "straivy" (straight and wavy). My canopy, too, is straighter and my waves are mostly at the underlayers. I'd say my waviness varies from 1b to 2b.

Yes the naturally air dried, mixed texture hair types can look a bit messy, but I've learned to like mine. The straighter canopy helps to hide the waves quite a bit. I also have started to consider the easiness I can change/manipulate my texture as an upside of my hairtype (I used to have straight, fine, slippery hair type, and I could never do anything with it, nothing stayed, so now I'm enjoying playing with it).

At your length I was blowdrying it smoother almost all the time. Now I still sometimes blowdry but often let it air dry. Bun and braid waves help to get a consistency to the texture, even if temporarily. Over night curls work for many, but I've never had a big success with them (I mean other than buns/braids).

There has been phases when I've tried to encourage my natural waves but it just doesn't work with my mixed type. I call that look I get an "aging rockstar", lol. (No offence to aging rockstars, they are awesome in their own way and in their own context.)

ETA: By blowdrying I mean doing it in a gentle, hair friendly way. Cool to warm, lower speed setting, and not aggressive brushing.

[TheGray]

Okay thank you everyone! When I was younger I'd cope by straightening the curly parts or curling the straight parts, but I'm trying to embrace the mixed texture. I definitely look forward to when I can put it in a braid at night to get even waves :o

[Salwety]

I have a mixed texture but in a different way. I had my hair straightened using keratin treatment. It was super straight and silky looking. Now after 10 month, I have a bird's nest of curly hair at the roots and super straight hair at the ends. Very sexy I know :rolleyes:
I don't want to cut my hair and end up with a pixie cut to have only curly hair. And don't want to re straighten my hair and postpone the process of embracing my natural texture . Any advice .... like any advice will be more than helpful:pray:

[TheGray]

Wow, I don't think I can quite imagine what that looks like! The only solution I can think of is to perm the straight hair to match your roots, though that might do damage that you want to avoid... Ultimately, the straight hair is probably going to have to be cut off or permed though if you want a consistent texture. Sorry I can't be of more help, maybe if you post this as a thread on the mane forum some long-hair experts will have a better solution :confused:

[rhosyn_du]

Have you tried treating your hair as if it's all wavy/curly, stuff like not brushing/combing while dry, making sure it gets lots of moisture, not touching while drying, and maybe even scrunching in some gel before you let it dry? I ask because when I first joined LHC, I thought my hair was straight with some wave in the underlayers and a tendency to frizz. Turns out I was seriously wrong, because this (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/album.php?albumid=12312&attachmentid=21370) is what my hair looks like when I treat it like curly hair instead of straight. I don't know if this is what's going on for you, but it's something you might want to consider if you haven't already. Good luck!

[pailin]

I would definitely agree with rhosyn_du- try treating it all as curly and see what happens.
Otherwise, wearing it up will neutralize the problem anyway once it is long enough. You might also see if halfups help, if it allows you to pull back the straight stuff and emphasize the waves underneath. Also consider Artic's suggestions - braid/waves might help it to all do the same thing. Onve you unbraid/unbun, though, remember not to brush/comb and manipulate as little as possible.

[lapushka]

I have one strand that sometimes coils a little - it's really odd. I can't even find it on my head sometimes. But I think I range in the 2s as well. Sometimes it doesn't floof up as much as other times. I don't know why.

Yeah, I would agree, treat it as wavy/curly as you can and see what happens.

[meteor]

I also have multi-textured hair and there are a few things that helped me:

- "imposing" a specific, more uniform texture by doing roller-sets, rag curls, braid-waves, bun-waves, etc (I damp-set only and never use heat, since accumulated heat damage won't really help the texture issues in the long run anyway). I'd usually use diluted conditioner as "setting lotion".

- coaxing waves with the Curly Girl method by plopping, scrunching with conditioner and gel - DIY flaxseed gel works nicely for this.

- straightening hair by combing hair down as it's air-drying or as it's being blow-dried on cool/warm setting. Oils and silicone serums in this situation help weigh it down and keep it straighter. Sleeping on silk/satin helps keep it frizz-free, as well.

- growing hair longer and growing out layers: both these things *really* helped weigh down my hair a lot, and multi-textured hair does get more uniform when it becomes more like a curtain.

- just letting it be and enjoying its temperamental, unpredictable nature ;) For every texture out there, there are other people who try to achieve exactly that effect, and learning to love hair in its natural state is very liberating!

Happy growing! :cheer:

[TheGray]

Hm that's interesting, I think I will start treating my hair like it's curly. Back in middle school the cool thing to do was put gel in your hair and scrunch, and i've always noticed that time of my life I definitely had 'curly' hair, as opposed to something in the middle. I think the fact that my hair is thin makes it very easy for it to stretch out when I comb it, even if it's dry. Thank you for the encouragement, I'll definitely try out all of your advice! Looking forward to being able to braid or put up my hair, I think at this length two french braids would be possible but that's something I still struggle to do on myself :disgust:

[-Fern]

Agreed, length will make things easier. :lol: If nothing else, because it gives you a lot more options on how to wear it. Half-ups were how I managed a lot of the awkward growth stages, because my canopy and underlayer are so different--mine would also never "fall" prettily. They're even vastly different colors (because my hair lightens in sunlight really quickly). Sometimes I felt awkward about it, and eventually I just decided to rock it.

Once I hit BSL, I decided to go for a sharp V-shaped hemline and I totally LOVE how it falls now, but layers are notoriously hard to control. In hindsight, I wish I had waited until I hit waist and then cut the V, because it will be several months before I can do most buns again. But I do love how it looks when it's down. :crush:

[fairycurls]

I'm a big fan of braid waves and set my hair while it's damp. This keeps my hair uniform and also easier to style as the texture is easier to work with and has a smoother look for updos versus my ultra curly hair. I agree with the advice on no heat styling especially if your hair is fine. You'll get past this phase before you know it with healthy hair care.

[maskedrose]

Another damp-setter here! I do a simple rope twist and pin it up in a bun when it's 75% dry, and then let it down again when it's 95% dry. I consistently get smooth, beautiful 2a type waves down my length with this method. In it's natural state my hair has a mix of 1c-2c textures, plus a couple sections that are coarser and have an almost kinky texture. It's bizarre. I look like a wild forest witch if I let it dry naturally these days. Also, I agree with others that no layers and length help tremendously.

[ArienEllariel]

I've got fine, medium, and a few coarse hairs thrown in on my head. I try to focus on not overdoing things for the fine texture since that's what the majority of my hair is.

[enting]

My hair ranges from nearly coarse, quite curly hair near my hairline to fine wavy hair that pulls straight very easily at my nape. If I want to wear it down and have it look nice and uniform, I treat it all as curly, while also paying special attention to oiling or applying aloe vera gel to the hair at the front to keep down the frizzies. I scrunch it all while wet and let it dry while loosely gathered in a claw clip to encourage the curliness all over. Then, when it's dry, I try not to touch the nape layer at all, or I will end up with a curly canopy with straggly straight bits peeking out from underneath, looking about 3 inches longer or more. For updos, it ends up looked best a few days out from washday after being combed a few times, oiled and with braidwaves. That seems to equalize everything more or less to something more like 2a/2b texture that behaves pretty smoothly in updos. I can also wear it down and have it look nice at that texture. It's just that in between type when the canopy is being all curly and sproingy but the underlayer has dropped out that it doesn't look the greatest.