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rowie
April 14th, 2017, 11:20 PM
I belong to this category under the main umbrella term "Asian." I've heard Southeast Asian hair along with Pacific Islander hair to be coined with hair that is "thicker with a silky base" over Eastern Asian hair. I don't know what that means, but what I do know is my observance from friends and family from these region(s) generally have thick coarse hair that is more towards wavy hair or a mixture of multi textures that can be challenging to care for.

* I still haven't found a holy grail of products that works really well in controlling my hair to behave well in updos. I have exeperienced at the shorter lengths my hair loves cones (still do). Humidity is not my friend and my hair will "poof" up when I'm in an area with high humidity.

* updos are especially challenging for me at the longer lengths (past classic towards knee and beyond for me) because my strands are thick; a low bun gives me headaches because of the weight, only solution for me is to wear my buns over my head at this stage of my journey.

*my hair easily dries up easily even though my scalp gets oily, at the longer lengths I've discovered I no longer need to over oil my hair to avoid added unnecessary weight since my hair is always in an updo.

*coconut oils doesn't work for my hair even though this is one of many traditional forms of oil used in hair care for these regions. Although I'm slowly going back and experimenting to learn how to use it on my hair since it used to make my hair even more dry with a crunchy feeling but gave my hair extra shine. Maybe this thread will help me discover or learn certain plant roots traditionally used in hair care.

*my hair texture still hasn't changed even though its past classic. My hair texture is still like coarse horse hair used to make those big sized calligraphy brushes East Asians have used in their ancient scrolls. At least that is the best way I can describe my own hair texture. It's neither straight or wavy but very wild if worn loose and down. It's very wavy when wet, but loses its wave pattern and becomes more straight the longer I stretch my washes. I remember at the shorter lengths how I hated how super frizzy my hair can get when it behaves badly, but now I love my hair since its long enough that gravity is now my best friend.

* I definitely can see the "silky base" in my updos since my hair is naturally shiny. I feel my hair looks best in an updo but does not look nice when worn down and loose because of its uncontrollable wild behavior. Although length seems to tame it better the longer I grow.


Please share your hair care:

*Products that works well for you

*Hair behavior, textures you identify with

*Traditional hair care in your family and country if you know them

*challenges you face in your journey and techniques that work well for you to remedy any challenges you may have in your growing journey

Borgessa
April 15th, 2017, 12:13 AM
I have often wondered how my pacific islander friends have to deal with their hair, since joining the community here, never having really thought about it before. I've watched a few video's on natural hair 4c etc on youtube and OMG I had no idea how difficult it was to deal with compared to my own relatively straight hair that never ever knots. I brush, break heaps, done. My goodness the hair wash takes a couple of hours for these ladies. But their hair is not the same as say Tongan or Samoan hair, similar but not the same. Like you said growing up my gf hair was sooooooooo thick and long, and of course being Tongan they are not allowed to cut there hair (the girls) until their fathers die, then their hair is cut and it is buried with him. As I was saying her hair was so thick and long it was very heavy and from a young age it gave her serious headaches.

I'm curious myself since i see so much natural hair routines, but as I say never the same texture type.

likelikepenny
April 15th, 2017, 04:59 AM
I don't have asian hair, but I am a type 4 and i think we have similar hair practices/problems in some areas.

- Oily scalp, dry hair. My hair is so curly however, that I can't brush to get the sebum to the ends

- Shrinkage. 15 inches of it.

- My hair is curly by definition, but it actually looks like mini waves, although it used to be more spirally as a kid.

Picture: http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/album.php?albumid=13058&attachmentid=26859

- Moisturized yet kinda dull? I don't know. Sometimes I get shine but only when I stretch my hair, it's super shiny, like almost straight hair people shiny, but curly, it's just curly lol.

- My hair is soft, but not slippery. Yet, I have trouble with updo's sometimes as my hair "slips" out of them. I've never encountered someone with this problem.

- Humidity makes me look like the lion king but makes my hair super soft. I love volume so I don't mind it too much. Summer is my hair's favourite season.

- My hair loves silicones, but it only works with a non cone conditioner as my first conditioner in WCC. I use cones to seal in moisture as stated above, my hair hates shea butter and oils on a regular basis.

- Water is my best friend. I detangle under running water. Moisturize under running water.

- Traditional hair care for my hair type/country (carribean islander;trinidadian/jamaican) never works for me. We too, tend to use coconut oil but my hair hates it as a leave in.

Heavy products like shea butter just do not work and dull the shine that I get. Mini twists and braids cause my hair to loc within a day or two.

Sorry my post is so rambly, but it's hard yet exciting to find someone I identify with even if they're a different texture :D

Babetriz
April 15th, 2017, 07:11 AM
I'm only half (My mum is Singaporean with Chinese and Malaysian heritage, and my dad is hella white) but sometimes I look at pictures of when I was a kid and had that short, duck fluff poof around my head and I realise how Asian my hair really is. Sometimes it acts white, sometimes it acts Asian, and it frustrates me ALL THE TIME.
Tho, I have had good results with coconut oil. And my mum always told me never to shampoo below my ears, and only conditioner from there down, probably bc she's used to washing it every day in Singapore so she had to keep herself from drying her hair out completely.

Mrstran
April 15th, 2017, 08:57 AM
My husband is Chinese and started growing out his hair last year. He has found products he likes and I don't see him switching anytime soon. But! He gets told by his family and myself quite a lot that his hair looks awful lol. It's only because he over does the products and fails to use a comb. His hair dries after a shower with a bit of oil or whatever he adds, and looks gorgeous! Then.. he destroys it by string a glob of this, a glob of that. After he's done, he looks like a homeless man that hasn't seen a shower in two years. Oh that stringy greasy shoulder length mess that he sleeps on and doesn't bother to comb!

I miss his short hair.


I could get him here to comment, but it would be pointless as; despite my best efforts to teach him, he still hasn't a clue what he's doing.

Aredhel
April 15th, 2017, 09:26 AM
I'm Eastern Asian but a lot of those things are still true for me, especially my sister. I have always had silky fine hair that has gradually become medium textured as I aged, but I have the same issues with having a super oily scalp but dry hair. My sister has super coarse unruly, wavy, frizzy hair though. Unfortunately she hasn't even figured out a good routine for herself yet but coconut oil doesn't do anything for her either. I'll be following this thread, hopefully someone with this hair type will have some viable tips that I can pass on to my sister. :)

lapushka
April 15th, 2017, 09:31 AM
* I still haven't found a holy grail of products that works really well in controlling my hair to behave well in updos. I have exeperienced at the shorter lengths my hair loves cones (still do). Humidity is not my friend and my hair will "poof" up when I'm in an area with high humidity.

* updos are especially challenging for me at the longer lengths (past classic towards knee and beyond for me) because my strands are thick; a low bun gives me headaches because of the weight, only solution for me is to wear my buns over my head at this stage of my journey.

*my hair easily dries up easily even though my scalp gets oily, at the longer lengths I've discovered I no longer need to over oil my hair to avoid added unnecessary weight since my hair is always in an updo.

I tend to use a shampoo especially for oily hair, sulfate based, and that clears up the oil. For my lengths I typically use a conditioner that is for dry, and damaged hair as those are the most moisturizing on the market. It works fine. I use the WCC method (link in signature).

Coconut oil (even fractionated oil) leaves my hair dry and crunchy too. I use baby oil in small amounts, sometimes, in a rinse-out oil.

Waves stretch for me throughout the week as well, and I am a weekly washer.

I do have F hair, but I think this routine might work for you too.

bonbon58
April 15th, 2017, 09:51 AM
Eastern Asian here but I have a lot of the same problems :(



* I still haven't found a holy grail of products that works really well in controlling my hair to behave well in updos. I have exeperienced at the shorter lengths my hair loves cones (still do). Humidity is not my friend and my hair will "poof" up when I'm in an area with high humidity.

Sometimes I dab a little conditioner as leave-in when making my buns and it seems to control the poof somewhat



* updos are especially challenging for me at the longer lengths (past classic towards knee and beyond for me) because my strands are thick; a low bun gives me headaches because of the weight, only solution for me is to wear my buns over my head at this stage of my journey.

I've the same problem and have cut back to waist length from TBL. No more ficcares or heavy hair toys for me!



*my hair easily dries up easily even though my scalp gets oily, at the longer lengths I've discovered I no longer need to over oil my hair to avoid added unnecessary weight since my hair is always in an updo.

Scalp washes have become my best friend :o



*coconut oils doesn't work for my hair even though this is one of many traditional forms of oil used in hair care for these regions. Although I'm slowly going back and experimenting to learn how to use it on my hair since it used to make my hair even more dry with a crunchy feeling but gave my hair extra shine. Maybe this thread will help me discover or learn certain plant roots traditionally used in hair care.

I can handle coconut oil maybe once a month? It doesn't do much for me either, no shine or anything. I found camellia oil on damp hair have helped with frizziness and shine somewhat (also coney serums). Also apricot oil (it smells so good and is pretty light on the hair)



*my hair texture still hasn't changed even though its past classic. My hair texture is still like coarse horse hair used to make those big sized calligraphy brushes East Asians have used in their ancient scrolls. At least that is the best way I can describe my own hair texture. It's neither straight or wavy but very wild if worn loose and down. It's very wavy when wet, but loses its wave pattern and becomes more straight the longer I stretch my washes. I remember at the shorter lengths how I hated how super frizzy my hair can get when it behaves badly, but now I love my hair since its long enough that gravity is now my best friend.

Individually, my hair strands mostly smooth. But there are always occasional super kinky and coarse hair mixed in there, which affects the way my hair drapes and are super prone to splitting/damage. I've found that using henna can calm those hairs down somewhat (at least 2-3 weeks after the initial dryness from henna). Also SMT with non-coney conditioner once in a while helped with making individual strands softer and more manageable-looking as opposed to frizzy and wild. Moisturizing aloe masks also helped a lot.

rowie
April 15th, 2017, 11:04 AM
I have often wondered how my pacific islander friends have to deal with their hair, since joining the community here, never having really thought about it before. I've watched a few video's on natural hair 4c etc on youtube and OMG I had no idea how difficult it was to deal with compared to my own relatively straight hair that never ever knots. I brush, break heaps, done. My goodness the hair wash takes a couple of hours for these ladies. But their hair is not the same as say Tongan or Samoan hair, similar but not the same. Like you said growing up my gf hair was sooooooooo thick and long, and of course being Tongan they are not allowed to cut there hair (the girls) until their fathers die, then their hair is cut and it is buried with him. As I was saying her hair was so thick and long it was very heavy and from a young age it gave her serious headaches.

I'm curious myself since i see so much natural hair routines, but as I say never the same texture type.
Yes, I definitely can sympathize with your friends when my hair was above waist. It's really true culturally what they go through. A lot of my Samoan and some Tongan friends will use combs to hold up their hair. It's a wonderful idea since it is a better alternative to elastics. I'd use them in my updos but I feel like it makes me look like an "islander queen" because the shapes of those combs look feminine. Maybe i'll revisit those hair combs in my updos now that I can get creative with my length. But yes, detangling is a nightmare, although it does get better with length, and i've learned to keep my hair contained so that the usual grooming of collecting my sheds before an updo takes me only an hour since I'm very careful and treat my hair like fine lace. I don't have any problems with hair breaking off when i'm detangling in the morning. Once in a while i'll find one or two pieces of broken hair, but generally I don't have a problem with breakage. I guess my strands are coarse enough that it can handle a lot of abuse even though I try to avoid that.


I don't have asian hair, but I am a type 4 and i think we have similar hair practices/problems in some areas.

- Oily scalp, dry hair. My hair is so curly however, that I can't brush to get the sebum to the ends
I can brush, but I have to detangle my hair with my fingers, then a wide tooth comb, then the TT brush with handle followed by a pure soft bbb. With the soft bbb brush I don't section my hair, I use it as a final finishing touch before I put my hair in an updo. I think this became possible for me to do this routine once I reached waist length.
- Shrinkage. 15 inches of it.
shrinkage is not so bad for me when it's not humid, however if it's humid it will shrink 5 inches and my hair will look so poofy that I avoid that from happening by keeping it contained in bun. I'm always weather obsessive when it comes to humidity. LOL
- My hair is curly by definition, but it actually looks like mini waves, although it used to be more spirally as a kid.
I have those mini waves that looks somewhat crimped and kinky near my neck hairs. I've grown to love those hairs since I find them to naturally add some volume in the back of my head. I really baby those strands now and I try to manipulate them the least.
Picture: http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/album.php?albumid=13058&attachmentid=26859
beautiful! you have hair to be proud of!
- Moisturized yet kinda dull? I don't know. Sometimes I get shine but only when I stretch my hair, it's super shiny, like almost straight hair people shiny, but curly, it's just curly lol.
yes, it's nice to have natural shiny hair, only problem I have with this is that I cannot indulge in any products otherwise it will make my hair look greasy and over oiled.
- My hair is soft, but not slippery. Yet, I have trouble with updo's sometimes as my hair "slips" out of them. I've never encountered someone with this problem.
My hair is not soft, so your lucky in this area. Naturally, it rough and takes a lot of training and routine maintenance to get my hair to feel soft.
- Humidity makes me look like the lion king but makes my hair super soft. I love volume so I don't mind it too much. Summer is my hair's favourite season.
humidity is my worst enemy since it does not make my hair soft and poofy, more like rough and poofy. But i'm good at controlling my hair if I know it will be a humid weather.
- My hair loves silicones, but it only works with a non cone conditioner as my first conditioner in WCC. I use cones to seal in moisture as stated above, my hair hates shea butter and oils on a regular basis.
Yes, I definitely use cones to seal moisture on my hair wash day (once a month). My hair also hates oils on a daily basis and so I do everything on my hair wash day, and then wait a month to repeat the process.
- Water is my best friend. I detangle under running water. Moisturize under running water.
Water is only friends with my scalp, but an enemy to my length and so I have to do multiple braids to avoid the nightmare of detangling and breakage, washing is more focused on my scalp.
- Traditional hair care for my hair type/country (carribean islander;trinidadian/jamaican) never works for me. We too, tend to use coconut oil but my hair hates it as a leave in.
It's very interesting how Carribean Islanders have a lot of things in common. There must be a reason why our hair acts the way it does to cope with tropical weathers I suppose, but I can never figure it out.
Heavy products like shea butter just do not work and dull the shine that I get. Mini twists and braids cause my hair to loc within a day or two.
I avoid heavy products like the plague since they make my hair even more heavy. I tend to venture with light oils like tsubaki camellia oils, almond oils, etc....
Sorry my post is so rambly, but it's hard yet exciting to find someone I identify with even if they're a different texture :D
Welcome, it's definitely interesting to compare and share!

I'm only half (My mum is Singaporean with Chinese and Malaysian heritage, and my dad is hella white) but sometimes I look at pictures of when I was a kid and had that short, duck fluff poof around my head and I realise how Asian my hair really is. Sometimes it acts white, sometimes it acts Asian, and it frustrates me ALL THE TIME.
Tho, I have had good results with coconut oil. And my mum always told me never to shampoo below my ears, and only conditioner from there down, probably bc she's used to washing it every day in Singapore so she had to keep herself from drying her hair out completely.
Sounds like me at the time, it does take a long time to get to know your hair if you allow yourself to have an open mind. I used to try different types of hair care from other cultures, but throughout the years i've learned to take only what works for my hair. I think this will always be a never ending exploration since I learn to adapt to each milestone I reach.

My husband is Chinese and started growing out his hair last year. He has found products he likes and I don't see him switching anytime soon. But! He gets told by his family and myself quite a lot that his hair looks awful lol. It's only because he over does the products and fails to use a comb. His hair dries after a shower with a bit of oil or whatever he adds, and looks gorgeous! Then.. he destroys it by string a glob of this, a glob of that. After he's done, he looks like a homeless man that hasn't seen a shower in two years. Oh that stringy greasy shoulder length mess that he sleeps on and doesn't bother to comb!

I miss his short hair.

I could get him here to comment, but it would be pointless as; despite my best efforts to teach him, he still hasn't a clue what he's doing.
Sounds like your hubby needs to join LHC and learn how to utilize his East Asian hair. Compared to Southeast Asian/Pacific Islander hair, East Asians are known for their silky straight hairs that then gets stereo typed that all "Asians" in general have this kind of hair. I find that for a lot of Southeast Asians/Pacific Islanders have polar opposites in behavior and texture.

rowie
April 15th, 2017, 11:06 AM
I'm Eastern Asian but a lot of those things are still true for me, especially my sister. I have always had silky fine hair that has gradually become medium textured as I aged, but I have the same issues with having a super oily scalp but dry hair. My sister has super coarse unruly, wavy, frizzy hair though. Unfortunately she hasn't even figured out a good routine for herself yet but coconut oil doesn't do anything for her either. I'll be following this thread, hopefully someone with this hair type will have some viable tips that I can pass on to my sister. :)
Awww that's really sweet of you for looking out for your sis. She must be jealous of you, as I've always been jealous of my older sister who has the stereo typical silky straight hairs. It always made me question if I was adopted, which isn't the case since there are some relatives with my hair type.


I tend to use a shampoo especially for oily hair, sulfate based, and that clears up the oil. For my lengths I typically use a conditioner that is for dry, and damaged hair as those are the most moisturizing on the market. It works fine. I use the WCC method (link in signature).

Coconut oil (even fractionated oil) leaves my hair dry and crunchy too. I use baby oil in small amounts, sometimes, in a rinse-out oil.

Waves stretch for me throughout the week as well, and I am a weekly washer.

I do have F hair, but I think this routine might work for you too.

I'll have to give this a try of course, but i'll have to tweak it since I wash my hair once a month. I'll definitely let you know since I just bought some "HasK keratin deep conditioning mask" treatment that my friend Kaelee introduced me to. Come first week of May i'll be able to try this. Thanks you as usual as I love trying new things, including some European products I love.

Eastern Asian here but I have a lot of the same problems :(



Sometimes I dab a little conditioner as leave-in when making my buns and it seems to control the poof somewhat

This was my method at your length only I would wash the conditioner thoroughly. Maybe if I just dab a pea size conditioner and spread it evenly might do the trick. I've been going more minamalist as my hair gets longer, but since i'll be reintroducing hair masks treatments, i'll save a little to add as a final leave in and seal.

I've the same problem and have cut back to waist length from TBL. No more ficcares or heavy hair toys for me!
Awwww Ficcares were a life saver for me above waist length. Once I reached passed waist they became problematic, but i'm starting to re-explore them on my top knot updos. I think i'm getting close to finding a way to secure them nicely on my head. ;)


Scalp washes have become my best friend :o
Yes, I'm planning to try this out at current journey. I'm so excited to try this. Do you just braid your hair? or do you use a plastic bag and loosely bun your hair?


I can handle coconut oil maybe once a month? It doesn't do much for me either, no shine or anything. I found camellia oil on damp hair have helped with frizziness and shine somewhat (also coney serums). Also apricot oil (it smells so good and is pretty light on the hair)

Yes, definitely tsubaki camellia oil works really well for me. It doesn't really smooth out my hair, but it makes it more shiny and a little softer with my coney serum. I love to use "Biosilk" serum to smooth out my hair and seal in moisture, and then I use the camellia oil to reintroduce moisture.

Individually, my hair strands mostly smooth. But there are always occasional super kinky and coarse hair mixed in there, which affects the way my hair drapes and are super prone to splitting/damage. I've found that using henna can calm those hairs down somewhat (at least 2-3 weeks after the initial dryness from henna). Also SMT with non-coney conditioner once in a while helped with making individual strands softer and more manageable-looking as opposed to frizzy and wild. Moisturizing aloe masks also helped a lot.
Sounds like you are very similar to me. Although my kinky hairs are the most strongest in my head and add volume, for me it's the straighter hairs that are more prone to splits and damage. Henna has definitely helped me grow my hair, but it makes my hair even more dry, and some of my kinky strands become like brillo pads. LOL

Now my hair loves white vinegar/water mixed with a tiny drop of essential oil like bergamont.


Products i'm trying out in preperation for spring and hot humid weather season.

360 misting spray from Sally's and a new wide tooth comb. The comb is supposedly infused with with coconut oil and keratin, but I think it's only a hype. It does work better on detangling than my Body Shop wide tooth wooden comb that I now replaced with this since the wood has curled and is about to break. I love this detangling comb that goes through my hair like butter.

http://i.imgur.com/7VM8Nznl.jpg

The misting spray with 360 degree misting is amazing. I fill the bottle up with distilled water/white vinegar/Bergamont EO and it gives my hair added shine in my updo. I will mist different areas of my head while i'm setting my hair in an updo. Here is a final result. I love that now when the weather gets really hot and humid I can now mist my hair to give it extra shine and control.

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

lapushka
April 15th, 2017, 12:55 PM
I'll have to give this a try of course, but i'll have to tweak it since I wash my hair once a month. I'll definitely let you know since I just bought some "HasK keratin deep conditioning mask" treatment that my friend Kaelee introduced me to. Come first week of May i'll be able to try this. Thanks you as usual as I love trying new things, including some European products I love.

It's lovely that you are willing to give it a go! My mom is a monthly washer as well (dry scalp). I love your new mister bottle BTW! They produce very fine mists, I've seen them on YT! Your new comb looks lovely, and you look dazzling in that bun! :thumbsup:

Hairkay
April 15th, 2017, 12:58 PM
That bun turned out beautifully. Your water, vinegar and bergamont EO misting solution is working.

I find water works best for me. I also grew up with coconut oil being traditionally used since I grew up in the Caribbean. I've got curly kinky hair with mostly medium strands. It's starts as tiny waves near the roots then spirals or corkscrews. Shrinkage comes as part of the package. It tends to be shiny, soft and a little silky. Once I tried leaving hair rinses to the end of the week. My hair started to look dull and lank, curls stretch out irregularly. My scalp was itchy. I went back to my regular routine. Coconut oil still works for me when I put a tiny bit on damp hair ends. I also change to olive oil and almond oil now that I live in a place with winter. I don't use shampoo due to allergy problems. I grew up with hair being daily rinsed then a little oil applied on the damp hair, shampoo was for the weekend. Now I just use a DIY hair mask for conditioning in the weekend and continue with daily rinses. Sometimes I'll use a mild vinegar rinse or if I feel my scalp needs it, I'll use oat water and or olive oil then rinse it out. Occasionally I'll do a henna gloss with coconut milk. I keep tangles at bay by rinsing hair in plaits/braids then redoing them one at a time as I preen. I love plaits. I depend on my sebum to keep things orderly. I also gave up brushing. Leaving hair out is something I'll do on a rare occasion.

littlestarface
April 16th, 2017, 12:09 AM
My hair is a wild poof no matter what I do. I do CO on length wash only scalp, I rinse with oil, I deep condition, I oil before a wash, I do protein, i use leave ins etc, wear braids, wear buns. I think its cuz my hair is a straight wavy so it don;t look good when its dried on its own just poofs into frizz and looks stringy, no uniformity to it and i hate that! My hair looks awful loose and wild unless I manipulate it with say water some kind of leave in,lots of scrunching n careful drying, which I never do only for a picture.

My strands are a fragile medium, not strong at all. Absorbs water super quick. My challenges would have to be moisture, keeping moisture in my hair, it can get so dry at and look ugly. My hair does not look nice at all honestly its thin,stringy, spiderwebby, literally gets everywhere, its so thin on the right side it makes my face look weird when its down. Everyone and I mean everyone always gets frustrated with it cuz its so floaty wild mess and so easy to break. My hair is the type that should be kept in restraints all day n night.

I guess I fit into the caucasian race, in my family they never did anything for hair. I'm the only one on my moms' side to do all the oilings n such.

Babetriz
April 16th, 2017, 07:15 AM
Does anyone else have wild braid shed? Like, sitting in place after braiding tightly and five minutes later looking like a scared cat?

I've tried oiling, braiding tightly or loosely, and nothing has worked... braiding tightly while wet, oiled, and before detangling kinda helps, but then it isn't smooth bc the outer hair forms a sort of net around each braid section.

littlestarface
April 16th, 2017, 06:41 PM
Does anyone else have wild braid shed? Like, sitting in place after braiding tightly and five minutes later looking like a scared cat?

I've tried oiling, braiding tightly or loosely, and nothing has worked... braiding tightly while wet, oiled, and before detangling kinda helps, but then it isn't smooth bc the outer hair forms a sort of net around each braid section.

Oh ya every braid ugh.

Mrstran
April 16th, 2017, 07:34 PM
rowie My hubby would love your hair! Do you mind if I show him the photo you just posted? I'd like to give him an example of what his hair Should look like.

Also, could you by any chance post your routine? If not I understand. The routines for long hairs can be a bit much. :D

pailin
April 16th, 2017, 08:43 PM
I'm just enjoying reading this thread, because I live in southeast Asia (Caucasian here) and I've certainly noticed that the Asian straight hair stereotype is all wrong.... I'm pretty sure almost all of the really straight hair I see is chemically straightened. Wavy is quite common, although hairdressers here tend to call my hair 'very curly' even though it's only wavy. And I have one friend from an island who is probably a 3c. At any rate, a lot of the hair care here is all wrong for me, so I'm not surprised you have the same problem in reverse.

Tosca
April 16th, 2017, 09:40 PM
I'm just enjoying reading this thread, because I live in southeast Asia (Caucasian here) and I've certainly noticed that the Asian straight hair stereotype is all wrong.... I'm pretty sure almost all of the really straight hair I see is chemically straightened. Wavy is quite common, although hairdressers here tend to call my hair 'very curly' even though it's only wavy. And I have one friend from an island who is probably a 3c. At any rate, a lot of the hair care here is all wrong for me, so I'm not surprised you have the same problem in reverse.

I think the straight hair vs curly hair dichotomy you have noticed might have something to do with the Wallace Line. The Wallace Line is a line drawn by Alfred Russel Wallace (who figured out the theory of evolution at almost exactly the same time as Darwin, but is mostly forgotten about due to complicated history stuff) situated almost exactly on a North/South axis (vertical) just east of Bali. It describes the curious phenomenon of flora and fauna segregating themselves over a very short distance (35km/22mi). It stands to reason that human characteristics would follow the same geographic patterns, with the Asian straight hair (Chinese, Japanese etc) on the western side of the line, and the Polynesian (3abc, Hawaii, Samoa, Tonga etc) and Melanesian (4abc, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Fiji etc) populations on the eastern side of the line.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wallace_Line

pailin
April 16th, 2017, 10:39 PM
That's interesting, although I do think it's a little more complicated. I think it tends to line up with language families and ethnic groups and historic migrations. I've been to PNG, and it's easy to see why the early explorers there thought people looked like people they saw in Africa.

Tosca
April 16th, 2017, 11:30 PM
Well yes, migrations and invasion and intermarriage are all factors too, such as the Maori population being decended from a group of Melanesian men who kidnapped some Taiwanese women 800 years ago etc etc, but I think as a /general/ tendency it holds true, much like people from Scandinavia tending to have straight blonde hair and blue eyes.

My main point in my original post, before I got a little side tracked, was that there are many SE Asian populations that have curly hair, even though in Western/English language media "Asian" is usually used just to mean Chinese, Japanese, Korean etc.

Anya15
April 17th, 2017, 03:19 AM
This is such an interesting thread. OP your bun is gorgeous! :D

Not Asian, but my hair is a mix of f/m/c, thick and very slippery even though it is textured... I don't know how this works. Sometimes Bobby pins, Amish pins and such tend to just slide out of my hair. :lol: I could make a really nice updo and an hour later it begins to fall apart.

Aredhel
April 17th, 2017, 07:11 AM
Awww that's really sweet of you for looking out for your sis. She must be jealous of you, as I've always been jealous of my older sister who has the stereo typical silky straight hairs. It always made me question if I was adopted, which isn't the case since there are some relatives with my hair type.
Thank you! :flower: She has expressed major hair envy before, but she gets the same from me; I adore her texture and how easy her hair is to style and hold updos... I guess the grass is always greener on the other side. :p She's wondered before how she wound up with her hair as well, but we're half Ecuadorean, so I'm fairly certain that's where her hair type comes from!




The misting spray with 360 degree misting is amazing. I fill the bottle up with distilled water/white vinegar/Bergamont EO and it gives my hair added shine in my updo. I will mist different areas of my head while i'm setting my hair in an updo. Here is a final result. I love that now when the weather gets really hot and humid I can now mist my hair to give it extra shine and control.

http://i.imgur.com/jPvFmjvl.jpg
Seems to be working well for you, your bun looks great!

pandabarrier
April 17th, 2017, 05:59 PM
The misting spray with 360 degree misting is amazing. I fill the bottle up with distilled water/white vinegar/Bergamont EO and it gives my hair added shine in my updo. I will mist different areas of my head while i'm setting my hair in an updo. Here is a final result. I love that now when the weather gets really hot and humid I can now mist my hair to give it extra shine and control.

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

Thank you for sharing your recipe! I used distilled water/white vinegar/lavender EO and sprayed it on my updo this morning. It helped control the frizz! Usually my head becomes a fuzzball in the end of the day, but today the frizz was minimized.