What Kind of Hair Do I Have and How to Take Care of it? Help?

[voshtak]

Anyone else relate to this scenario?

Basically, ever since I was young, I've always struggled with my hair. It's long, it's thick, it's heavy, and it's annoying. Pretty though, apparently.
I have very few memories that I can recall as a kid, but I know that at times I had curls, waves, and straight strands all at once, so I always believed my hair was some texture anomaly. My mom always straightened it out (which probably explains the straight parts among the weird waves and curls), and as an adult I've spent these past two or three years receiving Japanese hair straightening treatments.

I recently decided, though, that I'd officially stop and try to understand my hair and go natural. So, that's when I learned that I apparently do have naturally wavy/curly hair. My coworker told me this just based on my baby hairs, in addition to my complaints of frizzy hair after brushing, and how poofy my hair would get post-blow drying. At this point, I'm wondering which it is -- wavy, curly, both? Does one frizz and not the other when brushed dry?

And after narrowing it down, if possible, what to do about it? Is it still possible to recover my natural waves/curls after years of straightening throughout my childhood and the last few spent putting chemicals in? My hair is still very healthy apparently, but I'm worried about how far these treatments have gone in their impact and whether or not my natural hair is beyond being saved :(

[blackgothicdoll]

Are you able to share pics?

No, you will need to gradually cut out the Japanese straightening treatments. You can baby your hair and maybe coax a little bit of texture into it, but if I'm not mistaken Japanese straightening is permanent, like a relaxer, and must be cut out. I think BerrySara has a lot of experience with them and can speak more accurately than myself.

When was the last time you got one of these treatments?

[voshtak]

I'll try and take a pics tomorrow for reference! Unfortunately, I have pics on-hand :(

Oh my gosh, thank you for the reference! My coworker did tell me that I would need to cut it out to and let my natural hair grow from the top-down, so that makes sense. Any tips on how to baby it? I'm not sure if I should start training it to think like it's wavy or curly :) I'll try and drop them a message if and when I'm able, though! I might need to make a few more posts beforehand, aha.

Last time I did it was last year in August! did it to ease my frustration with my hair, but I'd always been very reluctant about the whole thing despite having done it so many times.

[voshtak]

Are you able to share pics?

No, you will need to gradually cut out the Japanese straightening treatments. You can baby your hair and maybe coax a little bit of texture into it, but if I'm not mistaken Japanese straightening is permanent, like a relaxer, and must be cut out. I think BerrySara has a lot of experience with them and can speak more accurately than myself.

When was the last time you got one of these treatments?

I realized I forgot to quote the reply :) but I did have an additional question, which was just whether or not I should cut at least part of the hair I do have with the treatment? I'm not sure whether or not that might encourage further growth or make no difference..

[spidermom]

The natural texture growing in might not work with the straightened length so a haircut may be in your future if you're truly determined to stop straightening your hair. The change of a haircut can be fun, though. However it works out - welcome to LHC.

[GrowlingCupcake]

I realized I forgot to quote the reply :) but I did have an additional question, which was just whether or not I should cut at least part of the hair I do have with the treatment? I'm not sure whether or not that might encourage further growth or make no difference..

Cutting your hair will not encourage further growth; cutting your hair makes no difference.

You just need to decide if you're willing to cut your hair now, and have it all one texture as your non-treated hair grows out or if you're willing to cut the treated hair out slowly as your non-treated hair grows out.

As for training it to think it's wavy or curly, that really makes no difference. Your natural texture will be whatever it is, and till it grows out sufficiently, it's hard to tell what that texture is. You can try to curl/wave your treated hair with heatless methods to match the texture growing out, though.

You can also blow dry the newly growing out hair straight if that's something you prefer; yes, the heat is damaging but it might make your hair look less mismatched till your natural texture is long enough that you're okay with cutting off all the treated hair. And since blow drying straight isn't permanent, your natural texture will still be there, albeit with some heat damage. There are also heatless wrapping methods for obtaining straight hair but I don't know how well that works for hair that is just growing out.

Welcome to the forums :)

[voshtak]

The natural texture growing in might not work with the straightened length so a haircut may be in your future if you're truly determined to stop straightening your hair. The change of a haircut can be fun, though. However it works out - welcome to LHC.

Yeah, I figured :( I'm okay with that, though! In fact, I'm looking forward to it so long as it means regaining my natural roots (literally). And I've never had short hair before, so as long as my parents allow it, I'm hoping to go as short as a bob. Second choice is shoulder-length, given that it'll be before my long hair journey begins again.

Thank you so much for the advice and for the warm welcome! :)

[voshtak]

Cutting your hair will not encourage further growth; cutting your hair makes no difference.

You just need to decide if you're willing to cut your hair now, and have it all one texture as your non-treated hair grows out or if you're willing to cut the treated hair out slowly as your non-treated hair grows out.

As for training it to think it's wavy or curly, that really makes no difference. Your natural texture will be whatever it is, and till it grows out sufficiently, it's hard to tell what that texture is. You can try to curl/wave your treated hair with heatless methods to match the texture growing out, though.

You can also blow dry the newly growing out hair straight if that's something you prefer; yes, the heat is damaging but it might make your hair look less mismatched till your natural texture is long enough that you're okay with cutting off all the treated hair. And since blow drying straight isn't permanent, your natural texture will still be there, albeit with some heat damage. There are also heatless wrapping methods for obtaining straight hair but I don't know how well that works for hair that is just growing out.

Welcome to the forums :)

To be honest, I'd be more than happy to cut now, I just need to figure out where my natural growth is at now before I do cut it. Ideally, I'd like the growth to be longer if possible so that it can be all new-growth and cut to the length of a bob, or shoulder-length. But even if it's not there yet, I think cutting it, as mismatched as it might look with some of the treated hair still attached, would be a good way to enforce the sense of a new beginning.

That's true, I guess I'll just have to try and be patient with waiting! I tried to ask my mom today what my hair texture naturally was and, although she was sleepy, I wouldn't be surprised if the answer stays the same since she said "frizzy". :(
I don't entirely mind the mismatched thing, though this suggestion is super helpful!

Thank you for the advice and the welcome! :) It's a pleasure to meet you!

[spidermom]

I forgot to mention before that I've got crazy mixed-up hair, too. The overall effect is wavy, but it includes everything from stick-straight hairs to coiled ones, from coarse hairs to hairs so fine sometimes I can feel one on my arm but not see it. I used to hate my natural texture. I thought it was messy and ugly. I've come to appreciate it, though. It's kind of fun. When I wash it, I never know what I'm going to get.

[blackgothicdoll]

So you have about a year's worth of virgin hair, which could put you around ear/chin maybe of all natural hair?

It's hard to tell without pictures, but I think if you overlapped treatments your ends will be a lot straighter than the hair in the middle, and you can get away with cutting off less than it would take to give you all natural hair. There may still be a difference, but it can be a little difficult to suddenly have a brand new head of hair, which happens when you 'go natural', or cut off chemically straightened... ask me how I know ;)

Of course, that's all up to you! If your mom says your natural hair type is frizzy, the truth could be that your hair was never getting the proper moisture to form curls. That happens with sooo many wavy/wurly/curly hair types. A lot have used the curly girl method and found it made a difference in defining curls and allowing their true texture to come out. Have you looked into curly girl at all?

[pamela123]

I stopped using heat for about a year just because I wanted to let my hair recover after using heat for maybe 7 or 8 years pretty much every time after i washed it. My hair was also VERY poofy after using a hair dryer. Leaving it natural saved me so much time as I basically didn't have to do anything. At first my hair was very frizzy and a mixture of curly, straight and wavy strands. Mostly the straight strands were at the back. After a few months it was not as frizzy and pretty wavy (as a child my hair was pretty curly but it is mostly wavy now maybe due to me straightening it for so many years or just because it is heavier and longer) It probably grew about 6 or 7 inches in a year whereas when I straightened it it probably barely grew 2 or 3.
You should cut your hair to the length your comfortable with, stop using heat and be patient :D Your hair will grow and you can keep cutting it and letting it grow until you're happy with how it is. Baring in mind that your hair might not be how it was when you were a child as the texture can change as you get older.
I also noticed that when I had no layers and my hair was longer it was way less frizzy because it was heavier.