The woes of curly hair

[Stardreamer]

I brush my curly 3b/3c hair so that it becomes wavy but poofy. I work part-time and some days I work, I barely have any time to do my hair. I always do one Dutch braid which becomes boring when done day after day. My favourite hairstyle is a half-up, and if I have my curly hair down or in a ponytail, it poofs up. The only way I could see a half-up working is if I put argan oil on my hair to weigh it down. I am gradually becoming more 'okay' with my hair and my confidence in myself is growing. I've gotten past the fear of having braids with curly ends. So maybe I can accept that my hair, even if wavy when brushed, will always try to curl up again at the ends because my hair is naturally curly. I wish my hair was naturally wavy. You can get your hair permanently straightened but I wish my hair was permanently wavy with a glossy texture and look.

I've discovered that drying my hair in a ponytail or a braid makes the roots wavy, nearly straight. I'm quite used to this and so never realised. How cool is this? I'd be horrified to have my hair down when it's curly. I'm thinking a curly high bun or high curly ponytail could look cool. But my hair is brown so that'd be boring for me, I'd probably consider dying my hair or getting the ends ombre-d before doing that.

Having to do a hairstyle in 5 minutes today, I didn't want to do the usual Dutch braid. So I did a variant, taking out some hair at the front of my head to be pretend bangs (even tho my hair is bra strap length lol)

Do you guys have any suggestions for quick hairstyles, hairstyles for my poofy brushed-out curly hair, and anything like that? Would ombre-d curly hair look cool? (note: I'd never have my curly hair down except in a half-up maybe)

And I am quite against my naturally curly hair.

[lapushka]

Bar from braiding it to make it pull out the curl, I don't have many suggestions. Maybe twists to let it dry?

[shelomit]

My hair doesn't have as tight a curl as yours, but I also try to coax it to be straighter most of the time. Here are some practices that have helped:

1. Rinsing very thoroughly after washing, no matter if I've used conditioner, shampoo, or both
2. Avoiding any leave-ins/styling products
3. Letting the hair dry in a stretched style, rather than loose
4. Using buns where the hair can be stretched "straight" rather than in a spiral or twist
5. Using braids that produce a different size of wave than my natural texture, whether smaller (little braids) or larger (big braid)

As for five-minute hairstyles--I rely mostly on buns, but with denser hair, perhaps you have quite enough length to work with yet. I usually shower at night, and find that if I put braids into damp hair in the evening they still look tidy enough to wear out in the morning. You might find an English or French braid/braids more comfortable to sleep in than Dutch. If you start the braid at the nape of the neck, gathering the hair fairly tightly, it might give you some of the same stretched-out effect on your roots that you enjoy from the ponytail.

I'm not certain based on what you've written whether you like the effect of brushing out your hair, or whether you find brushing necessary to detangle/section but don't like the poofiness. Have you tried detangling your hair in the shower, and either leaving it be when it's dry or finger-detangling only? That would certainly reduce the poof, if you don't like the poof. I find it difficult to make a neat braid without detangling my hair, but it is certainly possible to put in a high bun as you describe on dry, unbrushed hair and have it look put-together.

Hopefully some of this helps!

[sky-]

I have 3b hair and sometimes I'll do two large twists with a bit of gel or argon oil on them, and then take it out the next day and they have a beautiful wave that will last all day. So then you have two days and two different styles. :)

[meepster]

Mine is only about 2c/3a, but I just brush it out and put it in sock buns. Easy and neat.

[curlqueenjadine]

Mine is 2c/3a, I wear mine naturally curly most of the time, I just pull some Hair Food through it to help unpoof it!

Have you tried the Curly Girl Method to help you to embrace your natural curl? :)