Hi & Loads of Questions!

[Tangles]

Hello all,

I recently cut my hair from almost-BSL to shoulder length, the reason being that it had sustained a year of damage from a couple of shoddy dye jobs and badly cut layers. I love my hair this length--it doesn't tangle and styles in five minutes--but as pretty as it looks, it somehow isn't me. I remember having waist length hair 2 years ago, with fairy tale ends, and I want that back--but I had a lot of problems with my long hair also, and am skeptical about growing it back for that reason.

Mainly, I had issues with straggliness. My hair is pretty thick and just a little wavy when it's shorter, but quite fine, fragile and skimpy at the ends when longer. Also, I had incredible greasiness and "flat-head" issues. Though my goal is to once again hit waist length, I realize it's going to take a lot of time and dedication, and I want to make sure that when I do get long again, it looks healthy and not stringy and flat. To that end, any suggestions are welcome!

I do have a difficult hair type. I'm definitely wavy, but I don't have enough body for fully formed curls. At my best, my long hair looks pretty and old fashioned; at worst, it just looks unkempt. However, I'm committed to doing whatever it takes to get the waist length hair, if I can manage it.

Thanks for reading! My hair grows super fast when it's short, so by the end of summer I should be well below the shoulders.

[Tangles]

Oh, as far as questions:

1. What shampoo/cond is good for combination (oily roots/dry ends) hair?
2. Doesn't hair get disgusting with the conditioner only method? How do you keep it feeling clean and fresh?
3. Are there ways of keeping 2A hair looking straighter OR forming it into ringlets?
4. How do you avoid flatness at the crown that makes you look tired out?

[Xanthippe]

Welcome Tangles! :waving: I'll do my best to help out a fellow wavy.



1. What shampoo/cond is good for combination (oily roots/dry ends) hair?

It really depends. Some people here do not use shampoo. Some people don't use products with -cones in them (ingredients like dimethicone or others that end in "cone"). Other people don't use any products at all (Water Only).

Perhaps you could try just shampooing the scalp and only conditioning the ends? You might also try diluting your shampoo with a little bit of water. I have had luck with CWC (Condition-Wash-Condition) where you condition the length of your hair, then you wash the scalp only with shampoo and rinse. Then you condition the length again. Really, you just have to experiment and see what works for you.



2. Doesn't hair get disgusting with the conditioner only method? How do you keep it feeling clean and fresh?

From my understanding, conditioner has enough cleansing ingredients to wash the hair as well. It may not lather, but it still cleanses. Lather is not necessary for cleaning anyway. Also, just rinsing will clean the hair too. Some people find that their hair does get oily from CO, but others find that it is adequate to clean it. When I was CO, my hair smelled like my conditioner :wink:



3. Are there ways of keeping 2A hair looking straighter OR forming it into ringlets?

I would try to avoid heat styling as much as possible if you want to grow your hair to waist. Damp bunning may give you bun waves. Or damp braiding may give you braid waves. I don't really have any experience trying to make my hair straighter but those methods help me get more defined waves. It often gets a bit straighter when I oil it though.



4. How do you avoid flatness at the crown that makes you look tired out?

When I wash upside down that gives me some lift at the crown.

Hope that helps!

[florenonite]

Oh, as far as questions:

1. What shampoo/cond is good for combination (oily roots/dry ends) hair?

I would recommend trying CWC for now with your existing shampoo/conditioner. Ursula posted a good article discussing this as a good method for newbies, amongst other things, that you can search for if you're interested.



2. Doesn't hair get disgusting with the conditioner only method? How do you keep it feeling clean and fresh?

The conditioner's got enough cleansing ingredients that it will cleanse some hair (it never worked for me, but you may have more success)



3. Are there ways of keeping 2A hair looking straighter OR forming it into ringlets?
You could try combing it whilst it dries every few minutes which might not make it stick-straight, but straighter. You can also try plopping (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=685&highlight=plopping) to encourage the wave.

[Shanarana]

You have certainly come to the right site. As you stick around and try new things, you'll find that your hair will perhaps grow differently than it did before you had all the information that you can get here. Happy Growing!!!

[1MegMeg]

3. Are there ways of keeping 2A hair looking straighter OR forming it into ringlets?


Welcome! :) I am new too so this is the only question I can really answer. My hair is 2a and if I want it straighter I comb with a wide-toothed come while it's drying, as florenonite mentioned. It doesn't get perfectly straight, but it's calm and not frizzy and puffy. If you want to get ringlets I highly recommend the plopping/plunking method. I get beautiful spiral ringlets when I do it and I think it's a pretty easy technique. I learned how to do it by watching a demo video on the JessiCurl website, here's the link to the video. (http://www.jessicurl.com/Demo-Videos-p-6.html)