I finally got a picture of my hair in my "hair" album

[Beaglebuddy]

I really need help to get my hair looking and feeling better. Could you please look at my album and maybe give me ideas what you would do with this mop? I know I have asked for help before but now you can see what I am dealing with and that is why I am asking for help again.
It is quite poofy and frizzy.
I do wash my hair every day which I know I shouldn't but I can't seem to break the habit. My hair seems to get drier the longer I go without washing and thus it gets poofier. I guess for the most part I will have to get over this and try and cut back.
I have myself classified as a 2c/3a, does that sound right?
I don't do anything damaging such as dye, straightening irons, curling irons, blowdryer, etc.
I did dry my hair out badly with protein treatments a year or two ago.
Is there any way to get this hair silkier and softer?
I do olive oil treatments 3 or 4 times a week.

Any advice will be appreciated.

[Xandergrammy]

It doesn't look so poofy and frizzy to me. I love your wave pattern. I would just try to cut down on washing every day. And I don't know if you brush your hair or not. I only brush my hair right before a wash or else it is unmanageable.

[Beaglebuddy]

Thankyou Xandergrammy. I do have a serious case of hair hatred (have hated my hair all my life). And to hear kind words from you (your hair is beautiful) makes me feel a little better.

I only use a brush just before I wash my hair (which I do in the evenings) but I do use a wooden comb on my wet hair and a regular comb to style. I do comb it all out to get all the tangles out as it does get pretty tangley.

[Xandergrammy]

Thankyou Xandergrammy. I do have a serious case of hair hatred (have hated my hair all my life). And to hear kind words from you (your hair is beautiful) makes me feel a little better.

I only use a brush just before I wash my hair (which I do in the evenings) but I do use a wooden comb on my wet hair and a regular comb to style. I do comb it all out to get all the tangles out as it does get pretty tangley.



I hated my hair until I found this place 4 years ago. Your hair looks very similar to mine. I have to comb it to get out all the tangles too. I've tried finger combing but I'm always worried I'm going to cause more damage if I leave too many knots in there.

[Sammich]

What beautiful waves, I agree with cutting down on washing everyday, wavy/curly hair tends to be more drier than straight hair because it takes longer for natural oil to slide down the shafts. I'm not really a wavy myself but I also agree on perhaps cutting down on brushing? I mean, I've heard it poofs your hair quite a bit if you don't like the poof... perhaps it's better if you brush it before you wash so you don't have to go out with poof! :D
I also think since your hair is poofyish, perhaps it needs more moisture... oils perhaps to lock in moisture(During damp is the best for me)? Sweet almond oil makes my hair really soft and with no frizz, coconut oil is a popular choice as well. :)

[jivete]

I would try CO and maybe a light, leave-in oil, like Argan or Camellia. You might also try turning down the temperature on the water when you wet your hair. That helped my hair to be much less fluffy. Also doing a final ACV rinse helps.

My hair tends to get quite fluffy if I'm not careful. The light oil is the best way to tame it, but sometimes it tends to get a little greasy when I do it. But if you wash everyday, you won't have to worry about it.

I agree with Xandergrammy though. Your hair doesn't look super poofy or frizzy to me.

HTH!

[redwoman]

I just love how your waves cascade like a waterfall! Just imagine all that glory at tailbone length! As for the dryness, everyone on here raves about a SMT. Try to only wash your hair twice a week and see if that helps.

[Xandergrammy]

Just wanted to add that I use monoi oil on my hair every day. Helps with flyaways and dry ends.

[elina333]

If I were you I would try the CO method. I had my hair just like yours a couple of years ago (it was actually a lot worse, due to bleaching) and when I cut out the schampoo, I saw great improvement!

Also, have you tried some sort of curl creme? I dont know if you like "cones" or not, and Im not sure whether there is one without them, but I think it would help. Also NO brushing after its been wet... Just comb though it with a wide tooth comb and then maybe add some curl creme or oil.

Good luck!

[xoxophelia]

Everybody made a lot of good suggestions. I would second doing CO and using the shampoo less often.

How are you doing your oil treatments?

But I wanted to add that it might get better as your hair gets longer. Mine shorter also gets a bit of a triangle shape, but as it got longer the weight helped pull it down a bit.

Another good way to depuff is to put your hair in rollers during the night or when it is just nearly dry and leave them in for 1-2 hours.

[jesamyn]

I agree that your hair doesn't look super poofy or frizzy. :)

Some frizz is kinda unavoidable for us wavies depending on weather conditions. I'd recommend either trying CO or CWC for your hair to combat dryness. Others have suggested a light leave-in oil, and I agree that's a good idea. Maybe also add some AVG when you're wearing your hair down. It works a lot like styling gel to help tame the spare bits.

Have you checked your shampoo and conditioner for protein or cones? Some people tolerate protein or cones well, and some don't. Evaluating if your hair might not 'like' one or the other might help too.

[serious]

Your hair doesn't look that bad at all!

The mixture of cocoa butter and conditioner, applied on dry hair and left on for an hour or so, works as a miraculous anti frizz pre wash treatment for my hair. It works even better than just oiling or the regular SMT.

[saskia_madding]

I have thin but poofy hair and it can sometimes drive me mad! But I've found that C(ondition)-W(ash)-C(ondition) works well for me. It gives my hair 2x the conditioning, and the extra moisture helps a little with the poofiness.

Also, leave in conditioners are KEY. After you get out of the shower, use *something* as a leave-in, and on second day hair, use a light oil to tame frizz. I use camellia and love it.

[Toadstool]

Have you tried the Curly Girl method? That's supposed to transform curly hair!

[Beaglebuddy]

Xandergrammy - I am definitely going to read your blog. Thanks for suggestion about monoi oil, I have a bottle of that somewhere.

Sammich - I try not to brush my hair only when I take it down at end of day, just before I wash my hair. I have tried oils right after washing my hair and never had much luck, but the oils may have been too heavy. I will try a lighter one. I do heavy oil treatments 3x a week or so.

jivete - I did try CO washing but lost a lot of hair. I liked the results but was afraid I would lose a lot more hair.

redwoman - thank you. I do SMTs every so often, they are great. Maybe I should do them more.

elina333 - I have never used a curlcreme, I don't use any product like that in my hair. Wouldn't hurt to try one, it may calm my hair down.

xoxophelia - I hope it gets better as it gets longer and as I learn to shampoo less :D. As for how I do my oil treatments, I use about a tbsp of olive oil on dry hair, leave for about 2 or 3 hours, and then shampoo. I do this 2-3x a week.

jesamyn - The CWC sounds good. CO is no go because of hair loss.
I don't ever wear my hair down as I am not comfortable with how it looks. But maybe AVG would tame it enough so I could. My hair likes cones but is very tempermental with protein if I overdo it.

serious - that cocoa butter and conditioner treatment really sounds good!

simone_rodriquez - I can always use extra moisture, I will try CWC. I have never used a leave-in ever, I guess it would be a good place to start.

Toadstool - Yeah the Curly Girl Method (or aka CO washing) made me lose too much hair. I did like the results otherwise.

[bumblebums]

But I wanted to add that it might get better as your hair gets longer. Mine shorter also gets a bit of a triangle shape, but as it got longer the weight helped pull it down a bit.


I agree. You are at an awkward length right now, but it will get better when the hair is longer. At this length, the best way to avoid getting mad at your hair is to wear it up often. You could probably put it in a peacock twist, using a big claw clip?

And yes, your hair seems like a perfect candidate for CO. I really like the color, btw!

[ETA==just saw what you added about the hair loss--perhaps try a different conditioner? There are also no 'poo washes that are similar to CO, for example, flaxseed mucilage. http://community.livejournal.com/no_poo/365014.html]

[Beaglebuddy]

Thanks for the post on no poo and flax seed mucilage. I will read up on it.

I do wear my hair up all the time, usually in a french braid tuck. I do find I forget about it and the length when it is up.

[cmnt831]

Your hair looks a lot like mine when I comb it out. I just (literally last week) quit combing and started using Giovanni Smooth as Silk Deeper Moisture conditioner. Those were the two big changes I made and now my hair looks less dry and has less frizz. Oh, I also made a mixture of shea butter and olive oil that I apply after washing (with diluted all natural organic shampoo) and conditioning. I also only wash my hair about every 3 days to a week depending on the weather and if my hair starts getting either too greasy or too dry and I only air dry.

I don't know if that helps any, but thought I'd add my two cents :).

[Beaglebuddy]

cmnt831 - Your shea butter and olive oil mixture, is that used as a leave-in? It sounds good.
I hope to cut back to twice a week shampooing. I did hope that I could get it healthier first and then start to cut back but maybe the otherway around would reap better results.

[Dars]

Since you've mentioned you comb your hair for styling I'm unsure if your hair is brushed/combed in that photo. It would be a 2C from that photo. If you have manipulated your hair in that photo I'd suggest taking a hair typing picture and then we'd be able to hair type you correctly :)

[xoxophelia]

I can honestly say how puffy my hair is seems to be directly related to how often I shampoo it.

I have been trying out putting just a touch of jojoba oil after I shower (I am currently cone free) and that seemed to do well. It is one of the closest oils to our natural sebum chemically so perhaps that is why.

[cmnt831]

cmnt831 - Your shea butter and olive oil mixture, is that used as a leave-in? It sounds good.
I hope to cut back to twice a week shampooing. I did hope that I could get it healthier first and then start to cut back but maybe the otherway around would reap better results.

It is a leave-in. I mixed it about 2/3 shea and 1/3 olive oil. I just scoop out a little bit, probably not even an 1/8 of a tsp. It's soft, but I warm it up in my hands and then run my hands through my wet hair after I wash and condition. I also don't towel dry my hair, just gently squeeze the excess water out, so my hair's still pretty wet when I put the shea and evoo in. Then I get a t-shirt and plop the whole thing for about 25 minutes so that my hair isn't dripping water anymore. Once I take it out, I do NOT comb and try to keep from touching my hair until it's dry. My hair does best when I treat it as though it's curly.

I hope you find a routine that works. I really didn't like my hair much (even though I loved the length) until I started following tips from reading here. Everyone has wonderful advice and I guess it's just a matter of trying a little at a time until you find the ones that work :).

[Beesweet]

Okay, everyone has very good advice. I think my hair looks a lot like yours if I were to brush it.

I am 2C/borderline3A -- and I NEVER ever brush my hair. I know it is good for my scalp, but I do a lot of scalp massage instead. I think this gives my hair lift at the root and encourages curl. This helps avoid the pyramid/mushroom look. I also think it distributes natural oil -- what little of it there is -- down my hair.

Also, the less I comb or brush, the less it tangles, believe it or not. The individual waves/curls kind of take up residence and stick to themselves. Covering hair at night is a must. About once every two weeks I will pick it while wet, to untangle. I use a wide pick when my hair is wet and full of conditioner, and I pretend that I am dealing with wet lace and don't want even one hair to break or rip. After, it takes a while for my waves and curls to go back to where they once were. Like a whole other wetting and oiling on another day.

I do finger comb sometimes. When my ends are healthy, I don't get knots. My hair looks best when I have not combed it. I do like a wilder look, though.

I also only shampoo my hair about 1x per week with some Indian shikakai, and about 1x per month I will do a ACV rinse. If you are doing that much olive oil, you should probably be doing ACV rinse.

If I workout or get my hair or scalp really dirty, I do condition only wash (CO wash). I use different Cone-free ones -- best is Whole Foods 365 lavender for me.

Right now, I don't do much to it at all in between. I am growing it out -- you can look at my pics. Anything red was before my chop that I am now growing out. Pics are on my blog. My hair now, with this routine can be seen in the "mini-bob" pic and the entry "Where I am Now."


BTW -- my hair responds very poorly to olive oil in any form. I use coconut -- and Vatika hair oil from Indian Grocer. It smells amazing.

[Beaglebuddy]

Thank you Beesweet! I am going to try tonight to not comb my hair after my shower, maybe just with my fingers.

ACV is another thing I cannot use. No matter how I dilute it, it drys out my hair. But I might cut back on heavy oil treatments because I think I will try using a light oil as a leave-in.

I will try and cut down on shampoo but until I try out this light oil leave-in, I am afraid to not shampoo as I might get greasy.


cmnt831 - think that is what I'll try as a leave-in first, but I think I might use sweet almond oil instead of olive oil.

Dars - I might try on Friday night to get a picture of it uncombed

[cmnt831]

If I'd had any sweet almond oil on hand, I would have used that instead. It should work just the same.

[Fairlight63]

I think that your hair will be easier to work with when it gets longer.
I think that what it needs for the "poof" this is what I do anyway when my hair has too much poof is put a drop or two of Jojoba oil on the ends & comb or finger comb it into a high pony tail & put a schrunchie on it and make a bun out of the ends or curl the ends under & bobby pin the ends with a long bobby pin & leave it all day. When I take it down it has nice body to it without the poof. It just seems to give my hair direction without having to set it all over with rollers.
If over night I will put some jojoba oil on my hair & twist it into a twist & pin it, put on a satin sleep cap, tie it, then slip out the bobby pin. In the morning when I take off the cap the heat from my body from sleeping in the cap has made nice curls when I finger comb them.
Your hair has nice body to it almost like having a perm but it needs some direction & doing those things I think would help.
Good luck!

[Beaglebuddy]

Fairlight63 - I do think I need to put oil or leave-in or something on my hair. Thank you for letting me know what you do. The ideas help. When I was little my mom always put my hair in ringlets when I washed it, to control it. I have no idea how to do anything like that so I have always just let it do it's thing. I am going to try experimenting with doing things with it to control it better.

[Xandergrammy]

I tried not combing my hair at all while wet and I'm not seeing much of a difference in the poofiness. I think maybe my hair is just meant to poof. :sad

[Beaglebuddy]

Xandergrammy - there's seems to me to be more poofiness with no combing than with combing with my hair. I did get a picture up in my album of my hair after washing and not combing and to me it does look poofier or more voluminous. But I think the length is definitely one of the main problems. It is shorter than I have usually had it, but I had to cut off very bad ends and with the shrinkage I get it ended up being more than I wanted.

[Xandergrammy]

Xandergrammy - there's seems to me to be more poofiness with no combing than with combing with my hair. I did get a picture up in my album of my hair after washing and not combing and to me it does look poofier or more voluminous. But I think the length is definitely one of the main problems. It is shorter than I have usually had it, but I had to cut off very bad ends and with the shrinkage I get it ended up being more than I wanted.


I've come to the same conclusion about my hair. Having extra length has definitely made the poofiness more manageable, but it's still there and not combing seems to make it worse. So I'll be combing my hair again. :gabigrin: