Hair type change/unmasked

[SeaPhoenix]

So - I've now gone 3 months without touching henna, and did wind up cutting a great deal of my hair off to make the growing out of the henna speed along, (rather than be stuck in a funky natural hair color/henna hair color demarcation for a few years).. It should be all grown out in a year. In march I had it layered just below the shoulders, and it picked up some slight waves. Last month I just trimmed up the layers, but this month, a few days ago actually, I had it cut to about the chin, with some layering - but subtle, so it still looked like a short bob. I've discovered by using the scrunching trick my sister in law showed me - my hair really picked up some major wave. I started using a bit of gel as well, and the beach waves stuck all day long. I always knew I had a light body wave to my hair, but I never realized how much it could wave up, just by being short... My hair type as I always thought of it was a 1b w/ occasional 1c - but now that its short, and if I scrunch it, it now seems more like a 1c/2a to me. Not that I'm complaining.. I'm actually really happy about this - as it will make having short hair for the next year really fun. (And keeping my hair this short will keep my grubby little paws away from the henna, because I do plan to grow my hair out long again once all the henna is cut off).
I've ordered some wave & curl enhancing products - and am eagerly awaiting their arrival right now... though it will take a couple weeks since I'm in Guam. I think my next experiment will be to see how long I can make a light curl stick in my hair lol...

Anyone else, who for one reason or another found themselves chopping their hair drastically to start fresh with growing out, discover a hair type change when the weight was taken off the hair? When the hair grew back, did anyone miss the hair type change that came with the shorter hair?

[loves2spin]

You are really having quite an adventure with your hair! Good luck as you grow it out. All the talk of wave and gel, etc. reminds me of my mom. She said that when she was growing up, short hair was popular for a while and they would boil flax seed in water and use the gel produced to set the wave in their hair. :)

[SeaPhoenix]

I'll have to try the flaxseed gel sometime - if i can make myself part from my dietary flaxseed supply, to use on hair lol... a friend got me hooked on adding flaxseed to meals on a daily basis :-D

[Madam Librarian]

I'm going through something similar after attempting to remove henna from my hair. While I never totally got rid of the red sheen from henna, I believe that I've done something to knock a dent in it. With henna, my hair was a 2a. I could wear it wavy if I wanted to (but rarely did since the wave formation was very hit or miss) or I could comb it straight and wear it that way. Now, after 'removing' most of my henna and having layers cut back in, my hair is definitely wavier. I'm still pondering my hairtype, but I believe it is at least 2b/c, maybe a solid 2c, and just maybe could be a 2c/3a. I no longer have the option of wearing my hair straight unless I use a flat iron or round brush and blowdryer.

Although I did trim some length and get layers cut in, I didn't lose that much hair overall to make me think it's a weight issue. I think that a) henna has masked the waviness of my hair all along, or b) I've had some hormonal shifts that are resulting in wavy hair.

If you want to encourage the waves, you might try CO or sulfate free shampoos. Try the things that the curly hairs like.

[loves2spin]

I'll have to try the flaxseed gel sometime - if i can make myself part from my dietary flaxseed supply, to use on hair lol... a friend got me hooked on adding flaxseed to meals on a daily basis :-D
I think it would be just boil 1 Tablespoon of the flaxseed in a cup of water, or maybe less water. It wasn't much, so would not cut into your supply significantly. I eat freshly ground flaxseed every day too! :)