Finally accepting - I might have wavy hair

[Juliet's Silk]

After having had straight hair all my life, I guess I cannot fight the realization much longer that my hair has become wavy over time. I might finally announce that I am 2a instead of 1c - it's because my hair will do wild wavies when washed and drying, which straighten out as soon as dry; but I think this is mainly because my hair is always drying in a bun, thus pulling the waves out.

My biggest (and more or less only) gripe with my hair since years now is the frizz but I finally suspect the underlaying waviness to be the culprit. I cannot change how I wash my hair (usually scalp wash with SLS shampoo, alternating with CWC) - CO might help with the frizz but my scalp can't tolerate it.

However, I think I need input about what to do with my hair after wash day - when it has dried and been in a bun. How do I avoid the frizz? Is there some method I can use to "revive" the waves somewhat, or to realign the frizz into proper waves? I do not brush, but fingercombing is not an option either.

I have spent hours and hours reading about the general wavy tips, but I can't use most of them (e.g. COing, scrunching), so I'm kinda at a loss about what to do.

So basically, wavies - what do you do on DDx when you want to wear your hair down? Or are you only able to wear your hair down on wash day?

[julliams]

Wash day gives me lovely waves and the odd ringlet or two. I find my frizz is at it's worst on wash day depending on the conditions that I've airdried in. On day two the waves are almost out (not straight but not really wavy either) but my frizz has diminished. Day 2 hair is not as pretty but it's good because it's "flatter". Day 3 hair is good for updos and that's about it. Day 4 is rare and most likely a new wash day.

If you try a little gel through your very wet hair it might just help with the frizzies. And, as most people say - frizz is something you see most, others only see a little if at all.

Are you wanting to encourage waves? If so, try this:
1. Wash and condition as normal
2. squeeze water out and apply a leave in (leave in conditioner or gel)
3. Use towel or old t-shirt to scrunch your hair up to your head - hold for a few seconds, release and repeat all around your head
4. DO NOT TOUCH your hair - it will look "sad" for a couple of hours and then as it dries the magic happens and your natural waves come through and dry in nice little clumps. If you run your hands through it you get frizz so don't touch!!!!

Hope this helps.

[Hotrox]

Julliams has given you great advice. Try it when you have a day at home to yourself and see how it dries - so if it goes wrong and all frizzy it doesn't matter :D

Also, take a look at naturallycurly.com there are loads of wavy haired people on there and some really good advice too

I can't CO wash either, it just doesn't work for me, but you can still get good curls without this method, but a lot of trial and error is involved in figuring out curly hair/

It'll be a journey, but a good one :D

[Juliet's Silk]

Thanks for your quick advice, both of you :)


And, as most people say - frizz is something you see most, others only see a little if at all.

Unfortunately, we're not talking about a bit of frizz here - that's normal, and I notice it with other women's hair too. Mine, though, is a bit more serious - I call it "wild woman hair" :lol: The nape area is especially bad, with most of the hairs sticking out a couple of inches, effectively creating extremely much volume. I think these are the hairs that get twisted while bunning or something, I don't have another explanation for them.

I'll try plopping again, even though I faintly remember it creating even more frizz for me. The problem is the "no touching" thing - I can't let my hair be without touching, it needs to be combed or else it looks like dreadlocks hanging there. I usually let my hair completely dry before combing, but honestly, it doesn't matter if I comb it while wet/damp or not.

I think I might have to use some kind of product on the wet hair - usually, the only thing I use is camellia/coconut oil when I think my hair needs it, but no other leave in. I have experimented with leave ins in the past, and they did either nothing for my hair or left it greasy. However, I never tried store bought stuff, maybe that works better? What kind of leave in / gel should I chose?

[kristymarie87]

I put my wavy (1b/c - not sure as its a bit short and i always had short hair so waiting to see!) in four buns las night.

I washed CWC, then applied a leave in i made out of conditioner and water and also some aloe vera gel and then sectioned into a sort of hot cross bun look and twisted the hair until it mad a bun. I held it down in bobby pins and left it to dry.

I however took it out still damp after having a tiff with my bf. It was lovely and curly but it dried a little frizzy - next time i am trying some other products. I think it would work for you but you need to find a defrizzing/curl enhanceing producat that works with your hair.

I loved the waves on me though, i wished i'd left it in until morning!

I have heard of a gel by herbal essances in a purple tube thats really good and non crunchy made especially for curls.

[Gnomentum]

I find coconut oil really brings out the natural wave in my hair, but I see you already use it. Perhaps a slightly heavier oiling with the same stuff??

[julliams]

I use Giovanni's Direct Leave in and it's pretty good. Any gel is fine as long as it's light and I choose the ones that are for curly hair (I think I have a sunsilk one for waves). Sometimes you have to give a new method a few goes to find out if it's right for your waves, in terms of how much product to use and also to encourage the waves. I find that every time I dry my hair this way I get different results and I think it's due to the humidity in the air. The one time I had absolutely NO frizz was the day I sat indoors next to the gas heater on a clear day. Any other time I would normally get plenty of frizz.

[taliarose]

Good morning. Let's see. With my hair it's either put it up or leave it down.

I find that the more I "touch" my hair the frizzier it becomes. Then again it's naturally frizzy to start with. I completely understand what you mean about the volume. When I had my hair short many years ago I could almost get the 80's "big" hair without using products.

If I want to leave it down with waves what I'll do is let it air dry down and only finger comb once when dry to make it look nice. Every once in a while I'll put it up in a very loose bun or rag curls to dry and get a more defined wave.

No matter what I do if I leave it down for more than about 8 hours it's not exactly straight but it's not waves. It's the weight and length working against the waves. Which is kind of sad since when it's wet I almost get spiral curls...

[lapushka]

Just dampen your length again with a spritzer, then use some AV gel on it or some leave-in (regular conditioner is fine too) and scrunch a bit, then let air dry or diffuse.

[Centaur]

Oh my goodness, Juliet's Silk, I am going through the same thing.

What I have learned after finally accepting that I have wavy, not straight hair anymore is that I cannot brush my hair. I have to finger comb or use a wide tooth comb.

Also, the only way I can keep my waves from frizzing in this hot, humid weather is by either using gel spray designed for wavy/curly hair (and it is hard to find a good kind that doesn't dry out my hair) or by a light application of sweet almond oil.

[eezepeeze]

When you are describing the hair hanging in wet dreadlocks...that's the way it should be :) Those wet dreads are going to dry into waves that are clumped together instead of each hair standing out on its own (frizz).

To encourage the wave/curl, put in a curl enhancing gel when it is sopping wet, detangle when WET with a wide tooth comb(I know this anathema on here, but it works).Then, leave it alone. DON"T TOUCH! HANDS OFF! Don't comb it again, not even at night to bun it. Curls HATE being combed. Never, ever brush your hair if you want pretty waves and no frizz. Not wet or dry. The only time I detangle my hair when it is dry is when I know I am going to be wearing it up for several days and don't want to preserve the curl for wearing it down. Also, avoid any sort of blowing air, be it wind, blowdryers, from a fan, or whipping your hair around. Any sort of air blowing will encourage frizz during the drying process. I have REALLY curly hair and I can usually get 3-4 days out of my curls by following this method. I don't follow the curly girl method like many on here.

These are the products I use regularly:

John Frieda Frizz Ease Leave In Conditioning Spray
John Frieda Frizz Ease Anti Frizz Serum
Herbal Essences Curl Enhancing gel (it's in a purple squeeze tube)
Tresemme Tres Two hairspray (for updos and to smooth baby hairs)
a wide tooth plastic comb

Yes, all the products are store bought and filled with cones. That's okay. Frizzy hair needs them, in my experience.

Also, sometimes I do plop at night. I actually have a video up on youtube about hair plopping.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=oBgAZRmrR3k (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oBgAZRmrR3k)

I show the products I use and the method I use for plopping.

It is SOOO frustrating to start out the day with pretty hair and end up with a big poof on your head at the end of the day. I hope this was helpful! Good luck!

[rachelily]

For my second day waves (I did this yesterday and it worked like a dream!) I get my hands wet and run them over the top layer and under the bottom layer of my hair, just to get it damp, and then I put some sort of spiral spray in my hair. Creams on second-day hair give me over-conditioned looking hair, and gels are too much. The particular one I used was Matrix Curl Life Spiral Spray Gel and it worked wonders - I just scrunched a little (but you don't have to do that part, my hair sounds like it is curlier than yours) and the water with a little product was all I needed to "reactivate" my hair. I brushed it very very lightly just to get the weird fuzzies on top incorporated with the rest of my hair, and to get rid of that hairspray / gel wet look, and I was golden!

[pepperminttea]

I'm afraid I can't help with second-day wearing down, with my oil-prone roots, it's not something I can do really, but: Do you use silicones? A lot of people find their hair changes (often getting wavier) without silicones to weigh the hair down. If you wanted to encourage the wavies, you could try going cone-free for a couple of weeks. :)

[LilYaYa56]

The same thing happened to me. I always had straight hair but then my hair became wavy within the last couple of years. After wash day I normally just apply hot water to my hair and scrunch it to make it wavier. I do not add any product but I sometimes use a hairdryer.