Curl Definition

[AleenaGenise]

Hey ladies! What's a great natural way to define curly hair? I just made a hair conditioner with aloe vera, honey, lemon juice, grapeseed oil, liquid vitamin e and lecithin as an emulsifier. I let it sit on my hair for a while and my curls came out pretty nice after I washed it out with a mixture of neem and reetha and other saponins.....oh and peppermint oil which made my scalp tingle and feel great :) Does anyone know any other ways I could define my curls??

[jesis]

1 TBSP EVOO + 1 TBSP Honey. Plus whatever other oils you'd like to throw in there. It makes my curls SO defined. It's a miracle.

Aubrey Organics Conditioner has been making my hair pretty lately too. :D

[AleenaGenise]

1 TBSP EVOO + 1 TBSP Honey. Plus whatever other oils you'd like to throw in there. It makes my curls SO defined. It's a miracle.

Aubrey Organics Conditioner has been making my hair pretty lately too. :D

Thx! Sounds good. I'll try tht out ;) I haven't tride Aubrey Organics yet. I've been wanting too though. Glad to know it's good...I'll go buy some

[little_cherry]

I noticed you use herbs. Have you tried mixing up some amla with water and adding the paste to a conditioner? Or mixed the amla in with the neem and aritha? I know amla really brings out and defines the wave in my hair.

[AleenaGenise]

I noticed you use herbs. Have you tried mixing up some amla with water and adding the paste to a conditioner? Or mixed the amla in with the neem and aritha? I know amla really brings out and defines the wave in my hair.

No I haven't I've heard that Amla was good for bringing out natural curls, but I have yet to be able to get some. I get my neem and aritha from an indian store by my house....I think I'm just going to have to order some amla bcuz I can't find it in a store out here (at least not in powder form) Thx. I'm going to try that for sure

[GRU]

Magnesium Sulfate (Epsom Salts) is known to help with curl definition.

SMTs work well for me, too.

Pretty much anything that adds moisture: honey, aloe, oils, etc.... my curls are always sooooooooo thirsty!!!!

[RadiantNeedle]

I recently had a rosemary and acv rinse bring out my wave definition and ringlets amazingly! I only used a smidge of acv, too. Hopefully these results will be achievable every time and not just be a fluke!

[cataphract]

This is probably the dumbest question ever, but for the oil+honey: Do you wash it out afterward? If so, are you shampooing? COing? Or just rinsing?

[Thinthondiel]

Here's a thread about using a lemon rinse to define curls:
http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=53745

[Totte]

1 TBSP EVOO + 1 TBSP Honey. Plus whatever other oils you'd like to throw in there. It makes my curls SO defined. It's a miracle.

Aubrey Organics Conditioner has been making my hair pretty lately too. :D
I'm giving this a shot right now :) I'm pretty excited to see how my hair likes it.:D

[AleenaGenise]

This is probably the dumbest question ever, but for the oil+honey: Do you wash it out afterward? If so, are you shampooing? COing? Or just rinsing?

You wash it out....but my sister sometimes leaves hers in for a while. It depends I guess. usually jst rinse or if the honey ended up too sticky then I use an organic shampoo

[Totte]

When I did this I left it in for 30- 50 minutes with a towel over my shoulder. It did work great on my hair but to get it out was a minor disaster, haha. The honey stuck to the hair like crazy, and so did the oil. I think I may have used too much :p but it's great!

[lascuba]

I didn't use this for long, but I had good results with homemade flaxseed gel with honey and coconut oil mixed in.

[Cheeks1206]

1 TBSP EVOO + 1 TBSP Honey. Plus whatever other oils you'd like to throw in there. It makes my curls SO defined. It's a miracle.
..snip..

This. I basically do a modified SMT--I replace the conditioner with 4 parts oil. Let it sit on there for a while, then rinse and be amazed!

My hair also seems to like homemade flax seed gel with a tiny bit of magnesium sulfate.

[AleenaGenise]

I didn't use this for long, but I had good results with homemade flaxseed gel with honey and coconut oil mixed in.

Cool! I just mad a thread about gel...I'm planning to make a flaxseed gel! I've never done it before though. I have issues with commercial gels that make the hair really crunchy and dry so I wanted to try it.

[CoilyCurlyME]

For cassia obovata and amla treatments works very good. For more defined curls and reduced shrinkage i do braids outs with Kinky-Curly Curling Custard or Aloe Vera.

[amberlbrown]

What do you curly-heads do in the morning with your hair? I'm not curly myself, but I have a daughter who is half black, half white, and she has very tightly coiled curls, not super textured, but very thirsty. I use mixed chicks on her hair, which works great, but I know it has silicone in it. Right now, we wash at night (once a week with a condition or two in between) and in the morning, wet her hair, detangle, apply mixed chicks leave-in, and brush it out again and go. it works well, but I'd love to try something natural, maybe something that would help her hair from being so matted? any suggestions for that or a simplified morning routine?

[principessa1984]

What do you curly-heads do in the morning with your hair? I'm not curly myself, but I have a daughter who is half black, half white, and she has very tightly coiled curls, not super textured, but very thirsty. I use mixed chicks on her hair, which works great, but I know it has silicone in it. Right now, we wash at night (once a week with a condition or two in between) and in the morning, wet her hair, detangle, apply mixed chicks leave-in, and brush it out again and go. it works well, but I'd love to try something natural, maybe something that would help her hair from being so matted? any suggestions for that or a simplified morning routine?
I think your routine sounds good. I just don't like putting silicones on my hair regularly. I'll do a pre-shampoo treatment w/ a silicone based DC (Neutrogena Triple Moisture), but for daily conditioning I use Aubrey Organics Honeysuckle Rose. I dilute with a little water and "seal" it with *a little* avocado oil (you shouldn't be able to feel the oil on the hair. It just makes it soooo soft!). I ONLY comb my hair...no brushes for me.
I find it easier to do most of my hair stuff at night. I apply condish/oil, braid hair in about 8 braids, go to bed. In the morning I just undo the braids, fluff and GO!
hope that helps!

[Lianna]

I wonder if there's anything that won't change hair dye color (no oils, honey, lemon), or that leaves hair feeling hard (gel). A miracle I supose. ^.^

[Intotouch]

I wonder if there's anything that won't change hair dye color (no oils, honey, lemon), or that leaves hair feeling hard (gel). A miracle I supose. ^.^

I find an ACV rinse after my conditioner is great. I find 1 to 6 ratio of ACV to water defines my curls a lot better. Too much ACV though and it does feel stiff.

The longer that my hair takes to dry the more defined the curl is too. I have a spray bottle with just water and i damp down the hair again if it's drying too fast or between washes. A little oil on damp hair slows down the drying too. I use rapeseed oil but it's hard to use without putting too much on, any more than a tiny bit glossed over my palms and my hair can stay "wet look perm".

[Intotouch]

What do you curly-heads do in the morning with your hair? I'm not curly myself, but I have a daughter who is half black, half white, and she has very tightly coiled curls, not super textured, but very thirsty. I use mixed chicks on her hair, which works great, but I know it has silicone in it. Right now, we wash at night (once a week with a condition or two in between) and in the morning, wet her hair, detangle, apply mixed chicks leave-in, and brush it out again and go. it works well, but I'd love to try something natural, maybe something that would help her hair from being so matted? any suggestions for that or a simplified morning routine?

Hi. I would recommend the "naked" range of shampoos and conditioners. No sodium laureth sulphates, cones or dodgy chemicals. I got mine in Boots. They are 97% natural and so far my hair feels very good with them. I haven't examined the ingredients of all of them but the ones that i've checked look wonderfully kind and natural.

You could try making a spritzer bottle/pump bottle concoction to apply to her hair in mornings and plaiting her hair the night before (how i slept for the first fourteen years of my life). You could apply aloe vera to the hair before you plait as it can have a slight gel like effect that will help cut down the frizz and hold the hair straighter when unplaited the next day. (It may not suit her hair though so test a bit.)

I have read different recipes for leave in conditioners. Oils, ACV rinse and regular conditioners are common ingredients. My colleague with afro hair uses her conditioner to rub through her hair. Me, i just spray water, pat my hair down, apply a little oil (rapeseed usually) and then finger comb through. Very slowly. If her hair won't look like a frizzy mushroom you could brush her hair after doing this slowly to help spread the oil.

Deep treatments are great as well for helping curly hair to stay soft and silky and moisturized. There are hundreds of great recipes for these. Olive oil and henna gloss treatments are great for most curlies. Conditioner helps to wash out excess oil after them.

[OhMyCurlz]

For curl definition I usually mix aloe vera juice, agave, and xantham gum together. It creates something similar to KCCC only a million times cheaper.

8 oz aloe juice
3 oz agave nectar
1/4 to 1/2 tsp of xanthan gum.

It will create a light gel for definition. Make sure you use over a conditioner. I also notice that conditioners with centrimonium chloride offer a bit of definition. Clay treatments also accentuate curls if you mix in a little honey.

[Aredhel77]

Hi! I'm currently trying vegetable gelatin (aka: agar gel) made up with a couple of fluid ounces of just-boiled water more than the pack recommends. I found it became too solid if I used a 50:50 powder to water ratio.

I mix it with a bit of lemon juice (I got that idea from the lemon rinse, and I know some homemade natural hairspray recipes consist of boiled citrus juice & water solutions so I figured it might help with hold) and aloe vera gel - so about a tablespoon of each stirred into the hot gel and then the mixture is left to cool. If it looks like it is cooling into a more liquid consistency than I would like, I microwave it for a minute which firms it a little. The pack instructions for the gel actually recommended boiling the gel/water mixture for a couple of minutes - but when I did this I found the resulting gel was too firm.

I have been using it for a couple of weeks, applying a tablespoon or so to damp hair after conditioning, and I think I am quite happy with it :-). It adds some soft definition to my wurls and leaves my hair feeling soft too. Plus it's extremely cheap!

The first batch I made I stirred a tablespoon of leave-in conditioner into the gel (along with the lemon juice and aloe) and this became a bit 'curd-y' - but still worked well. I'm still going through the 'tweaking stage' so have made the ingredients more basic:-)

One sachet of agar gel with lemon and aloe made up in this way lasts me just over a week and I am fairly generous with it when applying.

Maybe we should collate these recipes somewhere LOL

[autumn leaves]

1 TBSP EVOO + 1 TBSP Honey. Plus whatever other oils you'd like to throw in there. It makes my curls SO defined. It's a miracle.

I tried this last night, but added a TBSP of clear aloe vera gel (only because I confused your post with another one :D). I left it on over night with a towel wrapped around my hair, and washed as normal this morning with a CV shampoo bar, conditioner and ACV rinse. The first hour I wasn't quite sure about the result because although my hair was really soft it also felt a bit flat and life less. However, after about an hour or so when it was also properly dry the volume came back some how and my curls were also much more defined than normal. So I'll definitely do this again (and will probably try without the aloe vera gel, too, to see the difference).

jesis, how long do you usually leave it on? I'm thinking of just trying it as a ten-fifteen minute conditioner treatment in the morning...

[Anje]

OP, have you ever seen the Tightly Curly (http://www.tightlycurly.com/welcome) website? The owner has some incredible, defined curls that she gets by leaving in conditioner. Her methods seem a bit intensive to me with my mildly wavy hair, but I can't argue with the results.

ETA: Oh dear, didn't notice how old the thread was. Oh well.

[redcelticcurls]

What do you curly-heads do in the morning with your hair? I'm not curly myself, but I have a daughter who is half black, half white, and she has very tightly coiled curls, not super textured, but very thirsty. I use mixed chicks on her hair, which works great, but I know it has silicone in it. Right now, we wash at night (once a week with a condition or two in between) and in the morning, wet her hair, detangle, apply mixed chicks leave-in, and brush it out again and go. it works well, but I'd love to try something natural, maybe something that would help her hair from being so matted? any suggestions for that or a simplified morning routine?

Check out the YouTube videos and blog by Happygirlhair. He's has two daughters. One is a 3B or so and the other is 4B. She shows their morning routines.

I sleep in a satin sleep hat. It's a must do. It cuts down on tangles and lint in the hair and helps keep everything from being crushed.

[redcelticcurls]

I use KCCC. Easy to buy easy to use and consistent. I've been using it for fours years or so and it still works.

[autumn leaves]

Day two and I still have extra volume and defined curls. I'm liking this :D