Hala
February 23rd, 2011, 09:19 AM
I hope it's all right for a newbie to start a thread. I've done some searches on this, but can't seem to find what I need.
Basically, I want my wavy-mojo back. For years, whether chemically-dyed or natural, virgin or damaged, my hair hovered somewhere between 2b and 2c on the wavy-curly scale. Big loose waves if combed straight and air-dried, and any sort of help (IE being pulled up loosely, "scrunched" while drying, etc.) could get a few actual curls going. Also, very wild and full of body.
Now, my hair is nearly stick-straight. I'm being generous calling it 1b.
Hair story and routine: I have medium-fine, medium-thick hair that's currently hovering between waist and hip length, with a goal of classic. It's been as long as TBL. I henna, and this is obviously where a lot of the wave-loss is coming in. I pretty much always use mehandi.com henna, alternating between a really dark staining henna (like Celebration, or the old Yemeni) to cover my numerous grays, and a lighter henna because I like a warm, orangey red. I wash every 2 or 3 days with Chagrin Valley bars (currently Ayurvedic Herb), the occasional soapnut wash, and the occasional baking soda scrub. I use a mild cone conditioner or no conditioner, and an ACV rinse. I oil my hair almost daily--my hair LOVES oil--using either olive oil (basic store brand) or a vanilla/teatree "body oil" I bought at a farmer's market that seems to do great things for my hair. Periodically, all this oil and the bit of cones I use get build-up-y and that's when I do plain baking soda and ACV rinses, which seem to work fine. Every so often, less often than I'd like because I'm lazy, I make up some concoction to put on my head (eggs and oil! Avocado and oil! Honey and aloe and oil and and!) and they always seem to do something nice. Despite all this, I'm kind of a benign neglecter.
So the hair-straightening thing has been gradual, over the past year that I've had this routine. And I do not like it. OTHER people like it--apparently it looks like I'm having professional blow-outs (really not my thing) and I keep getting told how much "better" it looks--but I just don't. I miss my big hair.
I don't think this is ONLY the henna (although it might be primarily). I think the oil has something to do with it as well. Something about my routine is making the hair gradually straighter and straighter. I've been henna-ing for four years and this only started a year ago. Is it the emergence of more gray?
Can I do anything about this? Thus far, I've gotten some amla powder and am looking up how to use it, and I've found that avocado/oil treatments, for whatever reason, do bring the wave back a bit. Does anyone have other suggestions? Is there a link to a good drying technique to bring back waves? My hair WILL not dry in a braid or bun, even if only vaguely damp, and then dries stick-straight the second I take it out, so that's not really going to work.
Bummed over the loss of my wild, brambly, tangled, wood-nymph hair. This silky malibu-barbie thing is what everyone I know wants, but it's not me!
Basically, I want my wavy-mojo back. For years, whether chemically-dyed or natural, virgin or damaged, my hair hovered somewhere between 2b and 2c on the wavy-curly scale. Big loose waves if combed straight and air-dried, and any sort of help (IE being pulled up loosely, "scrunched" while drying, etc.) could get a few actual curls going. Also, very wild and full of body.
Now, my hair is nearly stick-straight. I'm being generous calling it 1b.
Hair story and routine: I have medium-fine, medium-thick hair that's currently hovering between waist and hip length, with a goal of classic. It's been as long as TBL. I henna, and this is obviously where a lot of the wave-loss is coming in. I pretty much always use mehandi.com henna, alternating between a really dark staining henna (like Celebration, or the old Yemeni) to cover my numerous grays, and a lighter henna because I like a warm, orangey red. I wash every 2 or 3 days with Chagrin Valley bars (currently Ayurvedic Herb), the occasional soapnut wash, and the occasional baking soda scrub. I use a mild cone conditioner or no conditioner, and an ACV rinse. I oil my hair almost daily--my hair LOVES oil--using either olive oil (basic store brand) or a vanilla/teatree "body oil" I bought at a farmer's market that seems to do great things for my hair. Periodically, all this oil and the bit of cones I use get build-up-y and that's when I do plain baking soda and ACV rinses, which seem to work fine. Every so often, less often than I'd like because I'm lazy, I make up some concoction to put on my head (eggs and oil! Avocado and oil! Honey and aloe and oil and and!) and they always seem to do something nice. Despite all this, I'm kind of a benign neglecter.
So the hair-straightening thing has been gradual, over the past year that I've had this routine. And I do not like it. OTHER people like it--apparently it looks like I'm having professional blow-outs (really not my thing) and I keep getting told how much "better" it looks--but I just don't. I miss my big hair.
I don't think this is ONLY the henna (although it might be primarily). I think the oil has something to do with it as well. Something about my routine is making the hair gradually straighter and straighter. I've been henna-ing for four years and this only started a year ago. Is it the emergence of more gray?
Can I do anything about this? Thus far, I've gotten some amla powder and am looking up how to use it, and I've found that avocado/oil treatments, for whatever reason, do bring the wave back a bit. Does anyone have other suggestions? Is there a link to a good drying technique to bring back waves? My hair WILL not dry in a braid or bun, even if only vaguely damp, and then dries stick-straight the second I take it out, so that's not really going to work.
Bummed over the loss of my wild, brambly, tangled, wood-nymph hair. This silky malibu-barbie thing is what everyone I know wants, but it's not me!