1c/2a - Can I make my canopy be as wavy as my nape?

[Lilli]

This is my hair: looks 1b, huh? (Forgive the bad quality: my 7 year old son took them on my iPhone.)

http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/picture.php?albumid=3627&pictureid=101829

Now look underneath the canopy:

http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/picture.php?albumid=3627&pictureid=101830

This has been combed and brushed, but if I had not done that, it would be stretched-out spirals that are tighter near the scalp. I know that would be more helpful here, but I'm not actually asking for hairtyping, but more of a styling question.

I call myself 1c on here b/c the canopy just shows a very slight body wave, but underneath is a definite loose spiral. I'd like my hair to do this all over, but even if I don't comb it, it won't do it. Any ideas?

[Rocket22]

My hair is much much wavier on the underside, I'm assuming it's because my canopy is bleached, I am hoping that when it all grows out it will all be the same but maybe not? I'm assuming your hair is all virgin? only thing I can suggest it to let it air-dry and don't brush it. I lose all my wave when I comb it out or brush it.

[Lilli]

Yes, virgin hair except the bottom 3". Even if I don't brush it, the canopy will only have a body wave.

[Anje]

Well, it might be possible, and possibly easy. Many people find their hair gets wavier with more moisture, and canopies tend to be more dried out and damaged than the rest of hair, simply because they get most of the abuse. So it could be as simple as doing some moisture treatments could encourage the canopy to develop more waves.

If that fails and you want waves... How about letting your hair dry in a high bun or two? Or try "plopping." (Plopping is basically where you get an old T-shirt or similar to dry hair in, lay it on the bed, lower/plop your upside-down head on top of it so the hair curls a bit, then bundle up the shirt around your head and keep it there til hair is dryish.)

[Lilli]

Well, it might be possible, and possibly easy. Many people find their hair gets wavier with more moisture, and canopies tend to be more dried out and damaged than the rest of hair, simply because they get most of the abuse. So it could be as simple as doing some moisture treatments could encourage the canopy to develop more waves.

If that fails and you want waves... How about letting your hair dry in a high bun or two? Or try "plopping." (Plopping is basically where you get an old T-shirt or similar to dry hair in, lay it on the bed, lower/plop your upside-down head on top of it so the hair curls a bit, then bundle up the shirt around your head and keep it there til hair is dryish.)

Hm, good ideas! I know I have always confined the condish to my ends b/c I have fine hair, but my skin is getting drier as I age, so y hair just might need more moisture, too.

Is there a link to a plopping tutorial?

[Anje]

I found a video. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O2qD38ZYX6A) She calls it "plunking", which might be a better/less weird name than "plopping". :) This page has a nice little diagram. (http://www.naturallycurly.com/curlreading/curl-products/to-plop-or-not-to-plop) I think it originates with one of the curly hair sites like NaturallyCurly rather than LHC, so I tend to find more directions on those than here.

[Lilli]

I found a video. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O2qD38ZYX6A) She calls it "plunking", which might be a better/less weird name than "plopping". :) This page has a nice little diagram. (http://www.naturallycurly.com/curlreading/curl-products/to-plop-or-not-to-plop) I think it originates with one of the curly hair sites like NaturallyCurly rather than LHC, so I tend to find more directions on those than here.

Thank you!!!

[Unnamed]

You might try misting your hair after it's dried, especially if it looks like individual hairs might be doing the loose spiral thing--just not altogether. Recently I discovered spirals (some loose, some very, very defined in a couple of spots) in the underlayer, but if I mist my hair and separate it all out a little to let it dry from evenly damp rather than dripping...apparently I get the same stretched out spirals throughout. :rolleyes: More moisture might help, too.

No other ideas as, well, I've got a similar issue, although I've not decided what it does to my hair type...right now it's 1a with a wonky short underlayer...but I only discovered this a few/several weeks ago and I know zip about wurly hair, soo.... :oops:

[Mesmerise]

My hair is much curlier underneath than on top! It has been so for a long time too...and it drives me nuts. Yours is nothing compared to mine lol. I think hair just grows differently on different parts of your head! Why, I don't know?!

[summerjade]

My hair is very similar to yours. It is fine and it has those ringlets underneath that are so pretty, and then the canopy is straight with maybe a slight wave. In the past I have flipped my head over and scrunched it (especially the canopy) and then flip back up and kind of place it where I want it and just let it dry. If I put a comb or a brush in it though, it becomes straight. My hair has been this way for years. A twisted bun (don't comb) after shampooing helps mine to have those curly waves when dry. Good luck and have fun experimenting!!

[jojo]

CO washing maybe might bring your wave out ?

[Firefox7275]

My hair is curlier than yours appears to be, but combing (other than when wet) or brushing takes a lot of the wurls right out as does towel turbanning. Until I stopped these I had no idea my hair was more than 2a. You may also need to cut some layers into the canopy, which is probably not the answer most LHCers want! :p

I'm still in the experimenting stage with Curly Girl techniques (see Naturallycurly.com) but I am getting progressively more wave each time I wash. Currently scrunching in leave-in conditioner upside down when my hair is still fairly wet. Plopping/ plunking doesn't always work so well on shoulder length hair as it makes it too dry.

[Lilli]

Thank you for all the suggestions. I am going to resist the urge to do every suggestion at once. I think today I will do a lot of deep moisture, and maybe not combing at all.

[jil]

My hair is the same way! When dry, my canopy is about 1c and my under layers are 2b/2c.

When my hair is wet it all looks like tight braid waves. I have tried plopping/plunking. But no luck.

Firefox7275, thanks for posting that link! That site looks great. :)

[ashke50]

My hair does that too sometimes (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/picture.php?albumid=7629&pictureid=101350). I will be keeping an eye on this thread to see what other suggestions people come up with!

[Lilli]

My hair does that too sometimes (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/picture.php?albumid=7629&pictureid=101350). I will be keeping an eye on this thread to see what other suggestions people come up with!

Wow, our hair looks so similar (aside from length!)

[Lilli]

No success. The best I can get is a big fat weird bend in the middle of my canopy layers, but nothing like the waves underneath. I feel like my hair looks like crap b/c of the weird bends that aren't waves and aren't smooth. I'm jealous of my sister-in-law - she has BSL hair and she washes it before bed, goes to bed wet, and when she wakes, it is dry and perfectly smooth. If I do that, my hair has cowlicks and weird bends all over. :mad:

[Signe]

weird, my canopy is wayyyy curlier than my underneath hair....i always thought it was because it was drier. the more moisture my hair gets, the straighter it tends to be because the weight pulls the curl down. since i came to LHC my hair has gotten noticeable less curly due to my new-and-improved treatment of it and its newfound moisture! i am thinking of changing my hairtype to 1c/2a...

[elbow chic]

Mine's similar, except I think my underlayer might be wavier than that, even. Anyway, what I do on the increasingly rare occasions that I want to wear my hair "down," is pull the canopy into a barrette and show the underlayer, which has both a lot more wave and a richer color.

The canopy is almost white and quite straight. Sometimes I braid the gathered canopy to keep the contrast from being too weird. My hair has never been colored or permed or regularly heat-styled, so I feel confident in saying that it's not the result of damage to the canopy. It's ALWAYS been this way.

In short: I give up. :D

[Lilli]

I put 2 drops of argan oil on my damp hair and blew it dry and it looked great. It did highlight my rough ends (no trimming for 11 months so far), but it fixed the problem. I think I'll just go back to blow-drying when I want to look nice.