Styling hair without heat.

[Orangerthanred]

I'm trying really hard to stay away from heat styling... But it's so impossible!

Whenever I braid my hair overnight, it's always a huge poofball with too much volume in the morning. Imagine hair from the 1980s. That is what my hair looks like when I braid it.

Curlers take 7-8 hours to dry on my hair [time I don't have], so I can't really curl my hair either.

My hair is too thick to do a damp bun for waves- bobby pins can't hold my hair in any hairstyle, plus damp buns take forever to dry and come undone in my sleep.

And wrapping absolutely doesn't work on my hair when I want it straight. It just doesn't. I had my friend, who wraps her hair every time she washes it, wrap my hair and it came out a big, poofy mess of awkward waves.

And don't even get me started on sponge rollers... I can't even sleep in them.

:\ Anyone else having trouble styling their hair without heat?

[Kristin]

I don't have curly hair, so I'm in a totally different position...but I let my hair dry down before putting it into braids or buns for waves. As far as holding buns, bobbi pins are a waste of time; you should try Goody Spin Pins. I need to use four, but they hold through sleeping or all day.

Some of the curlies "plop" their hair; I don't know much about it, but it should be simple enough to find with a search.

Good luck!

[Rocket22]

I don't know if you have tried the Caruso Rollers? they work quit well and other people that have thick hair have also had great success with them. It's worth checking into. I love them and have been using them since I started no heat beginning of year.

[FrozenBritannia]

Out of curiousity, what happens when you wash your hair in the morning and put mousse in it (to try to make it big and scrunch it) and then leave it alone?
My friend does this as and it looks great.

[spidermom]

You didn't post a length in your profile, so it's kind of hard to help you.

One thing I've learned about removing braids - never comb and definitely never brush. Just gently undo them and leave them alone.

I relied on heat styling quite often because my hair got wide before it got long. If my appearance mattered, I heat-styled. By the time my hair was BSL, I had to cut away 6 inches of destroyed ends. All considered, I'd say it was worth it, although I've learned a few styling tricks around here that I'd try first if there were ever a next time. (hopefully not; I can't imagine cutting hair shorter than perhaps APL, and only if I really could not take care of longer hair)

[Red Rapunzel]

I just realized that the product I was going to recommend using to help straighten hair has alcohol in it and that's why my hair is now very dry before I use the product on it. I'm going to stop using it and find something else.

[Rebeccalaurenxx]

Usually i put in a leave in or some coconut oil/milk, or a mix of both, on the length of my hair after a shower, braid and leave to dry for a few hours, un-braid and it comes out nice and soft and moisturized.

[ttverdy]

We have similar hair texture, except mine is coarse and yucky, but I totally understand the poofiness.

If I want my hair curly, I wash it in the morning and put in a bunch of gel and it makes my poofy hair separate into nice curls. (Look in my hairtyping album in my profile.)

If I want my hair straighter with big waves that look like curling iron curls, I wash it in the evening and let it dry completely or almost all of the way, then put it in a cinnabun low on my neck to sleep, secured with a hair fork. This is how I have it in my avatar. I find this smushes my hair down somewhat and straightens it out overnight.

I hope this gives you some ideas :)