Newbie needs advice on air-drying her hair :)

[ElleLove]

Hello, everyone! :)

I am so very excited to be a part of the LHC! My hair type is 1c/M/ii, and its length is currently below-the-shoulders. My goal is to grow it out to my bra strap so I have been seriously cutting back on using heat on my hair. I wash my hair every 2-4 days. It has the tendency to get dry easily and frizz; I maintain a healthy diet, condition well, blot my wet hair with a t-shirt, comb with a wide-tooth comb, and use a silkening oil. However, my hair still looks frizzy and unkempt when it air-dries! :confused: I would greatly appreciate any other suggestions you all may have - I would love to accomplish "wash-and-go" hair. Thank you so much!!

Best,
Elle

[Clem_Dela]

what type of oil do you use? i find that a bit of coconut oil in wet hair really helps control frizz and curls. Also, definitely an ACV rinse has helped me a lot.

what's your 'routine'? shampoo, condition, what?

[spidermom]

I like gel, either an over-the-counter styling gel that says moisturizing or pure aloe vera gel with maybe 1 drop of oil mixed. I used to rake it through with my fingers, then head-bang, then smooth my palms over the surface. I did this to encourage definition of my curls and waves. You might want to rake it through, then comb.

[AngelDella]

I'm pretty new too, and still experimenting, but one of the best things that I've learned from this forum is to let my hair just partially dry, then wrap in a cinnabun using an acrylic hair stick. When I get to work, I let my hair down for a little while to dry some more, then wrap again. By noon I have perfectly lovely waves, curls :) So even slightly damp in the bun, it still looks nice in the morning.

[blondie9912]

I have the same issue as you! I have a slight bend in my hair (1c) and my hair is relatively silky and fine, but right after it dries its kind of poofy and frizzy. I agree with what AngelDella said, buns really help. I let my hair air dry most of the way WITHOUT TOUCHING IT (can be hard, I know :p) and then secure it in two low buns twirling the hair away from my face. After about an hour I take them out and I have lovely silky waves

Hope this works for you :D

[AngelDella]

I should have mentioned that my post above was for day 1. So for the night of day 1, I have just now started a new experiment: I wrap my in a (not too tight) cinnabun on top of my head using 3 mini spin pins (goody brand) and on day 2, I have perfectly lovely waves/curls too. I CWC every other day. Good stuff here on LHC! :)

[JessL]

I a range my hair the ay I want it and don't touch it again until its almost dry. When I used to shampoo or even cowash I had to then put some mouse or other product in at that point. Since going water only I sometimes just need a little oil on the ends but haven't needed to add any other product.

[LornaDoone]

When I first started air drying my hair it would always frizz badly. Then I learned not to touch it while it is drying. I never have frizz now.

After my shower, I wrap my hair in a towel just long enough to dry off the rest of me and get dressed, then I comb out my still soaking wet hair. At that point I either put it into a bun or leave it down it dry. If I leave it down I don't touch it again until it is about 80% dry.

[aahavaa]

Mine also would frizz or just look messy when I first started treating it like the wavy it really was.
I think what changed it for me was 1. using a very lightweight cotton turbie, as opposed to a heavy towel, to wrap it in after rinsing.
Once it's removed I comb through very lightly with a wide tooth comb once to make sure theres no tangles and that is it.No touching,or fluffing or plopping at all.I use a small claw clip to clip up roots on cowlick at the back to give volume but that's it.
When Id scrunch or mess with it it would loose waves or shine.

[ElusiveMuse]

It does get better. I used to have a horrible time air drying my hair (it got so frizzy) but it's been over a year with just a few heat styling instances and my hair air dries pretty nicely now. Damp bunning got me through the transition, and coconut oil.