PDA

View Full Version : Advice for Curly hair?



Saryn Jumail
July 17th, 2008, 04:21 PM
I never liked my hair, and I am starting to love the curls....if I could tame them! Anybody have any suggestions for keeping it curly without looking like a mess? I really want to stop straightening it, but I don't know what else to do!

Riot Crrl
July 17th, 2008, 04:26 PM
What is your routine now?

What are some of the issues you are having? Just frizz?

thankyousir74
July 17th, 2008, 04:27 PM
I would just stop brushing I'm almost curly, with an odd curl every now and then I often feel like changing my hair details depending on the day. I've been seeing so many curls lately... maybe I'm a curly in denial >_>

Saryn Jumail
July 17th, 2008, 04:46 PM
What is your routine now?
<br>
What are some of the issues you are having? Just frizz?
<br>
Right now if I try to leave it curly, I put some sort of holding spray, gel, or something or the other in it, and then leave it...but it gets frizzy, and untamable.<br>
The biggest problem, I think, is that I take the bus to school, and I have to stand at the bus stop, in the wind or something, and my hair doesn't like that. I've tried to put it up, while on the bus and take it down at school, but that doesn't work, because it gets limp and looks like I don't care for it...plus, the frizz.<br>
<br>
I use shampoo every week, or usually about once every 4 days, and I condition almost everyday. I use bed head superstar shampoo and V05 tea therapy conditioner.

Riot Crrl
July 17th, 2008, 04:56 PM
If you need to use shampoo, that one looks pretty good to me. It is high in protein though, which some, not all people, have problems with.

Vo5 Tea Therapy has (what to me is) the virtue of being silicone free, but I wonder if used as the sole conditioner if it is enough moisture for your curly hair. You may wish to rotate in a heavier conditioner.

Are you using a leave in conditioner at all? Even leave in some of the Vo5?

You don't mention the names of your styling products, so I can't speak about them specifically, but in general gels don't tend to contain ingredients like drying alcohols and hairsprays do.

Saryn Jumail
July 17th, 2008, 05:02 PM
Is there any conditioner you recommend?

And, sometimes I leave the v05 in. I don't use a separate leave in conditioner...should I?

I use hmm...(I'm not at home so I'll try my best) Loreal spiral curl or something like that spray gel...though I use it sparingly because it makes my curls crunchy. And I use a mousse...can't remember the name, but it's in a black container with green writing...

I never really use hairspray, unless I absolutely feel I need to.

Riot Crrl
July 17th, 2008, 05:20 PM
I've always been of the opinion that leaving in some rinse out conditioner is just fine. The Curly Girl book actually recommends this over things marketed as leave ins.

Unless I'm wearing it up, then I go ahead and slop some oil in it too. :silly:

You do know that with gel, once your hair is dry all the way, you can scrunch one more time to get rid of the crunch and wet look? Once I found that out, I realized I could actually use a lot more gel and get a lot better result.

Your spray gel might not be optimal for this. Spray gels I have tried all seem to be sticky. With liquid gels, it's slightly more effort to distribute, but I have an easier time discovering ones that aren't sticky.

How about deep conditioning treatments, are you doing those?

I think that making sure your hair is moisturized enough and tweaking your gel routine can have a lot of results.

Oh yeah, for heavy conditioners I really like the Aubrey Organics line, with Honeysuckle Rose probably being the richest and most moisturizing. I can't use it every day even in winter. Which is impressive to me. I have curly hair and most of it's processed, I never thought I would meet a conditioner that gets to be too much. The downsides are it can be a pain to find depending where you're at, and it's not exactly Vo5 pricing (though it's well below salon products). It's very concentrated though, so a bottle goes a long way.

Saryn Jumail
July 17th, 2008, 05:32 PM
My mom has the same hair as me, she uses olive oil in hers...but I was afraid it would break off my hair...what oil do you use?

I never really tried to scrunch it more after it was dry...maybe I'll do that, and go get a liquid gel, the spray gel is a lot more sticky.

I don't use deep conditioners, but I do leave the V05 overnight once about every two months, using about half a bottle, it works wonders.

Seeing as the only place I go for hair products is drugstores, I might not be able to find it, but I'll try!

Riot Crrl
July 17th, 2008, 05:44 PM
I use either olive or coconut. I used to have Jessicurl Oil Blend which was mainly avocado oil, but there was some sort of accident and it spilled. It's cool, I didn't like the fragrance anyway.

I think your Vo5 overnight counts as a deep treatment, but you may consider to up the frequency a little. I only really use normal rinse out conditioners for deep treatments really, but another thing I use oil for is to slop some over the conditioner when I do this.

It's hard to find a heavy enough drugstore conditioner that isn't pure silicones. But, if you find your hair is liking the oil OK, you can always "heavify" a weaker conditioner by mixing a little oil in it.

Saryn Jumail
July 17th, 2008, 05:48 PM
Well, thanks a lot for your advice! It has been very helpful!
I'm going to go buy some oil, and some new conditioner, as soon as I go out to the store1

Riot Crrl
July 17th, 2008, 05:57 PM
Keep us posted how it goes! I saw your larger pix in your thread about ColorFixing, your curls are pretty. It would be satisfying to see if you can increase your happiness with them!

Curlsgirl
July 17th, 2008, 06:12 PM
Have you ever been to www.naturallycurly.com (http://www.naturallycurly.com)? It has some great advice for curlies too on the forum there.

For me what helped the most was:

1. Totally stopping heat styling except VERY rarely.
2. Coconut oil and quite a bit of it on damp hair
3. Leave-in conditioner (my favorite is Beauty Without Cruelty leave-in) under the coconut oil.
4. Gentle detangling with a seamless wide tooth comb and never brushing.

Not sure how long your hair is but if it is shorter than bra strap length it may be better as it gets longer because curly hair tends to grow OUT instead of DOWN until a longer length.

Read read read and try one new thing at a time. Olive oil (extra virgin) is a good place to start since you already have it around the house. If VO5 left in helped that much add some aloe gel to it (clear 100&#37;) and perhaps a little honey and try that as a DT. It's called SMT or (Snowy's Moisture Treatment) and you mix it and put it on your hair and then leave it for a while. If you have been flat ironing a lot your hair may be damaged and if it is too bad, you may need to trim the damage off as it grows. I did mine a little at a time so it would also some growth! Good luck!

Saryn Jumail
July 17th, 2008, 07:34 PM
Thanks, curlsgirl, I went to a salon today and got the damage cut off, so this is my way of starting anew!
Seeing as we are out of olive oil anyways, I think I'm going to get some coconut oil, just to try it.
My hair is about an inch from bsl, so I know it's gonna be big...but I'm willing to try it!

MotherConfessor
July 17th, 2008, 09:42 PM
Do you touch you hair as its drying? That will frizz it faster than anything. The general rule with curls, is to put the product in and not touch it again until its time to put more product in. It seems tempting to detangle and comb as its drying, but that will just lead to more frizz. Have you tried plopping?

KittyCat
July 18th, 2008, 12:55 AM
I'm a 3c too. It really helps to look at peoples profile pages who have the same hairtype and ask them. You can search them in the "Members" List.

My advice for a supercurly girl (3b/c and up, because that's near to my hairtype) would be:

-Don't shampoo more than twice a week, if you do ,do CWC (cover your hair with conditioner first, shampoo the scalp, rinse out all, condition as usual

-Use moisturizing conditioners that are made for dry/stressed/curly hair. This is where the people part- Some are trying to avoid silicones (everything hat ends with -cone or cyclopentasiloxane etc) , others -me included- use silicones all the time and have no problems. I never really care for my protein balance either :o

-Never rinse out all of the Co: I always leave some conditioner in my hair. That way I can skip the leave-in conditioner. SOmetimes I even leave all of the conditioner in my hair www.biracialhair.info

-Styling: This is something you have to try yourself. There are so many ways of styling curls. You can try to scrunch in products like gel,mousse ,but I never get good hair by scrunching. I have to rake gel through my hair with my fingers in order to get good curls. I took me a while to finally figure out how to style my hair. It's a trial and error thing.

Take Care
KittyCat

liseling
July 18th, 2008, 07:28 AM
I used to use mousse and gel, until I found out that mousse has alcohol in it which dries out my hair and makes it frizz. I continued to use gel, but recently I discovered that if I just put more conditioner in after getting out of the shower, and run some more through my hair after it dries, it makes my curls well defined and soft, rather than hard. I really like this rather than gel, even after scrunching out. Basically my only product is conditioner and oils that I use for the occasional deep treatment. Plus shampooing the scalp about once every 2 weeks helps me some - otherwise I wash with (cone-free) conditioner only (CO).
I'm a 3b (on the curlier side of 3b) so maybe you might try some of the things that have worked for me.
I think finding the right conditioner is key. Do you have a whole foods nearby? They have lots of great cone-free conditioners (if you're avoiding cones). Or a health store would have some too probably. All of them will probably be more expensive than VO5, but a lot can be found for less than $10. I justify the expense with the fact that I dont really need to buy other products!
I totally feel ya regarding your trouble getting to school with wet hair, and everything from the wind to it brushing against things disturbing it while it dries. That's a killer frizz producer. And it's hard to find a stylish way of dealing with it, since the best way would probably be to cover it with something. Maybe a really really loose braid that you take out as soon as you get to school? Not ideal, but it might help. Let us know how you're doing!

liseling
July 18th, 2008, 08:00 AM
You know something just occurred to me: when I was in high school I always took my shower and washed my hair at night so it would be (at least semi) dry by morning. You could try plopping and just going to bed with the towel still on your head. Then in the morning you could fix whatever needs adjusting. Shorter routine in the morning and eliminates the wet curls/wind factor.

missy60
July 18th, 2008, 10:19 AM
I totally agree with all the advice given here. Jessicurl has video demos that are very helpful even if you dont use her products http://www.jessicurl.com/Demo-Videos-p-6.html. These videos show you how to plop (although I think she calls it plunking)and how to scrunch, and how to scrunch out the crunch.

Saryn Jumail
July 19th, 2008, 06:18 PM
Thanks for all the advice!
Just recently, I found something that works for me.
I use a gel with no alcohol, and use it only on the underside of my hair, after using conditioner (Joico K-PAK Moisture, intense hydrator) in the shower, and combing it in the shower, without using shampoo or drying it too much (I squeeze out the excess water with a towel, but nothing else).
I don't leave the conditioner in; the conditioner left in always makes my hair hard, and greasy, I'm not sure why, but it does. No matter what conditioner I use, and I've tried many.

I've also figured out that by putting my hair in a silk cap at night, my curls can last for 2, even 3 days, with no extra product, and still look good.

I haven't seen the winds factor on my hair yet, but if worst comes to worst, I may have to put my hair up in a silk scarf until I go to school. Braiding does not work for me, as my hair is too short to go into a braid, or even two now, when it's curly. But hey, it's the bus; I shouldn't really care too much about their opinion anyways, should I?

I'm growing quite fond of my curls, and I'm glad I came here!