I have lost my waves

[insomniac-uk]

My hair is naturally wavy but recently my hair is not as wavy as it used to be. Even if I put it in a bun while damp the wave does not last for than a few hours, which is really unusual for me as before i would curl my hair and it would last me days. Any advice on how to get my waves back? Am I using too much oil, at the moment I'm only using oil once a week an hour before I wash it.
Thanks guys

[Katze]

It would help to know your hairtype and length!

Could it be that length is pulling your waves out? This happens to people here, though in my case it is the opposite - I need length to have waves.

Oil - personally, I am against it, but again, this is a question of hairtype. What works for ME (fine haired between barely wavy and spiral ringlets - I have several different hairtypes on my head) - is leave-ins, CO washing, scrunching, plopping, and damp bunning.

Does your hair have buildup? Or is it dry? (or both?) Has the weather changed?

Also, hormones may be a factor. Many people seem to have hair type changes during puberty, pregnancy, or menopause, or just as a matter of normal hormone shifts throughout your life - for example. People who have lost their hair through chemo often grow in very different hair afterwards...

hope you find out what happened...

[Carolyn]

The grass is always greener, isn't it? :D I'd love it if my waviness would disappear. I wish I could make it go away.

[spidermom]

I need length to have waves, too, although now the length is heavy enough to be pulling them out.

[nobeltonya]

My hair, and everything else, seem to get temperamental around my period. :)

[ktani]

My hair is naturally wavy but recently my hair is not as wavy as it used to be. Even if I put it in a bun while damp the wave does not last for than a few hours, which is really unusual for me as before i would curl my hair and it would last me days. Any advice on how to get my waves back? Am I using too much oil, at the moment I'm only using oil once a week an hour before I wash it.
Thanks guys

Have you been using more of or a heavier conditioner, or treatment, or a conditioning shampoo to deal with dryness this past winter?

All or any of that can add weight to hair, in addition to any build-up they may cause.

My hair is wavy but when I used such products in the past, ETA: or more of what I normally used, they invariably pulled out my waves and made my hair look straighter.

[chou]

Natural waves can come and go depending on the products I'm using, but when you say that your hair won't even hold a curl the way it used it to, I wonder if your moisture/protein balance is out of whack? My hair is really protein sensitive so I'm protein-free for weeks at a time, but when I do sense that I need a bit more protein, my hair is limp, dry and lifeless and the waves in it loosen and fall out easily. My waves also disappear with too much protein and my hair sticks out like broom straw, but that's another story. Perhaps if you clarified and used a product containing protein it might help.
Has anyone else experienced this? I really don't know much about wavy hair and protein reactions, so maybe I'm misdiagnosing.

[ktani]

Natural waves can come and go depending on the products I'm using, but when you say that your hair won't even hold a curl the way it used it to, I wonder if your moisture/protein balance is out of whack? My hair is really protein sensitive so I'm protein-free for weeks at a time, but when I do sense that I need a bit more protein, my hair is limp, dry and lifeless and the waves in it loosen and fall out easily. My waves also disappear with too much protein and my hair sticks out like broom straw, but that's another story. Perhaps if you clarified and used a product containing protein it might help.
Has anyone else experienced this? I really don't know much about wavy hair and protein reactions, so maybe I'm misdiagnosing.

My hair is wavy and mostly fine/medium. I never realized just how wavy my hair actually is until I stopped coating it ETA:2 with build-up causing products that were usually also somewhat heavy - and never stopped doing so (ETA:3 or did not continue to use them). I used to get the odd perm (acid perms), which in my experience, when properly done were not damaging to any noticeable degree.

Protein in conditioners and shampoos as opposed to actual protein treatments like Aphogee, for example, are just extra coatings that can be drying. Many coatings in products like polymers can be drying but protein seems to be singled out for some reason here. They are not in my experiece, heavy.

ETA: They do need to be clarified out but they are in products that build-up anyway, so the products need to be stopped or clarified out in any case, ETA:4 unless they are in such a small amount, that they do not contribute to build-up. There are non build-up shampoos that contain such small amounts of protein.

[insomniac-uk]

Thanks for the replies, I just checked my hair type and I think its 2c / C / ii, I have a few more inches to grow till waist. I did have product build up a couple of months ago but now I use baking soda followed by a vinegar rinse every 2 weeks which has helped.

Reading your answers it seems like I might need some protein, I do have some Joico K pak reconstructor that I have not used before hopefully that will help. My hair has never been this long and its nearly one length so it might also be the weight.

edit - I forgot to say my hair is in really good condition at the moment no damage or splits. I did lose my waves in the past due to damage after I bleached.