Hello, finally! Lurker for 5 years!

[Nichole.Marie]

Hello everyone! It’s very nice to finally meet you! My name is Nichole, I’m from Washington in the USA but have been living in Tokyo for the last 7 years.


I’ve been lurking here for about 5 years actually, haha.

Originally, I wasn’t able to get my account registered for some reason, and gave up on it. But thanks to all the wonderful women here and their ideas and techniques, I’ve been able to get my hair to the 38 inches that it’s at now! Thank you all for that <3



I find myself with a changing hair type now and am a bit out of my element. I’d been blow drying my hair for years because it blow dries straight, frizz free, and smooth. If left to dry naturally though, a bit wavy and quite frizzy. However somewhere within the last 6 months, my crown and nape have become incredibly curly (with some rogue curls appearing as early as 1 year ago). I’m 31 years old and have never been pregnant, but as I understand, stress and hormones can all play a factor here.


These curly parts can’t really be blow dried straight without using a round brush now - and even then it doesn’t look the best. So during my lockdown over here, I’ve been air drying for months and it has been an adventure. Continuing with my usual washing every other day only focusing on the scalp because I always seem to shed a lot if I push it longer than this... my scalp likes to be squeaky clean I guess. That or 3 days worth of hair is enough to shock me. But I can be quite oily on the scalp, whether I use SLS free or not. SLS free is a bit better though, but I have to double wash to avoid shedding (just the scalp and very little used on the first wash to just kind of break up the oil). I could be adding to my frizz with this as a result, so I may test SLS shampoos again later to see if it’s any better.


I’d always resisted putting conditioner anywhere near my roots because it made me shed, but I find these curlies need it. I take just a small amount for the nape and crown areas. Then on my next wash I need to make sure my scalp is clean to prevent the hair loss or any hairline acne.

On Day 1 I am quite a ball of frizz. I’m kind of just rolling with it at this point. Day 2 my length is not frizzy at all, having been bunned, and it seems to behave. The roots and those curlies seem perpetually frizzy though. When my previously straight hair seemed frizzy, or anything other problem, brushing it was always my answer. As you can imagine, brushing it is absolutely not helpful now, lol.

Overall it’s quite soft, just poof. I noticed recently that glycerin seems to help, and my rooms humidity if pretty well controlled. Outside in humid Tokyo though, I’m not sure.


Anyway, I’m sorry for the explosion of information here. This is my background of where I’m at currently. I’d like to be able to beat this frizz and embrace a healthier looking curl at my crown, ideally...

And if you could tell me what you think my hair type is, I’d be grateful to hear because I’m a bit confused about it at the moment. Despite my fears of hair loss, there does seem to be a lot of hair. But I have gone through a few great sheds in this 5 year period that were enough to give me the freak out, you know? I’ll add a few pictures. My hair was clarified 2 weeks ago.


If you read through all this, thank you very much <3 I’m so glad to finally join you now.

[Nichole.Marie]

So my pictures appeared when I typed all that up... But I’m not seeing them now. Let me know if you can’t see them！

[Sarahlabyrinth]

Welcome to the forum! I can't see your pictures.

[Nichole.Marie]

Oh boy, I’m sorry about that. Let me try again!

[Ylva]

Welcome here! Your hair is absolutely beautiful!

[lapushka]

Oh look at that. I know it's probably not a true hairtyping picture, but I would put you for sure at 2b/c, if not full 2c, if it weren't for the straighter parts. Maybe scrunching some styling product in after the wash, following the LOC/LCO method from the curly girl method might do wonders (there is a link to that thread in my signature). I need stylers after the wash, or I get *poof*. Hahaha!

Welcome here!

[shelomit]

Wow, what a stunning texture! If your hair seems to react well to glycerin, then perhaps try other humectant-y leave-ins (something with aloe vera, honey, propylene glycol, etc.). My understanding is that most other humectants are less "picky" about ambient humidity than glycerin is. Here's a recipe for a homemade anti-frizz detangling spray that's basically two parts aloe vera gel to two parts glycerin. That may hold up better outdoors than straight glycerin.

Good to meet you : )

[TatsuOni]

Welcome! Your hair is beautiful!

[Nichole.Marie]

Thank you for all your kind comments and suggestions! My inner perfectionist hasn’t known what to make of all this floof and poof because I’m so used to it being straight and smooth!

Lapushka, I will definitely give the LOC method a try. All this scrunching business is pretty foreign to me but I’ve watched a few YouTube videos and am ready to give it go

Shelomet, Thank you for your suggestion! I’ll give Aloe Vera gel a try today. Always had it lying around for the purposes of trying it on my hair but I’ve never put anything that texture in my hair before and it felt a bit daunting, haha. But I’m going to give it a go today! And I like the spray bottle idea! I’ll let you know how it goes

Thanks again everyone, very happy to be here <3

[oldrocker]

Welcome! Your hair is beautiful!

ditto..as the others have said