Caring for curls

[CurlyCalamity]

I love my curls, but they can be such a pain! I've had long hair for most of my life, with a brief stint of short hair a few years ago which I'm growing out from. My hair is longer now than it ever has been (a bit below BSL when wet, APL dry) and I'm hoping to grow it out to BSL when dry, but it's getting a lot harder to keep it happy.

My current haircare routine is detangle with a tangle teezer, WCC -> leave in while still wet -> liberal jojoba oil application on outer layer and ends. It has been working fairly well, but there are a few issues I'l like to try to fix.

1. My hair is better on day 1 of course, but it takes me a good solid hour to wash my hair and it takes about 6 hours to dry which limits how often I can practically wash. I sometimes will wet my hair down a bit and apply some more leave in, but the effect only really lasts a day, and cowashing in between just makes my scalp rebel against me. If anyone has managed to overcome this, please share your advice!

2. Limiting damage from sitting/sleeping. I got some silk pillowcases which have definitely helped a bit, but I still wake up with my ends tangled in my sheets/pyjamas. I'm not really sure how to put my hair up at night or through the day without messing up my curls though.

3. Trimming. I'd like to avoid trimming as much as possible, and after reading here I'm definitely going to get a decent pair of hair scissors and start S&D'ing. I think I'll be able to trim a lot less often if I do.

4. I've seen people saying to not brush curls dry, only when wet, but whenever I do that my hair ends up a lot more frizzy than if I brush right before my shower while my hair is dry. Should I try to figure out a way to brush wet, or is it not that big of a deal?

My hair is the happiest and longest it's ever been, and I can't wait for it to get even better!
I'll have to post a photo in the brushed curly hair thread before my next shower, I had a good laugh reading through it

[ExpectoPatronum]

Welcome to the forum! You'll find a lot of curly girls around here who are also growing their hair long.

I think when people say "brush when wet" they mean while you're still in the shower with conditioner in. If you brush it after a shower, that invites frizz. That said, I do it both ways - sometimes I gently detangle dry (especially if I want to braid my hair) but other times I'll comb it wet while in the shower. It really depends on my mood.

In the end, what matters is that you do what works for you and your hair!

[lapushka]

Welcome here!

[shelomit]

Howdy, nice to meet you! If your hair is at APL, then it is probably long enough to put up in a "pineapple" style for sleeping, held with a scrunchie or something similar. But you could also look for a satin sleeping cap. They are available at many drugstores here for about $5.

If I'm wearing my hair down and want to make the curls pop back in, the easiest thing to do is to spray a little water on. I have a spray bottle of the type that you might use to spray a cleaner, which I picked up at a dollar store. My hair takes a very long time to wet down fully or to dry fully, so spritzing a little water on does not take much time to dry but is enough to add a little "sproing."

It sounds like brushing your hair pre-shower is working for you. Unless you are noticing a lot of broken hairs while you are detangling that way, I'd say just to stick with what is already giving you good results, rather than trying to detangle wet just because other people says that's better for them.

[CurlyCalamity]

Welcome to the forum! You'll find a lot of curly girls around here who are also growing their hair long.

I think when people say "brush when wet" they mean while you're still in the shower with conditioner in. If you brush it after a shower, that invites frizz. That said, I do it both ways - sometimes I gently detangle dry (especially if I want to braid my hair) but other times I'll comb it wet while in the shower. It really depends on my mood.

In the end, what matters is that you do what works for you and your hair!

Hello, and thanks for the welcome! To be clear, I do the brushing while I have conditioner in, but it seems to make me a lot more frizzy. I guess more of the hairs are able to escape from being trapped in a curl for whatever reason when it's brushed in the shower.

Howdy, nice to meet you! If your hair is at APL, then it is probably long enough to put up in a "pineapple" style for sleeping, held with a scrunchie or something similar. But you could also look for a satin sleeping cap. They are available at many drugstores here for about $5.

If I'm wearing my hair down and want to make the curls pop back in, the easiest thing to do is to spray a little water on. I have a spray bottle of the type that you might use to spray a cleaner, which I picked up at a dollar store. My hair takes a very long time to wet down fully or to dry fully, so spritzing a little water on does not take much time to dry but is enough to add a little "sproing."

It sounds like brushing your hair pre-shower is working for you. Unless you are noticing a lot of broken hairs while you are detangling that way, I'd say just to stick with what is already giving you good results, rather than trying to detangle wet just because other people says that's better for them.

Hello, it's nice to meet you too! Thanks for the ideas! I find my hair is too long to pineapple, since it's about 28.5" long when straight (and it loves to stretch out) so I just end up with a lot of hair in my face, but I am looking for an updo that'll work for me - hopefully I find one! I've never worn my hair up, I just ordered a scrunchie and I'd like to make myself a hair pin, for experimentation purposes. I've been considering a sleeping cap, no idea how that'd go with my curls... I figure it can't be worse than sleeping on my hair normally? Only one way to find out I suppose, heh.
I have found mixing a bit of my leave-in conditioner with water in a spray bottle works wonders for getting the sproing back into my hair without making my scalp angry and taking forever to dry!
I don't notice broken hairs while I'm doing it, but I do have a lot of white dots on my ends so I'm looking to do whatever I can to improve that situation (I used to attack my hair with a big old paddle brush among other things, so there's definitely damage)

[elise.autumn]

Welcome!

I braided my hair for years when sleeping. It's easy, retains/calms the curl (at least for my texture), and shoud be less damaging than down. Now, I braid it and put the braid into a bun to sleep.

[CurlyCalamity]

Welcome!

I braided my hair for years when sleeping. It's easy, retains/calms the curl (at least for my texture), and shoud be less damaging than now. Now, I braid it and put the braid into a bun to sleep.

I have tried braiding my hair for sleep before, and it's always resulted in my curls disappearing. Given how many people seem to have had success, I decided to give it another go. Before my last wash, I braided it, and the same thing happened. Then last night, I gave it another go... and it came out pretty good? Apparently the secret to braids not making my hair straight is to not braid on day 5 heh, we'll see if I can make that a more regular thing. Thank you for the recommendation, it was part of what pushed me to give it another go!

[elise.autumn]

I have tried braiding my hair for sleep before, and it's always resulted in my curls disappearing. Given how many people seem to have had success, I decided to give it another go. Before my last wash, I braided it, and the same thing happened. Then last night, I gave it another go... and it came out pretty good? Apparently the secret to braids not making my hair straight is to not braid on day 5 heh, we'll see if I can make that a more regular thing. Thank you for the recommendation, it was part of what pushed me to give it another go!

Oh I'm so glad that it might work!