Welcome!
Hi there! I'm new to this forum and found out about you from a youtuber I follow. I recently decided that I want to grow my hair out and have no idea where to start. I was gifted with my mothers naturally curly hair and I used to hate it. I would use straightners almost daily and I'm pretty sure you can imagine the damage that did to my hair. I was also obsessed with bleaching and coloring my hair. I would bleach it two or three times a WEEK. Then my hair started falling out. I then shaved my underside and after it grew back in my hair was still damaged. I went and had the damaged ends cut off and over the course of 2018-19 I tried to grow my hair out but nothing was happening.
This past month or so I stumbled across some videos on YouTube about curly hair and that's when I decided I wanted to take care of my natural hair. It currently sits just at my shoulders and if straightened it's just past them. However, I made the grand decision to throw out all my straightners so I would not be tempted to use them. I even told my husband to not give in to my demands to buy new ones. I hope to learn a lot from these forums about growing out my hair as well as taking care of my curls. Any advice on products to use would be appreciated!
Welcome!
Be nice or the beast will scream
Lady Raven, Guardian of the Enchanted Forests of Nevermore. In The Order of the Long Haired Knights
Welcome.
Mind sharing your current routine? First up, when going natural, is using some sort of styling product in your hair after the wash, to keep the formation of the curls intact as much as possible & limit "poof". Anything will do, leave-in alone might be too weak, so a curling product or gel (on its own) might be nice to do!
My routine, so far, isn't really anything special. I wash my hair and then condition once a week because I HATE getting my hair wet. Then do dry shampoo in the middle of the week when my hair feels greasy. But now I'm getting to where I want to learn more about how to take care of my hair and bring moisture back into it. I'm such a newbie with what kind of products to use. The ones I am using atm are the Cantu shampoo and conditioner and I'm experimenting with the leave in conditioner for the middle of the week and not using dry shampoo. As for gel, I have no idea how to use that or which kind to use.
Try going the route of YouTube and searching for "curly girl method", and mainly look at people with the same type of curl as you. You'll often see the LOC/LCO method applied, which is a method for styling the hair (and it's also linked in my signature). You basically layer your stylers, which means a moisturizing product (curling cream or something like it) and then a gel on top. To ensure that the 2 products you're about to use don't "flake" in your hair, combine a little dab of both of them in the palm of your hand; if it curdles, it's a no-go. But there's good combo's already out there and well-known so you don't have to go that route.
If you need more help, give us a shout!
Hey congratulations on joining.
As far as I know, conditioners are a 3a/3b girl's best friend.
They generally comb the hair with conditioner while it is wet. Not while dry.
(Don't take my comments as absolute fact though, everyone has different techniques).
But combing while dry, disrupts the curl pattern (causes frizz) and breaks the hair.
Co-washing several times a week, causes the hair to grow super fast, along with some deep conditioning here and there.
I consider 3a/3b hair to be really low effort, while looking great all the time, because you just wash it and go. The hair arranges itself beautifully.
I hope this helps in some way.
Started: 13/11/2014.Elapsed
MBL :: WAIST :: abyss :: hip:: TBL :: class
Lady Sarah of the Invisible Warlands in the Order of the Long Haired Knights
Thank you I will definitely try that! I have been researching the CGM on YouTube recently and I will be honest, it's a little overwhelming but it's a good kind - if that makes sense. Thank you for the advice, I will definitely try that.
Welcome! There's so much here and you're getting great advice already.
Lady Daybreak, keeper of the Stars & Sea ☽︎ artist, lover, general mystic
Welcome! I don't have curly hair unless it's damp and freshly washed, but my hair is so fine all the curls are gone by the time it's dry - but congratulations for deciding to embrace your natural curls. I am sure you'll have them looking amazing in no time, especially with all of the info and advice on here
Welcome!
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