To ask if you have naturally curly hair but regularly straighten it...

[Sprayerhayer]

...how you keep it healthy?

I have naturally curly hair, bottom layers look good curly as they’ve never been coloured. Top layers are blonde (bleach/ tint) and look a frizzy mess when it’s curly. The first day I can just about get away with it with the right products but after that, it’s awful.

I also lose so much length when it’s curly, it’s past my boobs when straight and when it’s curly it’s just below my shoulders but it ages me I think.

So, I would like to start straightening it more, maybe once a week/ fortnight?

I’m worried about it getting even more damaged (and I know inevitably it will) but if there’s anything I can do to keep it in a healthier condition I’m willing to give it a go!

Curly hair is not ageing, what a load of bollocks. People do repeat all manner of nonsense.

Thanks for all the replies.

So I’ve actually been wearing it curly/ CGM (though not completely, I still shampoo once a week) for the last year. I thought once the pandemic kicked off that it would be a good opportunity to ditch the straightest and get my hair healthy again. I toned down the blonde too when I got back in the hairdressers last year (ash blonde rather than bright, brassy blonde)
and I did get quite a lot of compliments and there were times when I liked my curls and it felt good knowing that I was healing my hair.

BUT, honestly I personally just feel much ‘prettier’ with straight hair. Curly hair DOES make ME look older, I don’t know why, it just does. Ive straightened it a couple of times over the last month and I just feel so much better!

I got a L’Oréal steampod last month as I thought with the temp control it might be a bit kinder than GHDs as I could put it on the lowest heat setting.

I just have this horrible guilt because I know it’s going to get wrecked but I just feel so much happier with it straight. I also use Olaplex no 3, 6, 7 & 8 religiously when I straighten it, but I haven’t ever had no 1 or 2 in the salon so maybe I should try that! I always use heat protectant and a leave in conditioner too!

Christ, curly hair ageing - what utter bolleaux. Overuse of hot tongs are going to damage and age hair if anything.

I have curls and waves and no matter what I do they retain the curl or wave. Does need lots of tender loving care though.

Hair in good condition is youthful whether curly or straight.

Glossy curls will always look better than straight hair like straw.

If you're straightening it and highlighting it, can you try using hair oils? When I've been straightening it more often I've really found a hair strengthening leave in treatment topped up with Moroccon hair oil works well. When I'm not straightening it routinely the hair oil is not necessary and makes my hair feel greasy and weighed down.

But I do concede that my hair is not super super curly.

@murbblurb

The damage is worth it. Who wants to spend ages farting about with 'methods'? And yes,curls are ageing.

When you feel like spending five hours in a hairdresser again, get them to wellastrate or L'Oréal xtenso it.lasts a year if properly done so that is worth the time and money.

@murbblurb

The damage is worth it. Who wants to spend ages farting about with 'methods'? And yes,curls are ageing.

When you feel like spending five hours in a hairdresser again, get them to wellastrate or L'Oréal xtenso it.lasts a year if properly done so that is worth the time and money.

Curls are AGEING?

On what planet?

Curly/frizzy person here. I can't blow dry my hair and wouldn't be able to dedicate time to it in the morning even if i could.

I wear it tied back most of the time with long curls at front/sides iyswim. I love wearing it down if it behaves (rarely).

I rub in coconut oil or olive oil for a pre-wash mask - about 30 minutes. Wash twice, conditioner, blot, rub a bit of coconut oil in the ends and then any serum. The cheapest usually as i have never found any difference in them.

Btw - frizz makes me look 100 years older. I dont feel the least insulted by someone on the internet thinking the same. I might punch someone in real life though if they said it to my face

How are curls ageing??? What aload of rubbish

@Sprayerhayer

I have wavy/curly hair, shoulder length, and blonde. I am in my early 50s, and whilst I am never mistaken for someone 20 years younger, (because that never happens in real life,) I often do get people thinking I am in my early to mid 40s. Curls are ageing my arse! If anything, they are flattering and soft and feminine. I do NOTHING to mine. Why would want to straighten my gorgeous curls?!

The difficulty i have when wearing my hair curly as opposed to straight, is what to do to soften/frame my face.
I end up with it back off my face, and I think I look better with hair down around my face.
I look awful with hair up, whether curly or straight, I need some sort of 'fringe'.
So I only wear my hair curly sometimes if I wash it on a weekend day and it looks nice, but day two my curls are scraggy waves and I straighten it.
I don't find ghd too damaging. But I don't colour my hair.

Aye, Sarah Angius’s curls are aging.. 🙄

I have straightened my hair every wash, so basically 2-3 times a week, for about 15 years and it honestly looks great. It's also so much less faff than wearing it curly.

I've tried hundreds of things but the two I would recommend are L'Oréal steampod straighteners, I switched to these about 3 years ago and they are much more effective than my GHDs were. And kerastase nectar thermique nourishing milk which I always come back to. My hair likes silicones but not too many and this has exactly the right amount to get shiny soft hair but without the static-y greasiness you get from silicone overload (basically everything in the Ouai collection).

L'oreal steampod straigtheners are worth investing. Also good quality conditioner and shampoo.

Philip kingsley elasticiser works for me. Superdrug do a cheap one, which is good, but not as good as the real deal.

And if I do wear curls I use TIGI Curls Rock. It's a weird formula that is full of silicones (def not cgm friendly) and it sets with a weird flexible plastic texture. It's also a pain to wash out and usually I feel like it takes a couple of washes to go completely. However, if you can get the amounts right and apply to pre-brushed soaking wet hair and allow to dry without to much movement then you get those perfect Sarah Angius style curls without months of faffing with the CGM and they stick around for a few days without getting too frizzy.

I have a steampod, haven’t used it that much yet though. Do people with curly hair and a steampod feel like they need it on the highest setting or does the 180 get and more importantly keep it straight?

I’ve never used the Philip Kingsley stuff, always just used Olaplex no 3 but I think I’ll give the PKE a go!

I meant no offence btw when I said I feel curls age me. I think it’s the frizz. I don’t believe curls age everyone, just mine age me and I don’t know whether I want to faff about (looking like wurzel gummidge) for the next 2 years until they’re healthy enough to be less frizzy. That’s a long time to feel like crap about how you look, a year has been enough for me.

I will still wear my hair curly, just not all the time. Probably half and half.

Sorry, I've just realised you said you had the steampod straighteners. I would recommend setting them at a temp where you can get your hair to straighten in one sweep if possible. I always feel like going over and over the same section causes more damage than putting a lot of heat on and doing it once. For me the benefit of the steampods over GHDs is that I can usually just go everything once with the steampods.

I don't think its you that's offended anyone OP.

I don't generally get comments on my appearance ( never been conventionally pretty , not bothered) but when I finally managed to defeat my frizzy curls I suddenly got loads of compliments, including a lot of ' you look younger'. I do look a lot better with longer hair. Suits my face shape in a way that the bushy triangle never did.

Curly hair can look good but it is incredibly high maintenance, which is a really boring thing to do. Straightened ( not straight) and I can get a comb through it easily. Job done. And so much more comfortable too without the tangles.

Choices, of course, but curls are work.

I have similar hair to you and have been straightening it for almost 30 years. Now, the curl is less tight and there is more frizz, particularly around the hairline. As I am letting my hair turn white, the frizz is more noticeable. I have really dry hair so wash it every 10-14 days although at various points during lockdown, I didn't wash it for longer and wore it tied-up.

The best thing I ever did was get a keratin treatment as it makes it easier to straighten and also means my hair does not get frizzy when it rains. Should I not want to blow dry my hair, the curl is looser and there is less frizz. I get a keratin treatment bi-annually and do the hair line myself as and when it is needed. If you want to fight the fuzz, keratin is the only thing that will tame it.

Had my curly hair cut and layered recently and switched to Curly friendly products. It feels so much softer and healthier.

GHDs were drying it out and causing breakage, plus work and chronic pain meant I couldn’t do 30 mins of straightening before work.

Now I wash, gel and use a silk headband to keep it off my face and it air dries mostly.

Dyson airwrap is meant to be less drying then straightening as it uses air pressure not heat?

If you're hair is very curly I would suggest looking up the plethora of natural hair care videos on YouTube. They are generally geared towards black and mixed race women but I think their advice would work well for anyone with curly hair.

The best thing I ever did was get a keratin treatment as it makes it easier to straighten and also means my hair does not get frizzy when it rains. Should I not want to blow dry my hair, the curl is looser and there is less frizz. I get a keratin treatment bi-annually and do the hair line myself as and when it is needed. If you want to fight the fuzz, keratin is the only thing that will tame it

I hated the keratin treatment. I had it done twice and each time my hair was lacking in volume and was lank and greasy within 2 days. Spent loads on the SLS, sodium free products.

@ZaraW There are load of different keratin treatments out there, I got lucky with the one I used.

I know people who have had similar to you, but a few persevered and tried different brands before finding one that worked for them. But not everyone will bother. Am sorry you did not find it the magic treatment I did