Curly Girl on a £ shop budget

[SparklyOnTheInside]

I'm looking for ideas please

I'm late thirties with bizarre hair, some of it is very curly, ringlets etc, some is a gentle curl, some wavy. It's not thick either, it's very fine.

I am on an extremely tight budget - no hair cuts and I buy my shampoo in the Pound shop.

Does anyone have any magical cheap-as-chips tips to stop my hair looking all horrid.

I've looked at lovely Curly websites but they all seem to start with the premise of being able to have your hair cut and be able to spend lots on conditioners etc.

Anyway, thanks for anything you can advise.

Have you tried conditioner only washing and/or plopping?
Apparently, these are both excellent for curly hair.

I saw my next CG conditioner in Poundland the other day! I'm a recent CG convert and currently use Tresemme Naturals conditioner and Garnier Ultimate Blends conditioners (there are a couple that have no 'cones - the dark brown and light brown bottles). I also found a great Argan Oil deep conditioning treatment for £4 in Primark the other day - it's in an ugly brown and yellow tub/box, but beware: I found 2 different formulations of it in the same packaging, in the same shop, one of which had mineral oil in it. But I got the other one and it was really good.

Other ideas: you might already know about the bargainous Boots curl creme. And I have just discovered the joys of raw shea butter (£7.50 for 500g from Naissance on Amazon), which you can apparently use as an overnight deep treatment, but I just use it as a sort of wax to tame dry ends and frizz. I also use coconut oil as an overnight deep treatment, and I use a tiny bit on the ends of my hair after I've just washed it, because they get too dry otherwise (but, seriously, just a tiny bit, far less than you think you're going to need, otherwise you'll look like an oil slick). I got around 500g of that for £15 from Holland and Barratt, but I think you can get it cheaper online.

You don't need to get your hair cut to do CG - apparently there are a lot of great youtube vids showing you how to DIY dry-cut curly hair. I haven't done this myself (yet) but you could have a gander ...

Oh, and come back and share tips when you've worked it out!

All v good tips above. Boots and superdrug own brand stuff each has one conditioner without cones. Not particularly rich but good for co-operawashing. Also olive oil from chemist. Can use both to leave in add a bit of curl creme and you're set. The own brand conditioners and olive both just over a pound. Curl creme at boots about 2. I look out for reductions on big bottles of tresemme too

Also you can clarify hair ( remove product build up) w bicarbonate of soda or lemon juice

Hello, sorry I had terrible computer issues so I'm a bit late back!

There are some excellent ideas on here, I am feeling a bit more hopeful for less scarecrow days and will try to feed back on how I get on.

I think I have issues because I only started having curly hair at the end of my twenties... Until then I kept it really long, too long to be curly I suppose. So i missed all the experimenting as a teenager

Thank you all for your help

The aldi fake moroccan oil is amazing

Interesting. I'm on the lookout for SFS free shampoo and silicone free conditioner that isn't too expensive too, as I've been using Body Shop Rainforest shampoo, but it's just too expensive.

The CG method means no shampoo.
Conditioner washing only. You need silicone free, light conditioner for example tresseme naturals is one. You need to find out all the names for silicone (eg dimethicone) and check conditioners before you buy. Look up how to co-wash properly.
Then plopping with a t shirt and always air drying is the key. No brushing or combing at all! To tame it you can use a hair oil but again silicone free so just a small amount of pure coconut or pure sweet almond oil would be perfect. Boots own brand curl creme is supposed to be good too.