How to style fine, short, wavy hair into curls on purpose?

[SparklyFooted]

My hair is just annoyingly wavy; not proper lovely curls and not well behaved straight hair.

I have a shortish, layered bob which I style straight with a BBH and this is fine most of the time. But if it gets rained on, or it's humid, or it's very hot weather, it springs into crappy, frizzy, thin curls. I then spend all my time trying to primp it while I'm out and it looks shit.

So can anyone tell me how to get it into proper curls on purpose instead of by the whim of the weather?

I have a Brazilian blow dry every 3-4 months which helps, but not that much.

Oh, and it's kind of this length.

In afraid that if you want curls you need to stop straightening. My hair takes nearly a week to revive the curls after straightening it.
Google "curly girl method" for lots of tips but basically you need to treat it very gently, condition well, do not comb and blot rather than rub with a towel. Use non-silicone products that are water soluble.
For special occasions I neaten some curls with tongs just to get a more polished look.

This is the photo I took to the hairdresser for my last cut.

Yes, that's exactly what I'm after museumum.

I use non-silicone products anyway because of the Brazilian blow dry.

But how do you get from wet to dry curls? I understand the plopping method, but my hair is too short to drop onto a towel.

or can anyone recommend any UK products for curling fine hair?

For me it's about not combing. So I condition well and run my fingers through in the shower. Then I turn my head upside down and "scrunch" the water out of the longer front part. Then wrap in a towel on top of my head for maybe half an hour while I dress and have breakfast. Then unwrap and scrunch in some clear gel (umberto gianini) mixed with boots own brand curl creme. Then leave if possible or in winter give a gentle dry with a diffuser but not all the way to bone dry.
As I said, first time after straightening the result is quite hmm but say three days of this with absolutely no combing or brushing and the curls start to form properly. I doubt this will work if you still have any effects of the Brazilian in your hair though.

I also only use shampoo about once a week. I wash with just conditioner in between.

Ah I see. Thanks mm. I last had it done about 3 months ago, so any effect from the keratin treatment is probably on its way out.

I'll be trying this!

I think as it stands, your hair is too short to curl - as in, you curling it yourself.

If it's between your ears and your jaw, you'll just end up with mushroom head. Trust me.

It sounds like I have similar hair to you - it's not curly, but it's not straight either. On the hair scale it's a 1c. Here is a link to the HAIR SCALE if you don't know about it.

In light rain, humidity or extreme heat my hair does like you - it puffs up, and the finer shorter bits go into ringlets. It's the same after sport, or anything that means I have the combo of wet and heat on my scalp. Sound similar?

The thing is, I don't think that is something you can actually "style" into your hair naturally just through switching a few products. For example, I can't change my hair type from 1c to 2b just by cutting out silicone, and nor can you.

The only potential difference is if your hair is extremely damaged - then there is a chance if you radically improve the condition, it will have an effect on the curl pattern. My hair is virgin hair, no older than 2 years old. I never use heat on it and use paraben and silicone free products. So my texture now is it. If that's not the case for you perhaps there is a bit more hope.

The girl in the picture posted by museumum actually has pretty long hair - it's at least past her shoulders and maybe down to her collarbone. Otherwise it wouldn't be able to have that much body and curl in it.

The curl also doesn't look natural at all. It's just curled in sections with a flat iron. You can tell by the shape of the curl - real curls just don't bend like that.

Have you tried babyliss big hair? The one with the smaller barrel should work on your length hair.

I take your point kaykay. Yes, that description fits me quite well.

How do you style your hair?

Yes I use the small babylissbig hair, and it's fine until any heat or moisture hit it.

I don't think I am a very good example of hair styling as I do literally nothing. I use no heat or styling tools whatsoever.

I wash it with a very small amount of paraben free shampoo, and then use a generous dollop of silicone free conditioner. Then wrap it in a towel until it's not dripping, and take the towel off whilst I get dressed. When it's still very damp but not wet, I use a tiny pump (size of two peas) of Aussie Dual Personality Anti Frizz and conditioning milk (one product), rub it in my palms, then smooth it over my hair (gently). Then I comb it through using a comb with teeth 3mm apart (it's not a fine tooth comb, but also not a wide tooth one).

Then my hair is done. I just let it air dry. When it is absolutely completely dry I might brush it with a 100% boar bristle brush. I only brush it once or twice a day (generally first thing in the morning then just before bed).

I've noticed that the aussie product really makes my hair look much smoother, which is nice.

There is another option: If I let my hair dry a bit longer in the towel, then just use a very wide tooth comb on it (or don't brush it at all), then it looks much curlier. It also looks like a fucking birds nest though. The hair looks very rough and "coarse", even if it feels soft to the touch.

It's not a look I'd recommend, personally speaking...

Overall I think it's much better in the long term to work with your natural hair texture rather than fight against it through straightening or blow outs.

The only time I do anything in particular is if I have a massive thing to go to, like a wedding or very big party. Then I will blow dry it upside down, or curl it using a curling wand. I should point out that I literally can't remember the last time I did this though.

that's what I was thinking kaykay; I put so much energy into fighting what my hair does naturally, that I should try and go with the flow. But the flow appears to be frizzy and shit!

I really don't scrub up well

I would really recommend growing your hair a bit longer - it may well be much less frizzy when the hair has more weight to hold it down. Try experimenting with using a very small amount of smoothing serum, or the milk stuff I mentioned, which should help to tame the frizz/fluff. Avoid brushing your hair with anything other than a comb or a bristle brush - everything else will probably increase the static!!

Don't forget as well that if you are used to very artificially smooth hair (through straightening and blow outs), then it will take a while for you to get used to what natural hair actually looks like. It's probably not as frizzy as you think it is, you are just used to the artificial effect.

I'd recommend taking a multi vitamin if you don't already, and make sure that you get lots of omega three in your diet (I am obsessed with avocados, which is why I have to do sport all the time!), and low fat protein, which will help with the overall health of your hair.

Think about it like this: the more you mess with your hair now, the less it will thank you when you are older!

Kaykayblue, I looked at your hair scale article. I'm between 1b and 1c. Do you think I could get scrunchy wavy hair ?

I brush my hair straight after washing, and it dries very wearably, friends think it's all blow dried, but I never do that at all. I just leave it.

I'm wondering if there's a product I could scrunch my hair with after washing..and if I don't brush it..will it just look messy?!

thanks for the advice kaykay, much appreciated.

minkah the best thing to do would be to try out a few things and see what works for you. I know that you can buy "curl enhancers" that you spray into your hair after it's nearly dry but not quite, and admittedly I've only tried a couple in my lifetime, but they seem to do bugger all in my view.

The thing is, if you don't brush your hair after scrunching it, or don't brush it at all in order to try and get more curls, you'll inevitably end up with lots of knots that are a bastard to get out later, and will probably cause your hair to snap off much more when you eventually DO brush it. At least that's my own experience.

If you hair is long enough, the easiest way to get nice waves is to brush it when you've washed it (with a comb that works for your hair type), wait until it's nearly air dried, and then twist it up into a bun and leave it to dry completely in the bun.

When you take it down the hair will keep the twists from when it was in the bun shape, and you'll have waves. I used to do this a lot when my hair was longer, but it's too short to do that at the moment.

One of the reasons I'm growing it back!