Mixed race curly hair, help

[Thed0gs]

Hi, I've had decades of battling my curly hair (resulting in relaxing for 10 years). I've been natural now for at least five but just cannot find products or a hairdresser that can deal with my hair!! It needs lots of moisture and no product seems to even touch it (although it's much better than it used to be). It also gets so knotty and tangled within hours. I'd like to keep it long too.

Please help!!

Hi Love.... The new salon is great. It was so nice to walk in to somewhere and not get the old 'we'll straighten it to cut it'.

It sounds as though you have a good routine going though. I'm still experimenting with different products but am getting there slowly (and I can feel the cut has made a hug difference).

Don't worry about rambling, I think there's a story/journey behind everyone's curly hair!!

I have a child with mixed race hair - we have tried all sorts of conditioners, cremes etc but the one that is working for us is Phil Smiths' curly locks - we use conditioner and the leave in spray. Leaves her hair soft, non frizzy and really shiny.

I follow the curly girl method with my daughters. There's a Facebook group called 'Curly girls!...' that is so helpful with learning about the best products to use etc.

Brilliant news you visited Spring! too! We went to an evening session with Lorraine Massey and Matt and she had lots of fantastic advice to keep hair well moisturised with copious amounts of conditioner!

Thed0gs, great to hear you went to Spring. I have been looking at the info/reviews on MJ for a while. Slightly wary of ending up with a generic Devacut (although they are very nice) but I think I'll go for it - they do seem to have the expertise after all. I cannot believe I'm planning to travel from the smoke to Brum for a hair cut! I have family West Brom so perhaps I'll combine the visits.
Can I ask: at Spring did they cut curl by curl? And did they cut totally dry or a bit damp? I am also thinking of getting a colour done there but need to sort the cut out first...

Anyone have any tips for boys. Ds1 just started to want to grow his hair out a bit and its tight curls but also frizzy and feels very dry. Should I try the same as here or are there any modifications I should use? Ds2 is much less curly or frizzy and seems fine with normal baby shampoo so far....which is bizarre as otherwise they are carbon copies of one another!

dynevoran if, like my DSS, your DS tends to be running away/moving when it's hair styling time, you could just spritz with water using a spray bottle (distilled/de-ionized water- available from Halfords or similar-avoids hard water deposits and hair stays softer), then rake through a tiny bit of curl cream/light oil to seal; or just dilute curl cream/moisturiser with said water then apply, so there isn't too much build up.

Dynevoran.... Unfortunately I have no tips for boys. My 4 year old nephew has the most beautiful curly hair and wears it quite long. As far as I know it takes minimal effort and my brother sprays the Johnson's leave in conditioner which seems to do the trick I'm not jealous at all

Love, yes Danny (dry) cut it pretty much curl by curl. The other people I saw coming and going all had different styles so I think they do make the cuts quite individual which is good.

Hi Thed0gs,
My daugher is mixed race and I most of the products I've tried look good for about a day, and then dry her hair out and make it feel sticky.

These products have worked for her.

shampoo

conditioner

Use this on wet hair

...also wetting it each day (but not washing) really helps to maintain the curls

Thanks Mooshbag, I've tried the shampoo (which is lovely), but not the other two....will give them a whirl.

I'm finding the subsequent days after washing tricky too (well it's more the top layer of hair). Danny said to try spritzing with conditioner/gel/water mixed in a spray bottle to refresh the curls. I think I might need to add more conditioner though to combat the dryness.

Good luck. I hope it all works out. It's nice to get specific advice from a salon as there are lots of varieties of mixed hair.

I have.... For my hair, which is incredibly thick, it doesn't dry it even when I've done it over night. I tend to 'plop' for about 20 mins before diffusing while clearing the hair and products scattered all over the bathroom

I always 'plop' for a while after washing (maybe 15 mins while getting dressed/doing make-up etc). It takes the dripping wetness out of the hair but doesn't really help get rid of any of the underlying damp.
I've never tried leaving it all night as I tend to prefer washing mine in the morning.