mixed race hair - can anyone help me?

[CamdenTownie]

Hi,

My daughters have very coarse wavy/curly hair and no matter what I do to it, it always ends up frizzy with wispy bits sticking up everywhere, they always look like their hair hasn't been brushed when infact I spend hours braiding it.

I'd really like to get it looking like the photo, but I have no idea what product is need to use, any recommendations?

Thanks

have you looked in the MN archives? do a search on 'mixed race hair' there are lots of threads on it with useful information.

There are loads of thread on this probably because it's just so hard to crack. What works for one might not work for another.

There is a really long curly hair thread too. It might be in style and beauty.

Have you tried the curly girl method?

As a mixed race hair person I'd day yes look at the threads but try to be realistic and realised that recognise that mixed race hair is massively variable. You will be able to get it lovely, it just might be a different 'lovely' to that which you'd originally envisaged.

Hi,

I don't know about the curly girl method, my hair is very straight and quite fine so I'm finding this a battle, their hair is identical to the girl on the left, so more wavy than really curly.

It's just suck thick hair that hair elastics only go round twice, which doesn't help to hold the hair up, I was hoping to find a miracle product that helps keep it smooth.

Thanks for the suggestion to check the archives, I look through and see what comes up

Thanks jeffy - it's certainly not Afro type hair, but not European either, I'd love to find a way to tame it, it's very dry and coconut oil helps but only for an hour or so then it's back to frizzies.

Have you tried only using conditioner and never shampoo?

Have you tried only using conditioner and never shampoo? No, but I'll give anything a go, I can see how this could work. Fingers crossed, .

I once dedicated a year to my dd's hair...The year of your hair it was called.

I've two mixed race dds. Their hair looks the same as each other but it needs to be treated in completely different ways.

My oldest is 12 now. She was 10 before I got to grips with her hair. It is very dry and grows slowly. It gets knotty and matted easily so she sleeps in a silk bonnet to help with that. It has made a huge difference. You can get sleep hatsor sleep bonnets from Amazon or eBay although they won't be silk. They do the job though. Dd uses the curly girl method on her hair. She has a shower and conditions her hair every morning before school otherwise it looks dry.

My youngest DD has easier to manage hair. She never uses shampoo but has a deep conditioning treatment twice a week.

I've read the curly hair thread on here recently and although it's not about mixed race hair there is load of good advice about what to use product wise.

I have a 3yo boy and the curly girl method is fab. Wet, condition, comb, rinse. Once a week max. I spray with some olive oil stuff from the local black hairdresser in between to keep his ringlets defined. Sil does similar with her older daughter - basically the less you do to it the better as long as it's well moisturised :)

PS dh is no fucking use having had his dreadlocked for 30 odd years

A friend of mine has similar looking hair to the girl in the pic and she swears by argan oil and tangle teezer brush...This might not be helpful but just putting it out there...

Dark and lovely do a kids range which is good. Trial and error I think. I wash my dd's hair daily with shampoo but only do mine once a week (I'm mixed race too).

Try a leave in conditioner to weigh the hair down, African pride has some nice ones.

Also make sure you wrap or at least braid their hair before bed makes the mornings a lot easier!

Soft n free is really good.

I am mixed race and use the curly girl method. Using a silk cover to sleep in really helps. I also use cantu theres a whole range of products on amazon.

Mixed race hair varies obviously it all really is trial and error until you find what works for you. I went years as my mum didnt really know much and my dad was useless and bald! . I also never use shampoo and do a co-wash twice a week and rinse with cool water

Also a 'soft brush' for those whispy hairs at the front! And a wide tooth comb to use when wet. I also dont towel dry as that seems to make it frizzy i air dry my hair and when drying i scrunch the curls upwards of that makes sense

Thanks for all the input.

My oldest daughter is 11, she has the most difficult hair simply because there is so much of it, and it's waist length.

I've got a tangle tamer, a tangle teaser and a wet brush pro, her hair has to be dealt with in sections as the brush just doesn't go through it and she ends up with only the top getting brushed, Whilst the underneath is matted.

Tomorrow we will try conditioner and the wide tooth comb followed by hair oil, I've looked online at the mixed chicks range which has fab reviews, I'll try that next if the conditioner doesn't work.

Really appreciate all the tips.

Also - the very first time she had her hair braided (she was 2) the lady advised putting a bandana or s pair of tights on her head to stop the matting, that worked very well but we stopped doing it once she got older, this could be a good thing to try again, thanks for the reminder

Using something like T shirt material rather than a towel to dry is a good technique.

Mine are Asian\Caucasian mix but seen to have the curliest hair ever.

I use water and conditioner when bathing, no shampoo. Palmers Olive Oil conditioner, rinse and then dress with a light leave in conditioner. On weekend nights I deep condition (usually pure coconut butter).

A silk pillowcase for bed is good as it doesn't soak out oils like cotton. Cotton pillows are the enemy of dry, curly hair.

Yy to mixed chicken the hair serum is amazing. Morocco oil might work well too

#Mixed chicks obviously

Have you tried 'Afro' hair products? I have very very similar hair and this is the only type of stuff that works. There are shops that 'specialise' (although they're generally pretty run down and crummy) there's one by Westfield Shepherd's Bush called mona's cosmetics, or you could check Amazon.

I would recommend the brand Ors, they're kids hair pudding works wonders, it's basically a leave in conditioner, but in dry hair it leaves no horrible residue, I've occasionally found it in larger boots or the shop mentioned above.