Why can’t I just have nice hair ffs??!!!!

[Chocwocdoodah]

Finally found a curly hairdresser. When she cuts my hair, she makes it bouncy and curly. I manage to keep it that way by using the products she recommends - blob of gel when it’s soaking wet, blot with a tshirts and leave to dry/ maybe finish off with diffuser. But after a few weeks, it always starts going limp and straight. This has happened when my hair has been various lengths so I don’t think it’s the weight of the growing hair pulling it down.

Why can’t my feckin hair just be consistent??!!! I really like my hair curly, why’s it so bloody hard to keep it that way?

Could it be product build up? A clarifying shampoo once a week might help.

Hmmm that’s a possibility....the shampoo, conditioner and gel I use are sulphate free but could they still build up?

Sulphates are a surfactant, it's more likely silicones that would cause a product build up. If any of the products have ingredients ending in "methicone" or "siloxane", those are silicones.

Sounds like the silicones weighing it down.

But... you'll need sulphate shampoo to wash the silicones out.

It's difficult, curly and wavy hair can be coarser and dryer (mine is) and need a lot of product to put moisture into it. But leave in products leave it feeling heavy and pulling on the curls (not limp exactly) but flat with no bounce. No product or leave in conditioner or oil and I end up with lovely bounce but a bit frizzy!

I'd love to know what the answer is too.

Aargh it’s so annoying isn’t it!

So do I need a sulphate containing clarifying shampoo?

Clarifying is just a sulphate shampoo with no silicone in it.

Ah ok thanks. Any recs?

I use cantu conditioner only . Works for me

I talked to my hairdresser about this exact thing and she said this happens with consistent use of the same products no matter of silicones or not.

She said to use a clarifying shampoo for a few days washes then back to your favourite again.

Curly girl method! I learned about that in here 3 years ago (search for the thread to get you started) and have never looked back. My hair is so much curlier and less frizzy, and I spend so much less on products.

I’ve looked up the CG method before and found it a bit confusing...willing to accept I might just be a bit thick...

Just wash your hair with conditioner instead of shampoo ( silicone free ) I use cantu . And then a good curl cream . I use umberto gianni .. I put on product when my hair is soaking wet and towel dry it and then diffuse . Pretty simple if you miss out the faffing . It’s made my hair so much curlier .

Feel your pain -please tell me how you found your curly hairdresser - google search seems a bit hit and miss

Was going to suggest product buildup as well. If you have fine hair the purist curly girl method of no shampoo, just washing with conditioner just doesn't bloody work at all.

You just end up with weighed down yukky looking hair.

Boucleme and Jessicurl have nice everyday shampoos for fine wavy/curly hair but are spendy but I love them Or you can just use a normal sulfate shampoo every now and then to clean your hair off.

Chocwocdoodah

If you wanted to start off doing CG, here's a very basic guide, based on what I do:

1. Wash hair one final time with a shampoo that contains sulphates but no silicones (baby shampoo is a good one)
2. Condition using a conditioner that has no silicones (here are some examples: the brown Garnier Ultimate Blends conditioner (not the deep conditioner in the pot), Timotei conditioner, Bodyshop Rainforest conditioner, Argan oil conditioner from Poundland (I get most of my products from poundland now!))
3. Rinse out conditioner.
4. Squeeze water out of hair, then mix together a blob of VO5 gel with a blob of the conditioner you've just used and squish it into your hair.
5. Wrap head in an old t-shirt (not a towel) without straightening your hair.
6. After about 15 mins take off the t-shirt and either diffuse or leave to dry naturally.
7. When you next need to wash your hair, start from step 2.

It's a matter of seeing what suits you and making adjustments after that ... I'd recommend the Facebook group, 'Curly girls! - Support group for curly / wavy / naturally healthy hair', which has loads of info, and where beginners can ask questions and receive advice and support from more experienced curly girls :)

Yes, if all of your products have no sulfates but even one of them contains silicones you're basically not using any "soap" that will wash off the layers of silicone. Hence heavy hair.

Either switch to sulfate and silicone free products or switch in a weekly sulfate wash.

Lots of great advice here - thank you! Yes my hair is quite fine so easily weighed down so but I’ll experiment with the washing with conditioner/sulphate but no silicones/CG methods - lots of things for me to try here, thanks!

My hairdresser is called Curly Hair London. Costs £65. Great cut - the only thing that I don’t like is that she doesn’t have her own salon, she rents a chair in a hairdressers....and it’s quite a gritty one so not really the upmarket salon experience I’d like!!

grotty

Have you tried a few drops of Hyaluronic Acid on your hair? Put on your hands and run through wet hair.

Other ppl have mentioned loving a few drops of Squalene oil as well.

No - never heard of it! What is it/does it do??

Hyaluronic Acid isn’t really an Acid, it’s a hydration for skin - and hair as it turns out! So if you put on damp skin or hair, it draws that moisture into your skin/hair, helping it plump up and look/feel smooth! If you want to try it, I’d order a small bottle, for example, from the Ordinary. If you like it, you could order a big, cheaper bottle (see pic).

Squalene is a plant derived oil and lots of ppl have been saying they love the effect it has on hair (I haven’t tried it).

Forgot the pic 😫

So would I use h acid as well as conditioner? And with a no-silicone shampoo?

I use conditioner on the ends of my hair mostly. I use an SLS free shampoo- not sure about silicones - and the HA seems to work fine. It’s slightly more viscous than water, it won’t weigh your hair down at all.