Thick frizzy dry hair

[Petrichery]

So in keeping with the “new year, new you” general vibe, i need to sort out my hair.

I have very thick, wiry, frizzy, red hair, down to about my elbows. When i have it cut (which is rare - another new year’s resolution is to up this) it is in layers to remove some of the body and allow it to hang better, but basically this only works whilst the salon lotions and potions are tricking it into being swishy hair. When they wear off, it pings back out to look like Crystal Tipps (niche reference for those old enough to remember).

What can i do to make it nice to look at? Is a babyliss big hair any good for controlling wiry/thick hair? I don’t fully understand curly girl method but am willing to try - are there any suitable conditioners available in sainsburys/ tesco/ boots? Is there a magic shampoo/conditioner/ lotion combo that anyone else uses?

Any help appreciated - i want to stop looking like Hermione before she grew up and got pretty, i’m too old to carry it off and i don’t have emma watson’s looks to fall back on

I have the most awful dry straw-like frizzy triangular hair and have tried so many things. The only one that works is Wella Luxe Oil Mask which I think might have been discontinued but you can still get it on eBay. It’s not cheap but it’s made a huge difference and my hair now looks like normal hair.

Oooh, thanks - will look it up.
Trouble is, if it’s discontinued then even ebay will run out soon. I’d rather have a current equivalent if possible (not that that will stop me getting some if poss).

It might be worth looking into the curly girl method

You may well have luscious curls under there which will be revealed with some tlc

I second the curly girl method too.
Also, coconut oil is your friend!

Curly girl method would probably work for you. At the very least, avoiding sulfates in shampoo, silicones in conditioner and using masses and masses of conditioner.

Comb conditioner through with afro comb or fingers when hair is soaking wet. Don't wash it all out. Then put a curl cream through it like Cantu curl cream and wrap it in a towel or even better an old T-shirt to dry. Do not touch your hair while drying. And then voila - curls!

Never ever brush it and at most use an Afro comb.

Totally agree with Lloyd - a tiny bit of coconut oil worked magic when I had turned my hair in to straw and I was highly sceptical.

Ive been using Trepadora products since I got my haircut at Matt James in Birmingham. My hair is very similar to yours and the curls look great since I’ve been using those products. Free of sulphate/silicone/everything

Right -
Cantu curl cream
Coconut oil
Trepadara shampoo/conditioner
(Not all together, obv, or at least not until i’m desperate).
Brilliant, thank you all. Any curly girl cheap/easily available conditioner recommendations?

Also (and i know this makes me sound dim, i promise i have read the general internet info on curly girl but couldn’t work this out) - for those of you who curly girl, what stops it being frizzy each morning after sleeping? Do you wash every morning (mine only really needs it 1/2 times per week)? Or do you recomb and re-curl cream each morning? I can’t imagine going into work with bedhead untouched.

After doing it a while, the hair is just in much better condition so not nearly as mad in the morning.

Apparently sleeping on a satin pillowcase helps too but I've not done that.

On my second, and third days it varies what you get - they are curls after all! Sometimes a bit of finger tweaking will do, sometimes a bit of poking about with a comb and if I really want a lot of curl refreshing I run some curl cream through and scrunch. I've watched videos of people rewetting with a spray bottle and then scrunching product through.

I don't comb my hair ever anymore which sounds mad but it is completely tangle free and full of curls. I can always get a second day, third day is optimistic but mine is a lot finer and shorter than yours. Yours sounds amazing!

I use conditioner as a styling product which has been amazing. After washing (at night), I run a big blob of conditioner through it from roots to tips and then twirl with my fingers. Go to bed with wet hair (on a towel) and voila: perfect bouncy shiny curls for 3or 4 days. Day 1 and 2 I tend not to need to do anything to it in the morning. If I need a touch up on day 2 or 3 I will wet my hands, more conditioner and do a light twirl or scrunch.

My hair is bra length, not v wiry or tight curls, but big curls and frizzy. Works a treat and very low maintenance.

Mine is frizzy too. Used to keep it long but as it was always tied back in though I’d try shorter. Now just below shoulder length. Still gets tied back a lot but I can cope now with lashings of Frizz Ease conditioner (not completely rinsed out) and Argan Oil deep penetrating for coarse dry hair (£5).
I don’t usually wash my hair more than once a week but when I’ve been on holiday and washed my hair daily and used all the products it really does look and feel better.
But I can’t be bothered to wash it daily at home as it takes ages to dry.
Lifelong yearning for silky smooth
hair

I put mine in a protective style - twists, a couple of cane rows and wrap it in a silk cheap polyester scarf before bed. My hair is afro so would look terrible otherwise. But yes, a satin pillowcase definitely works too.

for second day curls, I sometimes splitz it with some homemade recurling spray, inspired by (though I don't wear mine as curly as she does.)

But my hair no longer frizzes out since going to the curly girl method. It does go flat though, and the front bits go straight from being tucked behinf my ears / played with, so I spray them and they curl back up.

I think the devashan people recommend a ponytail at the top of your head for sleepin - i think they call it a pineapple?

willow what conditioner are you using?

The curly girl method didn’t work for me. It never felt clean and seemed to have permanently greasy roots. I now wash it, condition it, run a blob of no blow dry creme through it and leave it to dry. Second day, put hair oil on the ends

I was also not a fan of the curly girl method. So I use a sulphate/silicone free shampoo twice a week & then a leave in conditioner & gel (both Trepadora but I didn’t like their shampoo). I then tie it up on top of my head as high as possible and normally get 3 days out of it like that.
Do you live anywhere near a curly hair hairdresser? I know one in Glasgow, Manchester, Birmingham & Maidstone

OP, I think I have hair like yours - long and very thick, and wiry. Something like 3A or 3B. It is just fluff without product on it. Almost like afro hair in texture. SO I use a fair bit of product to bring out the curls.

When I don't wash it, it gets wetted down in the morning.

I wear it up in a pineapple, or in a low plait overnight.

I never, ever go to the hairdresser, because none can deal with it.I have a phobia of hairdressers because I come out looking like Chrystal Tips I get my dsis to cut it, or do the infamous MN cut myself, to get rid of the ends, and add a few layers to thin it out. I can't have a fringe (forget it!) and I have to wear it long - like you, about shoulder length.

Products - I've tried loads. I alternate with mousse, and curling creme (VO5 - very cheap!) at the moment. The only product that was ever great on my hair has long been discontinued and that was VO5 Straight Hair. That used to give me silken waves and curls. I'm always trying new products - nothing lives up to the discontinued one. Lots seem to leave it crispy, or looking greasy. Just keep experimenting!

It's a pain isn't it? I actually hate my hair with a passion - despite it getting lots of compliments. In fact my DH adores my hair, and it was what first attracted him to me. But he doesn't have to care for it!

*elbow length - has to be below the shoulders, or it goes very bushy

I've v similar hair to you and Curly Girl has worked wonders for me. I use Waitrose essentials conditioner for normal hair- about £1 a bottle and often on 3for2

And loads of deep/overnight conditioning with coconut oil.

AnnaMagnani and WillowySnicket thank you, that’s really helpful having it spelled out. Will definitely give it a go now.

llangennith - yes, lifelong yearning for swishy gloasy hair here too sigh - will add argan oil to shopping list.

LloydColeandtheCoconuts you sound way more organised than me - i am terrible at plaiting my own hair, but probably time i pulled up big girl pants and learnt. beetles away to add “satin pillowcase” to list of things i never knew i needed.

MrsSchadenfreude and ComeOnGordon that’s really interesting that it’s not shangri la for everyone. Will give it a go for a few weeks i think and then if no joy, opt for a low-silicone shampoo instead maybe.

ShoesHaveSouls that does all sound very familar - i have had some shocking haircuts (although to be fair, some v.g. ones too), with a particularly memorable short fringe that made me look like a walking potato. Hey ho. Interested to hear if your search for the perfect replacement lotion comes to anything!

Does anyone have any conditioner (or shampoo) recommendations that are local shop available rather than super expensive internet only?

Oops ElfrideSwancourt sorry, slow typing fingers - brilliant, thank you

Castor oil mixed with coconut oil is your best solution. It will treat your hair from the inside out and make your hair smooth naturally

How does anyone find a curly hairdresser? comeongordon?

I just put “curly hairdresser” and the city when I was looking for one.
Matt James in Birmingham is the most famous one in the world of curlies. Vicki at the Hepburn Project in Manchester is supposed to be good & I liked Scott at Belle & Blackley in Glasgow