New hair plan - advice? (Pic included)

[Crumpetswithbutter]

Up to last week, I've been "doing" my hair by washing with a SLS "moisturising" shampoo, brushing it, blow-drying it then either putting it up or straightening it. It's always had a tendency to unruliness/frizziness and holds a curl for days if I tong it.

I've recently re-cut my layers and on a whim last week decided to buy a can of mousse and let it air dry. Turns out it's pretty wavy, so I have been researching curly girl to see if I could bring out the wave properly while eliminating frizz, so I'd love your opinions on my current plan:

First, Johnson's baby shampoo to chelate/clarify

Then in future wash with:
As I am coconut something to co-wash
Cantu leave-in conditioner

Then scrunch in:
Pantene Pro-V mousse
Giovanni L.A. gel

I may sometimes try a "plop" but I will not lie, I can't be doing with spending too much time in the bathroom - I just want to magically look better without any effort

Pic of yesterday after washing and then scrunching in mousse, then riding in the heat, so it was a bit squashed by my riding hat. It's very frizzy though, the photo doesn't really show it. I'm thinking of taking some of the length off too as it's pretty straight still underneath. (Have just realised that I have a whole in my top for all Mumsnet to see - the shame!)

Also, if anyone has any before/after photos of similar hair, I would love to see them.

Enjoys watching the tumbleweed blow past

I knew I'd never manage to start a thread . Oh well.

No before and after photos but I have similar wavy/frizzy texture and am considering a cut from mid back to perhaps collar bone level. Watching with interest

Im just bumping this for you - my hair is similar texture and I have no idea what to do with it!

I will update when I've tried new stuff then if you're interested - I am hoping there's potential for a bit more curl as I really have been bombarding my hair with heat for years and not moisturising it. I am going to try to cut it a bit at the weekend, so that I still have time to fix it before work on Monday if it goes horribly wrong!

There is a transition stage with Curly Girl where your hair is getting used to the new routine. That lasted a month or so for me. It's probably just that.

Maybe have a look at some of the You Tube videos and see what they do whilst washing, like squish to condish, which help develop the curl.

Curly Girl does take quite a lot of time and effort to get right. I can get a gorgeous curl in my hair if I do it all right but it takes such a long time to dry (diffusing doesn't work well for my hair). I've mostly abandoned it now, I still co-wash and use CG friendly products but I blow dry and straighten. I can't spend a whole day drying my hair, looking like a scarecrow.

Have a look at Vicky Queen of Curls (hairdresser) on Facebook/intsa for some inspiration. I think that a blunter cut would help.
Curly hair is usually much drier than you think, even if it feel soft (perhaps causing your frizz?) after you have conditioned your hair, rinse it and squeeze out the excess water with your hands. Put a small 1p size blob of conditioner on your hands and rub them together. Gently put through hair length (not scalp). Squeeze excess water out with hands. Apply your product to your soaking wet hair then squeeze again.
This will get the product right into your hair. Squeeze with a t-shirt or microfibre towel, don't rub.
There are some great videos on the Trepadora website.
This really helps me get defined curls.
HTH

@BobTheDuvet, thanks, yes, but I promise it is actually getting a bit wavier each time I wet it or wash it and frizzier . I have ordered a CG friendly deep conditioner, so hoping to try that at the weekend after using a clarifying shampoo.

@whiskyremorse, thanks for the tip on Vicky Queen of Curls - it definitely needs a curl friendly cut. I actually suit my hair best at jaw length, but have never been able to sustain a bob because it would never stay straight!

Thanks too for the tips about drying it - I have a starting point of zero for knowledge of what to do with waves, so some things seem obvious, but are not to me. I will take a look on Trepadora and have been looking at RL+CG too.

Going to try to stick with the new regime for a while, to avoid too much chopping and changing as I think, as you say @Greenvalleymama, it will need time to settle. I will update at some point - whether good or bad!

Watching with interest. Keep going for me

Another watching & hoping to learn a bit more from you Op !

I have no idea where or how to start so would love any other posters to add any helpful tips on products.
And pics ,we need pics !!

Hm, my hair is crazy thick and mildly wavy.
It doesn't hold curl or stay straightened very well but like yours it's prone to getting frizzy.

I just wash it with any old crap, Alberto balsam right now, then I put some organic hair oil through the bottom half which makes it all nice and glossy and non frizzy.

I've given up on a 'style' now to be honest because they never ever turn out how I envisioned. I am always left disappointed and when I'm pleased, I get disappointed after washing it because I can never style it nice how the hairdresser did.

I just visit the hairdresser to get it shortened when it starts touching my bum now...

Short always looks horrific because it just puffs out in a horrible frizzy mess.

Layers look wrong with the waves.

I love the look of it tightly curled but it never holds the curl.

@crumpets Vicky isn't taking on any new clients are she is booked to October! But if you are Manchester based I can tell you the name of who she is training up.
I agree you should play around with different products and methods just don't forget the power of really wet hair to soak product in.

this is a fabulous video on how to diffuse dry your hair. I could never do it without oodles of frizz. This method works really well.

I'd love curls like that !
My hair is neglected wavy with random straight bits

When I've looked into cg,they always have such beautiful full curls,not wavy hair like mine.

I'm reluctant to spend money on new products until I know more about Cg for wavy hair ,hopefully watching crumpets thread will help

@whiskyremorse No, nowhere near Manchester - in a different country, in fact! Just checking out ideas on that page

I have found a relatively local salon that has great pics on Insta - looks like exactly what I need, but they don't have any appointments for two months (which will at least give me time to save up as I've blown a load of money on products), so I am probably going to give myself a bit of a cut at the weekend, just to start off.

@TwentyChews, thank you - I have never diffused my hair (I also cannot find my diffuser, so I may even have thrown it away) so that video is so useful. Airdrying is fine most of the time, but will almost certainly need to diffuse in winter (-20, anyone?).

I have stockpiled some curl friendly products so expect an update (good or bad) in the next few days!

For those of you who were interested ...

On Saturday, I used the famous Mumsnet haircut to shorten my layers and then shortened the length a bit using two pigtails to match the level. All on dry hair. I have cut my own hair for years, so wasn't too worried, but definitely didn't want to go too short in case my hair curled up a lot. Figured I could always take more off later.

Then I did a wash with pure Savon de Marseille, as the clarifying shampoo I had ordered hadn't come and I couldn't wait. I had nowhere particular to go, so figured it would be fine - at worst I'd have worn a hat! Then I used some Garnier Naturals conditioner (closest to CG friendly that I could find in the supermarket) with a tbsp of olive oil and of honey as a deep conditioner for about an hour. Then rinsed and put on more of the conditioner. Did "squish to condition" then put in some Taft mousse and extra strong gel whilst soaking wet. Then "plopped" with a tshirt for half an hour. The photo in the white tshirt is what is looked like on taking off the "plop". Then I let it airdry.

I decided to take a bit more off the length when it was dry . It was initially very crunchy, which I tried to scrunch out, but it still looked quite stringy. I had another go later and it was better. So the second photo is the "final result".

It did feel like I had a lot of product in my hair, although I don't use anything other than shampoo usually, so it was always going to be a bit of a shock I suppose!

I slept on it with a silk scarf on (although that came off at some point in the night) and then swam in the lake on Sunday morning, so photo three is after that.

There are still some pretty straight bits, but overall I am quite happy with this amount of wave and hope it might get a bit more consistently wavy as I go along. Although it sounds like a lot of effort, it won't take me much longer to do in the evenings than drying and straightening did before, so I think it's manageable. I have "refreshed" it with wet hands and conditioner and it still looked reasonable yesterday - today I have it tied up and tomorrow I'll wash it with conditioner after I've been swimming.

Lovely well done

Thanks, guys. Glad if it helps someone. I posted on another thread what my hair looked like with washing, brushing and blowdrying (possibly straightened) and thought I'd put it here as the "before" photo.

Great cut well done, you've got lovely curls!

Really love the new do OP. Lovely curls. I have really thick curly hair and I used to hate it but I’ve learnt to embrace my curls. I do suffer with a fair bit of frizz though! Also, not that this is really important but ime all of my boyfriends have said they prefer curly hair.

With waves rather than curls you’ll need to watch with products, some of the products that CG people love are just too heavy - like cantu for instance (I know you didn’t use it, but because you mentioned it)

They just weigh waves down and cause build up sometimes as well.

What do you recommend @tabulahrasa ?
I was looking at Cantu but my hair is wavy in places rather than curls .

Watching!

It's looking better but I think you should dry it with a diffuser. It'll give you volume and make your hair curlier. I have curly hair and I never air dry because it goes a bit flat. Just turn your head upside down and dry it one section at a time working your way round the head until it's done.