Help me & my hair!

[7dayslater]

Here is a photo of my hair atm. It's naturally curly hair - it used to be much more 'formed' curls. I've neglected it for years now and it's become extremely dry & difficult to manage. It's incredibly thick hair & feels heavy, coarse.

I hate how it looks! I feel sad as I used to love my hair. Now I never know what to do with it. It gets knotted so easily. I think the curly hair method might work well but I wouldn't know where to start.

I have Afro-Latin roots if it's relevant to my hair type.

I feel your pain!

I'm naturally wavy but over the years have damaged my hair a lot!
I've started the curly girl method. I have curls I never knew existed! I have found it pretty confusing though and have had to do a lot of reading up about it plus buying a whole load of new products.
I'm determined to keep it up at least till the end of the year. The way I see it even if I don't end up staying 'curly' I will have stopped any further damage.

The curly girl method would be great for you, and it can be as simple or as complicated as you want it to be. Its just finding the right products for your hair, and going through the transition stage where yout hair looks pretty awful.
I co-wash with silicone free conditioner but dont use gel or plop or diffuse or any of the other stuff. My hair can have a good curl if I do everything to the letter, but I dont have time for it so I'm happy to have frizz free gentle waves which don't need washing for 4-5 days.

did you photo my hair sometime? I don't recognise the background but the hair could be mine

Layer it roughly ..when hair wet , pull (in sections) top layer of hair up and out and then cut it a few inches shorter than the main length, then pull out in sections through the width and cut an angle between the bottom and the top .

That lets it curl ( less weight) without the triangle effect

When it's dry look for any off bits and adjust

The great thing with curly hair is that a rough cut can be as good as a professional one or better as too few hairdressers can cope with curly hair it seems and often left me near tears

I wash it no more than once a week and often just in conditioner

Oh this is good to know - so there is hope!

Are you able to recommend me any products? I've been struggling to find a curly hair method approved conditioner & shampoo?

Also do you use a brush or a comb?

Your hair is beautiful!!

Sorry probably not helpful but still ...

I just bought the As I am co wash.
I've also got OGX coconut water shampoo and Garnier banana mask conditioner.
Haven't tried them yet as just did a clarifying wash (to get rid of build up and silicones). I've literally started the cgm this week!
I found this site useful. You can look up products by name and see if the are cgm approved. curlscan.com/approved/S

Sorry forgot to say no brush or comb unless in the shower and conditioner (I think?)
I've been reading this blog a lot for info https://curlycailin.ie/
Plus lots of you tube videos like Manes by Mell.
I'm still trying to get my head round it all but after years of straighten and increasing frizz I'm desperate to try something to make my hair look good again.
Good luck

Have you though about an undercut?

If you Google Curly Girl and the place you shop eg Sainsburys, Wilko etc it will probably bring up some CG approved products you can buy at that shop. Most people just co-wash with conditioner rather than using a shampoo (it's the sls in shampoo making your hair frizzy, it's a very strong cleaning detergent). It takes some getting your head around! The conditioner must be silicone free, as only a shampoo with sls would wash out silicone. Watch some beginner you tube videos or do some online reading about how to start but the main thing is no sls or silicone in any of your products (so check your hair serum and sprays etc too). I'm sure there is an app now which will tell you if a product is approved. Just changing your products will make a huge difference after you've gone through the nasty transition stage!

Thank you all so much! I'll get researching. I don't tend to shampoo much anyway as it always dries out my hair, but I do use a 'normal' conditioner so I'll check for silicone free.

I'm not sure an undercut would suit me... I don't think I'm brave enough.