Curly hair - Would a bob work?

[Mixedandproud]

I have very curly shoulder length hair and all I ever do is put loads of leave in conditioner in to tame it and then tie it back. It always looks dreadful however hard I try to make it look nice.
I have always liked the bob style, do you think it looks good with curly hair?
I am going to book into a hair salon which is good at catering for my hair type so I know they will be able to cut and style it well.
I am thinking either a natural curly bob with some colour or to have my hair relaxed (straightened) first and then cut into a bob possibly with a fringe.
If anyone has curly hair and a bob could you tell me if it is fairly easy to maintain?
Would you opt for this style again?
I am thinking why not just go for it, surely it can’t look any worse than it already does! I intend to talk it all through with the hairdresser first to get their advice.
I have attached a couple of google pictures of the kind of looks I like. I only wish I looked like the woman in the second picture!

@k1233 - I am aiming to work with my hair but after extensive googling there are very few bob hairstyles with similar hair to mine. Many of the pictures I’ve added on here have hair products in so it shows the hair at its best, defined and shiny. It is likely the hair is of a similar structure to mine when completely free of hair products but sadly they don’t show before and after pics!
The picture of my hair is showing it without any products in and frizzy/dry in its natural state.
I’m going to collate all the styles I like as you suggest and take them with me. The main thing is the style which is a graduated natural bob with well cut layers, that’s what I’m hoping to achieve.

Sure thing. It's a bit longer since lockdown though!

i'm sporting the curly bob and i like it 90% of the time. right now the humidity is up, and no matter what product i have in, it's frizzing a bit.
my hair is not that dissimilar to yours. i would not do a fringe, in my case it would stick up/out/sideways.
my curls need to be several thick to fall flat if you know what i mean. any fringe attempt would end up with 2 or three ringlets flopping about.

@BitOfFun - Your hair looks lovely.

@Mixedandproud

Thank you, you are sweet.

What I don’t want to end up with is this - no offence meant to the model here BTW.

That's a bit too Michael Jackson isn't it! I hope you find a bib you like Op.

Ugh..bob not bib!

@fallfallfall - I’m glad to hear it works 90% of the time, that would be a vast improvement on my current style!
Would you feel comfortable sending me a picture with your face obscured? It would be really helpful as your hair is similar to mine.
Sadly I’m thinking a fringe might be out of the question for those reasons. The closest I might be able to get is a few shorter ringlets / curls at the sides.

@bettsbattenburg - Yes exactly that! My own hair often looks akin to that style if I wear it down currently so that is what I am trying to get away from!
Thank you, fingers crossed I can find the bob that works for me!

yes exactly on the ringlets :)
i'll see about photo's tomorrow because i follow the curly girl method and washed my hair today and went for a bike ride...so imagine i'm one round puff ball.
care wise, i need to wet it down daily, reapply conditioner and apply curl lotion for the buddy curls to be happy. finger comb as little as possible (less than weekly).

I know what you mean @Mixedandproud! My hair is naturally curly but the curl drops every day post washing. I fought it for years to try and make it look like hair I envied. Once I decided to work with it, we get along really well now LOL Mine is wash and wear - with a lot of product to smooth and define!

My fringe can be curly or straight. The trick with mine is to have it about nose length. My hairdresser cuts it dry so it isn't too short - that bounce can be killer when it springs back. You can always cut shorter.

My hair used to break a lot. Since I have started oiling it, it's grown long. People now have hair envy of me, which is lovely. Mine goes from very curly, to curly, to big curls, to beach waves. So it is really versatile. I just can't have beautiful, immaculate straight hair. On a high humidity day when I have so much fluff and flyaways it's impossible to look tidy, I get very jealous of straight immaculate hair!

Thank you! I’m very familiar with the puff ball look! Do you remember Don King the boxing promoter? My hair looks a lot like that when I wake up in the morning!
I’m yet to find a really good conditioner. I’ve recently tried the Pantene 1 minute miracle capsules but they are so small I really need 2 to cover all my frizz! They are probably the best I’ve found so far.
I only ever finger comb my hair when putting my leave in conditioner on but still find I lose a lot of hair each time. Well it looks a lot.

@k1233 - I’d love to see your hair too it sounds lovely and so versatile now that you have found what works for you.
I can only dream of hair envy, I am usually the one who envies! With immaculate hair I find myself staring at people sometimes, they must think I’m mad!
Do you mind me asking what products you tend to use?
My go to product over the past 2 years is Curls Unleashed leave in conditioner. It smells gorgeous and that is the only time I get compliments about my hair, people think it’s a shampoo I’ve used and ask about it! The only trouble is I have to use so much to get the definition and anti frizz that it ends up looking so slick and sort of oiled down at the top but then not shiny and sleek enough on the pony tail part that it looks dry, the two don’t match up.

Have you tried oiling your hair before, Mixedandproud?

[quote Mixedandproud]@bettsbattenburg - Yes exactly that! My own hair often looks akin to that style if I wear it down currently so that is what I am trying to get away from!
Thank you, fingers crossed I can find the bob that works for me![/quote]
I have wavy hair, if I get it in a bob it's wet dog style so I've given up and just have it long when it curls properly. It's an elusive style

I’ve never tried hair oils. Would you recommend any?
I have oily combination skin so worry about using any products which are quite thin and oily as if they get onto my skin it will cause me breakouts.

I use this, but there are so many out there, I wouldn't know where to start advising you, sorry!

My hair is long. For oils you've got to find one that works for you. I quite like loreal mythic oil - original or nourishing.
My pics - light blue looks like day 2 headed to day 3 hair
Darker blue with highlights was my SOS to my hairdresser in COVID. That's more day 4 hair with loose waves.

OP - have you tried the Mixed Chicks range? I have very curly hair, and my daughter’s is even curlier, and this works well for her. It’s American but you can get it in UK on mail order. I’d recommend the leave in conditioner. Re hair oil, I use Schwarzkopf Got2Be on the ends of my hair and it works well for me.

Have you tried curly girl method op?
I kinda do some of it - don't use silicones and only shampoo once a week.
Theres some great info out there about using protein in your hair too - all of this has really made my curly hair much more manageable.

I use this shampoo

www.boots.com/shea-moisture-superfruit-complex-10-in-1-multi-benefit-shampoo-10204068

This conditioner
www.superdrug.com/Hair/Hair-Treatments/Hair-Masks/Garnier-Ultimate-Blends-Hair-Food-Banana-Hair-Mask-390ml/p/775729

And this leave in
www.superdrug.com/Hair/Curl-Cream/Cantu-Natural-Hair-Moisturizing-Curl-Activator-Cream-355ml/p/729427

The styling cream is the hardest to get right, the cantu one is good but can look a bit greasy on my hair

curlygirlapproved.dk/en/protein-or-moisture/

OP, your hair is gorgeous - I honestly wouldn't cut it into a bob - it's too beautiful.

OP you have 3b hair.

Your hair is beautiful OP.
You have mentioned not liking your eyebrows a couple of times. Have you got them threaded or plucked before? That can make so much difference. Mine are a good shape naturally so I just 'colour them in' a bit with an eyebrow pencil. (Sorry - don't know the technical word!).

I think it might work, but you need to choose a style first. Go to Pinterest, they have lots of pictures for you to get the inspiration from, or play with virtual make up programs, many of them had an option of changing the hairstyle and the hair color like Photodiva. When I cut my hair I also wanted to change the color, so it helped me greatly. I remember Taaz being a great website for that, but now it's shut down. You can look for something from this list too!

I had my thick (dry, knotty, split) bra strap length hair cut into a Bob-type style about 15 months ago. It’s graduated at the back, and is not strictly a bob as it is slightly layered to avoid the mushroom look. It needs cutting every 6 weeks (usually!) but I love it! Very easy to look after.