Not quite curly hair, what to do?

[Twinkie01]

Does anyone else have not quite curly hair? What do you do with it?

My hair has got more wavy as I've aged. If left when I get out of the shower to dry it's awful. Curly around hairline but straggly everywhere else. If I dry it it goes straight with just a brush but as soon as any moisture gets to it it's all small fluffy ringlets around my hairline.

Is there a cream or something you can put through it and leave it to dry which makes it not look dreadful? Or a way of making the waves look nicer?

Stupidly any attempts at curling it is hopeless as they just drop out or I look like a five year old!

I follow curly girl method for the frizz reduction and overall hair health. I still style with heat though but I follow for the washing technique and products

Just had a quick read. Sounds interesting.

Volcano0 can I ask what products you use? Should I just buy the CGM box of stuff?

Sorry Volcan0

I’ve had wavy hair for years, I started doing curly girl and few months ago and have started to get proper ringlets for the first time since I was little.

Lots of curly girl products that don’t cost the earth if you google.

@Twinkie01

Just had a quick read. Sounds interesting.

Volcano0 can I ask what products you use? Should I just buy the CGM box of stuff?

Join some Facebook groups, really helpful.

I use Shea moisture range for fine hair. They do loads of different ones and all comply. Then I dry my hair and style as I would normally

Give curly girl atry, you will be surprised at your natural texture i bet, plus it’s just beneficial to anyone and everyone to avoid silicones and sulphates (imo). Noughty and Umberto Gianini products are decent to have a go with. You will need a sulphate free cleanser, a silicone free conditioner and a styling product to start with - keep it simple.

This is how i advise my clients with wavy hair to get the best from it.

Wash with your cleanser. Leave your hair dripping wet when you put your conditioner on. Detangle with your fingers, squish the water and conditioner into the ends of your hair, get a good squelch going. Don’t use a towelling towel, use an old t shirt or one of those micro fibre swimming towels. Don’t rub or wring your hair, just gently squeeze the excess water out. Wet your hands, put a very very small amount of gel or mousse (umberto gianini scrunching jelly is a good basic one) into your palm and emulsify it with the water, then run your hand ‘praying hands’ style down one quarter of your hair down to the ends, then gently cup the bottom of the hair in your hand and squish gently upwards, get the squelch going again - moisture and hydration in your hair helps curls to form. Repeat till you’ve done all your hair. Gently squeeze excess moisture out. Diffuse on medium heat and at medium speed, hang your head upside down for volume. Get a silk scarf or bonnet to sleep in.

Hershesons www.hershesons.com/products/almost-everything-cream
This is brilliant. You only need a teeny bit, rub onto palms and then scrunch through damp hair.

@MadameButterface

Give curly girl atry, you will be surprised at your natural texture i bet, plus it’s just beneficial to anyone and everyone to avoid silicones and sulphates (imo). Noughty and Umberto Gianini products are decent to have a go with. You will need a sulphate free cleanser, a silicone free conditioner and a styling product to start with - keep it simple.

This is how i advise my clients with wavy hair to get the best from it.

Wash with your cleanser. Leave your hair dripping wet when you put your conditioner on. Detangle with your fingers, squish the water and conditioner into the ends of your hair, get a good squelch going. Don’t use a towelling towel, use an old t shirt or one of those micro fibre swimming towels. Don’t rub or wring your hair, just gently squeeze the excess water out. Wet your hands, put a very very small amount of gel or mousse (umberto gianini scrunching jelly is a good basic one) into your palm and emulsify it with the water, then run your hand ‘praying hands’ style down one quarter of your hair down to the ends, then gently cup the bottom of the hair in your hand and squish gently upwards, get the squelch going again - moisture and hydration in your hair helps curls to form. Repeat till you’ve done all your hair. Gently squeeze excess moisture out. Diffuse on medium heat and at medium speed, hang your head upside down for volume. Get a silk scarf or bonnet to sleep in.

Love this! Agree about the sls and silicones

I have wavy hair. Fine but a lot of it. The top layer can frizz easily
I never brush it dry. I came across curly girl a couple of years ago. I had always used the technique but not necessarily CG friendly products
My results still vary.
I would start by trying the techniques then adding product changes one at a time. My hair is quick to frizz and can quickly get overloaded with products
At the moment I co wash then condition. I brush with conditioner in then squish it into my hair
After rinsing I put in a bit of leave in conditioner then squeeze out the water and brush again. I put gel on, I'm using naughty at the moment, and squeeze my hair to encourage curls and clumping. I usually clip the top up to dry with a claw grip for lift. I hardly touch it again. Perhaps a tiny bit of leave in or curl cream to finish off
It won't be brushed at all when dry.
I've been thinking about this for the top bit but am still undecided as I try to avoid heat

www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07X3SLZN1/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_fabc_-GY6FbQ9Z87PC?psc=1&_encoding=UTF8&tag=mumsnetforu03-21

Mousse works for a lot of fine wavies but just gives me frizz. There are UK groups for fine, wavy hair who want to use the CG method. A FB group is the best way to find CG products

Naughty
Noughty. I keep getting auto corrects

Give lots pf different products a go. I am a curly specialist hairdresser and most common mistakes i see from clients new to the method are:

Using the wrong products - lots of products marketed for curly hair such as cantu, shea moisture etc, were originally formulated for afro hair, so may be heavy in ingredients such as coconut oil and shea butter, these can be too rich and heavy for caucasian hair.

Using too much product - your styling product should form a slight cast which you can scrunch off once your hair is bone dry (not before as this can cause frizz). Some clients come in with gel visibly crusted in their hair and what looks like dandruff everywhere - too much gel.

Check and double check ingredients as if you’re using, for eg, a non sulphate cleanser but your conditioner or styler still has heavy silicones in, you will get build up and lank hair.

I meant to say, give lots of different products a go before youw rite it off, not give lots ofdifferent products a go all at once btw - lots pf people new to the method fling anything and everything at their hair all at once, using co wash, conditioner, deep conditioner, protein treatment, mousse, two types of gel etc etc all in the same wash day, then wonder why their hair feels ‘producty’. Or they get particularly amazing or awful results but can’t work out which product caused it. Start simple, and if you make changes change one thing at a time.

The best thing for me was working out my moisture/protein balance

My goodness so much information. Thank you everyone. I've bought a silicone free conditioner a Garnier naturals one whilst in Sainsbury's today and have ordered the Shea styling gel from Amazon as the Umberto Gianini one wouldn't come quick enough for me to start ASAP, I'll look in Boots next time I go to get that though. Can I just use DD's moo goo shampoo for the cleanser shampoo for the moment until I get to boots?

Thank you so much for taking the time to reply. My friends all laugh when I say I've curly hair as it literally goes straight as soon as I stick a hairdryer near it.

Can I just ask if you want straight hair every so often will that undo all the curliness you manage to achieve?

I think of my hair as curly but to be honest it's probably more wavy as I get older, and it's also quite fine. Straight hair doesn't suit me at all so I encourage the curl by letting it dry naturally and just separating it with my fingers as it dries. Blowdrying always equals straight, flyaway hair for me. If I've got lots of time I sometimes use Boots curl cream and/or a salt spray and scrunch it up as it dries, but as long as I don't brush it wet, I usually end up with some sort of waves or curls.

Rain water seems to give me the best curls of all - practically ringlets - so I sometimes wonder about trying to save some to see how it would work as a rinse. I haven't figured out the practicalities of that yet though!

“ Can I just ask if you want straight hair every so often will that undo all the curliness you manage to achieve?”

Strict adherents of the curly girl method maintain that there are lots of things that you should never ever do, inc, blow drying, brushing, or straightening your hair. HOWEVER. Whose hair is it anyway? I sometimes (shhhh) brush my wavy hair to remove all the dead hair and scalp flakes before i wash it, and because it just feels fucking nice. Lorraine massey doesn’t appear out of the bathroom mirror and smack the brush out of my hand.

I think once in a while breaking the rules won’t hurt, provided you use heat protection and deep condition afterwards. If you do use heat protection, check the ingredients, as many of them are silicone based. Conefree heat protectors do exist, we use Authentic Beauty Concept products at my salon, which is all cg safe, and we use it on all clients, straight and curly. But, again, it is your hair and the odd rule break is at your own discretion. Moo goo shampoo should be fine too, as long as it’s SLS free.

One trap not to fall into is the mindset of ‘the curlier the better’ imo. As a wavy myself, it’s easy to feel like the poor relation of the curly world if you don’t see spectacular results. Sometimes my hair is very curly, sometimes it isn’t, this depends on lots of factors, hormones, environmental etc, and that’s ok! Wavy hair isn’t failed curly hair, it is its own entity. It’s about making peace with your own hair as it naturally grows out of your head, and maintaining optimum scalp and hair health, rather than comparing your wash day results to other people.

“I sometimes wonder about trying to save some to see how it would work as a rinse. I haven't figured out the practicalities of that yet though!”

You could collect some and put in a spray bottle and use to refresh your hair on a morning?