Fix my hair, please

[Iheartlibrarians]

Right, I'm [redacted] years old and can't believe I haven't got a go-to solution for this yet, but there it is. I need to cannibalise other people's knowledge instead.

This is my hair. It is wavy, abundant, and always dry and frizzy from about halfway down. I wash it every other day because I've learned the hard way that any more or less is wrong, wrong, wrong! Anything I have ever tried to use on it to counter the frizz either doesn't work if I put it on wet hair, or immediately over-shoots and turns it into an oil slick if I put it on dry.

I usually lose patience and cut it off, only for the cycle to start again, but for boring reasons I have to keep it long at the moment.

What one product- and I really do mean one - do I need? Ideally to be used on dry hair unless you SWEAR it will do something if I do it on wet. 😂

My hair is very similar although probably thicker and more coarse. I would try

1. Silicone free conditioner for sure and non sls shampoo if your scalp tolerates it.
2. Tiny slick of argon oil and gel brushed through hair while wet
3. Use heartless curls methods to sleep in and get the hair smooth
4. Silk pillowcase / bonnet
5. Got 2b oil-lic-cious spray when dry rather than hairspray or curl cream
6. Be really vigorous and proactive about trims. My hair looks and feels fine for ages but then almost overnight gets knotted, matted and damaged so quickly

If you can afford a brqzilian blow drg that woukd make it smooth and glossy, yet still wavy. Cost in my town £80-250 depending in salon.

If you just want one product use Moroccan Oil but buy from somewhere good, there are a lot of fakes on certain websites…

I’d use the Aveda online hair quiz and buy whatever they suggest.

As someone else has said silicone free products. Silk pillowcase. Old tshirt instead of a towel, or a tshirt towel like this.

Your hair looks similar to mine, silk pillowcase, Redken Extreme Shampoo, Redken All Soft Conditioner and Redken anti snap leave in have been amazing for my hair. If I stray from that combination I end up regretting it.

Redken anti snap leave in. Holy Grail product for me and my hair is similar to yours. Use that and then when it's wet don't just leave it, either braid it so you get waves or try heatless curls if you don't want to blow dry.

If you can add products as time goes on then Redken Extreme shampoo and conditioner is amazing, I use the shampoo now with the All Soft Conditioner which is the best combination for me.

Oh and if you really want something you can put in dry, I've changed our Morrocan Oil for this oil below and it lasts ages and seems to do the same thing as the MO brand.

Ignore my first post OP, I hadn't read your opener properly about only one product.

Old cotton t shirt instead of towel after washing hair, silk pillow case, Sisley hair rituals 230 cream and a Dyson dryer. Expensive but worth it. I also found drying my hair instead of air drying helped my hair health greatly.

Do you use any heat on your hair? If so stop now! I know you said you wash it every other day but curly hair is naturally more dry so if you can wash it once a week, that will help. The only thing that stops my hair being frizzy and dry is to wash once a week with a gentle shampoo and conditioner, then spray a load of this in, brush when wet and leave to dry naturally

Flaxseed gel. Homemade or from Etsy etc
Put in wet then leave to dry. Amazing for frizz and improving condition

Meant to add you will need to gently scrunch out the crunch once dry

L'Oréal extraordinary oil on damp hair. I have the same hair type OP.

I think you'll get better results if you use products specifically for curly hair and work with your hair rather than against it. I know it's a pain, because there's no quick fix to make curly hair look amazing. Curl creme and diffuser drying are the two things I would recommend.

Thanks for all the suggestions- I'm going to try lots of these, but one at a time or I'll go mad.

Interesting that @My3cents1 finds drying better than air drying - I've been almost a complete stranger to the hairdryer for probably a couple of decades; no idea if it's made a difference but I'm just used to not using one now ..