Merwaves

[mrsalfstewart]

Has anybody tried the Merwaves method? Hesitant to spend over £60 on this ...

Also keen to know!

Is it the same as curly girl?? You can buy stuff that does the same in normal supermarkets:

Sulphate free shampoo
Silicone free conditioner
Use a dab of conditioner as a leave in
Cantu mousse or curl cream (depends on hair type - my waves can't cope with the heavy cream so mousse is best)
Cantu twist n lok gel

I treated myself to the kit and plex treatment with some birthday money and I e found it works well in my fine, wavy hair. I’ve tried other curly products but they were too rich and heavy for my hair type.

I got fed up of blow drying my hair straight and wanted to embrace my natural hair so I think it’s a great way to start off the journey. And it is a learning process as everyone’s hair responds differently to the products. Some days I use less of one step or more of another. A lot is trial and error! There’s lots of helpful tips and videos on their website and a friendly FB group where you can ask questions.

I probably won’t repurchase the shampoo and conditioner but the step 3,4 and 5 work well so would buy those again. 3 (the protein feed) and 5 I only need tiny amounts so won’t need repurchasing for ages.

@MooMinCow thank you, that's really useful. As a matter of interest what shampoo and conditioner would you purchase instead?

@FusionChefGeoff thank you. Merwaves is more for wavy hair than proper full on curls but I'll check out the products you mentioned.

As previous poster said any sulphate and silicone free shampoo and conditioner will work. I’m always reluctant to spend loads on products that are only in contact with your hair and skin for minutes before being washed down the drain! Have a look in Boots or Superdrug - there’s loads! Maui are nice, tresemme do a range too.

Here are some pix of my hair 2 months into the routine.

The main thing I’ve learned is that styling products need to be applied to soaking wet hair and squished/scrunched in. I then scrunch with microfibre towel to absorb excess water before air drying (or using a hairdryer and diffuser if in a rush).

Once fully dry your hair WILL be crunchy/crispy (this was the hardest thing to get used to lol) but this is good as your waves are set in a ‘cast’. I then use a few drops of oil and then scrunch again to get rid of the crunch then I’m left with soft curls and waves.

in between washes I just spray with water to refresh and reactivate the products, scrunch a big and that’s it.

For me it's massively overpriced and SUCH a faff, so many steps to the process, some of the product they sell you comes with a little booklet saying you might not need it so don't use it and two of the dispensers broke. The shampoo and conditioner was really blah, no better than what I had previously been using I hated the gel and didn't need the keratin, the only thing I liked was the mousse but in reality I paid £60 for a single bottle of mousse. I get better results washing my hair with this cowash stuff and then using serum and scrunching that into my hair after. Also their customer service was terrible and if you read into it loads of people have negative reviews of their system they just routinely remove the bad comments from social media. I would avoid at all costs I def wasted my money. I like using coconut co wash from As I Am

@MooMinCow your hair looks lovely! However, it seems like such a long process and I usually wash my hair in the morning so would have to always use a diffuser (which is also need to buy!) as I don't have time to leave it to dry. Hmmm, might have to rethink this!

@apric0t thanks for your response. Seems like a lot of money for what is essentially a mousse! Your post is very useful, thanks again.

It does seem a lot now I’ve written it down but it’s still quicker than when I used to blow dry it straight. My hair’s fine and only shoulder length so dries very quickly in this weather. If washing on a work day I leave it to dry while doing my makeup etc, keep my oil in my handbag so by the time I’ve done school run and got to work it’s dry and I just pop into the loos to scrunch it out and it looks fine.

Alternatively I’ve had success with an air dry cream scrunched in when wet. I like the JVN one.

With this method and the 'approved' products (there's a great database on the curly girl website), you are not coating your hair in silicones and other stuff that builds up so the theory (and it's worked for me in practice!) is that you don't need to wash your hair every day. Once every 3 days is fine.

If you have very greasy hair even after the regime change (!) it may be that you don't have the right hair for waves / curls.

Mine is definitely waves btw not curls

@MooMinCow how wavy is your hair naturally? It looks gorgeous now!

@FusionChefGeoff that's a good point if I won't need to wash it every day. My hair is quite fine and I used to have to wash it every day but now peri menopausal (which seems to have caused it to be less greasy and it's every other day - got to be some advantages to the menopause!). If I could get to every three days even better!

I've not tried it but have been following CGM but for waves for a while
For me I need to clarify regularly and lots of hold, I wash my hair at night and get 3 good days and then 1 in a bun

I tend to use
Whatever shampoo I have to hand, I like Giovanni smooth as silk
Aldi volume conditioner
Treluxe serum and gel
Sometimes flora and curl foam or curlsmith volume lotion

Adding some helpful links as my hair is fine too

https://curlmaven.ie/the-best-products-for-fine-wavy-curly-hair/

https://curlmaven.ie/10-things-you-should-do-if-you-have-fine-hair/

i used to have to wash my hair every other day about 10 years back. Then peri menopause started and my once straight hair decided it was wavy 🙄

Now I only wash twice a week (once at the weekend and one mid week). Scalp and hair definitely dryer then it used to be (though my hair is fully coloured these days).

OP have a look in TK Max too. I saw some Flora & Curl (?) products in my local one so you could pick up some styling products to try?

Aw thanks. Definitely a learning curve! Also helps that my (fab) hairdresser also has naturally curly hair herself so I walked in one appointment and said “help me, how do I deal with this type of hair now?” And she talked me through it all and gave me a cut that works with the waves.

Thanks for all your replies everyone and @bonfirebash your hair looks amazing!

I am used to using no product so I hated steps 3-5. My hair just felt sticky and not at all natural. The shampoo and conditioner were ok but I find stealing my DCs child's farm products is actually better.

I love Merwave! I have very fine hair with what used to be an annoying kink that meant it never blow dried straight. Post menopause with a boiling head I could no longer bear the faff of using heated tools to try and keep my hair sleek. I don't bother with the shampoo and conditioner but the mousse and gel are amazing in transforming my hair into full on waves and volume without making it greasy and heavy

I'm considering trying this too as it keeps being advertised on my facebook.

I've got curly hair (ish) but mostly on the first day, just kind of frizzy/wavy after that, and none of the many curly products and systems I've tried have helped much.

I didn't ever feel my hair got clean with the curly girl co-wash type stuff, so I want a proper shampoo - would you suggest buying this one, or just going for the mousse and gel steps of this one (is that 4 and 5)? You can buy those separately, which might be better than spending on the whole kit when it might well not work for me.

And what do you do in the days in between the washing? Doesn't it look awful after sleeping on it - how can you get away without combing it through, as mine is wild and all over the place in the mornings? And even if I put a shower cap on it, the moisture from a shower will make it frizz.

Also, if you end up straigtening it/using a hot brush/curl secret/etc on it in the days in between, does that ruin whatever you're doing with the merwave system to get is used to that pattern?

I geenrally wash mine at night, put it in a pony tail to make the top half of it straight, and then get waves at the bottom, which are OK, but end up a bit frizzy and ratty, so I was loooking for something that would make those waves much smoother and sleeker. I end up using hot brush or curl secret or straighteners on it in the end. This sounds like it would involve a lot of early mornings, which I am not so keen on...!

I know this is an old thread but since it's been revived... I bought this stuff and didn't love it. Wasn't worth the money. I got the starter kit. I found my hair always looked a mess unless I brushed it, so it was never likely to work. I also have no volume at my roots so air drying ended up with pyramid hair and using a diffuser took ages.

Definitely not buying this again or any curly / wavy girl stuff. I've tried so many times with the same results

I admit I haven’t tried the products but after spending ages experimenting with CGM etc and whatever else I’ve come to the conclusion it’s all just a lot of faff. And I don’t have time for faff. My hair is naturally curly and fine and I find I have to wash it everyday - menopause means I sweat a lot despite HRT- so I tend to just use any old shampoo and conditioner (currently using Aldi ones) and then put some Pantene argan oil through it afterwards to detangle and comb and then I scrunch in some imbue curl creme and let it dry or diffuse it. That’s about all I have the patience for but I think it looks just as good as when I was doing the whole CGM stuff.

Yeah that's about where I am. I'm just not interested enough to spend ages over it, and yet at the same time, know that I always look a bit of a mess!! I'm just so much not a morning person, which is hard with curly hair. I don't have to wash it every day though, so that part of it wouldn't be a problem for me, but it's just figuring out what to do with it on any day after i've slept - it can look OK if it's curly on the day I wash it, sometimes, but I so rarely ever wash it in the morning.