Managing my new curls- help!

[Chopchopbusybusyworkwork]

I’ve had stubborn hair forever, not curly, not even wavy, but just not straight.

Or so I thought! I’ve done a bit of curly girl stuff and have ended up with my hair like the attached pics. Stripy top pics on wash day- one taken from the back and one from the side. Other one on day 4.

But it’s still not great.

I need help with:
a) The back is wavy then straight, how do I get the ends to play ball?
b) it’s so stringy- the waves won’t clump together. On day 4 after washing it the waves look less 1990s spiral perm-y but by day 4 I'm climbing the walls wanting to wash it (it doesn’t look greasy tbh and doesn’t smell anything but product-y so maybe I need to get past this). I would like to make it clumpier from the start but don’t know how!

Any hints or recommendations?

Oops left the day 1 side view off

The ends might need more moisture if they're not curling like the rest - worth dolloping on more conditioner?

I will try that- thank you :) I suppose it makes sense if the ends are dry. (Prob are after years of heat styling straight, even if I did have 4 inches lopped off a month ago)

A bit of hair oil if dry

Are you using a styling cream? That might help if you scrunch it up.

But if not you might find you need to keep it shorter if you want curls all the way down..

Are you (carefully) running a brush/comb through it once the product is in, before styling? I've watched a ton of curly reels, and this seems to help the curls clump all the way down.

I have no idea, so not much help. But I absolutely love it!! I would love my hair to be like that. What did you use to get it like that?!

@continentallentil @winterchills I’ve been using Grapeseed Curl Activator Cream 355ml amzn.eu/d/8hcSaOV Cantu Curl Activator (link to it on Amazon) Cantu Grapeseed Curl Activator Cream 355ml. Only tried it because I got it half price in Superdrug as think they were discontinuing it 😂

Mousse is just cheapo Superdrug own. I’ve used vo5 oil on it too when scrunching but only because I’ve had it lying around.

Thanks for your kindness @winterchills , I’m so surprised that this is my hair. And to think that I’ve gone 47 years without knowing that if left to it’s own devices and with just some heavy duty moisturiser on it, it does this. Would have saved my mum a fortune in spiral perms in the early 90s 😂

@Heurgh hmm I haven’t tried brushing it after product- I have a v wide toothed comb that I will try though, thank you for the idea. I’m a bit obsessed with watching curly vids at the mo 😂

No advice, sorry but just wanted to say you have beautiful hair!

You might need a trim of the ends usually if they're straight, but you're expecting too much to get a decent day 4! Wash more often, I can get 3 decent days and then it's a day 4 bun/wash. Thicker, curlier hair can go longer

I use a denman paddle brush to brush through which helps clumping but make sure your hair is wet when you put your products in, more water usually equals less stringy

This (click menu then hair at the top) has some great stuff curlmaven.ie
Especially product reviews and tips

Don't be scared of shampoo or clarifying, it's really important for your scalp

@determinedtomakethiswork That’s really kind, thank you. It just looks really untidy to me, I have just had a weekend at a festival and the slightly crazy boho look worked very well there but not sure it cuts it in real life! (My first ever festival, it was totally amazing though so maybe I should embrace that more in my usual day to day existence 😂😂)

I just wish it was a bit more…uniform and stable

Thanks @Bonfire23 , denman paddle was my brush of choice when straight so I will give that a go!
It actually looks better on day 4 than it does on day 1 because it has clumped and the waves look softer because when stringy the waves look too sharp and linear. Just that having stringy hair for 3 days and waiting until the fourth for decent ish hair seems silly. Ain’t nobody got time for that.

Link looks fab!

Do you 'plop'? Might be worth a try. I find using gel is good too!

www.naturallycurly.com/curlreading/curl-products/to-plop-or-not-to-plop

I would experiment and try not using the cream
My hair is fine and wavy and I have to use loads of protein heavy products and no leave in/creams and lots of strong hold products!
This is when I first started (stopped using frizz ease and started reading up on stuff) and now

Get a few inches cut off the ends and have a few long layers cut close together. Mine has gone like yours a bit since I've started washing my hair with coal tar shampoo. My hair has always had a kink in it but this new shampoo has brought out the curls.

So do you mean you haven't even used curlers on it?? Please give me step to step details what i need to do because it honestly looks amazing!!!

How long ago did you start doing curly girl? It can take a few months for the curl pattern to be consistent, especially if you've been using heat on it for a long time. Mine took ages before it started to look good

@winterchills do you have naturally curly/wavy hair? If not, straight hair wouldn't be able to hold curls like this unfortunately

@Nuca - its in between! Has a slight wave to it but not completely straight if that makes sense

This is how I would have described my hair- genuinely did not think it had this much wave! Give it a go.

@Nuca its definitely getting softer and softer the more I just leave it- air drying suits it so much better than diffusing. I’m playing around with the way I put product on it too and as my hair “remembers” the curl pattern better now that I’m not changing it by straightening it between washes it’s getting curlier each time I think.

I'm not sure that the hairdresser who cut it (and was recommended by the salon as someone who knows about wavy hair) actually knew what she was doing though so will look out for someone next time who has been personally recommended.

Ok a bit more success with less product and more plop!

Still used cantu curl activator and mousse on day 1- a good 10/15 minute plop then a bit of mousse and a scrunch, light diffusing and air dry. Day 1 looked horrible, really stringy and lifeless but think this is because it takes forever to dry so hung in damp strands for about 8 hrs. Bit of oil to scrunch out the crunch from mousse at about hour 6. So precise 😂😂

Day 2 3 and this (day 4) looked the same, I refreshed in the mornings with a good shake upside down and then a fine spray of water. But no mousse or anything else.

Does anyone have a gel they could recommend I try instead of a mousse perhaps?

@winterchills have you had a go yet?

Boots curl creme is very cheap and out of all the ridiculously expensive products I've tried actually works the best for me. Smooth down and scrunch into very wet hair, then don't touch again until your hair is completely dry, then scrunch out the crunch!

Are you styling while it's soaking wet? My curls don't clump properly if I don't.

it looks lovely!

Im super curly but some days my hair is more like yours if i dont do all the right things. From doing curly girls years ago, it really depends on your hair - try different conditioners, leave in some conditioner, i have my hair wringing wet brushed upside down with wide tooth brush and apply generous product by scrunching it in, that gets thick clumps. Then squeeze water out by scrunching with a tshirt, dont use a towel. Air dry is also the best for me though i have a lot of hair so it can take 8+ hours to be fully dry!

Mousse never worked forme, too drying. Used to love boucleme but its expensive. Now back to frizz ease

Agree with PPs about the paddle brush when hair is soaking wet. When you’re applying the curl gel your hair should feel like seaweed- wet and slippy.

Might also be worth getting a decent bit of the ends chopped. I did a big chop recently (from a bit shorter than your length to above shoulder) and my curls went insanely corkscrew curly after that- I think the length was weighing them down.

I'd recommend trying without the Cantu as it's very heavy. If I use it my hair goes very stringy and feels like it needs washing sooner.

Focus on hydration when washing. Conditioner and plenty of water. Squish to condish. Hair should feel like wet seaweed.

I would suggest try with a light conditioner and just a gel or mousse for a couple of washes and see if that helps. If you don't have coarse / dry hair, a lot of curly products may be too heavy for you (they are for me).

Have you tried a diffuser if it's taking ages to dry?

Once you've stuck it out for a few weeks / months it might be that the longer layers need cutting off as too damanged, or that they just happen to be straighter hair (IE the underneath). Few people have the same curl pattern all over their head. If so then altering your cut slightly could help (less short layers on top).

My best tip would be to keep it simple as much as possible. Don't get dragged into elaborate routines and expensive products.

Check out marisascurls and atoyabass on Instagram. Particularly atoyabass, she cuts through a lot of the bs

Thanks all :) I am definitely getting somewhere with it, it’s so much better after just 6 weeks of trying! The more I leave it the better it clumps. To answer a few questions- I can’t remember who they are all in reply to though! Sorry.

My hair is really dry and coarse, it’s never been nice and soft. Until now- it’s getting softer and softer all the time! The cantu curl activator doesn’t make it feel heavy at all. But when I was putting mousse on every day as well as the cantu on wash day this felt awful- made it even dryer and sticky-feeling, so I have stopped with this now. When I tried curly methods a while back I gave up, partly because the cantu shampoo and conditioner I was using really didn’t suit my hair at all. I just looked like a giant frizz ball. But I don’t think I was applying enough styling product- you really need to put LOADS on don’t you!

I will try more conditioner on the ends as well as the lengths and a brush through with the denman. Have been using a tangle teaser wide toothed comb which does a great job of detangling.

I have diffused it before but only to get it semi dry, it went v v frizzy when I tried drying it totally. It much prefers air drying although I do diffuse to get it to the damp rather than wet stage.

@RedLem0nade have you let your hair grow again after chopping it? Did yours straighten out if so? Shorter hair really doesn’t suit my face shape so I’m keen to keep it long!

Mine is definitely getting more uniform in clumpiness rather than stringy, I am learning that my hair likes to be well moisturised but not “fixed” in place - would the Boots curl crème do this do you think? Is it v moisturising or is it more for hold?

plus- never thought that I could talk for so long about my hair 😂