Fine wavy hair - Help! What am I doing wrong?! With pics

[MissAtomicBomb1]

Could anyone with a similar hair type give me some guidance please!

I have fine wavy hair (a lot of it!) it's very wavy when wet but when it's dry the waves just drop out & it looks fluffy & frizzy.

I've always straightened it so that it's a bit smoother and has some sort of style to it, however it often goes back to being frizzy with a bit of a wave after a few hours especially if there's any humidity. I'm sick of it never looking smooth or particularly straight so I've decided it might be better just embracing my waves. I've bought a lightweight shampoo/conditioner, diffuser and boucleme curl defining gel.

The waves looked great last night though still a bit fluffy in places. This morning they've all dropped out & my hair is really fluffy. I'm back to square one, albeit I have a bit more volume. It just won't hold any sort of style!

What am I doing wrong?!

Before & after pics below

Hopeful bump! 🙏🏻

Hello!
I don't really have any advice, but I wanted to mention that there is post
here in Style & Beauty right now with lots of answers with advice for fine hair. The post has the title "Why why why??? (hair/pics)".
The OP there does not have exactly the same kind of hair as you,
but perhaps there is something useful for you in that post anyway.

Good Luck!

Ooh thank you, I shall see if I can track it down!

Try spraying with a little water then scrunching in some mousse and drying with the diffuser on day two. If that fails, it could be you're someone who needs to wash and restyle daily. In time the situation should improve. The constant straightening may have damaged your hair. The more you let the waves do their natural thing the easier they should find it to do it. As the new hair grows in that's never been straightened you should see an improvement. Don't ever dry brush it either, that can damage the curl pattern in a similar way to straightening

@MissAtomicBomb1 Your hair is gorgeous, but I understand the struggle!

I've very similar hair to you, and when I stopped straightening my hair was quite heat damaged so my waves/curls would do the same, just wouldn't last.

Would it be worth trying a protein treatment to see if that helps? That usually makes my waves pop back, I do it once every 2-3weeks. Giovanni do a great one called Nutra Fix Reconstructor. It's not too pricey. If it makes your hair dry don't despair, means you might need a moisture treatment instead.

I saw a girl on Instagram recently mention that styling products without glycerine are better for frizz protection in humid environments? Not a scientist but I'm going to try this out myself, can see the sense in it. I currently use the Giovanni LA gel on my hair as the hold is pretty good, try it on damp and soaking wet hair to see what works better for you. Adding some water to the gel itself can help before applying.

Last try I can suggest is to not refresh with tap water. I find it makes my hair frizzy straight away. I started using rose water in a spray bottle and just smoothing it down the length, and scrunch with a microfibre towel instead of my hands. Getting much better results that way.

This UK group has been useful for working out what products may suit your hair and the suggestions are mainly lower cost. I'm still a novice with it all as my hairs only recently decided to become a more wavy to straight mix.
Wavy hair method by Charlotte Rich

There are loads of Facebook pages that I really worth joining to educate yourself. I found them invaluable. My hair is very similar to yours and I have found that the more I touch my hair while it was drying, as well as once it's dry, the more it frizzes up. Definitely don't ever brush it dry! Only brush wet when conditioning, or when literally dripping wet with a wide tooth comb, and that is it.

After many months of returning to my natural waves, I over-scrunched yesterday after watching a tutorial on YouTube. So it seems that over scrunching for me means I am literally scrunching the curls out. I have to leave my hair alone for it to hold its natural wave.

I also discovered that when I applied the styling product, I need to do this when it is towel dry rather than dripping wet. There is something about it being dripping wet that just neutralises the product, and it neutralises the hold I would have otherwise gained.

It really is a game of trial and error; your hair will be very different than anyone else's and what works for one person doesn't always work for another. This is why it is such a good idea to do as much homework as you can and keep experimenting on yourself until you find the sweet spot.

I was the OP in the 'why why why' thread
You hair seems a little like mine, although not as worrying!
I am coming to the conclusion, after a lot of advice (both welcome and not so welcome!) that we either work very very hard to maintain a frizz-free wave or we straighten it.

After all, life is short, and if like me you don't like high maintenance you may always fall back to straightening.
There is this myth that we are meant to go with what nature gave us, and in many respects this is great. But if going with nature creates more stress and effort (like with me), what is the point? We don't argue that all of our cooking should be on a fire in the garden, because we have modern conveniences to make it easier. So maybe we could think similarly about our hair....

I will be honest, when I used to straighten with a quick dry then heat protected straighteners my hair was done in 10 mins and remained ok for days. If I opted to gow with what nature gave me I spent too many hours fussing, teasing and reshaping, trying out too many expensive products and never being able to rely on my hair looking the same day after day. It needs redoing every morning when I go with nature.

It depends mostly on whether you want an easy life, and what that looks like for you. I have terrible issues as my hair, whilst natural and not damaged, actually looks damaged!

And I do not over heat my hair - just a low setting blow dry twice per week.
I gave up straighteners many years ago due to reading horror stories online, and went for a heated brush.
The heated brush made my hair very, very dry and fuzzy as the cuticle was only slightly smoothed.
Then I went natural for two years and found myself wearing a braid most days as the wispiness and fuzz was unpredictable.
Blow drying tends to create more frizz for me, and don't be fooled by expensive dryers, our hair type doesn't like being blasted with airdryers, no matter how kind/well marketed they may be.

I have no idea what to suggest, except to ask yourself which style feels more like 'you', and which fits your lifestyle, then aim to achieve that.
The curly girl (hate that word) method is like marmite, so you either love it and can achieve it, or you just don't!
But like some vegans, they won't accept that not everyone with frizz actually wants or has curly hair. It's all a bit cultish to me.

It looks kind of like my hair, a bit more volumous though. I comb my hair before I wash it, never after, use lots of conditioner and a one minute mask. Don't rinse too well. After that I make the parting but don't comb it out in any way, just use my hands. I towel it very gently while scrunching. Use foam and a hair cream and then dry it (cool setting) with a diffuser. Sometimes I air dry but then I have better curls but less volume up top. I do my hair every other day. My hair needs lots of conditioner and nourishment against the frizz.

Has anyone tried the products by Merwave? The videos and tutorials on Instagram look good but pretty pricey.
https://merwave.co.uk/

I'm really intrigued by Merwave too! I've kept an eye on eBay sales but it's pretty much the same price if you consider the £10 off here and there you can get with Merwave.
In the end I decided to only buy Merwave 4 and 5, as I am totally happy with my shampoo and conditioner so don't need to change that.

However, today I spend ages looking on the high street for anything else suitable and there really wasn't anything in Superdrug or boots. Not they wouldn't be a risk of £8 a pop or more, which isn't too different from buying Merwave at £13-£16 a pop. And the thing that really put me off was how intoxicating the smells are!

So I think I'll buy the Merwave stuff to lay it to rest but I'm not sure whether it's product they makes all the difference or the styling method. I say this because today I sued products I have used before with reasonable success and I over-scrunched it which had the effect of straightening it out again! And the trouble with straightening it out without actually using straighteners is it sticks up in a frizzy mess. So I am not sure which is the most important: product or procedure!

I have hair just like you and had to abandon full on curly girl method because as other posters have said, it just needs resetting alllll the time. It wont stay straight without help either but at least its faster and when done, can get two dats out of a styling. My tips:

Use very light products, its so easy to weigh it down.
Treat it very gently to avoid damage, like curly girl.
Use mousse and hot air brush to style, leave a BIT of wave in dont expect full straightness, and i give a quick light spray of hairspray after to keep it intact.

It wont hold up to VERY humid weather or drizzle though!

More hold, the boucleme doesn't have enough for me
I tend to use jessicurl or treluxe

This is helpful as are the 2 posts linked in it. Mine is fine and I've just had a cut today but if I don't use strong hold products it's pure fluff!
https://curlmaven.ie/the-best-products-for-fine-wavy-curly-hair/

Hi OP, I used to have nice even curls and developed real perimenopausal fluffy frizz in my mid 40s. I also lost about half my hair after some years of bleaching, huge amounts of stress and two bouts of Covid. I also used to try and drag it straight.

I basically stopped doing anything heat related. I don't even comb it after washing - just a bit of arranging with my fingers and quite a lot of Moroccan oil product. I take Holland and Barrett hair, skin and nails supplements and an omega oil supplement. This has made an amazing difference. My hair has doubled its thickness (it feels that way) and is shiny again. There's not loads of it disappearing down the shower any more. I wash it about every five or six days, and it looks best on the second and third day.

If it looks fluffy and frizzy I put some more moroccan oil on with wet hands.

And I don't try and have it too long. It's not worth the heartache! Once it gets to my shoulders the curls just sit there and grow outwards rather than down. Does anyone else get this?

Beautiful hair @Shadypaws23 .

Oh wow,so many replies! Thank you - I'm going to sit & read them all. Sounds like I may need a bit of trial & error though.

Your hair looks a lot like mine. I use Curly Girl products but don't do the whole method - fine hair needs shampoo not a cowash.

Keys for me are lots and lots and lots of conditioner, ideally a leave in product. And a strong hold gel - I thought fine hair wouldn't need it but basically the curls all fall out the following day without it.