Embracing my curly hair

[Wishingiwastracytutor]

I am sorry if this has been covered before.
I am trying to embrace my curly/wavy (probably 2c) hair and not making a lot of progress. I currently look a little like a birds nest has been dumped on my head.
I am considering changing my shampoo and conditioner but am after some recommendations. I understand I need the products to be sulphate free and I need to apply some sort of leave in conditioner before I brush. But apart from that I am not sure what to do.
can anyone start me off with some simple guidance ?
thanks in advance

Oooh, welcome to the rabbit hole of curly and wavy hair care!
Highly recommend following curly/wavy hair influencers on Instagram for some ideas. Don't worry too much about your hair type (2c etc) as most people have more than one curl pattern in their hair.
My personal favourite brands are Only Curls, Umberto Giannini and Noughty (UG available in Boots and Noughty available in Superdrug).

Honestly, the best advice I can give is to keep things simple to start with and don't buy every product out there. Experiment with product application techniques and don't get bogged down with "rules" - find what works for YOUR hair. Best things to start with are a shampoo, conditioner, a cream (or leave in conditioner) and a styling product (usually a mousse/foam or a gel).

All the best :)

What do you do with your hair just now?

You basically need to let go of the myth that if you just leave your hair to dry on its own it will look beautiful and amazing curly. My hair is 'naturally curly' and is hard bloody work.

You need to wash it and condition it. Use stuff for curly hair. I then use -

1. Frizz ease serum on soaking wet hair. Two blobs is enough.
2. VO5 curly hair creme on wet hair. Don't need a lot.
3. Wrap it in a towel to take the rough off.
4. Use mousse. I use a swartzkopf keratin one.
5. Use a Heat protection spray. Use the swartzkopf keratin one.
6. Use a diffuser to scrunch my hair up a bit and dry it a bit but not 100% dry. Closer to 70% dry.
7. Leave hair to dry then on its own. I usually get ready before my kids are up so I then have about an hour until I leave the house.
8. Tip my head upside down and scrunch my hair up to get rid of any crispy mousse bits. Hair is done!

It looks like a lot of faff. But after 30 years of doing this, steps 1-6 now take me about ten minutes in the morning.

Thanks - currently I shampoo, condition and then add some sort of gel or mousse. I have then been letting it air dry.
I have read about giving it a cleansing wash ?

Look up the curly girl method! I love boucleme products, other brands friends like are only curls and merwave. Diffusing has been what’s made the difference for me along with a proper curly cut.

This is really helpful

curlmaven.ie/start-here/

What does a curly cut involve?

It’s basically a cut by a specialist hairdresser, usually curl by curl and cut dry then styled.

I have 2c hair. A curly cut is dry hair cutting curl by curl. Honestly I don't have enough curl for it to be worth it.

But you do need a hairdresser who understands curl. If they have to find their diffuser in a box out the back, they are not the right hairdresser.

It is worth having a diffuser to get more curl and body. And never brush it. I use fingers only, not even a comb.

Totally agree with @Pepsimaxedout I always used to see women with lovely curly hair and think it looked so effortless. Then I started embracing mine and and treating it properly and realised that actually it takes a lot of hard work to get it looking nice. I used to think people just rolled out of bed with lovely curls, how wrong I was

I felt like this and joined a few ‘curly girl’ Facebook groups. It was a bit overwhelming, so many products and rules and funny names for things. I have now settled to using ecoslay orange marmalade flaxseed gel after washing my hair. That’s pretty much it. Sometimes I diffuse my hair which makes it curlier but it’s still curly if I just air dry. I did buy a sulphate free shampoo and conditioner but alternate those with other ones. I only wash my hair twice a week (this has always been the case).

Only curls products are really good, I have 3b hair and I’ve found they suit me best. You can buy a mini starter pack kit which I found really useful before buying the full size products.

I have very fine hair that goes frizzy

I put in root lifter plus a little bit of hair cream for definition

turn my head upside down and wrap in in a t shirt material (anti frizz) towel

When it’s medium to slightly damp I dry with a defuser, head upside down.

Stop before it’s completely dry, and put in a bit of anti frizz cream

pin it back overnight so it can’t rub and frizz on the pillow, silk pillowcase helps a bit

in the morning fluff out, scrunch with a bit of water and conditioner mixed

products I like - bumble and bumble feather light oils shampoo and conditioner, b and b styling cream (the normal one not the curly one), redkin root lifter, a social life for your hair anti - frizz crème. Philip Kingsley elasticiser as a deep conditioning treatment

.. although these days I have discovered hair Botox (a deep conditioning treatment that stays on about 6 weeks) and makes it closer to wavy which is MUCH easier..