Wavy hair ladies - help!

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My hair used to be straight, but I’ve been having hormonal issues and it’s gone wavy. If I dry it - naturally or with a hair dryer- it’s a bit bouffant and horrible.

So I bought some curl cream and have scrunched it whilst it’s drying and it still looks awful 😩

I want to embrace my hair and not straighten it but at my old age I don’t know how to deal with it to make my hair shiny again? My hair is in good nick but it’s just drying unpleasantly.

thanks

I have the same problem. Mine started when my hair fell out due to prescribed steroids & methotrexate. Is grown back basically FRIZZ. In the mornings I look like Tim Martin from Wetherspoons.
That WOW spray is excellent for this time of year. I also use a clip in fringe as I look dreadful without a fringe and it's too wavy to straighten

Bloody hell, this is complicated.

Sorry to hijack the thread a little but can anyone help me with my terrible hair? Do you have hair like this?

I went to sleep with it wet last night and as you can see it is massive, frizzy, dry and wavy.

Strangely when it is longer it is curlier, and it is also curlier underneath (probably because top layers are shorter and dryer). I can brush it fairly straight and then usually straighten it.

As a baby I had beautiful soft curls and ringlets (my 3yo has these now ❤️) but as my hair got thicker they fell out. Frizz hit at puberty! Hairdressers always comment on how much hair I have. I think it is fine but coarse. Cantu, shea and other heavy products weigh it down and make it look greasy and awful. I’m 37 and have never found a way or any products that make it look good. Curls and waves seem to be so individual so if anyone is similar to me and can advise I’d be so grateful.

(I’ve just had a miscarriage and put on weight and feel very miserable so nice hair would help!)

This article might be of interest to this thread:

I doubt it's hormone issues that have made your hair wavy; you've probably always had a wave there but not been aware of it

Hormones definitely affect hair!

Any woman who has ever been pregnant knows this.

Maybe not helpful but I think your hair looks really lovely.

In the mornings I look like Tim Martin from Wetherspoons.

Mine is very very similar (just longer) right down to being slept on while wet last night. That really does it no favours, there's much less frizz and a better wave pattern if I wash earlier in the day and let it dry properly. I think yours looks nice, what do you dislike about it?

I hear what you're saying about cantu etc being too heavy - mine loves that stuff if applied while damp - but your hair could still probably do with more moisture, you just need lighter products. Maybe a treatment in the shower, a leave in conditioner spray, and some oil to smooth the midlengths and ends?

You’re very kind @Sugarnspicenallthingsnaice and @Piggywaspushed - I think it looks very dry and frizzy and there is no definition in the waves. I would love it to look soft and shiny but perhaps that is impossible!

@Sugarnspicenallthingsnaice can you recommend any products that work for you?

As I said my hair loves the rich heavy stuff yours hates so maybe not! But mine is bleached in parts so probably drier. Perhaps stay away from products with coconut oil in them.

I like Olaplex oil, that's quite light, or the OGX argan oil on a lower budget. Moroccan oil has a light and heavy version. I use them as finishing products for a bit of polish and shine but they may be enough for your hair.

If. You haven't tried the define and shine Cantu custard then it's much lighter than the cream and worth a try. You might have some luck with the noughty wave hello range.

No my hair used to be pin straight, ever since I was a kid. I started perimenopause and my hair has gotten wavier ever since. Apparently it’s a thing. As I said I don’t mind wavy hair but I have no idea how to care for it so it’s driving me bonkers.

I’ve been using Shea moisture milk, frizz ease and oils- perhaps don’t scrunch dry, you’re not trying to curl it- you’re trying to get it into nice waves

Mine is wavy, hair dresser can get nice curls but I can't! I always wanted a sleek long bob but got fed up of straightening it!

Now i get it cut with facial layers and layers through the bottom (it's just past my shoulders). It means it's a bit Farra Fawcett but it sits well so i dony have to do anything.

I use h&s, then a moisture conditioner like that Australian one. And a moisture product i get from hair dressers.

My hair has always had a slight kink to it but has definitely gone curlier through menopause.

A hairdresser friend says she had a client that was really grey and her normal colour started coming back during menopause so I'm living in hope lol

Now that’s the way it should go!

Mine is very definitely a gentle wave, not at all curly.

Mine hasn’t changed through menopause, or when I had alopecia years ago and lost about a third of it. But I did shed loads after each childbirth and after major surgery a few years ago so I think it is affected by what’s is happening to your body as a whole. Mine is fairly flat on top and starts waving from about the ops of my ears down, with some of it just wavy, some proper ringlets. I think what has changed for me is greater awareness of how to treat it and the availability of products now that just weren’t there say 10 years ago. It was the same when I first lost my eyebrows to alopecia about 15 years ago, there were about two eyebrow pencils in the whole of Boots, now every make up range has a multitude of brow products.

I'm so glad you posted this, mine has gone slightly wavy since my last pregnancy and I suspect I'm probably in or heading towards peri-menopause. The wavy part doesn't bother me, it's the fluffy frizz I have with it, I've tried frizease, tangletease brush, serums, that one shot conditioner stuff (can't remember what it's called) and nothing helps. Used to be able to go to work just drying my hair and not needing straighteners. Now it looks awful, taking notes from the replies

I have finally got to grips with my curls but even though I had the right products a few months ago, how I was using them wasn't right so they still didn't look right.

I would recommend watching lots of videos because after trial and error, it's how you apply the products that can make all the difference.

My hair reacts completely differently to the same product depending on how wet it is (for me soaking wet is best) and how I apply it.

Rubbing the product between my hands first so it coats all of my hair.
Smoothing cream in but scrunching the gel/custard upwards from the ends.
Then using a turban or t shirt to wrap the hair whilst I get dressed, not rubbing it dry.

Then when it is dry or almost dry I scrunch again to break up the crunch, which re-introduces movement but doesn't break the shape of the curl.

It's taken months of practice to work this out for my hair, but I can now do it in a very short time.

HTH

My hair changed colour during my second pregnancy, it became more red/auburn. Gradually changed back after pregnancy and breastfeeding. Hormones definitely affect hair!

Years ago I had great wavy hair. Thick and shiny. Then spent a good few years straightening it. Now, post menopause it is a mess. First off it’s grey (almost white, not a nice steely grey) and it has thinned. I can still see curls when it’s wet but it dries fluffy. I have cupboards full of various products-none seem to work on mine.

lightweight mouse gives me a curl but next day my has is flat. More robust products make it too dry. would have to wash it every day and don’t have time. it’s all so highly maintenance!

I can get my hair into a decent looking sort of wave just by applying some anti-frizz stuff too it wheb it's very wet and letting it air dry.

The problem is that I only have time for this in the evening and when I wake up in morning, despite using a silk pillowcase, the waves have become all straggly and limp.

How do you revive them the next day or after a heavy gym session?

Yeah similar problem. I would have to wash it every day