Wavy / curly hair help - with pics

[JamieFrasersBigSwingingKilt]

My DD13 has super-thick, wavy, frizzy, long hair. Though we’ve been styling it straight (at her request), we haven’t been very successful. We suspect it might be more wavy than we think or even curly but have no idea what to do with it. I have no experience of curly/wavy hair. She also has scalp psoriasis. Please can you wise mumsnetters advise me on specific inexpensive products I can buy for her that will help create mermaid waves / curls without aggravating her scalp (or even help it)? I’ve checked out various websites for info and am completely overwhelmed at this point. Thank you.

I use Aussie Bouncy Curls on my curly hair. Much cheaper than Curly Girl (and usually on offer), also sls free (and vegan).

Yes you can. A lot of managing curly hair is the method.

My DDs use different products on their hair as different stuff works better for each of them. It’s a bit of trial and error but you don’t have to pay top dollar for specialist curly hair products if that’s what you are saying. My oldest is at university and so pays for her own stuff and she gets everything at TKMaxx she tells me.

TkMaxx is great for beauty products generally. Also, your dd's hair/scalp might change with adolescence/hormones.

I don't think any shampoos/conditioners can make curly hair more curly; it's the products you use after the hair's washed that affects the texture. From the pseudo-science I've gobbled up on this topic, curly hair tends to be drier, so shampoos/conditioners tend towards heavy moisturising, which is usually too much for my fine hair, so I just stick to a normal fine hair shampoo.

I'd wash with whatever shampoo/conditioner best support the psoriasis, then comb through a curl cream (helps the curls form), scrunch, then comb through a gel (forms a hard cast around the curl while it dries and stops frizz), scrunch again. Try not to touch the hair until it's completely dry - that's when frizz forms - and then scrunch out the Smash robots do stiff curls.

One anti-frizz tip that works for me is to focus on getting plenty of hydration into the hair during the wash: so work conditioner through, leave it for a minute, then wet hair briefly and squish the runnier conditioner in - 'squish to condish' as they say on Reels. Another great social media curl specialist is CurlCymru - he shows his washing/conditioning routines, as well as styling and cutting.

I have similar hair but a lot shorter, I don't follow a curly hair method as some times I straighten it, I find the easiest thing to do and what I do on holiday is wash and condition it, when it's all rinsed I turn off the shower and add more conditioner, avoiding the roots and then, run my fingers through it, scrunch and leave to dry naturally. Might be a cheap alternative to try.

I’ve got naturally curly hair , I use cantu ( orange bottle from boots ) shampoo and conditioner , then a leave in conditioner ( palmers coconut spray from Superdrug/ Tesco ) neither are particularly expensive , £7 shampoo , £5 leave in conditioner .
BUT I comb my hair when wet , washed daily and never brush it as that’s when it gets frizzy , it dries naturally most days . and also tie it up at night so it doesn’t get matted

To give you an idea of my curls, looks as though your daughters is thicker than mine though

My hair is quite a bit curlier but I do like the merwave range. I wasn't so keen on boucleme (hated the smell), innersence is great but pricey. Merwave is aimed at wavy rather than curly hair.

Some more super tips here. I’m so pleased I posted as all of your help and advice has helped me focus my efforts on what to look for. Thank you!

Your daughter’s hair looks a very similar texture to mine, although she certainly has more than me! Mine is coarse, but shrinks by about half the volume when straightened, so tends to be a bit puffy. I vaguely follow the curly girl method. I don’t use shampoo, but wash with a cheap silicone free conditioner (Alberto Balsam) I’m not sure how this would go for your daughter due to her dry scalp, but my inexpert view would be that it might be helpful as the scalp wouldn’t be stripped of moisture. An occasional wash with a clarifying shampoo deals with any build up, but I rarely have an issue. I then use a richer, moisturising conditioner and leave it in for a minute or two. Again silicone free. Umberto Giannini works well for me. Or Palmers, which is inexpensive. While soaking wet, I squish some gel through. Sometimes I wrap it in a t-shirt. Sometimes I just leave it to dry, but it takes hours, so only on a weekend. Otherwise I dry it gently with a diffuser, cupping sections of hair in the diffuser rather than waving it about in the general direction of my hair. It lasts a few days. I just get up, spray it with water and scrunch it, then repeat the scrunching before I go out. It sounds very convoluted, but it isn’t at all when you’re actually doing it. Now and then I get a bit fed up and straighten it, but overall I keep it wavy. I know some people use a leave in conditioner, but all it does is weigh my hair down. Worth a try though. Others use mousse instead of gel, but it makes my hair very stringy. It’s worth trying a few different products to see what works.

One thing my hairdresser did tell me was that the hardness of your water also effects your hair and scalp.

I live in a really really hard water area (my washing machine repairman said only one other place is worse as he was replacing my less than 2 year old pump which was caked in limescale) so that also dries my hair and causes it to go frizzy.

When I was on holiday a couple of years ago my hair was amazing, lovely curls, very little products, lovely soft water!

We do live in a very hard water area too @XxSideshowAuntSallyx but we have a water softener. It helps but isn’t perfect by any means.