Help with DD thick frizzy hair (CGM not working)

[Lindtnotlint]

My 10yo DD has a tonne of wavy/frizzy hair. It is incredibly thick. (It’s similar to mine, but even thicker…). We are really struggling to make it look decent without investing hours and hours.

CGM seems appealing but really doesn’t work for two reasons

1. As soon as you apply gel or mousse her hair takes FOREVER to dry. Like it will still be wet after 12 hours or even overnight. It takes forever with a hairdryer/diffuser. For a while we left it wet overnight but she got bad dandruff because it just stayed wet.
2. It just knots and tangles up very quickly if not brushed. She regularly has a mat of hair, and the only solution other than a good go with a tangle teezer (which of course turns the whole thing back into a frizzy mess) or to wet again and wait forever to dry.

My current solution is to go heavy on the silicones, because it dries so much faster. It looks decent with a serum and a rough blow dry. Obv could do a more serious blow dry and straighten it more but she isn’t patient to sit for how long it would take (it takes 20 mins just to get it rough dry, and that’s with a T3 powerful dryer).

But it basically looks only part decent. It has to be tied back all the time. And she has a huge number of flyaways circling her head which can only be (temporarily) managed by a brush, which (ta dah) also adds bulk and puffiness and removes the semblance of waves/curls. She looks scarecrow like a couple of days after wash whatever I do.

my hair is similar and I have never really found a solution despite years of trying different products (CGM and every kind of serum etc). My best solution is silicones, dry naturally and then put up in a bun all the time. Hers is so much thicker that that doesn’t work (per above).

ideas? I feel like chopping it off (it is mid length down below shoulder but not super long. But EVERY girl at school has long hair and she might not want to be that different.

She is awesome and relaxed and basically sees crazy hair as part of who she is. Not at all vain. But I fear the trials we may face as she realises what others expect in the coming years!

Her hair is gorgeous!

My dd is 10 and has curly hair. We use Aussie bouncy curls shampoo and conditioner. Comb through with a wide tooth afro comb.
Also takes hours to dry so we scrunch in Boots curly creme and scrunch 80% dry. We have tried so many but boots is the best and bonus it's so cheap!
In between washes spray with water very lightly and scrunch in small amount of product. Only wash once a week.

Reading with interest.

My young niece has curly hair - type 3b I would guess? She is 1/4 African heritage, and has what I would call natural ringlets, more a European not African texture. It is so long! Down to the backs of her knees when fully wet in the shower, springs up to near bum-length ringlets when dry.

When she comes to stay and I have to wash her hair, I use children's spray, usually Johnson's 'No more tangles' leave-in spray.

What product should I use instead?
I need to spray it with (loads of) something on the days it is not washed, to get a tangle-teezer brush or a comb through it.

Her hair looks more wavy than curly. Maybe try merwave products as they are aimed at wavy hair. I would diffuse for a bit. And then lightly scrunch to break up the cast a bit (not fully) then diffuse a bit longer. I find I need to break it up a bit to help it dry. I would
probably only use a foam rather than a gel and see how it goes. My hair is always frizzy the next day and some of the waves drop out but I just lightly spritz with water and scrunch a bit more and the curls reform. I don't brush it though. It is a case of trial end error. Good luck finding what works for her.

That's similar to dd but a midge less curly. Here's dd "in the wild", but with some hair oil and more regular conditioner it is much less frizzy. Trying to upload pic....

See, by my standards that's not frizzy at all! It just looks like nice thick healthy wavy hair.

Hi OP,

As someone with similar hair, I would recommend a Keratin treatment. Hairdressers cost about 150£ but you can get kits on amazon also. It's all about a strong blowdry and a thorough straightening.

For day to day, I recommend putting a conditioner in (not a leave in - something like Garnier Hair Food) and plaiting it(two plaits) - then in the morning it will be nice and wavy. (If her hair is porous, it will soak up the conditioner)

If she wants it straight, I recommend Babylis Big Hair Styler and Wow Dream Coat. Also Olaplex No2, once every few washes.