Curly hair on a budget

[bendmeoverbackwards]

My 18 year old daughter has beautiful curly hair which she claims she needs expensive products for.

Ive just spent a small fortune on hair products at her request. 2 different shampoos, conditioner, styling products…. I don’t even know what they all do.

She’s had some mental health problems so I want to try and make her feel good about herself.

But I can’t believe everyone with curly hair can afford these products. If you have curly hair, what do you use?

It is really expensive to get good products. I use expensive ones when I'm feeling flush & curly jelly etc (pink tube, in all the supermarkets) when I'm not. The trouble is, you need several layers of product. I would say expensive shampoos & conditioners are not necessary.

I have curly hair and I buy Umberto Giannini shampoo and conditioner which is cheaper than a lot of brands, and Only Curls products which, while not cheap, do last a long time. I use a curl cream, curl gel and curl oil (less regularly). I agree with @Wonderknicksthat you don’t need expensive shampoo and conditioner.

My advice would be for her to try samples (curly hairdressers often have them). For example, Only Curls is recommended above, but didn't suit me at all (not a strong enough hold), so you could depend a lot on a product that doesn't suit her hair. Even if you can't get samples a lot of brands (Only curls included) do travel packs with small bottles in them.

One of them was Not your mother’s curl gel. Can’t remember the rest.

Garnier Ultimate Blends Hair Food Banana £4.49 on offer in Boots . Can use as conditioner or leave in . I mix it with the curl jelly above .Keep coming back to it

I have agreed to give her £100/month allowance for hair/skin care products plus anything else she wants to buy for herself. Is this reasonable?

I use supermarket basic shampoo and conditioner, and Alberto Basalm strong hold gel, which is the cheapest. I sometimes use a cantu curl cream, which is my most expensive product (about £8 a bottle I think) but I've found a blob of normal conditioner also works fine as a leave in. I have big but quite strong curls.

The best I found was Kerestase Oleo Curl (in the orange packaging) then they stopped selling it and brought out a new one (in cream packaging) which I didn't find as good. Have been on the hunt ever since.

I use Aussie Deep Moisture (they do a normal curly one but it isn't rich enough for my hair right now) and use the Aussie Bouncy Curls curl cream. Not 100% happy but I've tried loads (including Umberto Giannini which dried my hair out and made it like straw) and nothing works as much as the old Oleo Curl.

I use Cansu which is usually 3 for 2 in sainburys or Superdrug!

Yes the Aussie curls conditioner is great too. I use it as a leave in but can be washed out.

Yes absolutely more than enough I’d say. That’s more than I spend on hair and skin care and I’m by no means deprived.

Noughty has several levels of curl products - Wave Hello for wavy hair, others for more curly. Reasonably priced - I use the rescue shampoo and conditioner, then leave in conditioner and gel.

Tell her to look into the "Curly Girl" method, that will keep her busy for a long time!

Ive just been buying things as and when.

She’s been out of education for 2 years due to poor mental health. She does a bit of babysitting but no regular work.

Does she have long hair?
If so she will use more product, however she doesn’t NEED any of it but wants it ,and has probably been a victim of advertising.

Lots of cheaper or mid range items are good in my experience and
£100 a month is a lot in my opinion.

Yes that’s her. She just says she ‘can’t’ and won’t apply for benefits either 🤷‍♀️

The £100 also needs to cover any (non essential) clothing.

I use cheap shampoo and conditioner - Aldi volume or Aldi tropical essence
expensive clarifying shampoo but it lasts ages - bumble and bumble Sunday shampoo
cheap mousse - shockwaves no 5
expensive gel - treluxe or innersense

some people prefer expensive shampoo and conditioner but my hair needs lots of protein and those work well for me

Umberto Giannini shampoo, curl whip mousse and curl jelly gel. Often on a 3 for 2 in Boots or Nectar prices at Sainsburys.

For conditioner I just use Aldi apple, it's less than a £ - I use a fair bit so was too expensive to use the UG one and it doesn't actually make any overall difference for it to be a "curly" product for me.

I have type 3a hair and use aunt Jackie’s co wash (about £9), OGX Argan oil condition (£4 on Amazon), curlsmith air dry cream (about £18) tigi rock star curls (£7). Reckon it averages out about £15 per month