So I took all the hair advice and here I am with healthy shit hair.

[HerRoyalSnortiness]

I used to straighten when younger, everyone told me it was damaging, and it was if you over did it. Reached my 40's and decided it was time to take all the good hair care advice and go au naturale.

I quit all heat, experimented with wavy girl for my very wavy frizzy hair, even tried curly girl. Treated it to good products, not too much product, determined porosity, moisture versus protein, regular trims, silk pillow and...yeh.

And now here we are. It's still frizzy, undefined and shit. It's just my hair.
I think we are sold these ideas just to buy more crap tbh. New shampoo, new curl serum, silk this and microfibre that. But this runs in my family, we are a family of not-quite-curly fuzzy tops.
My hair looks far worse than it was when I used to blow dry and straighten.

Stylists say it's just my hair. It's strong, it's healthy, it's ok. It's just butt ugly.
I might go back, I am thinking about ghd's. I am a hair heathen..

Am I alone in these revelations?? Do you straighten or go with the flow?

YANBU

My hair started going curly at 30. I managed to make it look really good once when I was on holiday once with an impossible to replicate routine but otherwise it looks meh. Using the revlon one step for 10 minutes can’t be more harmful than sticking 12 different chemical goops on your head.

Yeah same mine has several different curl patterns in it- with the curliest being underneath.

Left to its own devices it looks completely bizarre, and scruffy tbh. I find I either have to straighten it or do heatless curls to add a curl pattern into it.

TBH my hair has never suffered that much heat damage- it’s long and thick. So I just heat style it now. Looks great!

Who has time for that whole curly girl nonsense anyway? By the time you’ve put in a shit load of products and scrunched it to its death you may as well have heat styled it!

I’m so glad I’m not the only person who thinks this!

You know everybody's hair is naturally frizzy? The only reason you think that's wrong or unusual is because of successful marketing and altered images.

I love curls and waves, but mine are very patchy and fuzzy no matter how many products and ideas. I tried it all for years and years.

I used to be in a wavy hair community on reddit and whenever anyone asked advice, nobody could give any actual advice they just recommended more and more expensive creams, serums and gels. I had to leave, lol.

It's a money game, and the curly girl revolution opened up a huge gap in the market!

Best my hair ever looked was after softly ribboning some ghd's through it to get soft waves (straight doesn't suit me). I am tempted to get some protection spray and buy a new set.

Out of interest, how did you determine whether your hair needed protein or moisture? I have no idea what sort of shampoo I 'should' be using!

You need this. It’s a game changer.

SheaMoisture Jamaican Black Castor Oil Strengthen & Restore Leave-In Conditioner 431ml

@medievalpennyeveryone’s hair isn’t naturally frizzy? 🤔 Mine is very straight and fine, as is my daughter’s and many other people’s. Weird thing to say.

I wash and blow dry my hair straight once or twice a week. I have a strong wave, I frizz easily. I have mastered the art of a straight blow dry (no straighteners) and my hair stays straight (-ish) until the next wash. I have an excellent hairdryer and a very large, round ceramic brush.
I’m in my 50’s and I have been ‘curly’. I bloody hated it. My hair is SO much easier to have when it’s straight. Bollocks to the curl.

I found a curly haired hair dresser she does a curly cut which makes a nigh difference - she takes sections of my hair and cuts into along the length - the difference is amazing

I use Boots curl cream £2 a tub

No sulphate in shampoo, the cheapest one is £1 200ml

Can we see a photo? It might help

If I recall, i think you take a strand and try to stretch it.
If it snaps you need moisture, if it stretches you need protein.
Or it might be the other way around

It's all largely bolleaux.

This vid is revealing, she came to same conclusion as me. I like that she explains why hair is genetic and no amount of going natural 'fixes' it into dream waves.

Not looking for products though!
I have tried it all I promise.

Mine is naturally straight and frizz free (no styling products or heat needed).

Heated rollers on dry hair twice a week sees me through (never on wet hair). Regular trims and semi permanent colour I do at home to keep the gloss on. Vitabiotics hair skin and nails tablets every couple of days helps too. If in a shedding phase, a course of horsetail tablets, don't take them all the time.

Yep my DH has thick straight hair no fuzz!

I think my OP was supposed to say I was sold a myth, that if I left my hair natural for a long time it would 'heal' and become shiny.

Nope!
It was never unhealthy, just dry and frizzy.

I have never used heat or product on my hair at home beyond shampoo and conditioner.

When I go to a new hairdresser their first reaction is it's completely awful, frizzy, very unhealthy.

At the end of the cut when they've straightened it they say it's very healthy.

So it's all bullshit.

Mine looks lovely and curly if I get caught in a rain shower. But how to duplicate that 😂😂

A hairdryer with expensive ionising components is one gimik that actually improved my hair.

If you must straighten it buy Cloud 9 irons NOT GHD irons, you absolutely do not need to be using 220c heat on it! Use then Cloud 9s at the temperature they are set at when they come around 160c that’s plenty hot enough for the vast majority of European hair types. Much smoother and shiner hair than GHDs produce too

I'm totally with you Op! Solidarity for the wavy/frizzy/uneven curls and straight bits.
Every so often I 'go natural' and try all the lotions and potions...and it looks shit.
Blast dry and run my 20 year old GHDs through it... SO much better!

So I spray heat defence spray and starighten a couple of times a week, and try to avoid the rain!!!

Rain has a nice effect on mine too.

May have a look at the new offerings for straighteners. I would intend to very lightly spiral a wave in and not do the ends. I look awful with straight hair.

Another thing, my hair always sits shorter at the sides than the back. I believed going natural would sort that out and it is even worse now after years of good treatment and care! I don't often use grips or pull at it either so it is probably just my hair type. My sister is similar.

Honestly I’ve been using GHDs for 20 years and my hair looks great. It’s long, strong. Tonnes of compliments.

No need to go spending £££

Also wavy, frizzy hair. Been through the straightening phase and then the curly girl phase and now I don't know what to do with it. If I air dry it becomes incredibly rough and knotty so I tend to just blow dry (with a hot brush) so that it's at least smooth, but if it goes wavy for the next couple days I just leave it to do what it wants. As long as it's less knotty.

Just get it washed and styled (yes, with heat) once a week to avoid too much damage and kill the frizz.

You really don't need much else, unless your hair gets greasy easily and you need to wash twice a week. But even twice a week heat treatment, with just shampoo and conditioner, should be perfectly fine and not ruin your hair.

If you have the type of hair/ face that suits it, you could try a Brazilian blow-dry. However IMO it makes many people's hair look too flat, even if it's long-term manageable and shiny for months on end with minimal styling.

And yes, we live in capitalism. Everything is a sales pitch, every problem is invented to sell some product. Very rarely is a product good enough for us to actually need it and benefit.

I used to use lots of products, now I use way less, proven ones, and my hair and skin are better than ever. Less is more.