I have had nearly pin straight hair for most of my life. Breeze to take care of, add conditioner in the shower and brush straight with a nice rubbery brush.
However, recently my hair has been getting very wavy/slightly curly and I don’t know what to do with it! It knots up at the slightest whim and my usual techniques are failing to keep it in line. If I don’t brush it all the way out while its wet it curls and knots as it dries.
So, my question is this, how do I take care of this stuff? Different brush? Any suggustions would be great.
[sub] Mods, if this is too mundane/silly to be here, please move it and accept my apologies for not truly understanding the forum descriptions.[/sub]
I’ve always had curly hair. It’s annoying. First thing - don’t brush it. Get a nice, wide-toothed comb.
Use lots of conditioner. If you’re having trouble with tangles, get some detangling stuff. You may also want to try a leave-in conditioner. The more conditioned your hair is, the slipperier it is, and the less likely it is to tangle. A nice, mild shampoo is a good idea too.
Curly/wavy/kinky hair tends to be drier than straight hair, and needs to be conditioned more often than straight hair. Get a shampoo that doesn’t strip your hair of all its moisture and use a good deep conditioner and a styling agent with some kind of moisurizer in it, or some oils. I have partly straight, partly curly hair, and I recommend using Aussie three minute miracle for conditioner, and using a styling lotion afterward, possibly mixed with gel.
My hair decided to change from straight to curly a few years ago. Until then I would just brush it out. When it got surly and I brushed it out it turned into a frizzball. So anyway, I think you should just get a wide tooth comb and brush it in the shower. then towel dry a bit, comb through again, put some gel or something in it, and then let it dry by itself. Thats what I do to mine and it always looks somewhat cute.
I’ve had long curly hair most of my life. Ok, for awhile, it was SHORT curly hair.
What I do is this…brush it completely out BEFORE showering. It’ll hurt. But the fizzball effect won’t be a factor, because you are about to shower anyway. Use a good shampoo and GOBS of conditioner. I use the Pantene Pro V Hydrating Curls myself, and it comes in a BIG container, but it costs nearly 6 bucks. I go through about one every 10 days. When you get out, brush out any tangles, (there shouldn’t be many). Use a diffuser on low setting to dry it. This will cut down the tangles, and the fizziness. Put a lil gel in your hair, and the diffuser should make the hair CURL rather than straighten more.
I can skip that step, because my hair is long enough now that it dries in nice curls when I just leave it alone and let it air-dry. It takes a bit longer, but it’s not a big deal.
I’ve got hair that will naturally go into spiral curls-though I have been known to blow dry it straight for special events. I prefer mine curly though.
Anyway, a wide toothed comb is an absolute must as well as good conditioner. I almost never use the blow dryer, and if I do, I use a diffuser, set it on the low/cool setting. Most of the time, drying naturally does best though.
I also use Frizz-Ease serum in the summer, since I live in a high humidity area. This says to use when your hair is still wet, and not to dry it at all, but it works better for me if I drape a towel over my head to absorb some of the excess moisture before putting it on. Adds a nice shine, and keeps it relatively calm.
I got some tips from naturallycurly.com when I decided to fully accept my red curls and totally show them off.
As someone who has been cursed with extremely thick, extremely coarse naturally curly hair all my life, allow me to emphasize that you should not live another day without a wide tooth comb, tons of good conditioner and a diffuser of some sort for your hairdryer. If you don’t want to buy a diffuser, just cut off the foot part of a pair of nylons at about the ankle area and slip it over your hairdryer (secure with rubber band)–it’s cheap and easy.
