That's not a picture of me, but it may as well be. Actually, I kind of wish it was because her hair looks much better than mine. The best way to describe my hair is "in limbo." I've been trying to grow this rat's nest of hair on my head for over a year, and it's now finally past my shoulders. The problem is, I'm about as girly with my hair as a boy in a touring band. I just shower and let my curls do their thing while they air dry.
It seems, however, that my curls have become tired. Only half of my head curls, the other side just lays there waving the white flag. It also looks about as dry as the desert. I think I'm going to color it back to my natural dark brown state (which isn't a stretch from the brown I have now), but that's the only idea I have. I've heard coloring your hair can make it look healthier. You'd never guess that I worked in a salon for almost three years. I'm hopeless!
So Lovelyish readers, I need your help before I shave it all off and call it a day.
Apart from cutting it, what are your suggestions? Preferably in curl-enhancing products, deep conditioners, ways to style wavy hair, etc.
Comments (31)
Have you ever tried hot rollers? I nearly waved the white flag until I gave hot rollers a shot, and now I use them almost every day! Velcro rollers are also good to use but don't attempt to sleep with them on! Also, I love mousse (try Nexxus). If your hair feels dry and tangled, leaving your conditioner in for a long time (from a half hour to a couple of hours) can make it soft and shiny.
~~Mary~~
The easy way to solve this problem is to get it straightened chemically. The hard way to solve this problem, is to deep condition the hell out of your hair. Aussie 3 minute miracle is amazing for that. Stop coloring your hair. It doesn't make it look healthier, and remember to trim it every 6 weeks by half an inch.
As far as deep conditioners, I love the Physique products!
FrizzEase, the serum is great to make hair shiny and not fuzzy/hayish-looking.
And the conditioner pack in the Loreal coloring kits is wonderful. Makes it feel so soft, :) I keep hoping they will come out with that in a bottle-sized conditioner.
I don't think your hair looks bad at all. Just try some hot curlers for more thickened hair. I think that color is beautiful. But then again, you would probably look great with auburn (but hey I'm a redhead, biased), lol. Actually, you ever see the redhead on WWF on Friday night. She is beautiful!! I can sooo see you with her hair color as your face reminds me of her.. WOW!!!
@two_days_until_forever - And YES< hot rollers rock. I go out like twice a year to fancy, smancy events, and I throw them on my hair and wow..I'm the bomb, lol, :) But then again, I have big hair...It always makes a BIG statement, rofl, :)
And Nexxus conditioner is fabulous, but too expensive for my liking (since I have to buy my conditioner in gallon jugs as I have so much hair, this after just having it thinned last week even, lol).
And I just had to say...I'm SO envious of your lips. Your bottom lip is so fabulously plump. What I'd give for full, plump lips. Mine are so small you can hardly tell I have any, lol.
Also, after thinking about it, try John Frieda's Night Serum and Clear Glaze. Both products make your hair softer, shinier, and healthier!
@JUSTAVAPORHERE@xanga - I leave them in for longer to look more glamorous, but you can get beachy waves that are everyday friendly if you just leave them in for a little less time. I have very thick hair too, but I would never get it thinned. You can always give the illusion of fuller lips with lip liner and gloss, or even lip plumper if you want!
Once you take a torch to it, it's over. You can keep it long, but it'll continue splitting until you have a bush ready to catch on fire. Then again, you might have thicker hair...
My hair has loose curls naturally, and it's this super dark color that easily taints with the sun. Unfortunately, this seems to make my hair look a lot more messed up too. I spent a year adding red to my hair to try to, um, fit in better (OMG). Then I went to the light side, dyeing it blonde to try to reattract my ex. It hasn't been normal for about a year...
I would check out the book Curly Girl it has a lot of info about different types of curls, how to care for them and lots of styling ideas. I <3 that book! You can probably pick it up cheaper at half.com
I had a pretty similar problem. My hair dresser suggested tri Aerocurl, http://www.sleekhair.com/10307.html
and that seems to do the trick. I just crimp it while hitting it lightly with a blow dryer for about 5 to 7 minutes and then let it dry on its own. It's so nice to not have to work on it for hours to make it look decent. loli would just straighten it. depending on how thin your hair is it shouldnt take too long.
diffusers work well too if you dont want to straighten it.
Aussie 3 minute miracle conditioner
mane & tail shampoo
for the dryness
Dying your hair makes it look healthier because of the conditioner they give you to use after you rinse the dye out. So condition your hair on a regular basis. Use a lighter conditioner that won't weigh down your curls, and use products that are made for curly hair.
Hot curlers work well too.I used to swear by Aussie 3 minute miracle conditioner, but I've found something even better. My hair is a lot like yours. Naturally curly, past the shoulder, always needing moisture, etc.
My new favorite deep conditioner is Neutrogena Professional Triple Moisture Deep Recovery Hair Mask. It has three different natural moisturizers that each cater to a different part of every hair strand. For normal hair, they recommend to use it like once a week, but I've found that using it every shower is perfect for me. It makes my hair shiny, soft, and healthy-looking, and seems to help regulate my curls/frizz.
And, it's not expensive AT ALL. I buy it at a local drugstore. Check it out here:
http://www.buzzillions.com/dz_119271_neutrogena_triple_moisture_deep_recovery_reviews
Hope this helps!
Invest in Ceramic hair products. They do wonders for making your hair look and feel healthier. I have the same problem as you, my hair does what it wants curly and when it gets longer it does the half-n-half thing. I also use Matrix Sleek shampoo's and conditioners or the suave version. They both work really well on my hair for making it smoother and shiner.
actually, a trained stylist could possibly cut it in a way to enhance your curls and cause them to come alive again. you wouldn't have to cut much.
Being that I have the same type of hair (curly but not actually curly, so I call my hair type just frizzy) I have to say there is no easy way to deal with your hair.
Try to stay away from putting any chemicals in it. Even though my hair is so crazy it never used to tangle, and then like an idiot I decided to dye it blonde...I've since dyed it back but it still tangles worse than before I put anything in it. Someone already said it but the Aussie 3 minute mircale really works and for our hair I would leave in it a bit longer too. I would also invest in getting decent shampoo from a salon (STAY AWAY FROM GROCERY STORES!!!! ie walmart, target, etc. that stuff is no good I don't care what the name on it is.)
If you cut it short you'll still have to take damn good care of it but it will take less time to blow dry and straighten everyday. But longer hair, I dunno you can always throw it up in a ponytail on lazy days but to look good you have to really take the time on those days.
Good luck and if you find anything else that works for you, let me know!
Also I invested in a $200 straightner from Paul Mitchell...honey it's the best money I ever spent and it has a year waranty (I can't spell for crap today). Also theres a hair serum by Paul Mitchell that dries your hair faster out of the shower that way it will dry quicker (duh) that way you dont have to leave the house with it still wet (which can be VERY damaging to your hair).
My friend has naturally curly hair but she had the same problem with it looking dry & half flat & half curly, she got John Frieda curl around shampoo & conditioner & the curl around spray so she could just spray it when she got out of the shower & scrunch it so it looked curly, it made her hair look realy shiny too & not so dry. Hope that makes sense. Or if you don't want it curly you can just straighten it.
Okay I have had the same problems. My hair is wavy/curly and I don't like to spend a lot of time on it. Some people straighten or curl their hair but personally I have found that if you try to work with the way your hair naturally is it works better. I use TRESemme shampoo and conditioner or John Frieda. I also use Garnier frutics fortifying deep conditioner (comes in a tub) about three times a week so my hair won't get to dry. I also use a leave in conditioner by John Frieda that is made for curly hair. Hope this helps.
I have waist-length, healthy, beautiful curls. The way I keep them defined is by putting essential oils in my hair in the shower. And I take a normal conditioner and leave it in. Not a leave-in conditioner, a normal one. My favorite is Africa's Best Carrot Oil Cream.
And you might want to trim off any split ends. those mess things up big time.
If I want my hair really curly, I scrunch it up with my hands after my shower. If I want it just wavy, I braid it at night and let it dry.
biosilk silk theory serum+ a good ceramic straightener and/or curling iron.
I have really frizzy hair too
let it curl! i love lush curls.
i have straight, thin hair. i can let it air dry and it's still stick straight, but it takes me ages just to get curls.
glazing your hair (which is different from dyeing) will make it look healthier. since your hair is probably both dry and coarse, dyeing it will just make it thicker, which probably isn't your desire. whatever you do, don't "dye" it blonde...whenever you're "dyeing" your hair blonde you're actually bleaching it, which REALLY dries it out.
a method some of my friends with dry hair use is deep oil conditioning... get some jojoba oil (or any nice pure conditioning oil) and a warmed towel, and slather the oil on your hair when wet, and then wrap it in the warm towel for 10-15 minutes. rinse the oil off, and then go to bed (on an old pillowcase!) in the morning shampoo off the oil residue and your hair should be doing a bit better :3
I have thick, wavy hair that goes MAD when it's humid.
And the wetaher here where I live is 100% humidity.
What I do is use a moisturising shampoo & conditioner.
Redken's All soft is pretty good.
A leave in conditioner is a must before I give it a quick dry with my blow dryer, and then I use an anti frizz serum (I use the John Frieda one, but Kiehl's gloss serum is really nice ,too)
Oh and another thing I do; every time before I wash my hair, I let it soak in some coconut oil- it smells delicious and my ahir is super soft and shiny afterward.