Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Dorothy B. Williams on July 31, 2012 at 1:24am

I never thought of that, Kammi!  I don't bleach, but I do color my hair, and it never occurred to me to do a process to try to make it more manageable.  Thank you very much for the suggestion.

Permalink Reply by jessica on July 30, 2012 at 2:50pm

Hey Dorothy, I wanted to share that I had trouble with my thick curly hair as well and the best thing for curls for me so far has been to use a 1.5' curling iron (can be a bit smaller or larger depending on how you want it to look) and section the hair into pieces. take an appropriate amount of hair, spray it down with your favorite hairspray (there are a few options to protect & set your hair from the heat as well that help tame hair - one I bought at sephora) and then curl it all the way up to your root.  When you're taking the curling iron out, try to keep the curl together (as if the iron was still in the hair) and then pin it to your head with some pin curl pins.  I allow it to cool for at least 30 minutes (while I do my makeup or whatever) and then gently take the pins out. That curl lasts me for days.  I haven't found rollers that are good enough to substitue just yet! Good luck.

Permalink Reply by Dorothy B. Williams on July 31, 2012 at 1:30am

Thank you so much, Jessica.  I actually tried something similar to what you described this weekend and it really looked good for about 1 minute.  I don't think I let the curl cool down enough because the curl just deflated before my very eyes.  Come to think of it, I don't think I sprayed my hair until after, either.  You have some great suggestions and I really appreciate you (and everyone else)  taking the time to try to assist me.  I'll try to experiment again remembering your tips.  Thanks again and I hope you have a great week!

Permalink Reply by Alecia Drinning on August 7, 2012 at 12:07pm

I do this also, I have crazy curly, thick, frizzy hair. The curl does last forever!!!

Permalink Reply by Jenni on July 31, 2012 at 1:58pm

If you have crazy curly hair, and you color, bleach, relax, or highlight it, consider getting a keratin smoothing treatment. They can be a little pricey (my salon does them from $119-159), but they are so totally worth it. You get to keep your hair's natural body because it's not actually a "straightener," and you get rid of all the frizziness! It also repairs split ends, the only thing I've ever seen that actually does. They last about 3 months before your hair starts to gradually revert to its original state. 

Permalink Reply by Dorothy B. Williams on August 2, 2012 at 12:32am

I've heard so much about those keratin treatments but never heard about them being used for curly hair.  I thought it was just another one of those things for ladies with straight hair.  Thank  you for the tip!  Have a good one, Jenni!

Permalink Reply by Jenni on August 2, 2012 at 1:32pm

They're perfect for galls with curly hair! Those are really the only people I recommend them to. I don't know if you live near a Hair Cuttery, but the treatment they use there can be washed immediately. Some have a 3 day waiting period and you cant even wear ponytails (the horror!)  

Permalink Reply by Angela McGuire on August 2, 2012 at 5:38am

I've had a keratin treatment on my hair like ^ Jenni was just suggesting, but it was the store brand Organix. Everyone was raving about it to me so I tried it, followed instructions perfectly (except I had to use the entire bottle because I have SO MUCH hair) and it did absolutely nothing to my hair. It's not less curly, less frizzy, or anything. Didn't even touch it. Maybe a professional job would be better, but I now I have the same concern you do about it only working for girls with straight hair already.

Permalink Reply by Dorothy B. Williams on August 8, 2012 at 11:17pm

Thanks for sharing the concern, Angela.  I would imagine that a salon would probably have a more potent treatment, but I'm glad you mentioned your experience with Organix.  I have found myself holding that bottle in the store, debating over whether I should try it, now I know better.  Thank you!

Permalink Reply by Johanne L. Martinez on August 8, 2012 at 11:25pm

 You know what has helped me over these few months. .... Well I have somewhat frizzy hair and sometimes over washing your hair can make things worse. So instead of rinsing my hair twice( once after shampoo then again to remove the conditioner)  I just rinse once, to rinse off the shampoo. Then I apply a leave in conditioner with a few drops of biosilk. I comb my hair and put it in a low bun. Soon after I let it air dry and my hair is left super soft and smooth. This makes it easier to style my hair into different styles.

Permalink Reply by Dorothy B. Williams on August 14, 2012 at 11:51pm

Thank you for the suggestion, Johanne.  That makes a lot of sense, but I wonder, do you find that you have any issues with oiliness at all?  

Permalink Reply by Amelie Ju-on on August 22, 2012 at 8:03am

First, thanks for posting this discussion. I have very curly hair and have been really frustrated trying to figure out how to get any sort of waves or the softer 1940s looks. My hair naturally fingerwaves if it's short enough, which is something I guess, but I'm more into the 40s than the 20s, and having the same look all the time is no fun. I'm definitely going to try the curling iron and cool down thing Jessica suggested.

I finally started going to a stylist who specializes in curly hair (E 42nd St Salon in Minneapolis), and she gave me some great pointers I never would have thought of - mainly, that raking your fingers through your hair when rinsing conditioner out separates your curls into single strands which dry into a frizzy, poofy all-over-the-place look that's hard to deal with. Use cool water, and if you're having trouble getting the majority of the conditioner out, scoop your hair into your hand from the bottom and let water pool through it rather than scrubbing or raking it.

Other than that, I've found that moisturizing a lot makes my hair behave better, because I can brush it, curl it, and manipulate it a little more without it getting frizzy instantly. If I know I'm going to be putting my hair up, I brush a little bit of an olive oil treatment through it while it's still wet, let it dry, and then tie a scarf over it before going to bed. I use Fantasia Olive Moisturizing Serum, which I got at CVS and is really inexpensive, but it smooths my hair out and tames the curl a bit without making it greasy.

When I'm putting my hair up in the morning, I spritz it with a bit of leave-in conditioner diluted with water to make it easy to work with. If I'm planning on wearing my hair down, I usually don't brush oil through it the night before. I'll just do the leave-in conditioner and maybe scrunch a bit of mousse in to prevent flyaways.

Keep the tips coming! New ideas for wrestling curly hair into victory rolls, veronica waves, and all of that other fun stuff is always handy.

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