Curly hair maintenance?
 

On the spur of the moment while sitting in the hair salon this morning I decided to get a perm. Not the kind of decision that one makes at the spur of the moment but I did it anyways. Well, anyways, now I have a perm now but I have never had curly hair before and I have no idea how to take care of it. Am I allowed to brush my hair or will that mess up the curl? when my hairdresser styled my hair, she added gel, scrunched it and blew dry it but it is really humid here and the gel is making my hair sticky and my perm looks like a big frizzball! Do I need to use gel or can I get away without using hair products? Help!

Thanks

P.S. Getting a haircut without being fluent in the language is definatly an educational experience! (I'm in France btw) :p

Only comb when wet! :eek:

That's right. Only brush your hair when it is wet! It will break otherwise! When my hair was curly, I used Rusk mousse and that made my hair softer and less sticky than gel. Also, try using hair serum while still wet to combat frizzies. Biosilk Silk Therapy is good.

And if you blow it dry, you need to use a diffuser attachment. I always diffused my roots and partially dried my hair, but I left it still a little damp so it could air dry part of the way. When you use a diffuser, you need to scrunch while you dry. Don't overscrunch or you will me more frizzy.

Sidenote: I babysit a little girl who is African American and she has a head full of tiny ringlet curls (I mean smaller than a pencil in diameter). Her hair is surprisingly easy to manage. I just put stuff in it and brush through it, then scrunch the curls back in. She is the cutest kid I have ever seen!

I'm 26 and I haven't had a perm in over 10 years! All I remember is that I usually put some mousse on my hair and let it air dry. I think they only time I used a dryer was whey I wanted to wear my hair straight. If you can find one get one of those wide teeth combs.

All i use is mousse. Sometimes, like dzsaigirl said, i will put in some serum when its wet. Just wait a little bit, then put mousse.

I have wavy hair, so i have to either have it curly or blow dry it straight. When i used to wear it curly 24-7 my mom would tell me that i needed to brush my hair. She didnt understand that you dont brush curly hair!!!!! Its a big NO-NO! lol ;)

As someone who has had naturally curly hair for all of my 28 years, I can give you a bunch of advice :)

1. NEVER USE A BRUSH!!! It'll make it frizzy and huge. Only use a very wide tooth comb when very wet.

2. I would highly recommend getting a good moisturizing conditioner, as those perms are harsh on the hair, and moisturized curls are easiest to tame.

3. If you can, let it dry naturaly...if not, get a diffuser attachment for your hairdryer immediately!!! Don't get those ones that are like little socks either. Get the kind that are plastic with little "fingers"...they have them at target.

4. Styling products: Frizz Ease - it's a godsend, but you need to put it on your hair when it's still dripping wet! Then, I use Clinique Defined Curls, which kicks ass. Sometimes a bit of gel too, on a bad hair day :)

Good luck with the curls! I hated mine for a long time, but now I'd not trade them for the world!!

I recently discovered that making one or two braids in your hair after washing it, can dramatically reduce frizziness.

Okay, here is my routine:

About 5 minutes after getting out of the whower, I put a good amount of mousse in my hair, about the size of a tennis ball. After that, I put some gel in my hair. I then hairspray all over (not tons). I then blowdry/diffuse my hair. If you want to see how it turns out, I have several pics. Just PM me. :)

And see, my problem is that I have very thin, but wavy hair. There is never a day that I can just wash and go. I have to either curl it or straighten it. :rolleyes:

I also have very wavy hair that has to be either scrunched or straightened. Both took over 1/2 hour and rarely looked the way I had intended. After years of fighting it, and tons of money on products, I have found the ultimate solution!!!

...

Cut it all off!! I know have a very short cut that sticks out kinda crazy in the back and is kinda smoothed down in the front. Sorta like one of Meg Ryan's old cuts. It was the absolute answer. The waves are perfect to make the back stick out and be "funky."

Just the method I have found. Good luck with the new perm!!

~C

I'm not sure about a perm...I've had naturally curly forever. It's very very thick and very dry, but very curly (I'd say loose ringlets). I use BedHead Moisture Maniac shampoo and conditioner and KMS Curl Up every couple of days for a little extra kick. After I towel (I"m thinking about purchasing this Frizzease sp.), I put on a spray conditioner, used to be TIJI, but they stopped making it, so I'm thinking about this Curl Up one (great line). I use TIJI hairspray, just a tiny bit. I take about an hour to do my hair, but do other stuff in between. I brush out wet and then scrunch to perfection (my ringlets need direction). I use a plastic tooth brush. Then I alternate air drying and scrunching upside down (no diffuser, can't get totally dry that way). Then when it's finally dry I finish with my hair spray a tiny bit and a big round bristle brush, I love it, it's so soft and I have tons of control with it.

Weird, but works for me.

A lot of you had said that you use hair spray. If you use the Salon Selectives Get In Shape mousse, you don't have to use hairspray cuz it already gives that crunchy kinda feeling. I also don't use a diffuser...can't stand them! I just flip my head upside down and dry whatever direction will get my hair dry faster. Sometimes I scrunch a lil to get extra curl. Drying upside down gives it volume if you need it. I have thick hair, but it's flat on top.


Any tips on straightening hair?

Eww, I hate that crunchy feeling. I go through one bottle of hairspray in about 3 months, seriously. I just use one or two sprays for a tiny bit of control. Could never use mousse, makes things crunchy. My hair is thick and coarse, but soft if that makes any sense.

I don't use anything like mousse or gel. Dries your hair out.

I use curls up too....its orange and scary looking but looks great - it doesn't give a cruchy look, more soft ringlets. All I do is through my hair up in a towel after a shower, do all the other post shower activities while it is still up, then comb through my wet hair, put about 2 quarters worth of the serum in, flip and scruch. That's it..its super easy!!

I have naturally curly hair that's fairly long. I towel dry after washing. Then, I brush it while it's still wet/damp. After that, I scrunch in a modest amount of mousse. I never blow dry my hair - to do so would cause an huge frizz ball. Because my hair will sometimes dry funky if I just let it air dry, I immediately pull it up into a bun. Then, after 20 minutes I'll let it down for a few minutes...then put it back up. Somehow it works for me. To combat the wispy little flyaways, I use a small amount of TIGI Bed Head Hairstick. It's like a tube of wax. It's a tad expensive; but a little bit goes a long way.


......Kelly :)

I used to do something similar to what Navane does.

After putting mousse, gel and hairspray in my hair and letting it air dry for a while, I woud put it in a super high pony tail for about 7 minutes. I'd then take it down and it would look great!

The way I do my hair now is posted a few posts up.

Re: Curly hair maintenance?
 

I haven't read everyone elses reply yet so forgive me if I repeat some of the advise on here. I have lived with curly hair for about 20 years (my hair was straight when I was young until about 11 years old). I have similar hair to Nicole Kidman when it is nicely styled (ie when I have time to mess with it) but my hair is very thick. here are some tips and opinions:

never brush when dry always when wet. My best friend has my exact hair except hers is alot thinner and she doesn't brush at all-just uses a pick (sp?), but I tend to get mats and those things are nasty!!

I LOVE the Finesse lotion for hair and the mousse. I use about 1/2 bottle of mouse at a time -alot I know but my hair looks great and is not crunchy.

When I get my haircut the stylists never know how to fix it so I always look like Annie when I leave the salon so I always end up having to re-style when I get home (I know exactly how you felt when you left the salon)

I cannot use a diffuser b/c my hair is long and very thick-it would take me hours to even make a dent at drying, so I use a blow dryer.

There are times when I LOVE my hair, but about 90% of the time I wish I had straight hair-just brush and go.

My hair is annoying. It was curly when I was really young, then went straight and frizzy for the end of elementary school, then got curly in high school again and only now has the frizz begun to subside. My problem is that my hair dries nice and curly (all i use is herbal essences maximum hold mousse (i LOVE IT), but the top of my head always stays straight. I think it may just be the weight of my hair but it's pretty much always done that. Because of that I rarely wear my hair down (pretty much a blue moon frequency). Any idea how to get my whole head curly? It is natural and the rest of my hair curls amazingly. And I can't handle high maintenance ways to do it. I rarely have the time or patience to spend anymore than 10 minutes to perfect my do.

I am also HYPER sensative to frizz. I guess because I had to endure years of extreme frizz, even the slightest hint of frizz has to be quashed on immediate detection. Little spray of water and a dab of moose on the offending frizz usually minimizes the problem.

I hear ya! My hair is the same way...so curly, but flat on top. I hate that. I use hair clips to push it up on the sides almost daily or tack it back. It drives me freaking crazy. I am getting a few inches cut off tomorrow, mine is very long. Somjetimes I get a slight layer, and it helps, but not much.

Anyone have a cure or suggestions for the flat head syndrome???

My hair always gets flat on the top too. A stylist told me to put those little butterfly clips all over at the roots. It relieves the weight at the top of your hair, so it curls all over. It really works, it's just a bit of a pain to do it every day. Just put the clips in after you've used your hair product and then let your hair air dry or blow dry it.

I use L'Oreal Curl Vive Shampoo and Conditioner and they dramatically cut down on frizz. I also use Bed Head Control Freak serum. It's an anti-frizz control and a straightener. I've heard that the Control Freak shampoo and conditioner work really well too.

Sometimes I blow dry my hair with a diffuser attachment...my blow dryer is a GE..it's pretty awesome, it has three different temperature settings and two speed settings. I always start with the underside of my hair at the roots, then I flip my head upside down and blow dry the front and sides while scrunching. This also works to make the roots curly. It doesn't take too long..definitely under 10 minutes. I never blow dry my hair all the way..just the biggest part of it. My dryer has a cool setting and it works to cut down on frizz too. You just run the dryer down your hair.

This is really great advice. Thanks!

Yesterday, a few hours after I got the perm, I washed my hair to get rid of the cat piss smell of the perm stuff and I blew dry my hair and brushed it and it was straight! (this was before I read all your great advice about not brushing it dry and letting it air dry) Well, I wet it down and added mousse, scrunched and let it air dry and it looks great! I think I will invest in some frizz ease if this humidity continues.

Lindsay,

Awesome advice. I was halfway through drying my hair, but tried the butterfly clip trick halfway through and it worked some....so I'm guessing tomorrow when I do my hair (after getting 2 inches cut off as well), it will really work. I loved it and my fiance actually noticed it too!

Thanks so much!!!

That's the nice thing about your perm too, you can do it straight if you want to. I suggest if you want the straight look, use a large barrel curling iron...it helps to smooth. As a naturally curly gal.....forever, I can strangely straighten it as well, but it takes a little more effort.

I will definately have to try the butterfly clip thing. I'm glad to hear I'm not the only one with the flat top problem. LOL.

I have given up trying to straighten my own hair. Everytime I do it, it just gets really puffy and frizzy. It's brutal. And after an hour and a half of getting it dry (because if one part is slightly wet then that part will curl, so it has to be bone dry) it seems like it's is less than worth the effort.

The only time I have the treat of having my hair beautifully straightened is whenever I get my hair cut, I have my hairdresser dry it straight. Murphy's Law usually comes out to bite me in the a$$ tho, cause almost everytime I get it blown straight, it rains :rolleyes: .

I have naturally wavy and very thick hair. I've found that moisturizing shampoos and conditioners REALLY help. Some favorites of mine are Terax, Pure Hair, and Redken's All Soft line. I find that it's important to have a very moisturizing and non-stripping hair care regimen to "weigh" the hair down. Unlike girls with fine hair, my hair doesn't really need volume. I also use Joico's K-Pak Shine and Protect Serum...really gets the frizzies away and makes my hair look as shiny as glass when blow-dried straight.

I like to blow my hair out...IMO, I look better with straighter hair.

Last year, I got a perm done because I wanted my wavy hair to look more curly...what a disaster! What got my hair smoother was to use VO5's Hot Oil Shower Treatment...that did wonders to "tame" the curls. Also, I've read in several mags that the Hot Oil treatment helps if you hate your (dyed) hair color.

My hair used to do the whole straight on top thing too. The most recent cut I got though, I had it layered a bit more than usual. The shortest layer is about chin length, so you can't even tell its layered, and when blown out it looks really sleek and stylish.

However, when curly, the layers have the amazing effect of taking the curl all the way to the root. It looks much better than it did when it was all one length.

My hair is about an inch or two past my bra strap on my back and pretty think, so the layers also made it appear way more under control when curly, despite making it curlier.

TriSigmaTX...you're welcome. :) Anything to help a fellow curly girl.

amycat...layers definitely are a curly girl's best friend. They make your hair less poofy and triangle-y, if you know what I mean. :)

I use a straightening iron when I straighten my hair. I use a Conair Professional one. It's silver and it has a comb attachment. I think that you can buy it at Target for $15. It's amazing. I've used irons before, but I would always have to go over each section about 5 or 6 times before my hair was straight...with the Conair Pro, I just have to do it once and my hair is stick straight. Completely wonderful. A little bit of hair wax after straightening helps tame down any frizzies.

I had my hair layered and turned out awful-what happened:confused: Maybe they did it wrong? The layers are growing out thank goodness! Maybe my hair is too curly? I wish layers would work b/c my hair is so damn thick.

Depends on your hair. My hairdresser Bonnie -sidenote--if you're ever in Vegas, PM me for her contact info and go see her, I've never met anyone so amazing at cut and coloring-- ok, back to reg sched story-- Bonnie's hair is a tighter curl than mine and thicker than mine--I have a lot of hair and it appears thick when curly, but when blown out is actually fine. So my layers work better longer, too short and they'd curl up freakishly.

Bonnie's hair is coarser and thicker than mine--hers looks thick even when straight, whereas mine, as I mentioned looks sleeker when straight-- she chopped all hers off last year when she was pregnant and is growing it out now, she has shorter layers in her shoulder length hair--her shortest layer is about 3 inches long--this looks fabulous on her hair, would be a disaster on mine.

She is so amazing w curly hair, probably because she has it herself, that i highly recommend her. LOL some of my LA friends now drive to Vegas for her haircuts and color, she's that good. And not at all expensive for as good as she is!

Problem is, she's there, I'm here, and I am disastrous at doing my own hair, lol

Also, your layers may have not turned out if stylist cut againsty the grain of your curl-- a big problem for us curly mained girls. I had huge issues with this back in my starving student super cuts days.

I wish I lived near Vegas so I could try her out b/c I am getting sick of having bad haircuts. I have yet to meet a stylist I truly like . I haven't had my haircut in over a year but it is getting to the point where it is unmangeable so I wil be forced to go in somewhere. Will see what happens-I think I am going to try highlights this year.

I used to work at a salon, and my boss told me to use All Soft. I freaking love that shampoo! Altho I only use it when I'm straightening my hair because if my hair is curly that day, it can't be too soft cuz it'll frizz out.

Difference between a good hair cut and a bad one is about 3 weeks!

Mine is always growing in many differnt ways and have had Mr Pat cutting mine for years! Mr. Pat rides a Harley Fat Boy and makes it look small!

I used to get mine permed to Brillo Pad curls, damn is it easy to take care of!

Alays amazed me that Afro-Americans want their hair straight and white- Americans want theirs curly!

Wait till you reach the point that you just want it to hang on!!!!!!!

I just enjoy when the young Actives say Damn you are getting old your hair is going gray! I tell them I am going back to blond but I still have a lot of it! I am not going to flesh yet!!!!!!! :D

LOL, I am a young active and I already have a few gray hairs making unwanted appearances. Maybe I am also going back to blonde :p

uhoh...
 

So I went to get my super curly hair cut today. It was getting really long and I was getting sick of the flat at the roots problem. I figure layers could and should help. I told the hair dresser I wanted it shoulder length when curly. Told her THREE TIMES. She just kept cutting and cutting. The cut is amazing. Looks great straight. But, it's shoulder length STRAIGHT. I just know I'm going to be a poodle when I wash it. I'm so scared! :eek: . If I end up with a 'fro I will NOT be happy!!! I think it's even too short for a pony tail :( .

Re: uhoh...
 

My heart goes out to you as I have been there, done that. Did the person who cut your hair have curly hair? Sometimes the hair dressers with the curly locks understand that shorter is not good. Good thing about hair is it always grows back.

Re: uhoh...
 

LMAO!

Been there, done that...

Re: uhoh...
 

Sorry to hear about that. All you can do now is wait for it to grow out. Another think you can do - NEVER GO TO THAT PLACE AGAIN!! :D

Re: uhoh...
 

Thanks for all the sympathy :). I was scared to shower for fear of how shirley temple i would look. But I put some frizz-ease relaxer in and it turned out AMAZING. I've been getting compliaments from people at work who don't even know me!!! Guess it was long overdue. It's a bit below my chin when it's curly and has a really nice wave when i put in the frizz-ease. Apparanlty I even look my age now. LOL. Never knew long curly hair made me look 16 :eek: .

Re: Re: uhoh...
 

Oohh, I am sorry your hair turned out that way. Fortunately its not always a negative thing, to chemically straighten your hair that is. Yes, it sounds harsh, and maybe your results will look harsh but not on everyone. I straightened my hair a couple of years ago and i LOVED it. I was even able to put mousse in my hair and have it curly when i wanted. It didnt even fry out my hair, and she even used the strongest chemicals. I havent done it again since now i get highlights, and those two things together would be awful on my hair.