Curly hair maintenance?

[lionlove]

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)

[Dionysus]

Only comb when wet!

[dzsaigirl]

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!

[AOX81]

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.

[bucutie02]

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

[shadokat]

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!!

[Dionysus]

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

[PM_Mama00]

Ahh...wonderful curly hair. Especially when it's shoulder length...really sucks! Anyway, I'm all about Salon Selectives. Moisturizing shampoo, moisturizing conditioner. Hair spray is just bad to use, but when needed I use Salon Selectives. I ALWAYS use mousse. Either Get In Shape which will make your hair kinda crunchy, or the other one that I totally forgot. That'll make ur hair shiny, and less frizzy. I sometimes use Frizz Ease serum before I throw it up in a towel.

[SATX*APhi]

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.

[XOcrlstln]

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

[TriSigmaTX]

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.

[PM_Mama00]

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?

[TriSigmaTX]

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.

[vukkg]

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!!

[navane]

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