Thick, coarse, curly hair?

[ohchiefff]

So, I have thick, curly, coarse hair and was raised by a woman with fine, thin, wavy hair. ... Needless to say, I looked a hotmess until someone pitied me enough to buy me a straightener. It was then years before i wore my hair curly again because I still really had no idea what to do with it to make it look even decent. So, it was a learning process, but I have a solid routine now that is making my life easier. Not to mention, my hair looks better than it ever has and grows so quickly! To help you understand what type of hair I'm working with here, my curls are somewhere between a 3B and a 3C. So, mostly structured, but not effortless ringlets. Other information that will explain why I do certain things are that I have psoriasis pretty aggressively on my scalp and a mild case of trichotillomania which I mainly focus on my temple area. It's also around my shoulder blades in length, middle of my back pulled straight.

First and foremost, washing. Shampoo is the worst thing made for hair. Seriously. I think that sulfate-free shampoos may be okay.. but it's according to your hair type, and it's certainly not for this one. I only use cleansing conditioners. Truthfully, I use Wen, but I'm aware as to how pricey it is. But, I use it because it comes in a tea tree version which does wonders on my scalp. I stay at my mother's at times and when I need to wash I do use her Deva Curl and the world doesn't end... just preference. I put in a little more than recommended after I thoroughly wetting my hair and let it sit while I do everything else I need to do in the shower before rinsing it out. Then, before I get out I add a few pumps in as a leave in conditioner. And massage it in and then make sure to squeeze through the length of my hair to make sure I get the excess out.

Then, I flip my head over and throw my hair in a t-shirt. Also, I'm not so sure if there's really any merit in this method, but considering I can understand how towels could possibly be conducive of frizz and breakage, I do it anyway. I pretty much leave it like this long enough to moisturize my body.

Then, I use a plethora of products. I'm aware that it's a lot, and not all people will need everything I use, but really... the moisture level in my hair is comparable to the Sahara. So, in my quest of figuring out what to do with and for my hair I have used an array of products and have as many hair products as I do shoes. I pretty much group them into sprays, serums, cremes, milks, and gels. Please note that these categories are things that I've recently realized I do and while I'm confident enough to write this, I'm certain that there will be another category I need to include or something and that what I put under the category you may think I'm crazy. I accept it, and your input. Moving on... Sprays are things that I use first, I use just a light leave in conditioner, dry oil, just anything liquidy. I let it sit for a minute and throw it back into the shirt. Soaking up the excess and letting the Wen sit longer. I then use a milk. This is pretty much any opaque liquid claiming to smooth your hair or tame frizz or whatever. Using too much of this one will make your hair nasty and greasy. Avoid this. I then use a serum, and this pretty much consists of any translucent liquids that aren't as thick as gels. I focus this mainly near my ends more than the roots. I tend to run the shirt back through my hair and help with distributing the product more evenly. Then I use a creme. And this is the thick stuff. I smooth it through my hair and then part it how I want and let it dry a bit while I do my makeup. Before I get ready to leave I spray my hair with hairspray and leave it like that. It normally doesn't take much longer to dry anymore since I've been doing all of this stuff, so I very rarely use a blow dryer unless it's sub zero temperatures. When I do though, I make sure to use a heat protectant. I used gels as a category. I do not use gels. I find them sticky and unhelpful. Same for mousse. Mousse feels sticky.. absorbs into hair quickly enough, and gets crunchy afterward. Gross.

While I wrote a lot and use a lot, it really only depends on my makeup how long it's going to take. On days that I don't do much other than moisturize, it takes 10 minutes max. Also, I don't wash my hair everyday. I wash it at most twice a week. It's usually every 5 days though. I also used to believe that I just had an oily scalp and needed to wash it daily, but it makes matters even worse than before. Dry shampoo is everything for a girl that doesn't wash her hair often. Plus, I love big hair, and it always helps with the volume. 

I know that I wrote quite a bit, but I didn't want to miss anything. It was such a long time before I learned how to manage my hair, and I wish that I had found something to help me get where I am. So, that's what this is. It's just a large amount of information that can hopefully help at least one curly haired babe out with the battles her tresses face her with on a daily basis. /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" />

 

[StopCarrotingMe]

I have 3C hair that i shampoo and condition every three days. I'm currently using the Bumble & Bumble Seaweed Shampoo and Herbal Essences The Sleeker The Butter Conditioner. For leave in Conditioners, my routine is kind of similar to your own. I start with a spray leave in conditioner- Aussie's hair Insurance and then a cream Lear in conditioner- Garnier Fructis Sleek & Shine Leave in Conditioner. I finish off with a serum. I currently use Matrix Biolage Exquisite Oil. I also deep condition my hair about once a week with Alter Ego Italy Crema Al Latte Conditioner. I find that de tangling my hair in the shower with a wide tooth comb works best for me. I let my hair air dry always and wear some kind of bun.

 

[nectarbean]

I "try" not to wash my 3c curls every day but I end up waking up with something of a birds nest in the back from sleeping on it. Short of not sleeping, what the heck do you guys do to keep your curls from tangling and frizzing up at night?

 

[StopCarrotingMe]

I "try" not to wash my 3c curls every day but I end up waking up with something of a birds nest in the back from sleeping on it. Short of not sleeping, what the heck do you guys do to keep your curls from tangling and frizzing up at night?

I "pineapple" my hair which basically means putting it up into a high loose bun at night. To revive my curls I just spritz my hair with water and put in leave in conditioner and hair serum on the dry areas. Then I just fluff and go. Washing your hair every day is fine as long as you don't shampoo too much. You could just wet and condition your hair on non shampoo days. My sister who has 2C hair puts her hair into a braid at night to maintain her waves. It works for my hair as well, but I don't know how to braid so I can only do that when she or my mother is around, lol.

 

[nectarbean]

I use a co-wash every other day and I use Ouidad products exclusively. I don't love putting elastics and things in my hair which is part of the problem. My hair is wicked thick and 3A (not 3C oops). Not a single stylist would even touch it until I was in my early teens lol. I feel like my mom would take me into the salon and every hair dresser would fake being super busy just to avoid taking me as their next client. She resorted to cutting it herself which did not end well.

I've braided it to sleep before but it still looked fug in the morning. I think the fact that I have layers makes it impossible to keep "neat" in a ponytail or anything. I'll need to grow it a bit more for a pineapple. /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" />

 

[StopCarrotingMe]

I use a co-wash every other day and I use Ouidad products exclusively. I don't love putting elastics and things in my hair which is part of the problem. My hair is wicked thick and 3A (not 3C oops). Not a single stylist would even touch it until I was in my early teens lol. I feel like my mom would take me into the salon and every hair dresser would fake being super busy just to avoid taking me as their next client. She resorted to cutting it herself which did not end well. I've braided it to sleep before but it still looked fug in the morning. I think the fact that I have layers makes it impossible to keep "neat" in a ponytail or anything. I'll need to grow it a bit more for a pineapple. /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" />

Hmmm, maybe you could try mini buns or do several braids? Although, cowashing is actually good for your hair so I don't think you should worry too much if you have to cowash everyday. Also some people wear satin bonnets at night to keep their hair neat. Also, you are so lucky to have 3A hair. Growing up, I had a hard time dealing with my hair because of how curly it is. Unfortunately for me, I'm mixed race (Hatian mom, 1/2 Croatian 1/2 Nicaraguan dad) with parents with very different hair types from me that couldn't figure out how to best do my hair since my dad is a type 1 and mom is a 4C. My sister has hair close to yours, 2C that she can just wash and go with. I just started learning proper hair care last year! In high school I was always the girl with the frizzy curly bun! To grow my hair out (it was once very short), I found that buns and ponytails along with other heat free styles work the best. I also make sure to deep condition at least once a week and to trim only when needed- like once a year. Keeping my hair natural meant less breakage and faster length retention. My hair is now between armpit and bra strap length.