CURLY HAIR!!! Need Advice!

Updated on July 10, 2013
K.H. asks from Denton, TX
21 answers

Hi!

I have naturally curly hair and have learned to live with it. I have tried the Brazilian blowout and it didn't work very well. As a person with curly hair, I am not very good with using the blow dryer to get my hair straight. My question is what kind of hair products do you use? Not Shampoo and Condit. Products to actually FIX your hair. I have tried cheap ones to very expensive ones. I just can't find the perfect one. I want ONE product that works wonders. I like my hair to be a little stiff because I do not like there to be any frizz. Any suggestions? Right now I currently use Garnier Fructis smoothing milk, Tresemme Hair gel, and hair spray.

Thanks!!!

1 mom found this helpful

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J.C.

answers from New York on

Fructis makes a Moraccain oil that is awesome.

Also, i hear that infusium works really well. Just use less on top and more on the bottom. Otherwise it will be crunchy on top and fizzy on the ends.

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S.T.

answers from Houston on

Okay. I have this same problem, and I am 38 years old. And I was suddenly struck by something. And I hope nobody finds this offensive, but African women have problems with frizzy hair. I have problems with frizzy hair. so I went to the African section in Walmart and picked up soemthing called olive miracle, its a leave in conditioner, after your hair is dry, pick some up on the ends of your fingers and run it through your hair and OMG!! no more frizz. It's gone!! After my whole lifetime of frizzy unmanageable hair. And this cost me less than $5

4 moms found this helpful

S.M.

answers from Dallas on

I have a friend with very curly hair, the tight curls similar to the curl of African American women but she is Irish. She swears by Ouidad products! I know others who like the Moracan Oil products. I have heard of people using tiny amounts of coconut oil (CO) also, I use it to tame my fly always and it is wonderful, but my hair is not curly. Lots of people use CO as a mask weekly to help with friz. You can google CO masks for lots of ideas.

Best of luck!

1 mom found this helpful
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E.C.

answers from Los Angeles on

I have frizzy, wavy hair and it's a mess! Unless I have an hour to spend with my flat iron, it goes up into a ponytail *sigh.* BUT I have found something that helped SO much with the frizz!!!

Wash your hair with baking soda - put about 1-2 tablespoons in a squirt bottle and fill the rest with water. Apply it to dry hair in the shower and focus on your scalp. Massage it in and then rinse it out. Your hair will literally be squeaky clean. Then, spray on a solution of 3/4c apple cider vinegar and 1/4c water. Let it sit on your hair for as long as possible before rinsing it out.

The first time I did this I even let my hair air dry - my hair has never been smoother or softer!

1 mom found this helpful
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H.L.

answers from Portland on

If you are going with your natural curl instead of straightening, try Joico Joiwhip mouse. It's my ONE product. I have tried a ton of other things, but this works great on my medium curl, frizzy, fine hair. I can either air dry or diffuse dry and it keeps the curls nice with no frizz. Also, it helps to only comb in the shower with conditioner in and then just finger comb or try not to touch it, especially when your hair is dry.

1 mom found this helpful

J.W.

answers from St. Louis on

I have found any time I try to make my hair straight, not only do I not get it straight but destroy my hair in the process. Sure a Chi iron can get it actually straight but it doesn't look natural.

I use Noodle head products so I don't get frizz and enjoy my curls.

1 mom found this helpful
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D..

answers from Miami on

Go to Ulta and ask for their 4-5 month lasting Keritin treatment. It's a bit expensive, but it really works. You DO have to use a particular shampoo and conditioner to preserve the treatment (and to protect your hair.) You have to be willing to do that if you have the treatment...

I get this done twice a year and am VERY happy with it, mom.

1 mom found this helpful
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S.W.

answers from Dallas on

I have very thick curly hair. My go to product is Catwalk Curls Rock Amplifier. I put it in my hair after shampooing and let it air dry. It has good hold are reduces the frizz.

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S.Y.

answers from Chicago on

I use moraccan oil light and it helps with the frizz!

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L.M.

answers from Houston on

My 3 to dd has very curly hair and I use 100% vegetable glycerin in her hair. It's good grade, so there is no toxic stuff to harm her. It works wonderfully and her hair never looks greasy or frizzy. Try it out. If it doesn't work for your hair, you can use it in the kitchen :D

A.C.

answers from Huntington on

Are you set on straightening your hair or are you wanting to make it curly but not stiff and not frizzy? I would recommend the book Curly Girl. It has a lot of great advice on how to do and how to take care of curly hair. You can also go to a salon that specializes in curly hair. They can show you how to do it and give you a cut that makes it more manageable and helps the curl look better.

My quick tips are:
Don't brush your hair. Use a wide tooth comb or your fingers to comb your hair in shower when you have conditioner on it. Comb from the underside.

Wash your hair less frequently as it dries it out. When you shampoo, use a sulfate free shampoo. I like Burts Bees but there are plenty out there. The nice thing is that you only need a little and it should last a long time. On non-shampoo days, you can massage your scalp with the pads of your fingers with just water in the shower and then condition the ends. **it will take a few weeks to get used to this, your scalp will slowly start producing less oil. It is h*** o* your fingers at first, too, but they get stronger.

I use Deva Curl ang-gel. I just buy it off amazon.com and a bottle is about 17.00 but lasts several months. They say to put the gel in your hair when it is supping wet (in the shower is a good place to do this) and then use a t-shirt, not a towel, to blot dry.(push curls with t-shirt up) then let your hair air-dry. At the end, softly scrunch your curls again to loosen them up. I like this gel because it holds and smooths the curls but is not crunchy.

I get good results using a spray mist of distilled lavender water that I make, it is really easy, you just boil some water, add some lavender oil drops, let is steep and put in a spray bottle. I use it to refresh my curls later in the day or on days that I do not shampoo. I find it works better than plain water- it smells nice and my curls are smoother.

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T.H.

answers from Topeka on

Sound very 80's-ish but my niece uses mouse to tame her curls. It doesn't look big and poofy but she has very course, dry, thick curly hair. She needs the mouse to "weigh down" her hair. I have curly hair that I straighten and love the Vidal Sasson conditioning cream. When I wear it curly, it seems to help.

C.C.

answers from San Francisco on

My hair is stick-straight, however my oldest daughter has curly hair, and I've had to learn how to deal with it. Her hair gets frizzy without product. One thing our stylist recommended (the stylist also has curly hair) is Beyond the Zone's "Split Mender." It's a leave-in conditioner. You can put it on wet or dry hair. My daughter uses it when she gets out of the shower, and then in the mornings. It's inexpensive (we buy it at Sally Beauty Supply) and works well.

Recently we were out of town on vacation and forgot her Split Mender (crisis!) and stopped at a salon and bought some Paul Mitchell "Super Skinny Serum." That has to go on damp hair, but works pretty well also.

The above suggestions are pretty much only if you're going to leave your hair curly. My daughter has WAY too much hair to blow-dry it straight (OMG, I tried once and an hour later, was still blow-drying... ugggggh), so we never go that route.

K.M.

answers from Chicago on

STOP! Don't fight the curl. Conditioner is your friend. In addition the Tresseme curling mousse works WONDERS! I also suggest using a hair dryer with a diffuser on LOW with medium heat. It's like roasting a turkey - low and slow keeps the moisture in. Crunchy hair is not very attractive in my opinion, but hairspray while drying gives it that crunch you think you want. Gel or spray gel can get you there too. I also suggest root plumper to give your roots a nice lift to keep the curls looking bouncier.

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K.S.

answers from Dallas on

I have to agree with all the posters who recommend not fighting the curl. I have extremely thick, frizzy tightly curled hair and I've spent 30 years trying to make it not be what it is.

Recently I have been attempting to embrace what nature gave me. I never use a brush, ever; I also don't blow dry.

I wash it only twice a week, use a heavy conditioner (Frizz-Ease or Redken All Soft Heavy Cream), then lightly towel dry. Then work about 2 teaspoons coconut oil through my (shoulder-length) hair with my fingers. Follow up with about 1 tablespoon Tresemme gel. Shape with fingers, and let air dry.

It's not perfect, but the coconut oil helps smooth it and keep the frizz away, and the gel helps the coils keep their shape instead of puffing out into frizz. The oil doesn't make my hair greasy either - guess it gets absorbed.

Everyone tells me they looooooove my hair, but we all know the truth - that it's a huge pain in the you know what :)

Good luck!

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T.S.

answers from Washington DC on

You don't need it stiff to avoid frizz... really. I use MixedChicks leave in conditioner combed through WET hair, scrunched and then let it dry.

If I'm going out at night and want it to look a little fancier, I mix in a scrunching gel that has some serum in it and then blow it dry upside down (don't comb or brush or anything, just blow it around) so that it curls all the way to the scalp and dries all at once and gets a some nice volume and extra bounce but no frizz.

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N.S.

answers from Dallas on

I have curly hair (more like beachy wavy/curls vs kinky ringlett curls). My hair is very fine too. I never understood why when I went to the salon my hair could be straight for days, but when I did it at home, it was frizzy and curly by 5 PM.

Here's some things I learned - don't use a towel to turban your hair. You can get one of those special microfiber turban wraps, but a normal cotton towel actually makes your hair more frizzy. When you straighten, use a thermal protectant - I love TIGI Bedhead Smooth and Shine which is discountinued (but I still have some). Then start with using a round metal brush to dry - pulling hair and rolling it under. Go in small sections and make sure before you start you have spueezed out the as much of the water as possible. Depending on my preference, I will either use a CHI flat iron if I want VERY straight hair, or I have large velcrow rollers. The velcrow rollers add body but not really curl (these are very large). Regardless of flat iron or rollers, I use serum for smoothing as the last thing.

S.S.

answers from Dallas on

I second Kristina....go with the curl, not against it. I, too, have very naturally curly hair. I always wanted it straight but finally gave in and for 20 years have kept the curl and I get SO MANY compliments on my curls from women with straight hair. We have something that a lot of women want. Not only curl, but usually there's volume that a lot of people can't achieve.
I used the Bed Head line for curls, would run the balm through it wet, twirl around my fingers and let it air dry. Once it would dry I'd use the shine spray and it would last all day and all night.

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M.C.

answers from Chattanooga on

To get my hair to act right...

When I get out of the shower, I use an anti-frizz serum. Then I put the top half of my hair into a bun, flip my hair upside down, and apply Garnier Fructis curl sculpting cream gel to the bottom half. Then I bun it up, let the top half loose, and apply to that too. Then i let all my hair loose. If I try to do it all at once, I wind up with frizzy sections. Then, while I still have my head upside down I spritz the ends of my hair with a flex-hold hairspray.

Good luck finding just one product!

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C.R.

answers from Dallas on

DevaCurl Ultra Defining Gel. It's a bit pricy, but I love it. You can also use DevaCurl Set-It-Free spray to help fight the frizz. The Ultra Defining Gel should give you the stiffness you want, I use the Light Defining Gel and it helps a lot.

I also don't wash my hair daily, but I do condition daily. I don't use a comb or brush on my hair.

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K.D.

answers from Dallas on

I have naturally curly hair as well. I am also a product junkie. I have found that Catwalk Curls Amplifier, mixed with Ouidad Climate Control Humidity Gel works amazing. The trick with catching the frizz sometimes come in the manner of how dry and/or wet your hair is when you product it. That is where the Ouidad (made specifically for people with very curly hair) comes in. It wets and solidifies the curl and then a little Catwalk keeps it together and reduces frizz. I blow dry with a diffuser on the low setting, medium heat to boost my curl, or air dry for beach waves.

Be careful with repeat Brazilian Blowouts because they can over protein the hair leaving you with initially straight silky hair (if it works for you) but when it wears off (especially after several applicatitons) you are left with damaged dry hair. Your hair needs a healthy balance of protein and moisture.

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