No matter what I do, I just cannot convince myself that I like my hair. *Sigh* In order to get a curl without frizz I go through an enormous amount of prep. I shampoo and condition my hair in the shower each morning. Immediately after I get out I put on mousse. I then mix leave in conditioner and gel together and put that in my hair, wrap it in a towel and finish getting ready. That takes about 45 minutes, so my hair drys just a tad. I remove the towel and then apply a spray gel over all my hair. Then I stand there and use the diffuser to blow dry my hair for a good 20-30 minutes. ALL THAT WORK gets me a "wet" look. Not too bad, but not a look I consider good for work. It looks like this:
Slowly on the drive to work I use a soft cloth and crunch or squeeze my hair to get rid of the crunchy wet look. That works fairly well most [but NOT all] days. I end up with something like this:
When it turns out like that, I like it. The problem is that it RARELY looks that soft and curly. It usually just looks wavy and frizzy - with a few great curls here and there. And by about 2 in the afternoon, no matter how great my hair looked when I got rid of the crunchiness, it just looks out of control and frizzy. *Sigh* I looks like this [well - you cannot really capture the frizz in the picture]:
When I'm at work I am so self-conscious about my hair. It makes me feel like I am not "pulled together" and professional. The really sucky thing is that I cannot seem to capture the reality of my misery in pictures. I am certain you're all going to think I'm crazy.
Why can't hair just be easy to deal with and not frizzy and messy!?! WAH.
Comments (13)
Some tips: First, stop using so many products! Believe it or not, most products designed for curly hair contain loads of silicones. While that helps to control the frizz and gives the appearance of shine, it actually coats the hair and dries it out from the inside. So, the more you use, the more you need!
Try this, preferably on your day off. After you wash and dry your hair, use one drop of olive oil (yes, just one drop) and rub it through your hair. Now apply a curling cream (I use the one from sunsilk, in the green bottle). Use butterfly clips that hairstylists use (get them from Sally's Beauty Supply) to scrunch and hold your hair up in the scrunchy clumps. Then go about your business.
When your hair is close to being dry, start taking out the clips. I take my front one out earlier because I have bangs. Shake out your hair but don't touch it. Let it continue to dry.
I've found that the more you touch your hair while it's drying - or even afterwards - the frizzier it gets.
Let me know if this works for you.
I feel your pain, girlfriend. I have painfully curly hair and tried everything. I finally found Tigi Catwalk Curls Rock products for curly hair and they got rid of the wet look altogether. I don't use the shampoo & conditioner, but I do use the leave-in conditioner, the spray curl activator and the curl amplifier. This last one is what makes the frizz go away, but if you use too much near your scalp it'll make your hair look oily. Thought I'd tell you about it since it's the only thing I've been able to use that I am happy with. One other thing I read in a magazine is that women with curly hair should wash their hair every other day, as curly hair tends to be drier than non-curly hair. I do wet my hair on the non-wash days and style as normal.
Heh. You never knew when you sent a friend invite that I'd be giving hair advice, huh? Thanks so much for the invitation!
I have same problem but Chris recommended some great stuff to me that has helped alot. It's the Garnier Fructis(green bottles) Sleek & Shine line(orange line). I use the shampoo,leave in condtioner and the Anti humidity smoothing milk. Best part(besides it works for me) is that it's only $2.99 for each product lol. Also I stopped using a blow dryer, yes easy for me since I dont work but its helped alot. I also got rid of my brushes and stick to using wide tooth combs.
Lisae