Naturally curly ladies

I washed mine, used a serum and let it dry naturally as an experiment.
It's not curly or nicely wavy, it's just sticking out at odd angles. A mess.

Yours looks lovely, tanith, in both styles but I do prefer it straightened.

Other people seem to have found the knack too, from their photos - or perhaps just have the right hair.

I have curly hair and have had it very short for many years but have grown it since the pandemic and now it is shoulder length. I like it fairly straight but hate too much heat as it just makes it frizzy! I was recommended this by daughter in law and its a game changer a really big brush head but I now have the hair I always wanted after years of wasting hundreds of pounds on all kinds of devices.. REVLON Salon One-Step Hair Dryer and Volumiser with Titanium Coating on offer on Amazon

Thick, curly hair was the bane of my life until I learned to embrace it but finding a hairdresser who didn't look at it in horror - well I gave up. Now my DH trims it (perfectly!). I then use the curly girl method and use Aveda products - shampoo, conditioner and curl enhancer. Never use heat and use a little Moroccan oil between washes. After many years of experimenting this works for me, thank goodness.

I too have naturally curly hair, hated it at School and used to iron it ?
Now use Noughty wave hello shampoo and conditioner, plus there curl cream. Have my hair cut by a curly girl trained stylist
There aren’t many in the UK. They cut hair whilst dry to follow the natural curl pattern
Have found too many hairdressers cut when wet and seen obsessed with straightening it.

Thanks everyone for all your comments and it’s certainly given me something to think about. I love all the pictures your curls are all amazing. I’d like to find a hairdresser who specialises in curly hair how do I do that though?

WOW Tanith, just that WOW,

I'm naturally curly haired and gingery too Many years ago a work colleague told me to straighten my hair, I'm afraid my response was not printable (and this was from someone who paid a fortune to have her straight hair curled!!). Yes it goes frizzy in the damp, but I don't have to spend a fortune in the hairdressers - I've noticed lately they tend to dry it straight even though I don't like it like that - one consolation as someone above said, it doesn't stay straight for long .

I just use normal shampoo/conditioner, towel dry and leave it - can't even find my hairdryer at the moment.

Gabrielle how did that happen? Did you want it that short?
In my early twenties I had a shaved head, but I had the bone structure for it then.
I suppose that I still must have the bone structure; it’s in there somewhere…

I'm naturally wavy but had a disaster courtesy of Toni and Guy (yep!) Now it's about a centimetre all over and like a nail brush texture not good On an ageing triple chinned lass with a chubby face , disastrous! ....I used to just part dry with drier then relax the length with a styling barrel dryer it looked gorgeous..... Yours looks super either way ,I also used Aussie miracle leave in conditioner when I wanted soft waves and no relaxing! It's has a divine perfume and is super lovely in your type of waves/curls too. But it does look lovely either way!

I’ve been following the curly girl
method for the past 4 years and it’s made such a difference to my curls. No shampoo, silicones, sulphates etc. Never use a normal towel as the little loops can catch the curls and pull them. Always dry with a clean t-shirt. Never brush dry hair, only when it’s full of conditioner.

My hair is very frizz-prone, and I can rarely get a decent second day, so I wash every day. It doesn’t harm the hair in any way as I only use gentle products.

For me I wash and condition with conditioner, leaving a bit in the hair. I squeeze out excess moisture with a clean T-shirt then add mousse and sometimes a gel as well. If I have the time I diffuse for a little while then air dry. Scrunch out the crunch with a tiny bit of oil then fluff. I like my hair better now than ever before, even in a bad hair day.

Oh how I wish! A little bend would do but no, dead straight!! I spend a long time every morning just trying to get a little curl and before I am downstairs it's dropped to straight. Embrace your curls ladies, I would love some.

Trying to find a hairdresser who understands curl patterns and how to cut it properly is a bit of a nightmare here.

There doesn’t seem to be anyone who knows how.

One hairdresser told us ‘Yes I’ve been cutting curly hair for years without complaint!’ Then proceeded to tell us she would have to straighten my daughters hair first to make sure it was cut properly… Erm.. bye bye ?

4allweknow

What are you bothering about, your hair looks fantastic either way.

If we didn’t ‘bother about’ stuff, there would be precious little on the site!

tanith,op, I’m so sorry! I got your user name wrong! It’s the ‘th’ and the lower case initial that confused me

What are you bothering about, your hair looks fantastic either way.

Pearl that’s similar to mine, on a very good day! The curl pattern is the same.
The colour is similar too, mines lighter, and it’s nowhere near as long as your daughter’s.

henetha this is what I do.
I don’t plop, I think that it squashes my curls. I dry it with a towel (a Curly Girl no-no) just blotting it between my hands, not rubbing.

I don’t put anything on it to ‘set’ it, like gel or mousse as I don’t like the feeling, so I don’t have to ‘scrunch the crunch’ either.

I do use lots of leave in conditioner. I’m using e-Salons at the moment. Ellie’s is good, and Palmers too.

Curly hair tends to be drier than other hair, so needs lots of moisturising.
I co-wash most washes, and then do more conditioning.
The best co-wash I’ve found is e-Salons. I use their dye too after GN bombarded me with their adverts.

When I use a traditional shampoo (about every third wash) it’s Palmers cocoa butter conditioning shampoo.

I put little claw clips around the crown when it’s air drying to give it a bit if height.

Never use any heat.
I haven’t been to a hairdresser since before the original lock down. I have trimmed it myself curl by curl a couple of times.

The jury is out regarding Elastercizer. I used it yesterday (because of this thread!)
Today my hair feels in lovely, soft condition, but the downside is that there is hardly any curl definition, it’s just a pouffey blob.

I’ve bought a silk cap to wear at night in order to stop my hair tangling, but unfortunately it won’t stay on my head.

Sorry for the ramble! I hope you find something helpful in there! x

Curly hair ladies hate curls, straight hair ladies would love curls - we all want what we can’t have. Sadly, unless we are millionaires, there’s no quick fix. Just look at Meghan Markle’s hair - she has naturally curly hair but we only ever see it straight (regular on-site hair stylist I suspect).

I stopped straightening my hair and grew it when I gave up work, having to be in a uniform, very neat and organised. I actually have corkscrew curls. The longer my hair grows the shorter it looks. For years I have avoided commercial shampoos containing any SLS or SLE ingredients, far too drying. I have come to the conclusion that a good, proper Deva haircut by someone who really understands curly hair is the best thing. It is the luck of the genetic draw that dictates the quality of the curl and whether or not it goes frizzy at the first puff of wind, or tumbles into the most gorgeous silken swirls with just a toss of the head. The real gripe I have about the mass of hair products I have is the smell, some of which give me a headache and nausea - so fake. What’s needed is a product exchange where we can swap stuff we don’t like and try new ones, save us a small fortune. ( I am also a lovely silvery grey and use a purple mask once a month, although I have to be careful not to look like my Grandmother after her purple rinse (circa 1960s)).

Are you using the crown and glory method to wash? ?

Using sulphate free shampoos and conditioners? ?

Spraying and plopping? ?

Using an old t-shirt to plop? ?

Scrunching the crunch? ?

?? Yep… Its gobbledegook to me too!

It’s what I hear from my daughter… she had curls as a kid - but straightened it for years. Decided around 7 years ago to say ‘I’ve had enough’ and went natural.

She’s researched and tried I don’t know how many shampoos that are rubbish/ok/good/great/brilliant and has found her happy place now. (Good for me - I’ve not brought shampoo or conditioner for years as I get the cast offs ?)

Her hair is almost waist length when wet and combed out (she doesn’t use hair tools often) and just past her shoulder blades when dry.

She has a 3C-4A curl pattern and to me, it’s absolutely beautiful.

Your curly hair is lovely...leave it as it is

I can’t answer your question as my hair is fine and very straight. I would love some bounce. I just want to say if that’s you in the pictures your hair is lovely. The curls are right on o trend and you are very lucky. Show them off because it really does look lovely.

I have wavy hair which I always kept short but let it grow trough lockdown and now encourage my waves. I have found this blog really useful.
www.awakeorganics.co.uk/curly-girl-method-approved-how-to-get-your-curls-back/

If only my hair would stay curly instead of frizzing! I wear a hat in humid weather to stop this. Now have the hairdresser straighten and smooth it each week, and by the end of the week it's curly again. It was a problem during lockdown as left to dry on its own it's just a great frizz. None of the frizzeses seemed to work, so I used big rollers and these were an improvement. I suppose the upside is that I've never had to pay for a perm in my life.

My hair is quite frizzy so I had it relaxed every three months. This made my hair break off though and I used to find it everywhere, including my food when I was eating. Eventually I decided to have it cut VERY short and I am happy with it now.

My daughter has curly hair inherited from her dad and not me. She never straightens it but embraces the curls. She has a home hairdresser and the last few cuts has had it cut quite short into her neck at the back which I think looks very stylish. She also says that being of a certain age it helps with the hot flushes! Her 13 year old daughter has the same hair but it's always poker straight. Both use John Frieda products.