(no subject)

[ironymaiden]

There was a little girl,
Who had a little curl,
Right in the middle of her forehead.
When she was good,
She was very good indeed,
But when she was bad she was horrid.

my hair was short, above the ears short, for most of my childhood. there was a mullet at one point, and it did once get just past my chin all over, but i didn't actually grow it out until i was about 17. it always wanted to stand straight up or stick out. mom was always trying to smooth it out and turn the ends under, and complained about all my "cowlicks". she also had a thing about stopping stylists from layering my hair. what i discovered when it got long enough all over was that it wasn't actually straight-but-unruly, it was wavy.

it's only in the last few years that i've made a genuine effort to embrace the curl, and accept that what it wants to do is be messy. i'm on curly girl method attempt 2.5, and it's finally doing things i like.

stuff i had to learn about my hair:

• my hair hates added proteins - silk, coconut, all that (i have a little conditioner graveyard)


• no towels for drying hair, only t-shirts


• don't brush it


• stuff that works for tighter curls will often straighten my hair


• anything that seals moisture in also seals moisture out and has to be completely stripped, if used at all


• too short and the curl pattern won't develop, too long and the weight pulls it out

i don't get knots in my hair anymore, and most days it doesn't get touched with a comb at all. my curl pattern is tightening up - i would have called myself 2a/2b when i started out, now i see more 2c and i'm starting to get a 3a ringlet falling over my right eye. i'm thinking more about what i'm doing, but i'm not spending any extra time.

the best part: after a bunch of faffing around, the 99 cent Suave conditioner that smells edible is better than any expensive stuff that i've tried. i do still have a bottle of everything-free fancy shampoo, but since i only shampoo about once a week, it lasts forever.

currently i'm trying not wetting my hair in the shower on at least day 2 and day 3 after a wash. i have a spray bottle of water mixed with a dollop of the aforementioned conditioner; a spritz of that all over and a little finger-raking conquers bedhead.

Comments

[sistawendy]

My hair... doesn't seem to mind added proteins, and I tried t-shirts for a while and got annoyed with them, but otherwise everything else applies to me, or is stuff I do. My hair is really fine in addition to curly

The userpic on this comment shows my hair an inch or so longer than it is today, and red instead of black. I've mostly embraced what I call hair zen: curly hair is gonna do what it's gonna do, and there's no sense in getting my undies in a bunch about it. I do, however, use a little product after I wash, which is every five days. No brushes, combs only for part maintenance.

My curl pattern? 3a ringlets, baybee, the envy of at least one Goth girlfriend.

[ironymaiden]

I'm really wary of product, having lived through the '80s. (I have all these gross memories of people with curling iron barrels that were laminated with hair that had adhered with hairspray. not the product's fault, obviously...)

all the curly girl people are like "LA Looks blue, fistfuls" and I'm curious but I haven't been able to bring myself to try because that particular hair gel=bitches from high school. also, I have a hard time believing that I have enough curl to stand up to a "scrunch out the crunch" amount of anything.

what's your product of choice?

[sistawendy]

Arg. I was afraid you were going to ask. I used to use Sebatian's Potion 9, but I'll have to get back to you on the current one.

[sistawendy]

My new product is Paul Mitchell, The Cream.

[annofowlshire]

Do you have experience with using dry shampoos? I've been off shampoo for years (only when it gets particularly manky, which can be months at a time), but I find I need to do a conditioner rinse every day, as my roots feel/look oily within 24 hours from the last rinse.

I don't really want to do a daily rinse, though :P (Both because I'm lazy, and to conserve water.) So I've been trying dry shampoos and such, but man, I'm just not having any luck. Any suggestions? Obviously, we have very different hair, but if you've tried a bunch of things, you may have heard of something I haven't XD

(Also, I want to see piiiiics :) )

[ironymaiden]

I'm curious about dry shampoo too. mimerki mentioned that she has a bunch of samples; I should see if they made it through the move.

that curl, on an okay day

[annofowlshire]

That curl is fabulous ^_^