Hair help! Taming the frizz..

[Emma09]

Gigi- is your hair completely dry, when you straighten it?
Are you using a straightener with ceramic plates?

I used to have wavy hair before I had DD- I found a serum on the mid lengths and ends would make my hair soft and manageable- PPS make a nice one, you only need a really small pea sized amount.

Also agree with a PP-don't brush your hair- combing it reduces the upset to curly hair.
Try an Afro comb when your hair is wet or dry.

Use a lot less shampoo and conditioner.
A lot of the time curly hair is oily on the scalp and dry on the ends- the oil can't slide down the hair shaft as easily with curly hair- use conditioner on your ends only.

Find a length that suits your hair- my sisters curly hair looks kinky when she wears it long, but when she wears it at her shoulders, it looks amazing.... Full off body and bounce.

On a side note- I do an at home Keratin treatment on my neighbors hair every 3 months, we get it on the Internet- but you can buy it in Priceline.
It's super easy to do yourself.

[Feijoa Mum]

Ohhhhh first of all I feel your pain I really do.

I have not curly more like kinky, dry, very grey extremely frizzy and so incredibly thick hair and I HATE it. It is almost permanently pull into a messy bun because I cant do ponytails either. I would take out someones eye if they came within a metre radius of me!
If I happen to have an hour spare to straighten it properly it is awesome and to be fair does last a few days BUT I also have psoriasis so the tell tale snowflakes soon give me away forcing me to wet it again. I dont bother in summer as straight hair and sweat make for a lovely frizzy hairline - not a look im awfully fond of.

You name it I have tried it over the years but I think I may have finally semi tamed it.

I dont brush it at all anymore - I finger brush it in the shower but thats it.
I dont towel dry it anymore - I use old cotton teeshirts to wrap it up in. Towel drying encourages separating and the frizz, we want the curls to stay together!
I only wash it once a week - I wet it everyday but unless I need to I stretch out washing for as long as possible trying to keep the natural oils
I do a warm oil treatment once a week - half a cup of any warmed oil but rice bran is really good (just happened to have it in the cupboard) thoroughly soak through your hair and wrap in old teeshirt. Or like PZ in gladwrap first if you want to sleep in it, but I usually aim for at least an hour. Rinse out wash and condition normally - no brushing, no towels. Very hydrating for dry hair.
I also use a tiny bit of coconut oil through the ends when I style (hahahah put in ponytail)

Now it is by no means magazine worthy but I am feeling better about it, it is certainly feeling better and the frizz is manageable. Moisture is the key with frizz so if you can replace as much of that as you can it really does help

[Gigi]

Gigi- is your hair completely dry, when you straighten it?
Are you using a straightener with ceramic plates?

I used to have wavy hair before I had DD- I found a serum on the mid lengths and ends would make my hair soft and manageable- PPS make a nice one, you only need a really small pea sized amount.

Also agree with a PP-don't brush your hair- combing it reduces the upset to curly hair.
Try an Afro comb when your hair is wet or dry.

Use a lot less shampoo and conditioner.
A lot of the time curly hair is oily on the scalp and dry on the ends- the oil can't slide down the hair shaft as easily with curly hair- use conditioner on your ends only.

Find a length that suits your hair- my sisters curly hair looks kinky when she wears it long, but when she wears it at her shoulders, it looks amazing.... Full off body and bounce.

On a side note- I do an at home Keratin treatment on my neighbors hair every 3 months, we get it on the Internet- but you can buy it in Priceline.
It's super easy to do yourself.

i am using the straightener when hair is very nearly completely dry.
i shampoo and use an afro comb, then towel dry with a microfibre sports hair towel (the sort that dry your hair faster).

i blowdry the fringe before it kinks, let the rest air dry, then straighten the rest (if i have the opportunity) with a very cheap hair straightener, it might have ceramic plates, not sure. It cost very little.

i hate using the straightener, for so many years i avoided using heat on my hair.

i have so many serums and Moroccan oil things that i have bought to try.

My hair is nearly to my shoulders now, i get a haircut whenever i spy a Daily Deal type thing in my area (around every six months - some of these are for very suss places, some have been great. It's a lucky dip. i would love to find an "experienced stylist" who knows fluffy hair and could thin mine out for me. I feel like all the hairdressers i end up with, are just glued to their straightener, have no idea how spending heaps of time on my hair is not going to happen for me, so even when i ask for a low maintenance hairstyle, they STILL give me one that requires DAILY straightening and fussing about.

ANgel pants, mention of layers etc, haven't heard of that before. I tried bob cuts (all one length) and it really didn't suit me, so i usually do ask for some grading/layering - do you think that's the problem?

AFter reading all these posts, i think i will lean more towards COMBING my hair, and give the brush a rest. I don't want to look like a model, i just want to be presentable outside in the world of people. I want to stop embarrassing bilby in public. She is very much noticing how well presented, the other mummies at school pickups/drop offs are.

i rarely put my hair in a ponytail now, feel so self conscious with the other parents, last thing i want to do is expose my sticking out ears AS WELL, as my fluffy, woolly sticking out hair. i wish i could walk around with a paperbag over my head.

There's some infomercial hair product, that straightens and curls your hair at the same time, once only sold on tv, but now sold in big w as well. Does anyone know the thing i mean? and more importantly, has anyone tried it out? wish i could remember the name.

i'm curious, if i went really short, like ears length, would that make things better.

So many older women have shorter hair cuts (which i have avoided, as i realise short hair cuts, mean more freq trips to hairdresser). Do the older women go short, due to woolly hair? I'm about 20 years younger than those women, have always had shoulder or a bit longer (shoulder blade) length hair. I will go short, if i thought that would solve the woolly problem. Need to hide ears, so does that mean, short bob? (which i already have found out, bobs don't work on me, i can't get my hair straight enough for them to sit right), so my hair kinks allover the joint, and bob doesn't even look like a bob.

maybe a wig is the answer - sigh.

[little_O]

Gigi: does your hair have any curl to it? Like if you were to put curl product or mousse in it, scrunch and leave it would that work?
I find with mine, the least I touch it when not straightening it the better. Also with my curls it's better to have some layers.
As a thought, next time you go to the hairdresser, ask them to cut your hair for natural and leave it natural when you leave. I know you don't feel as special, but I find it makes them cut your hair to suit you, otherwise you leave as a bad advertisement for them

[PumpkinZulu]

Yep, you can get it in Indian supermarkets, or online for better quality stuff. Once a week, the night before I wash my hair, I rub a good amount of coconut oil into my hair (in winter it solidifies, so just scoop it out of the tub) until my hair and scalp is coated, then wrap my head in glad wrap, pop a beanie or towel on my head and sleep with it in. In the morning, I wash my hair (two shampoos usually). It hydrates my hair and if I do it consistently my hair feels better for it.

OT, but as a religious hair straightener, with a 1yo that keeps me busy, I get the difficulty with the wash/dry/straighten caper, takes ages. I split it up. So I'll wash my hair in the afternoon when DD is napping or happy to play in the exersaucer, then blowdry it straightish an hour or two afterwards. Then I'll tie it up, and either straighten it at night when DD is in bed, or in the morning. Also, if I REALLY need to wash my hair that morning and don't have the time, I wash, towel dry, blow dry (quickly, not nicely, so u get a massive Afro) and brush my hair, add some Moroccan oil, and tie most of it up in a bun. Then take out my fringe and a few strands I want out and straighten those

[Gigi]

so, if i find an Indian supermarket (unsure), do i head for the hair products aisle, and look for "Coconut Oil Hair Treatment in a tub?"

or are you buying the coconut oil in a tub, in the food section and using it for your hair?

i have tried straightening my hair the night before, but just sleeping on it, makes it go frizzy and wonky again by morning. argh. i had a hairdresser tell me, that after straightening my hair, i wouldn't have to do it again, for at least five days. meh. my hair is not straight or curly, it's got a bit of wave, kinks (and alot of wool).

[jackrose]

I found an awesome book at the library about managing curly hair, I think it was called the "curly girl" and it was all about reducing the frizz by avoiding shampooing. It started me on a whole new tangent in managing my curls.

I have since found heaps of info on avoiding shampoo or at the very least, avoiding the sulfates in shampoos. There is a lot of info online if you are interested in looking into it but I have found a huge improvement in my frizz and much better curls when I avoid shampoo. I wash with plain water, with bicarb or with conditioner for most washes but use a sulfate free shampoo every now and again. I think the principle is to allow natural oils down the hair shaft to stop the frizz while still keeping the scalp free of the oils that can make the head look greasy. Shampoo strips the hair of the natural oils which are really important in a curly haired person.

[PumpkinZulu]

The ones I've gone to, it's in the beauty section, with hair products, but it is used for cooking too. I now use online for beauty purposes, supermarket for cooking.

[LimeSlice]

You can get Coconut Oil at Coles now too.

[PumpkinZulu]

You can get Coconut Oil at Coles now too.

Huh! That's awesome, I had no idea. Easy peasy then.

I went shampoo-less for 3 months. My hair lived it after the first 2-4 weeks! Made my curls lovely. Was not great for straightening though, but my hair in it's natural state really responded, nice defined curls with very little frizz Maybe I should start that again?

[Butterfly Dawn]

I love the laminates range Sebastian do. The shampoo and conditioner are awesome- perhaps little heavy so not an every day shampoo.
Will check coconut oil out.
I will wash hair at night and straighten in the morning. Least i did before i got my last cut which is nightmare of lumps that stick out

Sent from my Galaxy with the barefoot princess covering me in kisses, so please forgive the mistakes

[little_O]

I too have battled the frizz. Do you brush your hair? I stopped. Once it's washed it's wrung in the towel, some curl cream put in and left. NEVER brush until just before your next hair wash.

For straightening I agrees with the cloud 9 straighteners, brilliant. When my hair was quite frizzy, I would let it dry natural, then use the straighteners to reduce frizz. Now I've learnt to blow dry properly it's ok.

Personally I avoid steam straighteners as I found with my hair, the modifier makes the frizz worse. If your hair is dry, try using the intense treatment conditioners (normally in a tub) instead of normal conditioner. Also less is more with hair washing. Don't wash more than twice a week. It will dry your hair out more .

[AngelPants]

I only finger comb my hair in the shower once its got conditioner in it. I also only wash it once or twice a week and air dry it. Mine also gets heaps worse if it needs a cut (like now) but the way its cut can impact apparently, heaps or layers making it more likely to be frizzy & get tangled or so I'm told.

sent from my watzamajig so may not make sense....

[lilima]

I have curly hair, that fizzes. I wash it once a week, but wet it in the shower every day. I don't drench, but a quick duck under the water. I only comb after washing. If it still looks a bit frizzy, I will put some Moroccan oil in.

[Rach83]

I use joico Kpak shampoo conditioner and treatment.
When I wear my hair down I either straighten it or use mousse or a curl product to encourage the curls. There was one product I used all the time but they've changed the formula so is now crap!

I'd seriously consider keratin. I am going to try it if I can get it while pregnant. Will make my life so much easier with a toddler and a newborn.

[LauraTheStylist]

I hate my hair. Have always hated it (except when it's wet, or on the rare occasion when I was a teenager and my hairdresser would straighten it for me after a cut!). It is thick and frizzy, and nothing I have ever really tried makes a difference.

I just spent the last hour in the bathroom trying to straighten it (what was I thinking?!) and it doesn't look any different, just feels odd from the product I put in it to try and help. Now I remember why it was at least 2 1/2 years ago that I last attempted any form of 'styling'!
It is fairly dry too, which doesn't help the frizz but I've tried leave in treatments, moisturizing treatments etc and nothing works. I cant wear it out or even in a pony tail because it's just so frizzy and I hate big hair! Any suggestions?

You can do two very effective things:

1. Use argan oil to tame the frizz and to prevent split ends by making your hair stronger and healthier. My favorite brand is called Pro Naturals because it's also a heat protectant and it's very light and has a really nice, subtle smell. You can put some on your damp hair after a shower and it'll fix your hair all day long, it's the best there is for breakage, frizz, dryness and to prevent hair loss and split ends. It's better than olive oil, almond oil, coconut and a whole lot of others. It absorbs better and helps more. You can get this oil online at beyas.ca if you want to try it.

2. Ask an EXPERIENCED stylist to thin out your hair. They use thinning shears which have teethed blades and they pass it through the hair to make it less poufy and easier to manage. It can be very helpful if done properly.

3. Make sure you're using a good straightener. Bad plates can really ruin your hair and dry it out. At the site I gave you look for the Karmin G3 salon pro styling iron. It has pure ceramic and tourmaline plates, adjustable settings and a whole lot of other features that make it PERFECT for curly, frizzy and thick hair. Does mine in less than 10mins!!!

[AngelPants]

I dunno that thing about layers is just what a hairdresser told me once but it think it was in relation to very fine curly hair rather than all curly hair cos mine super fine & sees the light of day and gets into birds nests lol

sent from my watzamajig so may not make sense....

[Butterfly Dawn]

layers work wonders for some and are a nightmare for others. alittle layering after your shoulder may be nice and should be safe.
i love frizz ease serum in wet hair then mousse as it drys and if its still wild Alittle oil or finishing product.

Sent from my Galaxy with the barefoot princess covering me in kisses, so please forgive the mistakes