My hair is long & heavy; how do I get it to hold curl?

[creatureb]

My hair goes down to the top of my hips, and it's fairly thick as well. I don't color it either, so it's pretty soft and tends to fall pin straight. I am having the worst time getting the curls to hold the longer my hair gets. No amount of hairspray of any kind has proved to maintain hardly any style. I need something that will give me texture and prime my hair so it will hold better. I've found that anything that smooths it is a complete disaster for my curls. Any suggestions??

[ContouringinTX]

Hi @creatureb,

My hair is long, thick, and heavy, so I also have to get creative about finding ways to keep the curl in. 

Last year I bought a T3 Curling Iron (and I agonized over the decision for months because it was so expensive), and it has made all the difference. I wash and curl my hair on the weekends, and with about 10-15 minutes of touching up in the mornings, it will last all week long. 

Another tip is that I twist my hair up into a bun and secure it with spin pins (you can get them cheap at Target - they're amazing), and sleep with a silk cap on. Most morning when I let my hair down I don't even need to comb through it because the curls are still intact.

Good luck, and hope some of that helps!

[lylysa]

Hi, Creatureb!

Sounds like you and I have the same thing that happens!

My hair is past my hips and quite thick as well, and while my strands have no problem being curled, eventually the sheer weight and bulk of it ends up taking a toll on curls and waves.

A big savior I have found is Living Proof's Style Primer (available also in a spray for folks with thinner, fine, or normal hair). 

As I'm curling my hair, I work a touch of the primer onto each section as I go. Sometimes I even mist on a bit of their Flex hairspray (brushable formula as to not leave flakes and build up) alongside the primer. The below set has minis of the primer, Flex spray, shine serum, and texturing/volume paste---

My boyfriend's mother gifted me with a set of hot rollers from Calista and they have been a dream come true as well! They make longer rollers for folks with extra long hair, so you're able to disperse hair on more surface area so your hair doesn't just get all jumbled on one standard roller that won't disperse enough heat. I covered the roller set in the below thread:

http://community.sephora.com/t5/Hair/help-hot-rollers-that-work/m-p/961285/highlight/true#M3851

Sephora no longer carries the brand of rollers, but you can still find it on other online retailers. 

Afterward when I take the rollers out I shake loose my hair and style it as I see fit (either loosening the curls some more or not) and give another round of hairspray (I use the Flex again or the LP Control formula, which is available on their site and Ulta, it has a stronger hold than the Flex but is also brushable).

I vary how I use the rollers too. More than often, I'm a bit pressed for time so I gather my hair in a super high ponytail at the top of my head and then section it into pieces to use with the rollers. By the end I have 12 massive long rollers gathered up top and then I wrap my hair with a scarf or piece of fabric to help hold in heat as I continue to get ready (makeup). It looks like the below, except with hot rollers, not foam ones, and the bunch is higher up, but feel free to play around with ponytail height.

[ShannonAlexis]

@creatureb My hair isn't quite as long as yours, but here are some things I do that may help.  

- Use day old or 2 day hair. Freshly washed hair is harder to curl and won't hold a style as long as slightly dirty hair will. 

- Use a heat protecting primer spray. I use the Tresamme Thermal Creations Heat Tamer Spray (you can get it at Ulta, Target, drugstores, grocery stores). 

- Use a flat iron, if possible. Flat irons get hotter than curling irons or curling wants so the curls will hold better. There are youtube videos on how to do it. I use a curling wand, it works well too. 

- Use a texturizing hair spray. I like the Big Sexy Hair volumizing hair spray. Spray it at the roots, under the curls, and then spray and tussle it into the curls themselves. 

- Don't brush the curls out. You can gently pull them and move them around, but don't take a brush to them.

I hope that helped. It's what I do to make curls last all day in my heavy hair, but my hair is naturally kind of wavy. 

[TrysBeautyItems]

It's gravity, there's too much weight. You may want to consider a trim.