Curls, Waves, and Coils

[missaa8]

What's the best way for wavy hair to become curly, or coily, without using a hair diffuser? 💕

[em2403]

@missaa8 The brand Not Your Mother's has curl products that are very popular. There are curl routines all over the internet with those products!

[Loretta55]

Is your hair wavy or curly already @missaa8? If your hair is already wavy or curly just applying your products properly and scrunching will make your hair wavy or curly. You may want to try a hair stylist that specializes in cutting wavy/curly hair. Go to either DevaCurl or Ouidad website to find a stylist close to you. I found my stylist on the DevaCurl website. You will receive tips on how to style your hair.

[missaa8]

I can never find a stylist that works well with my needs, @Loretta55... I certainly appreciate the information, though!

[Loretta55]

Please check out both websites @missaa8. Anytime I have recommended them to a different BIC member, I have been thanked tremendously. You need to have clean washed hair with no product applied. You can use a leave in conditioner. I just scrunch my hair and let it air dry. Your hair will be cut dry according to your curl pattern. If you don’t want to get your hair diffused dry you will sit under a dryer. 

[missaa8]

@Loretta55, compared to someone with fine hair, I'm often charged double, or triple the price, for these services.

I appreciate the suggestion more than you know 💖

[makeitup305]

@missaa8 that is really strange that they would charge you extra for thickness. I've never heard of that. I have long, wavy hair and have maybe gotten charged a little extra at some point for the length but not usually. 

[Loretta55]

I have very thick wavy hair @missaa8 and I have never been charged differently for my hair type. I live in the NYC metropolitan area.

[elise222]

Different techniques work for different hair types and people, but this is what I find works for my wavy hair (that can get weighed down with too much product).

- In the shower, I apply my conditioner and leave it to sit for a couple of minutes. I then brush my hair with a wet brush to detangle (with conditioner in). When it's time to rinse, first I'll run it under the water for a second to get more water in, then squish from the bottom up to try and start forming the wave clumps

- Rinse the conditioner completely out, and then I take a bit of OUAI Curl Cream with North Bondi Fragrance 8 oz/ 236 mL  and rub it between my hands and rake through my hair. Same as above, I squish from the bottom up and form those wave clumps again

- I do a quick head under water, without rinsing the product out

- I follow up with another product in the same way after this. I've tried mousse, gel, and most recently dae Cactus Fruit 3-in-1 Styling Cream Original  and for me, the Dae product seems to work best. 

- This time after adding a bit of water, I take my microfiber hair towel and scrunch my hair forming the waves. I tend not to "plop" because it doesn't always give me the best results. 

- If you do have that crunchy cast in your hair, (I don't really get that from the ouai/dae stuff) leave it until your hair is completely dry. Once your hair is dry, flip your head over and "scrunch out the crunch". You can do it with a hair oil, but even just scrunching without product will break up that cast.

Some people do this as the bowl method which also works, but I've personally found the shower way to work more for me, just because my waves form better with a little less product in them. I'd recommend experimenting with different methods!

I'd also recommend figuring out your curl pattern - for example, mine is about a 2b - then searching tiktok/Instagram/YouTube for videos of methods people use.

[missaa8]

Depending on heat, humidity and moisture, my curl pattern is anywhere from course & frizzy to loose, corkscrew curls.

Would you suggest the same product and routine on hair with high porosity @elise222 ?

[elise222]

@missaa8 I say try it! I think my hair is fairly high porosity as well. You could see if Sephora would prepare a sample of those products for you. I find they both go a pretty long way. The biggest thing I've found is the more moisture I can get my hair to hold in, the less frizzy it'll be - I find the method I mentioned really encourages my hair to keep that moisture.

[BrendaC1971]

Plopping! After squeezing your styling products into your hair “plop” it onto a t-shirt and wrap it up. Check out You-tube for instructional videos related to it. 

[missaa8]

My hair always gets crunchy when I use this technique, @BrendaC1971 👎 not good

[BrendaC1971]

Hmm, if you don’t want to use a diffuser then perhaps a bonnet style hair dryer? Is your hair crunchy from product ? 

[missaa8]

I can never find a bonnet or net large enough to wrap around my head 💅 ✨ do you have any suggestions on what I should do @BrendaC1971 ?

[makeitup305]

@missaa8 from what I understand, your hair makes a cast with the gel and once it's fully dry you can use a few drops of oil, warm them up in your palms, rake them through your hair, and use that to break the cast.

[missaa8]

I use JVN Mini Complete Hydrating Air Dry Hair Cream 1 fl oz / 30 mL ... does this cast, @makeitup305 ?

[makeitup305]

@missaa8 It might leave a slight cast since it's a styling cream so it's meant to set a bit. Have you tried using a brush to define your curls while using this product? You can still try using a few drops of oil and raking it through and see if that works for you.

[missaa8]

I mostly use my fingers... is this the correct way, @makeitup305?

[makeitup305]

@missaa8 I'm not an expert by any means (and don't always do what I'm supposed to when it comes to my hair). If you have wavy hair and want to encourage it to form clumps so that the waves are more defined/thicker, from what I've seen, you're supposed to apply product to soaking wet hair (with your hair upside down), in the order of leave in spray, styling cream, and gel by raking in the product with your hands. Then you use prayer hands to finish smoothing in the product and encourage clumping, and then scrunch. Then you plop it and when it's halfway dry, you diffuse. Once dry, you use a little oil to break the clumps a bit.

However, since you don't want to diffuse, you might want to squeeze out excess water, then apply your products, then plop as long as you can, then finish air drying. This might result in more frizz. If you find that your curls aren't forming well, you can use a brush to help the curls form by brushing your hair and wrapping the hair around the handle. 

Different techniques work on different people. It's honestly a matter of experimenting to see what works for you. 

Check out Manes by Mel on YouTube, she has a lot of curly hair videos.

[missaa8]

I'm currently loving  PATTERN by Tracee Ellis Ross Hair Clip  for air drying, @makeitup305 💕