Transitioning to natural hair

[mcam]

Any product recommendations for transitioning 3b/3c curls? I’ve been straightening my hair for years and I’ve lost my curl pattern completely 😩

[Llgc]

Hi @mcam welcome to the community!

Unfortunately it's going to take a while to get your curl pattern back or resembling what your natural pattern might be, but I have a few product recommendations for you. At the end of the day though, sadly all curls are so much different and react differently, so I really recommend getting samples before buying products outright. That was the one thing that totally killed my wallet when I was transitioning from straightened hair to my natural curly hair years ago. 

1) Olaplex No. 3 Hair Repair Perfector 3.3 oz / 100 mL- this could be a great product for you to use to try to fix some of the damage. If you use it though, I recommend dampening your hair first and putting it up in a shower cap and a towel and letting it really sink in for as long as you can. 

2) Briogeo Don't Despair, Repair!™ Deep Conditioning Hair Mask 8 oz/ 237 mL - Very nourishing and a great item to add to your arsenal

3) BRIOGEO - Rosarco Milk™ Reparative Leave-In Conditioning Spray- Lovelovelove this leave-in, makes my hair super soft. Weird thing though - the top of the spray bottle is atrocious so I actually have a mini bottle I refill instead of using the bottle it comes in.

4) Briogeo Curl Charisma™ Rice Amino + Avocado Leave–In Defining Cream- I use this for styling along with another non-sephora product. 

If you haven't had much experience in styling curly hair, let me know and I'll send a few recommendations your way for techniques. 

Good luck 🙂 

[mcam]

Thank you so much for your reply!  I’m going to stock up on the Briogeno products. How do you feel about Devacurl? 

[Llgc]

@mcam sorry for the late reply! The Devacurl products haven't worked particularly well for me, however I do like their  DEVACURL - No-Poo Original Zero Lather Conditioning Cleanser  on the infrequent times I shampoo (maybe once every three weeks or so).

That being said, one of my friends likes Devacurl more than Briogeo and she has similar curls to me (3B) so it could be either! I'd recommend trial kits or going in store and asking for samples. I've found the folks at my Sephora have been great at giving samples I can use 2-3 times which has been super helpful at letting me figure out what will work before I buy it. I know you can return products to sephora, but I'd rather not waste if I can avoid it!