Oily, fine, wavy, frizzy hair HELP ME PLEASE

[minicoopergirl]

Here's the deal.  My hair is oily.  It's also very wavy, descending into barrel curls on a very very good hair day.  But the hairs themselves are fine and frizzy.  I've tried all manner of shampoos, soaps, conditioners, hair oils, acidic rinses, conditioner-only... nothing.  Nothing works.  I've gotten close with a Function of Beauty shampoo and conditioner duo, but a few hours after drying it goes frizzy and I have NO CLUE what type of styling product to use for air-drying.  

If I use curl creams, my hair goes flat... and a few hours later, it's very frizzy up top and oil on the tips.

If I use mousse, my hair goes crunchy and frizzy... and then goes flat a few hours later.

If I use nothing, my curls behave wonderfully, and they rebound well after being brushed with a boar bristle, or combed with a wide-toothed comb.  But they're very frizzy.

If I use hair oil, my hair goes greasy REALLY FAST.  

I refuse to become dependent on more than 2 styling products, and I only use a blow dryer for special occasions.  But even then, I don't really know what I'm doing.  My hair is now descending barely past my collarbones, and my whole life I've worn it at my chin so I'm very lost and have no idea what I'm doing. PLEASE HELP.

Note: smooth curls from underneath the top, frizzy layer. This is after a full day post-shower with a tiny amount of clay curl creamUnstyled, frizzy hair on top of smooth curlsUnstyled, frizzy hair on top of smooth curls

[AndieKat]

I feel your pain! I have fine, colored hair that is curly when I treat it right, and looks like a troll doll when I don't. The best routine I've found thus far is: 1. Wash/Condition with color safe products (and I only condition about 1x/week because of my oily situation)

2. Towel Dry. Comb out with wide tooth comb or pick. This is the last time I touch my hair with a comb or brush until the next day.  (Brushing = cotton candy hair)

3. Small amount of curl cream on only the length of my hair (like less than a quarter dollop for hair that goes to the middle of my back) None at all near my scalp. I scrunch it through to help the curl develop and then clip it away from my face and do makeup while it begins to dry.

4. Here's the part that's weird - I will unclip it and spray my scalp with (Batiste Divine Dark) dry shampoo.  It's still damp, but I spray it just like I would if it were already oily. I work it in with my fingers. It seems like it helps to dry my hair while the dampness also takes care of any powdery look from the spray. I feel like this allows me more "good hair" time and gives more volume on top.

5. Let it air dry or if I'm cold or in a hurry, I'll blow dry it. (Blow drying + scrunching tends to give me an 80's hair band look so most times I skip it)

That's it. If I have extra frizzies on top, I will use a small amount of hair spray to tame them.

Next day hair - I comb it out and use plain water from a small spray bottle to "reset" my curls. Dry shampoo again if needed.

[RGbrown]

@minicoopergirl

First...LOVE the user name...I'm a bit of a MINI freak myself; mine's purple 😄

I have very similar hair; fine, wavy/borderline curly, oily, and yet dry/somewhat frizzy at the ends. For air-drying, I'd recommend trying Bumble and bumble Don't Blow It. I have a hard time describing what it does, other than "it's magic". It helps with frizz, but also helps a bit with curl definition, and just overall gives a more polished look to my normal "I don't do anything to my hair" routine.

I wash/condition every 3 days or so. Once I do that, I use a detangler (currently ttrying out the dpHUE ACV detangler...it kinda stinks as expected, but it seems to work pretty well, and the scent dissipates quickly), comb with a wide tooth comb, then apply a quarter-size dollop of Don't Blow It from the ends up; it does not take much (I got almost a year out of a full size tube)! Comb through again lightly just to make sure it's distributed, and then I spritz with water if any of my hair has dried out yet (fine and thin hair dries so quickly!) and lightly scrunch up the curls.

No more combing, brushing, or otherwise messing with the curls for the day...once I do that, frizz starts setting in. It looks like your top hair may be straighter than what's underneath, and brushing that out gives it that frizzy look while the bottom layer rebounds pretty well. Try avoiding the brush for a day or two and see if that helps?

(I grew up with stick straight hair; it's only been in the last 10 years or so that my hair has gone from flatter than a flitter to somewhat wavy to "omg, it's really getting curly", and the hair brush has been a hard habit to break. But if you are looking to play up your curls, it's a tool to ditch as much as possible. I still use it at night after dry shampoo, but that's about the only time I pull it out anymore)

If I am ambitious, second/third day hair gets refreshed with water, a light finger-combing to separate and define the curls again, and more scrunching. No ambition = just a ponytail lol.   

[minicoopergirl]

I think part of my frizziness problems (and supreme tangling that's been really pissing me off lately) is due to a hair dye mishap a few months ago.  I spent 5 hours in the salon getting it fixed (with stuff like bleach and cleansers and more dye etc.)  So I have the problem of damaged, frizzy hair that gets greasy very fast.  Recommendations?