How do you wear natural hair... curly?

[Sweetyb]

I would love to wear my hair out in its curly state like quite a few type 3's do. My question is how do you do it? How is it that your curls stay curly when coming out of the shower? What are you doing to your hair or use in your hair to make the curls form and stay? Never take a comb to your head? Use gel maybe? Detaingling conditioner? And at what hair length were your curls able to form? I notice from some photo albums that the longer the hair gets, the curlier it looks.

When I wash my hair I feel the little wringlets of coils (pen spring-size curls) forming and my goal is to be able to wear them in my hair like that. Also, are there any type 4's who wear their coils in a curly state?

Thanks for any help you can provide or experience you might share!

 

[lsubabiedee]

My curls and coils pretty much stay the same after i get out of the shower, using a leave-in or something usually gives me more shrinkage=more defined coils.

I think the key to keeping those coils is to apply product when wet and not to disturb the hair much as it dries.

Try rinsing ur hair in cold water before getting out of the shower...i think it helps with the shrinkage...

hmmm...thats all i can think of for now! hth

 

[Sweetyb]

Thanks for the suggestions, lsubabiedee. You've got very pretty curls

 

[lsubabiedee]

[ QUOTE ]
Sweetyb said:
Thanks for the suggestions, lsubabiedee. You've got very pretty curls

[/ QUOTE ]

thanks and ur welcome!

 

[Sweetyb]

bump

 

[Divastate]

My hair fluffs out into a fro when I wash and go unless I add leave in conditioner and some sort of gel to it. I add the leave in conditioner while my hair is still soaking wet and blot dry. Then I add the gel. My favorite leave in was Abba Nourishing but now I'm hooked on Suave Milk and Honey (plus its a much better price). Proclaim Curl & Wave Conditioning activator gel from Sally's is the best of all the gels I've tried. It has aloe so it still leaves my hair soft and moisturized plus its actually pretty inexpensive.

It takes quite a bit of it to really define my hair but it dries frizz free which is a first for me. I tried a couple of other activator gels to see if my hair would respond the same- so far only the proclaim version has had that effect on my 4a typically undefined hair.

 

[2793154]

I use Long Aid Curl Activator gel to make my natural hair curly.

Quick question for other natural ladies who use gel- How do you apply it? Do you section your hair out as if u were applying a perm and apply it like that? Or do you just rub your hands over your hair all at once?

I was having a problem with it, that's why i asked. If I just apply the gel all at once, i noticed that the middle of my hair is dry and rough. Is that normal?

 

[Sweetyb]

[ QUOTE ]
2793154 said:
Quick question for other natural ladies who use gel- How do you apply it? Do you section your hair out as if u were applying a perm and apply it like that? Or do you just rub your hands over your hair all at once?

[/ QUOTE ]
Good question!

Divastate, I love that pic at the front of your webpate! That's how I want my hair to hold, but as curls laying down! I love your hair in your chop pics too! Thanks for the tip about Proclaim, I'll have to get some. So how do you rub it in your hair? (esp. w/out messin up the curls)

 

[jetcitygirl]

I haven't tried letting my hair airdry out loose for a long time.Been meaning to test it when I have an afternoon with no plans. Normally my hair is spirally-curled when soaking wet and shrinks up into tight ringlets when dry. When I airdy I do so in a ponytail. When I want to wear it curly out of the shower I blowdry it with a diffuser whilst pulling it taut to lessen shrinkage. I like to use CurlKeeper & BNS Creamy Set to hold this style.

 

[keke]

My questiong is about bantu knots. I need to know the techniqe of doing it right so that i dont have hair sticking up str8 but yet has a bit of a slight curl. I twist my hair and then when im ready for it to curl under i wrap it into a lil bun or so on my head. Could that be the problem? Should i just keep twisting until the hair naturally curls onto itself?

 

[ChocoKitty]

I used Citre Shine Meking Waves Curl Booster while my hair is still wet. It defines my curls very well. Shea butter works also but I think Citre Shine is better.

 

[Divastate]

[ QUOTE ]
Sweetyb said:
[ QUOTE ]
2793154 said:
Quick question for other natural ladies who use gel- How do you apply it? Do you section your hair out as if u were applying a perm and apply it like that? Or do you just rub your hands over your hair all at once?

[/ QUOTE ]
Good question!

Divastate, I love that pic at the front of your webpate! That's how I want my hair to hold, but as curls laying down! I love your hair in your chop pics too! Thanks for the tip about Proclaim, I'll have to get some. So how do you rub it in your hair? (esp. w/out messin up the curls)

[/ QUOTE ]

Thanks SweetyB that pic is one of my alltime favs. Actually my hair in that picture took quite a bit of work. I would work gel into my hair plus I used a smoothing pomade (Salon Selectives Controld Substance Moulding Putty) and I believe maybe a Kemi Oyl leave in- then I'd brush it down into a ponytail and tie it with a silk scarf. It would take forever to dry and the back was still super frizzy no real definition. It got too hard to do the style and I couldn't always get smooth waves so I stopped even trying. I may try it with the proclaim gel to see if it will dry overnight in a ponytail more smoothly.



Funny enough the way I found that the proclaim gel works is my husband (he's a true sweetheart) washed and conditioned my hair for me one day and then he put in a leave in and gel afterwards. My hair had never dried and been so defined and shiny before so I kept questioning him and finally figured out he was VERY heavy handed with the gel (he's a big guy 6'5" so he had used quite a bit in his big hands

) and that's what made the difference!

Ok the gel application- I wind up using a lot and I usually do seperate my hair into 4 sections to get full coverage. I pretty much saturate my hair with the gel. I don't worry about trying to not seperate the curls/coils, etc. because the gel makes the curls pop more anyways. I have pics here that show when I did this a few months ago. My hair is fully dried in the pictures- at that point I thought the Cantu Shea Soft conditioner was the culprit for the coils but now know any conditioner works fine its mainly leave in + proclaim that does it for me. Shrinkage is a lot in doing a wash and go so the ponytail drying method could help with that too.

HTH! let me know if you have any other questions- and definitely let me know if you try it out. Oh and a warning Proclaim gel does have some hydrolyzed wheat protein -if your hair dislikes protein this might not be the gel for you. My hair loves the gel and its been very conditioning withought drying it out at all like some of the previous gels I'd tried. Good luck!

 

[babyblue]

[ QUOTE ]
2793154 said:
Quick question for other natural ladies who use gel- How do you apply it? Do you section your hair out as if u were applying a perm and apply it like that? Or do you just rub your hands over your hair all at once?


[/ QUOTE ]

I like to apply in sections starting from the nape, rt. side, lt. side and crown one section at a time smoothing from root to end parting with my fingers as i go.

i only rub in on and apply all at once if doing a ponytail

 

[Sweetyb]

[ QUOTE ]
jetcitygirl said:
I haven't tried letting my hair airdry out loose for a long time.Been meaning to test it when I have an afternoon with no plans. Normally my hair is spirally-curled when soaking wet and shrinks up into tight ringlets when dry. When I airdy I do so in a ponytail. When I want to wear it curly out of the shower I blowdry it with a diffuser whilst pulling it taut to lessen shrinkage. I like to use CurlKeeper & BNS Creamy Set to hold this style.

[/ QUOTE ]Thanks so much for your suggestion! I saw your 3 diffuser comparison pictures, and when I lumped gel in my hair, it looked exactly like your pic #1!! My goal is your pic #3. Thanks for the product recommendation, come payday I will definitely look for these online.

 

[Sweetyb]

Divastate, wow, thanks so much for sharing your tips! I would have never thought you could apply that much gel to your hair. And thanks for confirming Proclaim gel for me--toooo many people have suggested using Proclaim, been trying to get my hands on it for months. Is it the one with the green cap, or maybe with Aloe Vera gel in it? I should know this, but how do you know if your hair dislikes wheat protien?

 

[antrunette]

I use beyond the zone super sexy hair combined with salon selectives molding putty. I get it at Sally's it only cost $4.

 

[Bunny77]

Here's my procedure... (this isn't including the days when I deep condition with a plastic cap or shampoo -- which I do once a week).

1. Get hair soaking wet in the shower
2. Apply gobs of conditioner and then comb through with a wide-toothed comb.
3. Rinse out conditioner
4. Wring out hair and avoid towel drying.
5. Rub a leave-in cream conditioner in hair
6. Top off with a curling cream

It sounds like a lengthy procedure, but it really isn't. While conditioning hair in the shower, I'm washing the rest of my body... and the styling part doesn't take too long once I get out the shower.

The result is great curl definition!

 

[deeshortesthair]

I usually just condition my hair right now i am using the Luxavan conditioner , I wrap my hair in a towel for not but 10 seconds , i do not rub, then i shake my hair like a wet dog and rub the product in it , right now i am using Elasto curl by Keratase ...( it makes a difference)or L'oreal anti frizz creme in the orange little bottle . for firmer curls i use fx curl amplifier gel ... then THE KEY ..I DO NOT TOUCH MY HAIR until it is completely dry so by 11 :00 am after my 7 am shower i pass my hands over my hair o couple of times and boooooing .. little spiral curls pop up all over .. PHEW that was a mouth full ... hope it helps.

 

[Brownshugaz]

bump

 

[Peachtree]

I'm a newbie at wearing my hair curly, so I don't know how much help my lil 2 cents will be...

Anywho, here's my steps...it's not etched in stone as of yet... I'm still tweeking my regime...

1) Do a poo (& conditon), or CW (Motions Lavish, CON, are the ones I use most)
2) Detangle with wide tooth comb with hair DRENCHED in conditioner
3) Apply leave in (Motions, VO5, Biolage frequent used ones)
4) Apply oil (I use a homemade shea-mango-coconut butter)
5) Shake my head about 30 seconds
6) VOILA, instant curlies!

.... If I want longer curlies, I'll shake my head as the hair is drying...maybe 4 more 30 second shakes in a hr.

 

[kandyland]

[ QUOTE ]
Divastate, wow, thanks so much for sharing your tips! I would have never thought you could apply that much gel to your hair. And thanks for confirming Proclaim gel for me--toooo many people have suggested using Proclaim, been trying to get my hands on it for months. Is it the one with the green cap, or maybe with Aloe Vera gel in it? I should know this, but how do you know if your hair dislikes wheat protien?

[/ QUOTE ]

Yeesss Proclaim is good....I love that stuff, you would never think a GEL could make your hair so soft but this one does, I use it on me and my daughter...especially for braidouts and twistouts...The one at Sally's is a huge 32 oz tube for like 3 bucks and I beleive on another thread someone said it was a substitute for the expensive ass curly pudding that the curve salon sells. I buy the one with the blue top but the green top may work just as well.

 

[Divastate]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Divastate, wow, thanks so much for sharing your tips! I would have never thought you could apply that much gel to your hair. And thanks for confirming Proclaim gel for me--toooo many people have suggested using Proclaim, been trying to get my hands on it for months. Is it the one with the green cap, or maybe with Aloe Vera gel in it? I should know this, but how do you know if your hair dislikes wheat protien?

[/ QUOTE ]

Yeesss Proclaim is good....I love that stuff, you would never think a GEL could make your hair so soft but this one does, I use it on me and my daughter...especially for braidouts and twistouts...The one at Sally's is a huge 32 oz tube for like 3 bucks and I beleive on another thread someone said it was a substitute for the expensive ass curly pudding that the curve salon sells. I buy the one with the blue top but the green top may work just as well.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yes I use the one with the blue top as well. It has some aloe vera in it but not as much as the one with the green top I guess. Proclaim is definitely one of my staples and you can't beat the price.

 

[pookeylou]

My hair is closer to Divastates hair. I USED to do a conditioner wash and leave 10% of the conditioner in my hair. I shake it and instant coilies. I also used spray on Pantene's curly definition spray. It worked really well also. It really is just watered down conditioner so dont spend the money on their special product. Just get a spray bottle, put in the Pantene Hydrating Curls or Smooth and Sleek conditioner (they are the exact same thing) about a 1/4 of a cup for 12 oz bottle and fill the rest with distilled water. My coils stayed soft the rest of the day but it took forever to dry completely.

I stopped doing this when I began getting acne in my scalp. It caused blockages in my hair follicles and my scalp and hair needed to be clarified.