I NEED YOUR HELP!!!! All My Natural Girlfriends!!!!!

[splendid10]

I did the big chop to go Natural 2 months ago. I have about 1 ½ of new growth (i.e., TWA). I cannot get my hair to curl. No matter what I use. I do have a wave pattern, but it does not curl. I have resorted to wearing wigs because my hair is a HOT MESS!!! To top it off my hair is dry as HELL!!! My hair pretty much resembles a Brillo Pad. (I have to laugh to keep from crying). I have no idea of what to do and I know doing the big chop was not a big mistake, however I do not know how to achieve curl definition and moist locks. Yesterday, I washed and conditioned my hair. Afterwards, I applied Wild Growth Hair Oil on my scalp and Miss Jessie’s Buttercreme on my hair and woke up with straight hair – How could that be? Please HELP with suggestions….

 

[hrtbndr21]

Congrats on the BC! I didn't do the TWA myself I transitioned for 17-18 months before I was completely natural. Maybe what you're dealing with is scab hair it's usually rough and uncooperative. There may be some chemicals still left in it. You'll just have to wait for it to grow out and then trim it off if that's the case. Other than that all I can suggest is maybe Conditioner Wash more and cut down on your shampoo frequency that may cut down on the drying.

If you haven't already check out nappturality.com there's a wealth of information over there. If you can't find it here it's definitely over there. HTH

 

[Cheleigh]

First, congratulations on your BC. I'm sure that your hair looks great--better than you think it does. Chopping to a TWA can be as much a mental process as it is physical.

Secondly: There are a variety of natural hair textures. Some texture has super curly strands, but no curl clumping. Others have wavy hair instead of curls. Others have no curly strands, but almost straight hair. Most of us natural heads have a mixture of textures. As such, your hair may have a hard time curling because it just won't clump as a part of your texture.

Having said that, there are things you can do to maximize the moisture in your hair, and that often times provides the most curl (definition) to your strands at the same time. There are also curl-defining products that can help if you already have a curl pattern

-Conditioner wash, no sulfates.
-Moisturize your hair with water based moisturizers at least twice daily
-Eliminate silicones from your hair products
-Fewer products are better than more products
-Use oils to seal in moisture only if oils work for your hair

To get my hair at it's curliest, my routine:
-CW with cone free moisturizing conditioners, mixed with a little honey
-Add a little gel like IC Fantaisa styling gel for color treated hair (blue container) on top of CW. Rinse out gel and conditioner with cool water.
-Squeeze excess water out of hair a few times.
-Use a good leave-in like Curls Milk shake, Oyin Honey Hemp, or Giovanni Direct Leave-in (Elucence is another good one for many folks)
-Bend over and shake my head vigorously from side to side--this helps my strands separate and become more defined.

Now, I have the most shrinkage with this routine because more defined hair=more shrinkage.

Other curl defining products that people have used successfully:
-Oyin Shine & Define
-AG Re:Coil
-Curlkeeper
-Blended Beauty Curly Frizz Pudding
-Blended Beauty Styling Butter Cream
-Curls Spiral Curl Cream
-Curl Junkie Curling cream
-BBD Glass
-Miss Jessie's Curly Pudding
-Kinky Curly Custard
-Curl activator gels

 

[PaperClip]

Dear splendid10:

Happy New Year and congrats on your Big Chop!

Along with the valuable information already given, I humbly add that you need to give yourself and your hair TIME and PATIENCE. You're in a new relationship with your hair...and just like any new relationship, you take time to get to know each other, what you all like and don't like, how you behave, what turns you on, what turns you off, so on and so forth....

It's gonna be alright.... I promise you it will.... the shock will wear off. Keep giving your hair TLC and even stand in the mirror and talk to it. Spin India.Aire's "I am not my hair" song a couple of times a day to give you some kick when you're feeling anxious about your hair. This time will pass and soon you'll be encouraging others through this time.... I'm not too long past it so I definitely feel ya! (Hugs!)

 

[SparklingFlame]

I think that what you suffer from is scab hair. Some people will say that scab hair doesnt exist, but from one who has suffered from it I know that it does.

Scab hair is said to be the hair that is directly under your scalp that grows in hard and brittle from the residue left over from your past relaxers. I dont know if that is the true cause but its very hard to get this brittle hair soft and well moisturized. Its possible for this problem to be cured however. For me, time and lots of time and attention cured me of my scab hair. I did lots of deep cond treatments and lots of heavy moisturizers were used. Here is a link with loads of info on the subject. I hope I was of some help!

 

[glamazon386]

I agree with everything the other ladies have said. Just try to keep it moisturized. Your hair could be acting like that because it's really dry. If it's scab hair, it'll change as your hair grows out. Or your hair just may not have a curl pattern. Maybe you can cover it up for a while to keep your mind off of it until it grows out some?

 

[SparklingFlame]

I agree with everything the other ladies have said. Just try to keep it moisturized. Your hair could be acting like that because it's really dry. If it's scab hair, it'll change as your hair grows out. Or your hair just may not have a curl pattern. Maybe you can cover it up for a while to keep your mind off of it until it grows out some?

bmore, the puff- me likey!

 

[Candiss]

After 2 months I would think you are pretty much seeing what your hair is, though it could still be scab hair. But you may not have the kind of hair that is going to curl. Have you ever had your hair natural before? How was it? If it was curly, naturally, without product, then you probably do just have scab hair and you just need to keep taking care of your hair and have patient. BUT...The Brillo pad comment erplexed um eh... yeah. But I guess you were referring to the dryness and not so much the texture. So you got two issues. the dryness and the texture. Dryness you can solve by checking out this forum and nappturality.com. The texture, I don't know about that one. I guess you justhave to wait and see. There are many black women who go natural and ain't got dem curls, girl. I'm one of them. So "brillo" texture may be all you got to look forward to and you can't really find a hair product to change that. My hair is very dry. I use organics kids detangling moisturizers and s-curl and CON shampoo. Those come highly recommend by others on this board. Anyhoo, keep us updated and let us know what helps.

 

[glamazon386]

bmore, the puff- me likey!

Thanks!

 

[jasmine26]

hey splendid, congrats on your big chop! my hair when it was about your length did not curl up,either. Like someone else said, it's about time and patience. Just keep learning what products work for your hairtype and your hair will become healthy and it's true texture will shine through. As i began to figure out what products worked for me and as my hair grew longer, is only when curls starting popping out. There are numerous curl defining products out there, i use curly pudding now, but in the beginning, curly pudding did nothing for my hair. Others here use fantasia ic gel, clear or blue, for good curling results at a cheaper price.

 

[scorpian]

Congrats on your big chop!!!
I agree with the other ladies it may be scab hair or it may just be that your natural hair is not gonna curl but it is a little early to tell.
My hair doesn't have a curl pattern it does have tight kinks and when it airdries without me combing it I have shrunken naps but no curls
Not all natural hair will have a curl pattern
I had to stop looking at other curly girls with looser textures and expect that my natural hair was gonna do what theirs was doing
I have tried a lot of products to get curls and sometimes ended up with what looked like a jerri curl gone wrong erplexed
now i just focus on conditioning and moisturizing and let the naps be

 

[cocomama]

Hello Lady,

I think that you're dealing with scab hair as what has previously been stated. Carol's Daughter mimosa and coconut oil has always helped with my dry hair.Also make sure your wearing a satin wrap a night.

Hope this helps and Congrats on your BC

 

[katote]

A couple of things that seemed to work for me when I BC, was if I was going to add product to my hair, was to add it when it was soaking wet and do not touch it again until my hair was completely dried. Also, during the summer time, I would make sure my final rinse was with very cold water, as cold as I could stand it, and that helped as well. Nappturality mentions that trick as well.

 

[Stationwagon]

bmoreflyygirl - your hair is fierce!

 

[angellazette]

As far as products, Blended Beauty Happy Nappy styles is really good. Leaves my hair moisturized and shiny without greasiness.

 

[splendid10]

Thanks Girlfriends, for your words of encouragement and wisdom. I will continue to keep you posted and I plan to create an album of my progress.
Question?: Are Suave Naturals Conditioning products good for natural hair? (i.e., provide me moisture?)

 

[lovelymissyoli]

You've been given some great advice. The only other thing I would add is to clarify your hair! Not with any ole' shampoo, but a shampoo specifically for clarifying your hair, or a baking soda mix.

Sometimes your hair not curling, retaining moisture, etc could be due to all the product build-up you may have going on. I notice after a good clarifying once or twice a month, my coils "pop" more and any dull looking hair has more sheen to it!

HTH.

 

[Country gal]

Congrats on your BC. Just wait it out a little more and you may be pleasantly surprised.

 

[FlowerHair]

When my hair is super short it doesn't curl either. Not all hair types do.
I had to wait until my hair got longer and I looked crazy at first
My hair just stuck straight out like a mon chi chi.

The dryness will cease when you find the right products to moisturize your hair with. Most natural hair will not be as shiny as relaxed hair though.

 

[dimpalz]

OT: OMG YOLI!!!! Your hair looks GREAT! I haven't been to ur fotki for a while, d@mn I've clearly been missing out...

on topic: Splendid it's good you got the confidence and honesty to say ur hair looks/feels like a brillo pad and you're disappointed. No point lying if it does. Mine looked and felt exactly the same. When I first BCed my hair would look good only 1 or 2 times out of a week, you just gotta get on with it, obviously this is easier said than done but we all survived! With regard to the straightness, it could be scab hair or it could be a phase. When my hair was brittle like that at your length I thought it was scab hair but I didn't cut it and it seems to have sorted itself out. On top mine wouldn't curl for all the product and love I gave it, now it's a different story. For some reason it seems like with some peoples hair the shorter it is the harder it is to moisturise and keep moisturised. I was using shea butter, which didn't and still doesn't really work for me. I've now moved on to elasta qp recovery, which is for relaxed, damaged and dry hair. Sure it's not all natural etc but my hair's moisturised and so I had to compromise.

I found that a whole load of IC fantasia polishing gel will let you know if you'll ever have curls, which it's likely you will. I would use it occassionally to "force" them out but I didn't do it often cos I knew I'd get addicted and being natural is really about accepting what you've got and not having to work to get something else, if it is, why bother, just relax. You see what I'm sayin. So yeah, to test for curls try the fantasia (it's the tub, with "sparkle lites" in it). As for moisture, barring elasta qp recovery it's experimentation and time. I'm sure your hair is shocked and scared that you've let it out of your scalp so far without slapping relaxer on it, it'll get used to it eventually.

Invest in a denman 14 - the small one - or something similar until ur hair gets to 3 or so inches, after that you'll need a bigger one then them coils will really start popping. Have you tried MNT Moisturizer/Texturizer? (that's just its name BTW it doesn't have chemicals in it and I think it's cone free) Its the conditioner thats yellow inside. I used that as a leave in/moisuriser with shea butter on top in the day and it worked really well to keep my hair moisturised. If you use alot it can't be mixed with some products because it has the tendancy to make them separate leaving clumps in your hair - it does with the IC gel - so use it sparingly if you're gonna try it.

Anyways I have sed loads, I don't wanna take over ur thread with my life story. This is what worked for me when I was in ur situation, so you should give the MNT conditioner and the Elasta QP recovery a try=)

 

[firecracker]

Congrats on your BC. Just wait it out a little more and you may be pleasantly surprised.

I gotta agree with CG. Please be patient since this is your first foray with natural/bc.