NATURALS:PLEASE HELP ME DEFINE MY CURLS!

DarkAngell

DarkAngell

Well-Known Member
I've tried alot of different things and combos of products, and even no product at all and im not getting results i want.

Lately when i co wash I leave some conditioner but rinse the rest with COLD water, add alitlte cantu leave in conditioner, then i shake like a wet dog! This is definately seperating my curls more but....

Nothing DEFINES the curls that great! I've tried adding some gel and finger combing it through and then shaking my hair..nothing.

-I tried shingling, it was ....ok.....but waaay too much work.
-I used noodlehead, fantasia ic, smooth n shine curl activator, homemade curly pudding
-I've also tried using a defuser attachment on the blowdryer ( hoping not to go this route because of the heat)
-I don't towel dry because it gives me frizz. After shaking my hair i just leave it alone and dab it with a paper towl if i feel it start to drip.
-I stopped using the denman when trying a shake n go style because it gets rid of some of the curl.

ALSO.....my roots are staying kinda straight and i seem to be only having curls on the ends.

PLEASE give me some ideas that i haven't tried yet. I'm hoping to get "somewhat" of a wet look. ( not jheri curl wet though ) My hair's 3b, 3c, 4a. pics in fotki.

Thanks ladies!
 
thebraudgroup

thebraudgroup

Member
If you add S-Curl to the Cantu, it comes out nice. It's not instant though. What I normally do is wash, spray, add Cantu and let it air dry. It dries really nice and defined and the S-Curl gives it some moisture. It's not greasy at all and has a nice sheen.

Kim

P.S. This is what I used in my avatar
 
DarkAngell

DarkAngell

Well-Known Member
So maybe i should try and not rinse ANY of the conditioner in? I could try it! I was worried about doing it because i use ALLLOOOOOT of conditioner and i didn't know if it would leave my hair white. I usually rinse about half the amount out. I'll try it without rinsing it out.
 
thebraudgroup

thebraudgroup

Member
I wash, condition and rinse it out. Then you can run some conditioner thru your hair so that you can see how much is in there. You don't need that much. I've done this but it didn't work that well for me. The S-Curl and Cantu works great.
 
deeshortesthair

deeshortesthair

Member
aFTER COMBING IN THE SHOWER WITH CONDITIONER ...I RINSE AND ADD A LITTLE HUMECTRESS .USING MY FINGERS LIKE A RAKE , I RAKE IT THROUGH...I GET OUT OF THE SHOWER AND ADD SUNSILK CAPTIVATING CURLS RAKE IT THROUGH THEN AUSSIE CATCH THE WAVE MOUSSE AND LEAVE IN CONDITIONER ... why am i shouting ... I put the mousse in the palm of my hand and press against the curls as i pull it through ..so out and up like scrunching ...then i do not touch my hair AT ALL until it is completely dry.
thats it ,
I use to use Curly pudding and all types of expensive ish..but i rtecently i have gotten lots of compliments.
gd lck
 
Ericka

Ericka

New Member
I used Redken clear moisture conditioner and this defined my curls like nobody's business. No other conditioner has worked like this one.
 
Kurly K

Kurly K

New Member
i use tigi catwalk moisturizer or i use their conditioner like a leave in...ive also used cantu leave in and mixed chicks leave in which isnt just for mixed chicks but theyve all done wonders in defining my curls.
 
J

justNikki

Well-Known Member
First off...I don't see a thing wrong with your hair in your fotki....you MUST have some other pics showing these problems, right??

Anywho, at your length, you don't need to be all extra with it. A great leave-in (the one you like) and a little smooth n shine curl activator gel (or softee CAG or Long Aid CAG) should take care of all of that. If you want a little more hold, mix the CAG with a little regular styling gel before applying it.

Styling methods are different at that length. Don't bother with a diffuser, you don't need that. Allow it to air dry as you have been. All of this raking...uhn, uhn. I'm speaking from my own experience with hair at that length. Scrunching the product in after a cowash was the best method for me and then giving it a little shake to separate the curls.

Your hair is BEAUTIFUL! And I'm not just saying that to be nice.

ETA: Some frizz is to be expected with natural hair. It's actually something that I battled with for several months after my BC, however, I came to see how NATURAL it looks to have a little frizz mixed in there. Also, the denman is breaking up your curls at that length. It didn't work well for me either for styling. It still does give me poofy roots (straight/wavish roots and curly ends). I just use the brush for getting rid of shedded hair.
 
Last edited:
Afro-Indi

Afro-Indi

New Member
LilMorenita said:
So maybe i should try and not rinse ANY of the conditioner in? I could try it! I was worried about doing it because i use ALLLOOOOOT of conditioner and i didn't know if it would leave my hair white. I usually rinse about half the amount out. I'll try it without rinsing it out.
Click to expand...

Yeah, well I use a whoooole lotta conditioner too.
It's okay though.

What I do is, after saturating my hair, I finger-comb my hair a little bit and the excess conditioner will come off.
I've never had my hair turn out white afterwards.

This method had been THE TRUTH for my curls and it's so quick and easy.
No extra, time-consuming steps or nothing!
I starting buying cheapie conditioners specifically for this method and it works just fine.
Just make sure whatever you'll be using has some slip to it.

Maybe the next time I wash my hair in a day or 2, I'll send you a pic of it afterwards!
 
caligirl

caligirl

Well-Known Member
I second the denman brush.
Also, I will do a braidout then rinse my hair very lightly in the shower without touching my hair much. Spiral curls form on the ends and the length stays kind of wavy from the braidout.
 
DarkAngell

DarkAngell

Well-Known Member
maibaby said:
First off...I don't see a thing wrong with your hair in your fotki....you MUST have some other pics showing these problems, right??

Anywho, at your length, you don't need to be all extra with it. A great leave-in (the one you like) and a little smooth n shine curl activator gel (or softee CAG or Long Aid CAG) should take care of all of that. If you want a little more hold, mix the CAG with a little regular styling gel before applying it.

Styling methods are different at that length. Don't bother with a diffuser, you don't need that. Allow it to air dry as you have been. All of this raking...uhn, uhn. I'm speaking from my own experience with hair at that length. Scrunching the product in after a cowash was the best method for me and then giving it a little shake to separate the curls.

Your hair is BEAUTIFUL! And I'm not just saying that to be nice.

ETA: Some frizz is to be expected with natural hair. It's actually something that I battled with for several months after my BC, however, I came to see how NATURAL it looks to have a little frizz mixed in there. Also, the denman is breaking up your curls at that length. It didn't work well for me either for styling. It still does give me poofy roots (straight/wavish roots and curly ends). I just use the brush for getting rid of shedded hair.
Click to expand...

Thank you!! I'm learning slowly to embrace some of the frizz. For the most part i except it. It's just annoying when you KNOW the potention your curls have but the more they dry the more they fluff.

So far the raking hasn't worked for me either. Once i have rinsed some conditioner out of my hair i usually just SMOOTH some gel over it. today it came out alittle better. I know i have alot to learn. But so far i learned that my hair does NOT like to be raked through lol. I comb with the conditioner rinse and shake and virtually any touching after that pisses my hair off badly! This is why i've been so clueless of how to manipulate my hair since raking the gel through seems to work for os many others

Thanks for the confidence boost! I'm soaking in all these different ideas from everyone. keep em coming!!
 
discobiscuits

discobiscuits

New Member
LilMorenita said:
Thank you!! I'm learning slowly to embrace some of the frizz. For the most part i except it. It's just annoying when you KNOW the potention your curls have but the more they dry the more they fluff.

So far the raking hasn't worked for me either. Once i have rinsed some conditioner out of my hair i usually just SMOOTH some gel over it. today it came out alittle better. I know i have alot to learn. But so far i learned that my hair does NOT like to be raked through lol. I comb with the conditioner rinse and shake and virtually any touching after that pisses my hair off badly! This is why i've been so clueless of how to manipulate my hair since raking the gel through seems to work for os many others

Thanks for the confidence boost! I'm soaking in all these different ideas from everyone. keep em coming!!
Click to expand...

i peeped ur fotki. (very pretty) your texture seems looser than the ladies in the videos i posted.

instead of rake and smooth:
when i was relaxed i used to shampoo/condition my hair (do not dry, gently wring excess water out) and then apply Sebastian Wet and let my hair air dry. it always came out really nice. so maybe you may want to try that. also, sebastian wet is a liquid gel and trust me, i've tried liquid gels from suave to who knows what and only sebastian does it.
 
BKVincy

BKVincy

New Member
conditioner wash
apply miss jessies or ay heavy cream moisturizer to saoking wet hair
scrunch in until hair stops dripping
add ic fantasaia clear gel.
 
NigerianGirl

NigerianGirl

New Member
Have you tried the Baking Soda Rinse, I know I tried every gel there was even the natures blessing pomade, but it didn't work. I was feeling adventurous one morning before work and I tried the baking soda rinse and shake and go and it truly define my curls!! Not to mention my scalp and hair were clean:grin:
 
*Luscious*Locked*Doc

*Luscious*Locked*Doc

New Member
Okay I'm not even fully natural yet - just transitioning but I was looking at your fotki and your hair looks exactly like the little girl who's natural hair I used to do all the time. Same coil pattern everything. She is my avatar in my fotki. Anyway, when I wanted to define her curls and her hair was around the same length as yours this is what i would do:

I washed her hair with her mothers aveda pure abundance volumizing shampoo (girl I know Aveda but her mother did like me to use natural products on her hair)
I rinsed this out and then put in sap moss conditioning detangler and left this on while I finished her bath. I would comb through the conditioner with a large comb to detangle any messes.
At the last step I rinsed this conditioner out and applied Be Curly Curl Enhancer. I smoothed this through shaking with my finger tips as I went. The I let it air dry.

Results: beautiful popping curly amazing hair - she's a 3c in some areas and a 4a in others. Of course it never lasted because she liked to play in her hair and the curls would frizz up. Anyway I realized after looking at your fotki that you too have the same curl patter basically. I know Aveda is expensive but it had her hair looking beautiful.

ETA: I forgot that I would put olive oil warmed in her hair 45minutes before she got into the bath as a pre-poo treatment. So her hair was never stripped during this process. In hindsight I would have also put a leave in conditioner in but her parents never had any around maybe don't wash out all of the sap moss?
 
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malachi74

malachi74

Well-Known Member
don't shake...

After i add my product I just let it air-dry and do it's thing on its own. your hair will curl up...the shrinkage never fails.

If I do shake it's not until my hair is 3/4 dry, just to mak it look a bit more full.
 
BillsBackerz67

BillsBackerz67

Well-Known Member
malachi74 said:
don't shake...

After i add my product I just let it air-dry and do it's thing on its own. your hair will curl up...the shrinkage never fails.

If I do shake it's not until my hair is 3/4 dry, just to mak it look a bit more full.
Click to expand...
yeah i was about to suggest that. excessive shaking takes the curls away too. Kinky curly is a good product as well. I have gotten great results from it...others have not. depends on the hair.
 
DarkAngell

DarkAngell

Well-Known Member
shaking is actually helping. If i dont shake my hair just lays that like its plastered to my head.

i tried again and left ALL the conditoner in and smoothed some noodle head over it. It came out much better. Took out some of the volume though. Its all a trade off i guess. Great advice. Still taking notes! gonna post pics in my fotki of my updo today as a result ( of course...it's only a camera phone so...you know. Pics aren't that great)
 
DarkAngell

DarkAngell

Well-Known Member
ok! I've been doing my shake/wash n go leaving ALL my conditioner in and results have been VERY nice and my curls look amazing. i top the conditioner with a slight layer of noddle head.

but i have an all new problem!.............

MY HAIR WON'T DRY!!!!!!!

i've dabbed it with a towel, i've tried to use the blow dryer. Regardless of what i do it takes hours to dry. And when i say hours to dry im talking I wash my hair @ 2pm and @ midnight my ends are still alitte soggy with my roots being SOAKED
 
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