BellaOnline Forums Beauty and Self Beauty Basics Let's talk about hair!

I too have curly hair and once I decided to not try and make it straight and not let hairdressers try it either, my whole hair situation became almost effortless.

I gave up shampoo in 2003 on the advice of a book I found on curly hair and have pretty much been happy with my hair ever since. I condition daily with Giovanni Tea Tree Oil Conditioner. For a styling aid, I primarily use a homemade lavender water spritz. And once a week, I mix brown sugar with my conditioner to exfoliate my scalp.

Otherwise I don't do anything unless it's a fancy event. And my hair has the least frizz and looks the curliest and thickest it ever has in my life.

OK, Rae,

I can't let this one go...you gave up shampoo?

I have curly hair that's very sensitive to humidity. During humid summer weather, it gets very curly and "big" from frizz. None of those nice, defined curls unless I take a one inch diameter curling iron to my whole head and use lots of product. That sort of "organizes" the curls and gets the hair to clump together instead of flying out of control. Lots of work!

The best looking curls I get are from swimming in the ocean and letting the hair dry naturally. The saltwater leaves a coating that clumps and tames curls better than any product I've bought over the counter. Can't exactly do that every day!

So, maybe shampoo is stripping nature's "coating"? My hair is best if I only shampoo once a week. But, any longer than that, and it gets oily at the roots.

How do hair and scalp stay clean without shampoo?

Well, now that I've finally got my hair cut the length I like it, it's pretty easy. It's cut kind of on an angle with it just a little past my skull in the back, and angles down to just below my chin in the front.

I am blessed to have naturally curly hair that pulls down with the weight, so its more wavy than curly.

It does the absolute best if I shampoo & condition, & then let it air dry & don't touch it until it's completely dry!
Then i can run my fingers through it to get any tangles out, but it bounces back into its wavy curls. If I try to blow-dry it; limp city, the same with brushing - it just straightens out.

I just leave my hair be and it does the best this way.
(It's long and wavy).

The only thing is that it tends to get too dry, so I
welcome any suggestions for that.

I would also welcome another discussion about hair,
but this time, about the unwanted hair <img src="/images/graemlins/crazy.gif" alt="" />...

Does anyone have any experience with lazer hair
removel, if so, are you willing to share?...

Thanks,

Ayelet

I read a book called Curly Girl and had one of those utter life-changing experiences. Seriously, that author's advice really worked for me.

I followed her instructions for care of "botticelli" curls. I condition every single day, and once a week I mix in brown sugar to really exfoliate my scalp. My hair has neither been too oily, and it doesn't get frizzy anymore. The one time I shampooed it (about three months into trying this routine) my hair utterly freaked out and was like some weird dandelion cloud for a day or two and the hair felt just awful too.

The author says this sort of routine only works for curly hair, as the moisturizing needs are really different from straight hair. Also, when you drop shampoo, you really need to watch what other products you put on your hair, as they can build up. Since I wanted a virtual no-care regiem, this worked perfectly for me.

Hi Michelle,

I do pretty much the same as you. The difference is that my hair, although I have a lot of it, is very very fine. So, all I have to do is pull on it a little, and the curl starts turning to wave, then to frizz.

With fine hair, it's always a battle between using enough procuct to add body and resist frizz, and using so much that you end up weighing the hair down!

Thanks for the link to the book, Rae. They have an excerpt there at Amazon that's very funny, so I thought I'd share it with the other curlys:

9. Do you live in fear of humidity, sweating, spontaneous sex, a shower with your lover--or any weather or activity that might unmask you as a curly girl?

10. Are you almost always unhappy with your hair?

That pretty much covers it for anyone who tries to mess with mother nature!!

I'll probably get the book. I've met you Rae, and I'm guessing that our hair is similar. I'm neither wavy nor corkscrew, so I must be "Boticelli". But my hair is longer, and the curl seems to get weighed down easily in low humidity.

Your routine sounds very low maintenance. Since I'm in my fifth month of pregancy, that will be a real blessing if it works for me!

Carolyn,

I don't often have moments of "OMG, me too!" and this book was page after page of that. I would have called my hair wavy with a few bits of Botticelli when I started, but the curl got stronger as my hair routine changed.

I had been using my new care routine for about six months and I went to Seattle for a family visit. My mom actually stopped in the middle of cooking dinner and said "ok, so I've known you your entire life.... are you doing something to your hair that's new? It looks so much curlier and thicker!" I know she considers such things sort of rude to ask, but she was really impressed with how my hair looked. That really confirmed for me that my change in hair care was the right decision.

Hi! I just joined this forum and saw that you mentioned the Curly Girl book. A girlfriend lent me the book a few months back and it has really helped me come to terms with my lifelong battle with my hair. I've quit the shampoo habit, and now I'm using Lorraine Massey's (the author's) DevaCurl products that contain no silicone or sulfates. My hair looks and feesl so much healthier! The products are a bit on the pricey side and hard to find, but you can get them through here: DevaCurl Anyways, look forward to coming back to this forum and getting to know you all! <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

I had my blonde done today. For the past couple years I'll only insist on Schwarzkopf for color changes, highlights etc.