AuntFlo

[Deleted User] · April 2011

My mom and older sister both have stick straight hair and I have curly hair. I looked a hot mess until high school when I learned how to do it. I'm still traumatized. I know she is probably too young for product and such but please look into it when she gets older. The interwebz and youtube have a ton of info. For now, don't brush her hair. Just use a wide tooth comb when wet. NEVER brush curly hair when it's dry. No good can come of it.

AuntFlo · April 2011

Aha.   Good to know.   I have been brushing it dry, which results in the abandoned orphan child look that she's been sporting.
I have started to use hair gel - I bought a travel size bottle of some Tresemme stuff.   After her bath, I comb her hair, smooth out the top and try to seperate the curls in the back.   It looks good when it's wet, but by time it dries it begins to look a mess again.   Maybe I should buy a stronger product or something specifically for curls - what do you think?
Thanks so much for the advice.   DH is the one with the curly hair, but he solves that by keeping it cut real short.

MinM · April 2011

SIL sprays nieces hair when it is wet and uses a wide tooth comb on it.

6fsn · April 2011

Yeah, never brush it dry. If it's still the typical little girl thin you want to just finger comb it. I'd also try wetting it then putting it up or twisting it to air dry. A little product may not be bad either.

6fsn · April 2011

You might ask your stylist next time you are there.

AuntFlo · April 2011

Stylist??? Oh, you mean the girl at Great Clips?

I think the major problem at the moment is that her hair is still real short. I think once it grows longer the curls might be a little more manageable, plus we'll have the option of putting it up. At least, this is what I'm hoping for.

I just thank my lucky stars that she didn't get DH's red hair, or she'd look like Annie right now!

[Deleted User] · April 2011

Do you brush it after you put in the gel?

It really depends on the type of curly hair she has. http://www.naturallycurly.com/hair-types or http://www.ouidad.com/curly-hair-guide. Usually curly hair looks best when you wet it first. So I do my hair in the morning and not at night. But that may not be possible with a toddler. So after the bath, I would comb it using a conditioning detangling product. Then I would apply a little gel or mousse depending on her hair type. If you give her a bath at night maybe gather her hair up in a ponytail on top of her head so it looks a little better in the morning. You may have to rewet it in the morning b/c sleeping on it usually brings on the frizz.

[Deleted User] · April 2011

Wait how old is she?

Also try scrunching with the product.

AuntFlo · April 2011

Based on your links she has the classic curly hair.

I do not touch it again after I put in the gel. But then she goes to bed before it gets a chance to fully dry. At the moment, I don't see a way around that part since I don't have time to give her a bath in the morning.

I'll try the rewetting it thing in the morning. That might be the only solution until it gets longer.

[Deleted User] · April 2011

So you put the gel in after you brush it? I bet the not brushing helps a ton. In the mornings you can rewet with a spray bottle or wet your hands and scrunch it. Probably don't apply the gel until the morning if you are going to rewet it. If no rewetting then gel at night. You may have to experiment to see what works.

AuntFlo · April 2011

She's 2 1/2.

I left out the gel part when I was describing the steps...
After her bath, I comb her hair, PUT IN THE GEL, then smooth out the top and try to seperate the curls in the back.
And then the next morning it's a mess and I brush it or comb it - either way it ends up all crazy.
I'll pick up a spray bottle tonight.
Thanks again for the help!

VarunaTT · April 2011

I'll second that naturallycurly.com. It was a life saver for my recent change into "not fighting the curls anymore".

You might also try to make sure (I know she's young, so I'm not sure of all of the ramifications) that her shampoo is for curly hair and doesn't have sulfates in it. I've been using the Foxy Curls (so far the shampoo, conditioner and contouring cream) line from Tigi and loving it. Again, she's young, but good products are good products, y'know? I don't have to use a lot for my amount of hair and since I don't wash every night, they've been lasting for quite awhile.

I'm getting over the feeling of have brushed hair, slowly. One good thing is that I can actually go three nights w/out having to wash it (you can also make your own dry shampoo, but it's been problematic b/c you have to BRUSH it through, which screws up my hair then). I've been finding it behaves better and doesn't go so out of control if I can limit my washings to about 2-3/week.

Basically after I comb through it, I don't touch it with a brush again until it's time to wash. I'm also pretty lucky that I can sleep on mine sans ponytail and it's still fine the next day. I just get my hands wet and then scrunch a bit. Sometimes to get it off my neck, I still put in a high and loose ponytail as close to the top of my head as I can get. I told Hooka that I was having a WW moment and felt the need to wrap my hair. She said the wraps in the black hair section at Walmart are the best. I haven't tried it yet. They also recommended sleeping on a satin pillowcase, but I couldn't stand it. Too slick and hot for me.

Take her hair and "rake and shake"...rake your finger through it. Each section will become an individual curl. You just slightly shake it at the ends to get the weight off and bounce back up towards the head. I realize she's 2, so this won't be a fun process but it takes me about five minutes to do my whole head of past my shoulders hair, so it should be able to be done quickly for her, it sounds like.

AuntFlo

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