Styling wavy hair?

[girl_geek]

I have thick, fine, naturally wavy hair, in a layered cut with the layers ranging from chin-length to shoulder-length. I normally blow dry my hair straight and flip the ends out, but I think it would be fun to occasionally wear it wavy. But whenever I let my hair dry naturally, it's not actually curly, it just has a few big waves, and some sections are always wavier than others so it usually just ends up looking messy. (In particular, often the hair on one side of my head is wavier than the other side, and the asymmetry drives me nuts!) How can I even out my waves and make my hair look good instead of messy? How do you girls with wavy hair style your hair? Thanks!

 

[Jen]

I see you've had no replies. Darn it.

I was just thinking the same with my hair. It is actually very wavy when I let it dry naturally. BUT, it seems the very outside layer isn't as wavy/curly as underneath.

I'm going this afternoon and purchasing some Paul Mitchell Super Sculpt Style Glaze. I hear this is good stuff. Guess I'll try it and see. I'll let you know what I think.

 

[envymi]

My hair is pretty thick and coarse and most of the time it's kinda wavy. When I wear it natural I put pure coconut oil in it and just kinda scrunch it up...when the weather is particularly hot or humid I add a tiny little bit of pomade or some kind of thick greasy product. I switch between brands all the time. Beyond the Zone(found at Sally's) has a product called Noodle Head which was ok, but I hate the smell. Most of the time I used something really ghetto-African Pride magical grow-but it works really well for me and smells yummy

Something else I've tried is Frederick Fekkai's wave spray(don't remember the name) it actually made it nice, wasn't sticky either.

 

[bonbon412]

Lol I used to think I was the only one with difficult hair...thick, tons of it! And that half wavy hair (curly underneath, straighter, but still wavy top layer). And sooooo pouffy! I used to straighten every day, but I've finally learned to work with my curls!

For me, I use Curl Life shampoo and conditioner (love it! I swear it works!) Then I put in a bit of anti frizz gel (I like Got 2 Be glossy b/c it's cheap and works!) Then for really curly hair, I put in either a mousse (L'oreal's Curl Defining Mousse) or some gel (Sebastian's Curling gel works well for me!) and then scrunch scrunch scrunch. But don't brush! That ruins the curls. Just brush in the shower! Then I spray with L'oreal's Curl Activiating spray as it's getting towards the dry faze. This gives me great curls without much frizz. Drying with a diffuser makes for better curls, but for me, they are frizzier.

For wavy hair, I like to spray with John Frieda's ocean waves and then brush out my hair and twist it into a bunch of sections and then add a bit of gel to hold them together and then shake them out when the dry (can also twist and pin to your head to hold them together. Gives me hair that is more wavy than curly. Also can get great waves tying my hair into a tight bun after it's been curly and sleeping on it. I always wake up with gorgeous loose waves this way!

 

[Joyeuux]

Originally Posted by bonbon412 For wavy hair, I like to spray with John Frieda's ocean waves and then brush out my hair and twist it into a bunch of sections and then add a bit of gel to hold them together and then shake them out when the dry (can also twist and pin to your head to hold them together. Gives me hair that is more wavy than curly. Also can get great waves tying my hair into a tight bun after it's been curly and sleeping on it. I always wake up with gorgeous loose waves this way! Thanks for the advice Bonbon! I'd love to wear my hair down more, I just want to get it to a manageable state (all over loose waves, rather than just thick frizziness). I used to have corkscrew curls as a little girl and now it's wavy with curl underneath (and a bunch of straight pieces too, crazy!). I tend to feel much more confident with my hair pulled back out of my face... but I think I'm gonna try John Frieda's Ocean Waves & see what I think. Thanks!

 

[girl_geek]

Wow, thanks for the replies everyone, I had about given up on this thread!

Lately I've actually been able to style my hair straight and have it look a little better than it used to (I think it's my new cut, the stylist must have done something slightly different), but I think over Spring Break I may experiment with wearing my hair wavy to give me another look! (And if I don't like it, I'm not going to class so no one will see it

)

 

[NYAngel98]

Originally Posted by girl_geek Wow, thanks for the replies everyone, I had about given up on this thread!

Lately I've actually been able to style my hair straight and have it look a little better than it used to (I think it's my new cut, the stylist must have done something slightly different), but I think over Spring Break I may experiment with wearing my hair wavy to give me another look! (And if I don't like it, I'm not going to class so no one will see it

)

OMG! I'm So Sorry! I didn't even see this!

Usually I'm good about my hair posts... someone how this one slipped by... SORRY! Anyway... BonBon's ideas are great! (Even her product list!) I have (well used to have) wavy hair that I could either straighten or curl... I would blot it with a towel after the shower... comb it out - then flip my head over and scrunch in a curling mousse and gel... and keep my head flipped while I scrunched it with a diffuser... and just sprayed curling spray & adding more gel or mousse as it dried... it always came out fuller this way and seemed to curl more... You want to scrunch and dry at the same time (put the dryer by your 'scrunching hand') and then finish up with some hairspray. Pulling the top back seemed to give the illusion of more curls too. As far as waves, I really don't wear it wavy, because it gets really frizzy... so it is usually either curly or straight. The most I'll do wavy is by putting it back while it's wet, so when It's dry I'll get some nice waves with pretty much little to no frizz. But If you want waves, it usually comes out nice when using a smoothing cream and some mousse and just tousle it a bit while you dry it... separate and 'comb' with your fingers, but don't brush it... (frizzes it out) You can also put it back in a pony tail while its wet and put elastic ties all the way down to the end - evenly spaced, so when you take them out after it dries, you'll have nice even waves. (just separate them with your fingers and pull them apart to style) Sorry again for missing this! I feel so bad!!!

 

[girl_geek]

Don't worry about it! Thanks for the advice -- I don't think my hair could ever be truly curly without a lot of help (besides it's so short I'd probably look like Little Orphan Annie! lol) but it is naturally wavy and sometimes I just get tired of taking 20 minutes to dry it straight and try to get the ends to flip in the same direction every day!

 

[NYAngel98]

Originally Posted by girl_geek Don't worry about it! Thanks for the advice -- I don't think my hair could ever be truly curly without a lot of help (besides it's so short I'd probably look like Little Orphan Annie! lol) but it is naturally wavy and sometimes I just get tired of taking 20 minutes to dry it straight and try to get the ends to flip in the same direction every day! You could just throw some gel in it and just 'fluff' it as it dries... this gives you that inbetween curly/wavy look -

 

[bonbon412]

Originally Posted by girl_geek Don't worry about it! Thanks for the advice -- I don't think my hair could ever be truly curly without a lot of help (besides it's so short I'd probably look like Little Orphan Annie! lol) but it is naturally wavy and sometimes I just get tired of taking 20 minutes to dry it straight and try to get the ends to flip in the same direction every day! Well once you learn to accept/work with your curls, I bet you'll love 'em! It took me years...I even thought I had straight hair with just a couple waves in it till an awesome hair dresser dried it curly! It takes some trial and error to find the right combo of products, but you might end up with head full of gorgeous ringlets that you never realized you had!

 

[envymi]

I just had some interesting hair results today. I had some coupons for some free Dove products and I tried their molding cream. WOW! I had some really nice waves in my hair. First, I used Hot Six Oil(I've been using that alot lately), then I put in some of the Dove...I really like what it did. My hair is pretty thick and it's very dry, so if I just used the Dove I think it would be too dry, but with the Hot Six, it gave me really nice separated waves! Didn't expect that.

 

[girl_geek]

Well I tried a curling mouse and curling spray I found at Wal-Mart to start with -- they were both in a clear bottle with orange liquid, and were called "Curl Up" Curling Spray and "Curl Booster" Curling Mouse, I believe. The mouse didn't really do anything, but I was amazed how wavy the spray made my hair! I scrunched it up and let go, and boom! isntant waves! It did leave my hair very crunchy like hairspray but I didn't mind since my hair is pretty short. However with the length of my hair, I kind of felt like a cocker spaniel, with all the wavy hair on each side of my face! That much volume on each side of my face is not good for my slightly wide, square face. Although the hair in the back looked great. My husband loved it though and called it "sexy", so maybe I will have to do it for date nights

Meanwhile I am still experimenting to see if I can get it to look a little less like puppy dog ears or pigtails -- I tried a side part today instead of my normal center part and that helped a little

 

[elli3131]

Your hair sounds EXACTLY like mine. What I do is take a shower at night, and then towel dry it a little bit, but so its still very wet. Then I put in Citre Shine Curling Mousse and Aussie scrunch spray and put it in either one or two tight, messy buns. Then I hairspray it. I take it out in the morning, but some gel in it, and scrunch it for a few seconds with my hands. It'll be poufy, but in about fifteen minutes it will calm down and look great. I get so many compliments when I do my hair like this!

Oh! And you can also do it without any product but instead of big and curly it'll just be pretty soft waves

 

[Chomkat]

Great thread! I have the same type of hair and I was looking for some suggestions also.

 

[smilingface]

I definately agree that it is better not to brush your hair. I wash my hair at night and use a microfiber towel to blot dry. Then while my hair is still very wet I put in gel. I like LA looks mega mega hold gel (the yellow kind). I use a good amount of gel. The gel gives my hair that wet look but once I sleep on it it goes away. Also once I style it I don't touch it. Touching it causes frizz. I also sleep on a satin pillowcase which also helps with frizz. And I air dry. I only use a blowdryer in the morning to blowdry my bangs. HTH.

 

[alyssa20016]

I agree with what others have said about not brushing it. I have wavy, difficult hair also and it doesn't matter what product I put in it..if i brush it, it makes it so I can't even attempt to wear it down. I haven't really found any product that works miracles, but I get the best results from washing it at night, putting anti-frizz stuff in it while it's damp, and letting it airdry when I sleep, without brushing it in the morning.

 

[bebexkhmergrl]

I have fine wavy hair. I'm looking for a product that not only makes hair more curly but volumizes.

Do you think I should buy two separate products, first use a volumizing product then a curling product?

or do any of you guys know a one product that does both.

Thanks in advance. I flat-iron my hair a lot, which I know is not good. >_<;;;

So I'm trying to go w/ the curly hair look.

Trying to avoid too much damage on my hair.

 

[NYAngel98]

Originally Posted by bebexkhmergrl I have fine wavy hair. I'm looking for a product that not only makes hair more curly but volumizes. Do you think I should buy two separate products, first use a volumizing product then a curling product?

or do any of you guys know a one product that does both.

Thanks in advance. I flat-iron my hair a lot, which I know is not good. >_<;;;

So I'm trying to go w/ the curly hair look.

Trying to avoid too much damage on my hair.

CurlySexyHair products seem to do both for me. Also scrunching & drying hair upside down w/ a diffuser helps.

 

[bebexkhmergrl]

Thanks.

I was meaning to get a diffuser, one to attach to my blowdryer and wasn't sure it was meant to define waves/curls, but I'll look into it now.

 

[Mari168]

I'm always looking for the ultimate wavy hair product. As you can see from my avatar pick my hair is naturally wavy, color treated and highlighted (damaged of course). I've always been a fan of the Finesse Mousturizing Mouse you can get it Walmart and such and it is not expensive. I always deep condition and use a silicone product first to hold down the frizzies. Interestingly enough my hair always gets a bit frizzy if I diffuse it. I usually just let it dry naturally then turn it upside down and run my hands through the roots. Sometimes I set it in a high ponytail to get the hair to have more lift. I've tried alot of expensive products and been disappointed. I hate when my hair feels crunchy so this is not an easy quest. I'm always looking for the next great thing.......

Good luck,

Marilyn