Fight the Frizz!

Frankiestylee

Righteo,

I've got that annoying not quite straight, not crazy curly hair, I've got the inbetween type that's on occasion crazy annoying.

What's the best thing to fight psycho frizz?

When my hair is short it's pretty straight and I can just gel it... this is what I did for most of my teenage years but about maybe 3 or 4 years ago I started letting it grow long. When it's medium length (long for a guy) it goes really nice and curly, not tight curls but nice wavey curls that I used to get compliments about all the time. When it got to that stage I was first made aware of this "frizz" thing that I was totally oblivious to before. I started using mousse and occasionally that Dream Curls Serum stuff (my sister had it so it was yoink city). That was all well and good and I could cope with the medium hair.

Now my hair is just past my shoulders and I dunno what to do with it so it's in a ponytail for most of the time. It's as if the mousse doesn't really work with the long hair, or rather when I scrunch my hair and it goes curly it no longer has nice curls but is more insane frizzy/loads of undefined curls. It's also starting to knot really easily and it's a regular fight to get a brush through it. I've had my hair longer then this last year and it wasn't a problem at all, but now I'm still washing it as regularly and pretty much doing everything the same, yet it seems to be in terrible condition.

Guess I'm just asking for general advice really ... I didn't grow up with long hair and I don't know any of the tricks of the trade.

I'm going to some important conferences soon and I can't turn up looking like a scarecrow, so if I can't find a solution pretty soon then it's going to have to get chopped, which I'd hate to do because I prefer the longer hair.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

artnotort

would you consider keeping it at the medium length you said you get compliments for and can manage with the mousse/serum?

~Leanne~

Friss Ease Hair Serum is v. good. Put it in your hair after you wash it and your hair has to be soaking wet when applying it, not towel dried.

J.S. Pill

Tell me, How often do you wash your hair? I used to wash it every 2 days and I got horrendous frizz as a result. I now wash it every 4 days and its startign to ease off a bit - frequent washing may cause your hair to dry out - simply as.

Friss Ease Hair Serum does work but it should only be used as a short term solution.

olaola

Brushes are your enemy!
I have similar hair, it gets a great wave, but can go horrendouly frizzy.

I only brush my hair after I wash it.
To combat frizz.. I have options:
Blow dry straight (takes WAYYY too long)
Tie in a bun/pony tail/plaits until dry
Or (this works the best)
Wash my hair about an hour before snoozy-time and leave it loose.
I wake up with really nice all-over wavyness and great shine.

If you brush between washes ... you're askin' for trouble!

Frankiestylee

Wow thanks, I must say most of what's been said is complete contrary to what I thought.

For instance I thought the more I washed it the better, on average I wash it at least every two days... I had no idea that'd cause the hair to dry out and get frizzy (which seems to have happened).

Also as for brushing, I kinda thought it would help control the hair, but again it seems I'm wrong. Actually it seems I started doing everything wrong... I think someone asked me if I ever brushed my hair and then I took that as a hint and started.

Anyhows, I think this current hair has been mistreated for too long to get it back to it's best so I've decided to get it cut and start again from scratch

Next time I'll remember to avoid the hairbrush and frequent washes.

Oh, also, does too much conditioner dry out your hair? I use a henna and horse-chestnut conditioner and tend to leave it in for a bit and wash it out, but only recently I've thought I might be using too much or something.

Anyhows, time to have the local barber curse me again (last time I went I had my hair in a ponytail and hidden under a hat, when I let it out she just went "ah jayzis, don't tell me you want me to trim that " )

J.S. Pill

Frankiestylee wrote:

Anyhows, I think this current hair has been mistreated for too long to get it back to it's best so I've decided to get it cut and start again from scratch

There's really no need for that - just don't wash it or use any products for about a week then limit the washing to every 4 days after that.

Here's a trick I use to clean my hair without washing it: Sit in a Sauna or Steamroom for 10 mins - the steam will give your hair a bit of a clean without drying it out too much.

Frankiestylee

Oh good thing you said that, cause I was just coming on to say, actually nah, it's not getting cut just yet. I discovered that instead of using that serum stuff, I was actually using "curl perfector" which apparently you use after serum or something. Plus I felt I was gonna miss the way the hair tickles my back or the way it falls in front of my eyes on stage making the aul songs dramatic or something. Heh heh, long hair is excellent.

I'm considering not washing it for a week, just having it in pony tail city til it regenerates, but I'm kinda worried cause at the moment it gets a bit knotted nearly two days after a wash, sometimes after a day, so I'm scared that a week later it's going to be nut bush city limits and dreadlocktastic.

Oh, and I've just thrown in some of that curl perfector stuff, should I wash it again before waiting your recommended week or is it ok with the stuff in it?

Cheese Princess

I have long curly/wavy/frizzy hair and I've tried lots of products to keep it calm. The best I found is Trevor Sorbie curl cream. It's in Boots in a pink tube - maybe a bit girly but it's damn good stuff!

olaola

Only wash it if it is dirty - for me that is about every 4-5 days, depending on Gym attendance!

Brushing 'seprates' your hair so it will get very flyaway - you are adding static to it too. All bad news in the world of frizz.

The less you poke at your hair, the better.

olaola

Frankiestylee wrote:

I'm considering not washing it for a week, just having it in pony tail city til it regenerates, but I'm kinda worried cause at the moment it gets a bit knotted nearly two days after a wash, sometimes after a day, so I'm scared that a week later it's going to be nut bush city limits and dreadlocktastic.

Your hair won't really get any knottier the longer you leave it. Not in my experience anyway, and I have possibly the knottiest hair in d'world.
If you are worried about it - just tie it at night when you go to bed.
Anyway, you won't notice, cos you won't be brushing it

Frankiestylee

I feel a knotty hair challenge coming on!

Hmmm, sure, if it does end up in dreadlocks, well, I guess I could just put a reggae tint to the aul music and then all will be well.

Curl cream eh? Must look into that. What's this "leave in conditioner" that I've heard so much about? A super curly lady once said it was a life saver, but I've yet to survive long enough in the toiletries aisle to find out what it is.

Oh and I tend to wash my hair to get it back to some sort of respectable shape... does wetting it count as washing or is it the act of hot shower+product = dryer hair?

Yiz are just a mine of information, I should have come here aaaaages ago!

olaola

My hair will defo win that challenge

Honestly - don't be afraid to dump the brush. Your wig will be fine without it.
Even when you have washed your hair, only brush it when it is really wet...
DON'T go near it when it has started to dry, even a little bit! (about 10-20 mins after)

Personally - I tend to leave 'leave in conditioners' alone - they make your hair heavy and it gets dirtier quicker. I would only use it if I had SUPER curly hair.

Frankiestylee

Ah cool cause the girl who told me about it has that mad super curly corkscrew type hair. Good good.

Yeah, I took some time tonight before work and gave my hair some tlc. It looked pretty damn good in a nice natural 70's way... plus I had a flowery shirt on so it was like hippy rock n roll fun day.

I haven't tried to brush it or run my fingers through it... I'm trying to forget it's probably a solid intertwined mass of knots. :P

Frankiestylee

Thanks to everybody who gave me some good advice. I left it for about 5 days and the end result isn't exactly the solid magic curls I dream of, but it was significantly lacking in psycho frizz, so mission achieved. Good game, good game, the long hair gets to stay.

olaola

Eggselent!
I was wondering how you were getting on!

You have to 'deal' with it while it is still wet - the tying back, or the heading to bed thing. If you wash it in the morning and just let it go free and easy, you'll have a frizz problem.

Frankiestylee

It's weird... I now have not frizzy but very un-uniform hair. It's no longer a big ball of fuzz on occasion, it's now mostly playin' it cool but then bam... a sneaky lil curl or something will pop up out of nowhere.

When I washed it I used anti-frizz shampoo, then used serum, then use curl perfector. It didn't get crazy curl but I guess I just didn't give it a chance, it's nice and frizz free though and feels lovely and silktastic.

Does putting it in a ponytail when wet make it more likely to curl? Like... straight on top and then curly at the ends?

There are so many random variables to take into consideration... I'm afraid when it gets to winter I'm gonna have to re-think my strategy and probably just get it back to shortish.... though pony tails are a magic suprise under a woolly hat