How to Control Curly, Frizzy Hair
89
Written by: Jaclyn Popola
In high school I discovered flat irons and began straightening my hair, which worked a little but always looked slightly fried and unnatural. Then one day I had an epiphany. I was fighting a losing battle. Instead of working against my hair, maybe I should start working with it? There had to be a way to make my God-given curls work in my favor. A friend of my mother's had long, curly hair, so one day I asked her how she got it to look so good? The answer she gave changed my life: products. Products! All it took was a little hair gel and a blow dryer diffuser attachment to achieve a look of loveliness. I took her advice, and have embraced my curls ever since. Here are the life-saving tips to creating manageable curls that I would be lost without:
2.) When you get out, gently squeeze excess water out using your hands, just enough so it's not dripping wet. Using a towel creates friction that causes frizz. Place a quarter-sized dollop of gel in the palm of your hand (I swear by Matrix's Biolage "Gelee") and run through your hair. Depending on the length of your hair, you may need to use more. Experiment with different amounts to find what works best for you. Not enough product and your curls will misbehave. Too much and your hair will look greasy and weighed down. Wash hands when finished.
3.) Flip hair back and forth over your head a few times and shake it out to separate the curls naturally.
4.) Lean over so all your hair is hanging in front of your face. Attach a diffuser to your blow dryer (diffusers enhance curls and control frizz by evenly distributing air) and start drying until hair is 90% dry. Conair sells diffuser attachments that are compatible with most standard blow dryers.
HOW TO USE A DIFFUSER
TIPS & TRICKS
- People with curly hair really only need to wash their hair every other day or so due to the fact that daily shampooing will make your curls even dryer. If you do have to wash it every day, use a dandruff shampoo like Head & Shoulders, or a moisturizing shampoo like Herbal Essences "Hello Hydration".
- If you wake up in the morning and your curls aren't looking so hot, try a product like Pantene Pro-V Frizz Control Curl Revive. Mist over dry curls to give them moisturization and a frizz-free lift.
- Deep condition your hair once a week with a product like Neutrogena Triple Moisture Daily Deep Conditioner. While in the shower, apply the conditioner from about the middle of your ears down to the ends (this keeps your scalp from getting greasy). Allow to absorb for 10-20 minutes, then rinse.
- If your curls are excessively dry or frizzy, apply a dime-size amount of John Frieda's Frizz Ease Hair Serum after you get out of the shower but before putting in your hair gel.
- Never use a brush on curly hair. De-tangle hair in the shower by running a wide tooth comb through your tresses while conditioning.
PRODUCTS MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Pantene Hydrating Curls
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Pantene Pro-V Conditioner, Hydrating Curls, 25.4 fl oz (750 ml) (Pack of 2)
Price: $9.21
List Price: $17.99 |
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Pantene Pro-v Hydrating Curls Soft Waves & Curls Styling Milk - 5.1 Oz
Price: $5.19
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Hello Hydration!
Diffusers
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T3 83807 Tourmaline Diffuser II
Price: $15.00
List Price: $25.00 |
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Oster Professional 76932-710 Wall Mount Hair Dryer
Price: $19.95
List Price: $31.99 |
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Babyliss Pro BABNT5550 Compact Nano Titanium Hair Dryer
Price: $29.95
List Price: $199.00 |
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Farouk LOW EMF GF 1541 Professional 1300 Watt Hair Dryer with Diffuser
Price: $85.95
List Price: $200.00 |
Biolage Gelee
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Matrix Biolage Firm Hold Styling Gelee, 13.5-Ounce Bottles (Pack of 2)
Price: $28.77
List Price: $31.98 |
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Matrix Biolage Gelee, 33.8-Ounce Bottle
Price: $23.95
List Price: $30.99 |
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Matrix Biolage Firm Hold Styling Gelee 33 Oz
Price: $21.80
|
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Matrix Biolage Gelee Firm Control Gel 13.9oz
Price: $13.50
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Herbal Essences Spray Gel
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Herbal Essences Set Me Up Extra Hold Spray Gel, 6-Ounce Bottles (Pack of 4)
Price: $39.72
List Price: $15.96 |
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Herbal Essences Shimmery Nights Shimmer Spray Gel, 5-Ounce Bottles (Pack of 4)
Price: $21.33
List Price: $27.00 |
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Loreal Studio Line Tightly Wound Curl Boosting Hair Spray Gel - 8.5 Oz
Price: $4.19
|
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Herbal Essences Tousle Me Softly Tousling Spray Gel, 5.7-Ounce Bottles (Pack Of 4)
Price: $16.63
List Price: $17.96 |
Neutrogena Triple Moisture
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Neutrogena Triple Moisture Daily Deep Conditioner, 8.5-Ounce Tubes (Pack of 3)
Price: $16.63
List Price: $19.77 |
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Neutrogena Healthy Defense Daily Moisturizer, Light Tint, SPF-30, 1.7-Ounce Packages (Pack of 2)
Price: $23.47
List Price: $27.98 |
|
Neutrogena Triple Moisture Daily Deep Conditioner - 8.45 OZ
Price: $4.49
|
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Comments
well this was a wast wof time. you don't have curly hair. your hair is just wavey and you scranch it to make it even more wavey. i have curly hair. and its not this much work geeze.
No Elisa, my hair is curly, trust me. It is long, however, way past my shoulders so the weight does stretch out the curls a bit. And I don't scrunch it at all. I step out of the shower and it's curly BUT frizzy. I put in gel to control the frizz. The girl in the video, however, now she scrunches.
Dude what you just said about your hair is the same thing at my school. All of my friends who are popular have super straight hair that looks great every day no matter what they do to it. They always say "My hair looks soo bad." and i'll be like what are you talking about. It always bugged the crap out of me. Well i'll try your advice and give a comment about that. Tanks for making this site. Susie
I know what you mean, Susie. Middle school and high school suck. Wait and see though, the same girls who have perfect, pin straight hair every day will be the ones freaking out when it comes time for the prom and they can't get their hair to hold a curl :)
This is a very nice story, but what happens if you have naturally curly hair and it just looks BAD on you? That's what happened with me. I never got any positive attention on my looks until I started straightening my hair. I even had one girl tell me "I love curly hair, but you look SOOO much better with straight hair" My mom says I'm living a lie, and sometimes its a fight but curly hair doesn't work with my face or my personality... but I do agree with you, middle school sucks.
Lily -- you are absolutely right. If you don't have a face shape that you feel works well with curly hair, then by all means straighten it. It's all about what feels most comfortable for YOU (despite what your mom says).
I agree with Elisa. This is advice someone would have given in 1980. There are better-known methods for maintaining curly hair today. And the products you listed are crap!
Yes, Elisa! these are the products that I personally use and swear by. Everyone has their own preference, this is just a rough outline. If there are better-known methods for maintaining curly hair to keep it from frizzing out other than gel and/or a diffuser, please let me know what they are. I'd love to check them out. Thanks!
hey! thanks for the tips but i have thick bouncy frizzy curls that take FOREVER to control! i need a way to quickly do my hair but have it looking great! any ideas?
thanks for the tips, im defiantly going to try it like i have really curly hair but no matter what i do it does crazy stuff and sometimes it looks really good and sometimes it looks really bad and i never know what to expect but im going to try it and HOPEFULLY it will help and im sure it will and thank you so much again.
Don't forget to try Mixed Chicks products. They tame frizz so well!
This is good advice! Ive been fighting against my curly hair for years.. Ive learned to control it but but Ive wanted to find away for it to look more natural & this definitely worked! Thanks!
You have lovely hair by the way.
I have loose curls that are very frizzy. I use serums to help tame it - the best I think is Aussie dual personality curl definition and soft feel serum. It makes my curls silky! I also use frizz ease dream curls to help keep my curls under control. However, I just never know how to cut my hair. I have it long and I've been told rounded layers are best to have but I dont know what this means. Anybody have any ideas on how to cut curly hair?
Hey Jaclyn.. coudnt have said it better myself!
ive got super frizzy hair & do the same thing with my hair.. but instead of gel i use mousse. i find it alot better for an even distribution of product..
many thanks
mary
xo
Hey, thanks for the great tips!
My hair is JUST like yours and I have always disliked it and tried to straighten in various ways but when I read this I decided I'd try to go along with it, I mean curly hair is very pretty also. It just takes work to make it look nice :D
THANK YOU
I have the worst issues with my hair. My hair looks so pretty when I get out of the shower and my curls so nice until it begins to dry and I end up looking like my hair is made of cotton!!! I've tried mousse, gel, conditioners, you name it but to no avail. It's as if my hair is too light and just shrinks up and takes on a life of its own. I will give your techniques a try because I am sick of pulling my hair into a bun and listening to it break off.
My hair just plain looks bad I strigtin it and then people say it looks good on me and when I had to use a curling iron one time it looked really bad and I dont even think my hair is curly all ofit is just frizz it looks bad no matter what i try to do to it when i straigten it it starts frizzing up bye the end of one day and i've tryed so many things that say silky and mooth for my hair but it still sux I'm going to try this but not even sure if itll work but thatnks for taking your time to help random people you dont even know:-D
Thanks so much, Jaclyn! I will definetly try this. :o)
I have veryb dry, thick, long, curly hair and I love it! However, if I did not use Lusters Pink Hair Moisturizer I would be lost. I swear by this stuff! Also a good leave in conditioner and a definer does the trick! Good luck to all of you out there!
Im in middle school i have to use clips to try to position it after using gel it looks good for the first period but at the end of the day it looks horrible.i straightend it it looked nice but it didnt shine like when i had curly hair.i just want to way it down and let it stay down so its corly but not fluffy.does this work for problems like this?
i mean very curly
i am nia
I have veryb dry, thick, long, curly hair and I love it! However, if I did not use Lusters Pink Hair Moisturizer I would be lost. I swear by this stuff! Also a good leave in conditioner and a definer does the trick! Good luck to all of you out there!
Yeah my hair is curly and very pretty it never matterd when I was little but since i started middle school i started to notice the frizz in my hair and it was driving me nuts I was straightening my hair for a while but my mom was so aganst it that she stolld it and she still has it. I look great whith curly and straight hair but is frizzy so I whent online and I whant to thank you for the edvice now i feel more comfedent in my curls thanks Ty.
thank you so so so so so much for giving these tips!!! i have wavy/frizzy hair thats very..alive and freaky. its so puffy i look like i have wings sprouting out of my head. freaky as hell! im going to try doing exactly what you said. your hair is beautiful!!!! ill be really pleased if my hair ends up looking 1/2 as good as yours does! :)
thank you so so so so so much for giving these tips!!! i have wavy/frizzy hair thats very..alive and freaky. its so puffy i look like i have wings sprouting out of my head. freaky as hell! im going to try doing exactly what you said. your hair is beautiful!!!! ill be really pleased if my hair ends up looking 1/2 as good as yours does! :)
i've got curly hair and i usually shower at night so of course my course are in mad competition with each other the next morning in which case i run a flat iron through it and i keep most of the curls but it just kills anything unseemly... otherwise i use dove curl definition cream and a bit of hair spray... works a dream!
Thanks so much this migh acually help me with my very long, frizzy, puffy, desert of a mess hair. Now I think I know what I want for christmas now so then by the time christmas break is over I might acually be able to wear my hair out with out worrying about it tickling people, or being to puffy. Again thanks you saved my life.
signed
A girl in her last year of middle school
i am going to try this! I LOVE my curls but they always look soooo out of control. I would love to be able to leave them down and not have to worry! Thanx!
i have suuuper long curly thich hair! i hate it! but when i can get it to look good i luv it! im in 7th grade and do a lot of extra activitys like soccer and stuff so i dont really have time to do any thing with my hair! it stinks!!! all the girls hav pretty hair and my friends tell me i have prettier hair but i dont feel like it! so it really upsets me when i have a REALLY bad hair day and the only thing i can do is put it in a ponytail! do you think if i did your idea the night before it would still work??? HELP!!!!!! IF ANY ONE HAS ANY IDEAS EMAIL ME AT BEACHBOYFAN111@AOL.COM!!!!! THANKS!!!!
this helped me alot with my hair. Like you, I used to try to straighten my hair and it didn't look like the pretty, glossy straight hair like the popular girls. But now i know how to work with my hair.
this helped me alot with my hair. Like you, I used to try to straighten my hair and it didn't look like the pretty, glossy straight hair like the popular girls. But now i know how to work with my hair.
this helped me alot with my hair. Like you, I used to try to straighten my hair and it didn't look like the pretty, glossy straight hair like the popular girls. But now i know how to work with my hair.
Hey all these tips have made me feel dead hopeful and I cant wait to try them all cause I have such thick & curly hair right from the root and even though I straightened my hair you could still see my curly roots and it somehow looked damaged so am going to get it back to curly so all this sounds good thanx :)
Hey, my hair is really thick and curly to the point where it starts to friz and goes all over the place. any ideas on how to keep it taimed and loose instead of just all bulged together?
My hair is closer to ringlets than curls, leave it a few days and they get so tight they appear to be dreadlocks. My hair is really long though so there's no bodyin my hair. However this is becasue hairdressers seem to be blind to curly hair, if you go in with curly hair you leave with a frizzball because they just see the curls and try straighten them to no avail.
I must be lucky, my hair is so soft and shiney when I straighten it, I must be doing something right in the way of conditioning.
Me regime is pretty much the same as this, my hair just behaves when it wants to, I can't wash it too often though, it's horrible for at least 2 days after washing.
I had curls when I was a little kid, in prim. school I had beautiful straight hair and now (I'm 17) I am stuck with my hair that is something between wavy and curly but with a lot of frizz (and straightening isn't even an option 'cause I have a longshaped face now)
You said, don't brush and I do that already but I always notice that my hair looks quite bad the morning after my shower because the cruls 'clitt' together and that makes me look like I'm a poor girl that doesn't even has a brush to brush her hair.
So do you have any advice for girls like me with a lot of thin curly hair (you can have that thick curly hair and then you can have thin curly hair that always looks like you've had an electric shock or your hairdryer had exploded or something) . . . so any advice for me how to seperate the curls without brushing (and when I just run my fingers through it it doesn't work)
i have long curly hair and my dad does not like it when i straten it because he says im ruing my beutifull hair but i hate it sometimes!i got alot of complements on my curly hair .what i do is i get out of the shower and i let it dry just a little it is still damp and i put gel in and let that dry and it looks good :)
My hair is really curly but when i straighten it, The next day overnight it goes curly ish. Does anyone know why?.
Thx so much 4 this! I have thick, curlyy hair. It doesn't frizz that bad. Actually only the back looks unpleasent when it dries. I might try the wide-toothed comb tecnique, cause for ever i've been brushing my curly locks. At the beginning of 6th grade (i'm a 7th grader now) I always straightenend my hair. My friends asked me, what happened to your long beautiful curly hair? I said "I straigtened it." Then, during Christmas break, I discovered a hair style (yes, I didn't use ANY products) that changed my life. Here's what to do: you know that hairstyle where you take the top front part of your hair and clip it backwards. The hairstyle that all girls with straight hair can get away with. Let me tell you a secret: Girls with curly hair can get away with it too. Now, EVERYONE compliments my hair. All my friends say: I love your hair. How do you get it like that? Do you do anything to it??? I say, "No, I let it air dry, and it gets like this." They say: You're soooo lucky to have curly hair. Now I say: I know! Girls, like it said in this article, don't fight with your hair. Trust me, you'll loose the battle. Just let your hair be it's naturally beautiful self. Even boys say they love my hair now!
well my hair is really frizzy and i cant seem to find any product to tame my frizz down! i have tried everything trust me and nothing works! ive tried mousseeing it and putting gel into it and everything nothing works! my hairgets frizzyaround my hair line and when my hair dries i look like a lion any tips?
You have some good points on here. I am biracial and my hair is really curly. I have tried many products and some work, some make it worse. Let me tell you what I do.
-In the shower I wash my hair, then condition it TWICE. I comb it in the shower to remove all the tangles. And I only wash it every other or even every two days. I use shampoos and conditioners that are hydrating. I also condition my hair everyday between shampooing.
-Once I get out I add some kind of creme hair product, like Hair milk by Pantene, or even Sunsilk. They have different ones that I choose randomly. lol. Then I put some gel in for curly hair. One to try is bouncy curls by Tresemme. I flip my hair over and make sure to get my whole head of hair. The underside is important too.
-I let my hair air dry. Just simply because adding heat,even with a diffuser, gives me frizz. If I go get any frizz, I add a bit of serum, or grease, which I use because I am biracial. I use several: Pink oil, Optimum, or olive oil.
I do flat iron my hair sometimes but its so time consuming. And yes, at the roots it will wave up overnight or in humidity just because thats the natural order of your hair. Try using a product to help keep hair smooth even in high humidity. Also when my hair line gets out of control, I use a hard bristoled brush while my hair is damp and brush it back. And a serum or oil.
Your story is very similar to my own. I grew up with curly hair, so curly in fact that I had to keep it short for the first 14 years of my life. At school my life was hell. Kids teased me and said I looked like I had been hit by and electric wire and as as result I grew up inwards and deeply ashamed about my hair. When I was 14 I was told by a hairdresser that my hair was too curly to relax and that I would have to grow it out to control it. Other hairdressers would mock and joke about my hair.
When I finally did grow my hair (a painstaking process) I was very self conscious and got some negative comments on it if I ever wore it down from time to time in school. Someone even said my hair looked "stupid".It was because of this that I started tightly puting my hair in buns, ponytails and used extensions constantly.
Now I'm 19 years old and I've finally excepted my hair and realise that it won't change. I recently booked an appointment with an expensive celebrity hairdresser would was very experianced in artistic creations and loved the look of ott curly hair (a lunatic fringe manager). She analysed my hair, pulled it out, and then gave me a perfect cut. Short and thinned out underneath and longer as it got to the front - very high fashion. Its a look where bigger is definetly better!
My tips to all the girls out there is that products should be your BEST friend. They should weight the hair down and keep it from changing as it dries. I have a few products that I would reccomment:
Wella Enrich Shampoo,
Wella Colour Saver Whip,
Enrich Mask,
Redkin Ringlet,
John Frieda Serum,
Pantene Pro V Smooth and Sleek Collection,
And a strong gel.
I don't use spray gels anymore, I find they can ruin the curl and it becomes too hard with no bounce.
PS for perfect ringlets use your fingers to make them while your hair is wet and always twirl them towards the face, Also, NEVER use product on dry hair. It won't absorb and its just a waste.
Finally, the best advice I can give is to search online for the perfect hairdresser, one who gets your hair. Its what I did and it was one of the best things that I ever did. Wear your curls proudly!
Chi Flat Iron says:
2 years ago
Jaclyn, you give some great advice in your hub. The best was when you said 'stop fighting against your hair type'. If you really want to have an easier time styling your hair, go with what nature gave you and not against it.