If you are someone whose hair has a mind of its own, you are in the right place. It’s funny how our hair can sometimes look straight, but it ain’t. And sometimes seem to curl a bit, but that’s never it, we just can’t say how our hair will behave each day.
Say YAY, if you have any of this wavy-hair problems.
- Whatever you do with your hair, you can just wear it one style. All your efforts to do anything else frizzes it up. And by style, I don’t mean braiding it.
- You start your day with a simple prayer, not to have a ‘bad-hair’ day.
- There is no ONE product that can help your hair. Use too much and hair feels heavy, use too little, it feels dry/frizzy.
- You do not understand what is that ‘VOLUME’ thing that curlies rave about! Your crown is anyway flat always?
- Your hair seems greasy by day 2/3. Grr!
- The bottom half of your hair has a curl pattern and the top is straight. Is this even natural?
- You sleep in the wrong postion and wake up, ugh – your head seems to have sunk in!
- But remember, you have the best of both worlds – a little straight, a little curly. So, celebrate your waves.
So, welcome dear Wavies!
Wavy hair can be quite frustrating. But you know what, Wavy hair is here to stay, whatever the folks at the Salon may say.
Firstly, how do we recognize our hair type?
- Let’s accept it. We don’t naturally have Type 1A hair – that is completely straight, baby-fine hair, from root to tip. Only straightening or smoothening can achieve that for us.
- Nor is it completely flat like Type 1B hair – a little volume, tends to hold a curl or two from the ear down.
- Now Type 1C is our kind of hair – If we wash our hair, it is generally straight (stretched and flat), but we can see a few waves. Our strands tend to be thick and coarse, but not like the thickness that we see on dense curly heads.
Lorraine Massey, hairstylist and author of “Curly Girl: The Handbook” categorizes Type 2 hair (A to C) as Wavy hair. Naturallycurly.com defines these based on varying curves of waves as:
2A Wavy: Fine, thin, loosely-textured hair with less or no volume or definition
2B Wavy: Hair mostly straight at the roots with S-shaped patterns from mid-lengths to the ends, also called as “S-wavy/Swavy” hair
2C Wavy: Hair with wavy patterns right at the roots, appearing thick with good volume
Now that we know our hair type and our problems, here are some ways to solve them:
Wear your natural waves with ease
Wavy hair can be quite challenging. But that’s the fun part. You can wear it lax and loose, like tousled dirty waves on day 3 and 4. Day 1 and 2 are special, scrunch in the stylers (curl creams, mousse or gels) to get anything between lazy, natural beach waves to find perfect S and C shapes. (Swavy loose patterns, or 2b-2c kinda waves).
Refresh waves every day
You’re so in awe of those curly-haired beauties who share those “just woke-up” curls and you hate to see your hair in the mirror, I can relate :). Sometimes, it can reveal limp, heavy hair, sometimes frizzy, poofy mess. The best trick here is to refresh every day.
#chitratips Refresh hair the previous night with a spritz of water infused with styler to wake up to good hair the next day.
Waves need moisture and hydration, don’t deny these to your hair
You just can’t seem to find the right product that can help your hair, you buy and buy to try and try. 😦 Don’t let that dishearten you. Most products can work for your hair, if you add enough moisture. Moisture and hydration go hand-in-hand – Moisturizer nourishes your waves, adds shine, smoothens and gives it a softer feel. This could be oil or a curl cream. Hydration, in simple terms, adds/retains water, via humectants like glycerin, honey, aloe vera, Sorbitol, etc.
#chitrawavytips Use humectants with caution, cause they can cause frizz or dryness, even make your wavy hair loose shape. Watch out for the humidity and dew point numbers while adding products with humectants.
Hair sprays help get volume
Curly heads just seem to scrunch and scrunch and enjoy the va-va-voom-volume drama. Try to over-scrunch your hair and you lose all that pattern. Don’t fret the small stuff. Do root clipping at the crown while you dry, this will lift up your hair. Hair sprays are a good thing to have to pump up the volume. If you use a diffuser to dry your hair, do it by bending your head forward or head upside down. Styling this way will help you push up the hair and promote volume.
Avoid greasy roots and your hair won’t look limp, flat and stringy
Unlike curly hair where the natural sebum cannot reach its ends, wavy hair has no such problem. Hair can look oily by end of day and lay flat on the crown. Wash your hair once every 3-4 days. If you extend wash days, remember you greasy hair is prone to attract dirt and dust.
#chitratips Sprinkle a little dry shampoo at the roots and fluff it up to beat the greasiness.
Ditch the damaged ends
It is possible that your hair looks more wavy at the bottom. Sometimes you can even find a few spirals under those hair layers, this is totally natural. But, if you find that the ends look more straight than the roots, ditch those ends now. It is quite possible that those are damaged and lifeless. A trim will actually help revive the hair growth.
Wavy hair is the most versatile. There is no one solution for all wavy-hair problems. And there is no way that your hair will turn curly or change texture. Don’t feel boxed in by all the styling methods and tips that you see your fellow curlies follow. Experiment with your hair type – shampoo or cowash, heavy-handed or light-handed application of products, heavy gels or light mousse – do your own research. Try and understand your hair, document every trial and error and you will know how to wear your gorgeous waves in your own way.
And if that doesn’t work, simply wear it up in a bun or wear it loose. Psst…you can even straighten it sometimes (not with heat though). This is not so easy for curly heads, believe me. So let’s celebrate our warrior waves, they can withstand anything. 🙂
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Making Waves Easy 