Emily Evert, Author at Wavy Hair Care

Curly Girl Method Terms, Lingo, Abbreviations & Acronyms

April 6, 2022 by Emily Evert 1 Comment

When you’re new to finding the curly girl method or wavy curly hair communities, you’re likely to come across some terms, abbreviations and acronyms that are pretty confusing. Wavy and curly communities have made up some of our own words and have a bit of “insider” lingo that we are familiar with, but outsiders and newbies aren’t.

I find that sometimes I forget that not everyone knows what these terms, abbreviations and acronyms mean. I’ve been using them for so long now that I forget they aren’t “normal” words. I thought I’d put together a list of terms, abbreviations and acronyms that are unique to the curly girl method and/or wavy curly communities to help newbies gain a deeper understanding of our lingo.

Curly Girl Method Terms & Lingo

2a, 2b, 2c, 3a, etc. These refer to where someone’s hair falls on a curl pattern chart. Straight hair is “type 1”, Wavy is “type 2”, Curly is “type 3” and coily or kinky is “Type 4”. a, b, and c are ranges within those three categories, so 2a is loose waves and 2c is tight waves. Visit my post wavy hair curl pattern chart to learn more and see examples.

90% dry (or other percentages). We use percentages to explain how close to ‘fully dry (aka 100% dry)’ our hair is. I didn’t realize this was part of our lingo until I used it with my boyfriend. He laughed and asked why I didn’t just say that my hair is ‘almost dry’ instead. I realized that I had learned to use percentages because that’s what I saw other wavies and curlies doing in different groups! I don’t really know why we don’t say something like ‘mostly dry’ or ‘super close to dry’ instead of using percentages but…it’s just the norm to use percentages!

Buff. Buffs are similar to hair bonnets, but instead of being a closed cap they’re more like a long sleeve. This means if you have longer hair, you can have the ends of your hair stick out of the buff rather than have them folded into a cap. Some just find them more comfortable than bonnets.

Canopy. The canopy of your hair is basically the exterior layer of your hair. The part of your hair that you can touch using a flat hand, or that sun can reflect off of.

Wet Frizz In Wavy Hair

March 29, 2022 by Emily Evert 4 Comments

What Is Wet Frizz?

Wet frizz is when hair is frizzy while still wet. Rather than forming “clean” curl clumps, the curl clumps will have strings of hair sticking out. A small amount of wet frizz is normal, but having a lot of we frizz can be a sign that your har isn’t getting what it needs.

If your hair is really frizzy while wet, it will likely dry very frizzy, too. If you struggle with frizz and that frizz is present even when your hair is soaking wet, your core issue may be wet frizz rather than regular frizz.

What Causes Wet Frizz?

Wet frizz can be caused by a lack of moisture or conditioning, product build-up, having high porosity hair, flash drying or moisture overload.

If your hair is frizzy while it’s wet, it’s usually lacking moisture and needs to be better conditioned.

In some cases, wet frizz may be caused by build-up. If your hair has significant build-up, it may disrupt your hair from clumping “nicely” in its normal way.

High porosity hair is more likely to experience wet frizz due to the raised cuticles making nearby hairs tangle rather than align together. If you’re new to the concept of hair porosity, I’d recommend checking out my blog post how to determine your wavy hair type.

For some people, moisture overload can include wet frizz. If your hair feels really soft (almost mushy?) and has lost its ‘strength’, gotten very poofy/fluffy or lost its regular definition, and your curls are looser than usual, these are signs of moisture overload and you may benefit from doing a protein treatment.

Flash drying causes wet frizz for some. Some people have hair that responds poorly to certain ingredients. If you find that your hair is soaking wet, and you apply a product and your hair instantly frizzes up while feeling like it got drier – that’s flash drying. In this case, you’ll need to learn what ingredient your hair has flash drying from and avoid that ingredient in your hair care products.

How To Correct Wet Frizz

The Best Diffuser For Wavy Hair | 5 Diffusers Compared (W/ Pics)

March 25, 2022 by Emily Evert 11 Comments

There are affiliate links in this post.

If you’ve been around my blog much at all, you likely know that I am all about diffusing. My hair holds onto water for hours if I try to air dry. I get much better results from diffusing, and it keeps me from waiting around all day on my hair to dry!

Something I’ve occasionally been asked in comments is what I think the best diffuser is. Until a few months ago, I had only ever used one diffuser, the Xtava black orchid. I bought it because it was recommended by a YouTuber I followed, so I bought it and liked it and stuck with it.

For Christmas, my boyfriend bought me the Dyson Supersonic hairdryer. It comes with is own diffuser and the Xtava isn’t compatible with it, so using the Dyson brand diffuser was my first time trying a new type of diffuser.

After that, I got curious about other diffusers. I ordered a few other diffusers on Amazon (ones that I saw were most frequently purchased) to learn more about differences in diffusers, and so I could do this post for you guys!

In an attempt to keep my comparisons similar, I used the same hair products each time that I tested a new diffuser. I also attempted to use the same product styling techniques and styling routine. This way, hopefully any changes in results I got on different days could be attributed to the diffuser.

Dyson SuperSonic Hair Dryer Review | Is It Worth It?

March 22, 2022 by Emily Evert 5 Comments

There are affiliate links in this post.

In my gift guide for wavy curly girls, I mentioned how getting the Dyson SuperSonic Hair Dryer as a gift would make anyone feel spoiled! My boyfriend doesn’t read my blog unless I ask him to edit or otherwise help me. I didn’t ask him to edit that post, so I was shocked that he got me the Dyson SuperSonic for Christmas. I didn’t ask for it, I hadn’t told him about it, etc. I’m usually a frugal person so I felt a bit bad that he bought it for me, honestly. He’s super sweet. $400 is a lot for a blow dryer though.

I can’t deny that I love it, though! My hair would literally take all day to air dry, so I have to diffuse. Yet, I find diffusing to be my least-favorite part of styling my hair wavy. It just gets boring because it takes so long. The Dyson makes washday more enjoyable for me because it reduces how long I have to spend diffusing.

Using The Dyson SuperSonic And Diffuser On Wavy Hair

My first thoughts and biggest overall takeaway? It’s REALLY hot. You can use it heatless, or on low, medium or high heat. The “low” heat on this is equivalent to the ‘high’ heat setting on my old dryer. It’s so hot that I have to push the ‘cool burst’ button often or it would be uncomfortable on my scalp.

The Dyson website says that they use intelligent heat control, which measures the air temperature 40 times per second to regulate the heat. This regulation of the heat prevents extreme heat damage. I assume this is, in fact, true – but that doesn’t mean that it doesn’t feel really hot on your head.

They also say that their blow dryer attachments are engineered to stay cool to the touch. I have found his to be true. When I had my hair diffused in a salon last summer, the prongs of the diffuser she used were painfully hot on my scalp. With the diffuser on the Dyson SuperSonic, I don’t find that the diffuser prongs get painfully hot, it’s just the air itself that can get uncomfortably warm.

My next big takeaway from using this blow dryer is how much more comfortable it is to use. The Dyson blow dryer is shorter than many blow dryers, so even with the diffuser on it, it’s shorter than just the body of my old blow dryer was. This means I don’t have to hold my arm as far out from my head when holding this blow dryer. It’s easier on my arm and shoulder.

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