Wavy Hair Before And After Curly Girl Method
This is my wavy hair before and after the curly girl method. Before starting the curly girl method on the left in both photos, and 2 years into the curly girl method on the right in both photos.
The curly girl method isn’t magic or anything. In my experience, it certainly has helped to make my hair healthier. It feels softer, stronger, and looks shinier than it used to. My hair became wavier.
All of these photos were after starting the curly girl method. From the very beginning on the left, working up to the current day on the right.
I realized my hair was wavy when I was 26. How can you live 26 years without realizing your hair texture? Well, I was brushing my hair as soon as I got out of the shower, and letting it air dry. I also kept my hair very long from the time I was in my late teens.
As a preteen and teenager, I straightened my hair daily. I remember people asking me “why do you straighten your hair when it’s already straight?” and my answer was “it makes it less poofy!” or “it makes it sleeker.” I never really understood why using a flat iron on my hair made it sleeker, or less poofy.
Now I realize that the poof was brushed-out waves, and straightening my hair removed that remaining bit of wave, which is why it became sleeker once fully straight. This was a sign that my hair was actually wavy.
Signs That Straight Hair Is Actually Wavy Or Curly
- Your hair is wavy when wet, but dries straight.
- Your hair looks poofy or fluffy.
- The ends of your hair flip in or out instead of staying straight.
- Your hair is very frizzy, especially when it is humid.
- Your hair gets very thick and puffy when you cut it short.
- When your hair is cut wet, it’s shorter than you wanted once it dries.
- Your hair isn’t pin-straight, it has bends or twists in it sometimes.
Having hair that looks straight but is poofy is one sign of having wavy hair or curly hair. How my hair looked when wet was another sign that it was naturally wavy, not straight. It wasn’t straight when wet – it was wavy!
Hair that is wavy when wet but straight when dry might be naturally wavy
This is my wet wavy hair when I was about 14. When it dried, it mostly looked straight. However, in hindsight, I am able to see signs of waves in my dry, brushed hair! Prior to learning about the curly girl method, I basically saw any non-curly hair or VERY wavy hair, as straight.
However, I can tell in lots of my old photos that my hair was never ‘perfectly’ straight, even when brushed out. I now know that these vague waves showing up, especially after brushing, was a sign that my hair was actually wavy.
I strongly believe that even as a child, if I had avoided brushing my hair after getting out of the shower, I probably would have had more obvious, defined waves. Perhaps another way of thinking of this is – would your hair get straighter if you used a flat iron? If so, then it is not ‘perfectly’ straight right now.
Hair that poofs or curls at just the ends might be naturally wavy
See how my hair is flipping sideways, and ‘poofs’ a bit at the end? Those are attempts to wave/twist/curl that were brushed out.
Here, the hair on one side of my head is curling under on one side, and just seems very thick/poofy on the other. Again, these are brushed out waves. It’s common for brushed out waves or curls to look straighter on top, but to poof or wave/curl at the ends still.
Since discovering the curly girl method, learning about wavy hair and how it will fall apart if brushed, I often see people in public with poofy straight hair and know it is brushed out waves. It’s very common for people with wavy hair to have no idea, and to treat their hair as straight hair as a result. Sometimes this is even true for curly hair!
Straight frizzy hair might be naturally wavy
Another sign that straight hair may actually be wavy is frizz. Frizz is what helped me to discover the curly girl method a couple of years ago. My frizz was just out of control. Check out these pics!
My frizz was so severe, that I was wearing my hair up anytime I left the house. This level of frizz is just not typical for straight hair! I tried all sorts of products that claimed to help with moisture or frizz, but none were good solutions until I started the curly girl method.
“frizz is a curl waiting to happen.” says Lorraine Massey, author of Curly Girl the Handbook. While the curly girl method hasn’t made my hair entirely frizz-free, it has significantly reduced my frizz. What used to be frizz is now more hydrated hair, and it’s hair that is better able to stay in curl clumps.
Hair that poofs more when cut shorter might be wavy
Another sign that my hair was wavy was how it would get poofier when I cut my hair shorter. For years I intentionally grew my hair out to make it less poofy. Whenever I got my hair cut shorter than about collar bone length, it would get poofy. This photo above when I had my hair cut shoulder length shows how it would poof a lot more.
After starting the curly girl method on my wavy hair, and getting a haircut, I saw my wave pattern tighten up a little. This is just the result of longer hair being heavier and being pulled down more. This wasn’t a special dry curl cut either, it was a traditional haircut to simply remove length.
Will wavy hair get curlier?
If your hair looks wavy and is damaged, being gentler on your new growth may allow it to become curlier due to being healthier. Finding the right products might help your hair get curlier if your hair is currently weighed down or lacking protein. Sometimes diffusing hair dry or using styling products with hold also make wavy hair become curlier.
When looking at before and after wavy hair photos of the curly girl method, you may be wondering if your wavy hair will get curlier. It certainly can happen, and often does. If you are in the habit of brushing your hair, but it still has a bit of a wave to it? It will likely wave/curl up more once you stop brushing it.
Using gel or mousse, and using a diffuser instead of air drying also help to preserve my hair pattern instead of letting it get stretched out or weighed down.
Damage is another factor to consider. If you have regularly used high heat on your hair (by using a flat iron or curling iron) dyed or otherwise chemically treated your hair, it may damage your natural texture. For people who start the curly girl method with damaged hair, they may find that their hair gets wavier or curlier over the course of several years, as their old, damaged hair grows out and new, healthier hair grows in.
I was not in the habit of using high heat on my hair or dyeing my hair prior to the curly girl method, but my hair got noticeably curlier over the first 18 months or so of the curly girl method. My hair was dry and brushed out. The curly girl method helped my hair lock in moisture, which made it healthier over time. This reduced frizz, added strength and shine, and made my hair stronger and more wavy.
Some people think their hair is straight, but the curly girl method shows them that it’s naturally wavy. Other people believe their hair is a little wavy, and the curly girl method makes it more wavy, or even curly. While others even think their hair is straight, but the curly girl method shows that it’s curly. Others find that the curly girl method doesn’t make a significant difference in the appearance of their hair texture.
If you’re curious about your hair texture, all you can do is try and see what results you get! You don’t have to run out and buy curly girl approved products, even. Check out my post how to test if your hair is wavy for a way to find out before you jump into the curly girl method with both feet. Update from 2024! I now don’t really believe that the curly girl method itself (meaning avoiding sulfates and silicones) is responsible for the changes I’ve seen in my hair at all. I think it’s all about being gentle on your hair and using products with hold, which can be done while following the curly girl method guidelines for products or while using non-curly girl method approved products!
Once you test it, if your hair waves up a bit, I would advise that you look into creating a wavy hair routine for yourself. I have an under $20 curly girl method starter routine that you can get at your local Walmart or order online if you are ready to buy products. Or a target CGM starter routine for wavy hair, dollar tree CGM routine, Amazon CGM starter kit, or Meijer CGM starter kit depending on what retailer you prefer.
Another post that may be really helpful to you next would be my post how to determine your wavy hair type. It helps you to determine your hair porosity, thickness, density and curl pattern, which can assist you with learning what products and methods are likely to work best for you.
The curly girl method (and other forms of embracing natural hair texture) are not a “one and done” magic solution. It takes trial and error to find out what products work best for your hair. Embracing your natural waves will be a journey, but I for one, feel it’s well worth it. The curly girl method helped my hair a lot, and I continued that journey with some non-curly girl method products. Since starting the curly girl method, I feel more confident in my appearance.
Ready to learn more about the curly girl method or other forms of naturally wavy hair care? Check out my whole blog post directory for other posts that will interest you.
Hi, trying right now! Excited!
Good luck!
Hello, That you so much for posting this! I tried your method and I did get curly hair at the end (was shocked). But then if I lye down on it or like put it in a pony tail and then down, it loses some or all curls, what can I do? Does it still mean I have wavy hear or not? Thank you so much for your answers
Hi! Yes it sounds like you have wavy or curly hair if it looked that way at first. It is normal for wavy hair to get stretched out or fall flat if you aren’t rather gentle with it. You can check out this blog post below to read about how I protect my waves while I sleep.
https://wavyhaircarer.com/how-to-sleep-on-wavy-hair/
They still fall apart some, but less. IT talks about putting your hair up in a ‘pineapple’, you could do this while putting your hair up during the day as well, if you’d like. Using traditional hairties are likely to stretch your hair out a lot more than doing a ‘pineapple’.
Did your hair get a good crunch to it when it was first dry? If not, you may benefit from using more gel or mousse to get a harder gel cast, that can help your waves/curls stay longer too, usually. Here are two posts that may help if you need more information on that.
https://wavyhaircarer.com/what-is-a-hair-cast-or-gel-cast-how-to-create-one/
https://wavyhaircarer.com/why-you-arent-getting-a-gel-cast/
I have very slightly wavy hair (about 1c), and my mother has wavy hair (she has about 2c hair). I have been washing my hair with curly girl shampoo and conditioners and I have been plopping my hair, but it stays frizzy and straight even though it’s normally a little wavy. What do you think is wrong? Do you think that maybe I should put a product in after washing my hair?
Using a product like gel or mousse typically helps wavy hair last longer and look more defined. But if your hair was wavier before than it is now, and you didn’t use products before, then it’s now straighter than before, I would think something else is the problem, not the lack of gel/mousse.
Sometimes “curly” is used to reference wavy or loosely curly (3a) Type hair. For example the “curl talk” line from NYM is great for wavy and loosely curly hair. But other times ‘curly’ is used to refer to really tight curls or kinky/coily hair. If people with wavy hair use products aimed more at kinky/coily hair, those will be way too heavy, in most cases. It’s common for wavies to run out and buy shea moisture or cantu products because they’re advertised as being for curly hair. Both of these brands have a wide range of products, so some of them might work okay for wavy hair, but many of the products from those brands are designed more for type 4 hair so they’re very heavy in oils and butters which will leave wavy hair weighed down and even greasy looking, sometimes. Anyway, that’s my best guess as to what has happened with yours, was that the curly products you picked out were for REALLY curly hair, not loosely curly hair and are too heavy and pulling your hair straighter than it naturally is.
my hair is super long and thick and it’s always frizzy, but everytime i try to use product it makes it worse and hard and it’s a horrible mess in the morning. what do i do ?
What product(s) have you tried adding? It’s really common for people to try using a hair oil to combat frizz, and using oils alone often makes frizz worse. Or another common experience that causes more frizz with product is when they use a product that can help hold down frizz well (like gel or mousse) but they touch their hair as it’s drying, or to go bed before it’s fully dry. If you use product but the touch your hair before it dries, that can make frizz worse, too.
I’d recommend these posts if you haven’t seen them already.
https://wavyhaircarer.com/causes-of-wavy-hair-frizz/
https://wavyhaircarer.com/how-to-fix-frizzy-wavy-hair/
Great post! I figured out that my hair seems more wavy than straight because of this – thank you!
Hey Emily,
I’ve just discovered this week that I think I have wavy hair. I watched a few videos on YouTube, did some online research, and then found your website. Thank you!! All of the before photos I’ve seen have reminded me of how my hair is when it’s dried & brushed out. I’ve always had very thick brown hair. It gets poofy when I brush it. It also responds really well when teased.
I’ve been wondering about my own hair & genetics because my mom just went through a curly girl journey of her own recently; most of her life until then, she had damaged, frizzy hair that she thought was straight. Now that her hair is healthier, there are natural curls, around 2B to 2C. We both have sort of double texture hair where there’s very rough, coarse hair in the underneath layer & on top, but the bangs & rest of the hair is smooth, almost fine. It always surprises hairdressers. We also both have short, coarse, curly hairs that grow out into longer, bigger waves over time. This just recently happened to me as I’m only around 20, perhaps it’s a new phase of hair growth.
I have also noticed that whenever I use a curling iron or have had braids in, my hair always poofs up. My texture then feels more normal for somebody with wavy or curly hair than for somebody with straight hair.
As a child, my hair was fine, straight, and thick, then when I was about 7 it started to become coarser & wave a little more. Then when I was about 14 my hair began to wave more & more without me doing anything to it. I recently went through multiple traumatic events which caused me to lose some of my hair, including most of my wave. I also made the bad decision to change my shampoo & conditioner about a year ago. I went back to what I used to use last month, Giovanni Tea Tree Triple Treat. My hair is starting to look more normal now. I’m much happier. Now that it is getting healthier, I am interested in starting the curly girl method as I do believe I’ve got wavy hair potential.
I’ve got a mix of 1a, 1b, and 2a hair with a few 2bs. That’s without using any products or heat. Any advice you’ve got for me would help me a lot. I’ve just gone on Amazon to buy the Morocconoil Curl Defining Cream. I’m excited to try it out. I’m also interested in trying scrunching. I’ve tried it before for fun. I didn’t do it quite properly, though. However, I did notice my hair was wavier than normal.
Thanks so much for sharing your curly girl experience with us. Thank you for helping out those of us who needed this! 🙂
Glad you found my site! It’s interesting that your hair and your mom’s hair mimic each other in which areas are thicker and curlier than others. I don’t really know much of anything about the genetics behind hair type, to be honest.
I do know that your hair thickness doesn’t necessarily dictate your curl pattern. You can have fine hair with any curl pattern (or straight hair), and same thing with ‘normal’ thickness, thick or coarse hair. The curly girl handbook says most people with curly hair actually have fine hair, though the book doesn’t site sources so I’m not sure if that’s a definitive fact or not. Though it sounds like you may just have experienced overall changes in your hair at once so the texture and curl pattern both changed at the same time.
My main advice would be to try a gel or a mousse. It’s really common for people who have treated their hair like straight hair to want to use a leave-in or cream rather than a gel or a mousse because they seem less “producty” but creams, even when they say they help with frizz or definition, really are primarily a moisturizing product. So using something specifically designed to help hold your hairs form can make a really dramatic difference. If you check out my ‘blog post directory’ (linked in the blog menu) I have a post called ‘does wavy hair need gel’ that shows my hair without a product with hold and then with a product with hold. It’s really dramatic, for me.
Thanks so much, Emily. That is interesting about hair thickness. I didn’t know that. I’ll have to do some more research.
I’ll look at your blog post directory, check out some mousse & gel products. Thanks!
I just tried my first wavy girl hair day. Didn’t do enough plopping but there is a slight wave in the hair. I did do a lot of scrunching in the shower with conditioner then right out of the shower. I think my hair might’ve been too dry when I tried scrunching again a little later on. The Moroccanoil cream seems to work. Think I might need a protein treatment, too. It’s an adventure!
Thanks for such a great article! I’m 60 and grew up in a generation that treated wavy hair as misbegotten straight hair. I so envied the pictures of long straight hair. Mine frizzed and was thick so I managed it with hot rollers until menopause, when I lost 1/2 my thickness and needed a perm to help it look ‘normal.’ It never occurred to me that my hair is wavy–yet my dad’s family had curly hair and so too, several of my siblings. You shared several pics that resemble my hair’s behavior and it was so enlightening! So glad I’ve finally come into the light. Maybe now I can finally figure out how to really enjoy the type of hair I have. Now if I can just figure out how to tolerate day 3 or 4 hair….
That’s so cool that you’ve ‘discovered’ your hair type now. My mom is a few years younger than you but had ringlets when she was little so she knew her hair was curly. She was still taught to brush it, though – which made it much more poofy than anything else. Yet her own mom and her other sisters all had curly hair, too. So, it seems like there was just really a lack of information available on how to best care for curly hair. She talked about how they used clothes iron (I think with a towel over top?) to try to straighten her hair, how she once paid top dollar to get a hair cut that was supposed to help curly hair but they cut inverted layers into her hair so that made it stand up/puff out even worse. I only realized mine was wavy a few years ago, and only because of the internet. Anyway, glad you found my blog. Best of luck with embracing your waves!
I am not sure if my hair is wavy or not because growing up my hair was straight and very thin, but when I cut my hair a couple years ago i wouldn’t go straight. My hair is not wavy but isn’t straight; It curves at the end and won’t be tamed, it is still very thin just very weirdly curved. I am thinking of doing CGR routine but am not sure if my hair is even wavy
I’d recommend that you try out the routine listed in my ‘how to test if your hair is wavy’ blog post (which is linked in this blog post). It walks you through treating your hair like wavy hair to see if it’s wavy, without running out to buy CGM approved products. 🙂
My hair was really curly in my early 30s to my mid-40s. After menopause it’s gone to wavy and it’s really flat on top, fine, and I just don’t know how to deal with it to keep it out of my face.
Any suggestions?
I often see people talking about how their hair has changed since pregnancy or menopause. Hormone changes seem to really create dramatic changes for hair sometimes! I imagine it feels a bit like trying to learn how to care for someone else’s hair at first.
I don’t have fine hair, but a lot of people with wavy hair do. From what I’ve read from others, people with fine wavy hair typically need to be really careful to choose products that are really light as fine hair gets weighed down a lot more easily than thicker hair. I haven’t personally tried these and if I did they wouldn’t really tell me how they work on fine hair…so I’d recommend you research them a bit but I know the Giovanni brand is popular with people with fine wavy hair as they offer several really light products including a really lightweight leave in conditioner if your hair needs a leave in conditioner. Not Your Mother’s has some really light lines. I’ve tried the blue sea kale shampoo/conditioner set and it was too light for me but may be great for your hair. Their blood orange line is also really light. For stylers, mousse is lighter so sometimes that makes sense for fine hair as it won’t weigh you down and may help with volume, and other times people with fine hair say that mousse makes their hair too stringy so you may have to weigh those pros and cons. I suspect that density may also be a factor when it comes to mousse? If your hair is fine and low density it may be extra prone to getting stringy vs if it’s fine but average or thick density?
You might like my blog post about how to get more volume, many of the tips will apply to root volume (to get rid of that flat on top look).
https://wavyhaircarer.com/13-methods-to-get-more-volume-with-naturally-wavy-hair/
Thank you for your post – your journey is so much like mine! I always thought I had slightly wavy hair growing up but I was living in a dry climate so it never really frizzed much nor curled. Just kicked out unpredictably. I was always envious of girls with smooth blunt haircuts that I could never really achieve. Then “scrunching” a layered bob while drying became a thing during highschool and I realised my hair would actually hold a bit more wave and even a curl when it was cut a bit shorter. I also noticed that it appeared curly when it was wet and I wished I could make it hold the curl when it dried – but I generally got that unpredictable kinkiness. Finally, I moved to a humid climate as an adult and stopped battling my hair and let it kick out in any direction it wanted to and I just kept it cut fairly short. When I was about forty I started to just let it airdry with some product on it and realised it was actually curly, a lot like yours! Now I can do either – let it curl (generally in summer) or smooth it out a bit (in winter it is too cold to leave the house with wet curls!). I generally use a good leave in conditioner and a spray gel for curly days now and that helps a lot with avoiding frizz. For smooth days I use my rotating brush dryer to send the curls in a more predictable direction and good old fashioned hairspray to keep the humidity at bay. It is good to know I am not alone with the late discovery of my curls ;o)
I always thought I had super straight hair. But was always annoyed because if exposed to any amount of humidity it became poofy and would flip out on one side. I just tried your test to see if my hair is wavy, and I am SHOOK! I literally have ringlets… like HOW?? I am 30 and am just realizing my hair is wavy. Thanks for all the tips and tricks!
I’m so happy I found your page. My hair looks EXACTLY like yours did in the before photo on top of the page. When it air dries, I have inconsistent waves and straight pieces. I’m now realizing it’s because my hair has been damaged by years of flat ironing and hair dyeing. I’m going to start this modified routine you mentioned today. I’m excited to see the results!
That’s awesome! I hope it went well. 🙂
hi thank you so much for your post. when i was reading the “signs that straight hair is actually wavy or curly” i noticed everything on there has/is happening. i was wondering what it meant when i got my hair cut (i got curtain bangs and layers) they started to get wavy/curly but the rest of my hair was straight/frizzy.
hi emily sorry if your getting two of these i don’t think my other posted but thank you for making this post. while i was reading the “signs that straight hair is actually wavy or curly” i noticed everything on the list has/is happening with my hair. i was wondering what it meant when i got my hair haircut (i got curtain bangs and layers) i noticed my cut hair was getting wavy and it would curl more mainly at the bottom of the hair. do you by chance know if it’s because i have wavy hair and cutting it is bringing back some curls or is it just because of the cut i got done?
No worries. Unfortunately, I get a ton of spam comments or bot comments (like 20 a day vs maybe 2 ‘real’ comments a day on average) so I have a setting on my blog where the first time someone tries to comment, it makes me manually approve the comment before it’ll be publicly visible. This prevents the spam comments from being public which is important because they often try to include harmful links and I want to protect my readers from those. The downside though is that it also blocks real comments, but only the first time someone comments. Now that I’ve approved your comment, it should let you comment in the future without me having to manually approve them anymore. 🙂
Anyway, A haircut shouldn’t make (truly) straight hair act wavy so I think your hair has previously had wavy potential but the haircut you got allowed it to come out a bit more. the texture. Did you get layers cut in? It’s common for layers to help bring out waves because it’s less heavy/bulky than when hair is all one length. A lot of times people with wavy hair who get layers will find that the shorter layers (which is usually the ones closest to the face) will wave/curl up most.
It’s also pretty common for wavy hair to only be wavy/curly at the ends of the hair unless gel or some other product with hold is used. Wavy hair is often a lot more “Fragile” than curly hair so it needs support from products to maintain its shape sometimes. I have a blog post about that which may be helpful. https://wavyhaircarer.com/why-your-hair-is-only-wavy-at-the-ends/
If you’re fine with your hair as-is, that’s totally fine of course. If you’d like to try to see if it could be wavy higher up your hair strands I’d recommend trying gel. I have a blog post called how to test if your hair is wavy that gives an example routine that you can use to get a rough idea of what your hair is capable of.
https://wavyhaircarer.com/how-to-test-if-your-hair-is-wavy-before-starting-the-curly-girl-method/
Hi Emily! So, I’ve done some research on the curly girl method and I think my hair is between 1c or 2a hair. It gets a little frizzy sometimes if I skipped using conditioner. I wash my hair every night because it gets oily easily. I’m trying to use sulfate and paraben free products. My hair is like “corn silk” according to my hairdresser haha. It gets matted very very easily when slightly wet and I lose a lot of hair. If it’s soaking wet with conditioner, it does a lot better but it doesn’t hold curl or waves. If I skip conditioner, my hair holds curl and wave really well. Most of the women in my family on both sides have curly hair. I tried the curly girl method today but it didn’t give me any definition even with conditioner. I didn’t want to put any other products in my hair because the conditioner alone weighs it down a lot. Heatless hairstyles always hold a lot better in my hair if I sleep on them with damp hair like those flexible foam rods. Could it be the heat from the blow dryer since my hair doesn’t hold heat as well as heatless? I’ve also tried less heavy conditioners but it makes my hair matted still. Any suggestions? Thanks so much!
My hair has never been too bad about tangling or matting so definitely take this with a grain of salt. But two things come to mid for me. One is that even though conditioner tends to really weigh your hair down, I’d still really strongly encourage you to try gel or some other styling product with hold…maybe mousse seems how you’re worried about it weighing you down? For me, and for a lot of wavies, using a styler with hold is just really essential to maintaining our waves. I have a blog post called ‘do i really need gel?” that talks about this in more detail.
Second, I’d wonder about your protein-moisture balance. Sometimes hair that tangles really easily, especially when wet, has protein overload. I have never experienced protein overload myself, but from what I’ve read it makes hair act almost like a fluffy sweater and velcro or something like that. It just clings in knots and tangles something awful. If you google protein overload and the description seems to sound right for your hair, I’d recommend using a clarifying shampoo to remove any protein buildup, and then using a protein free deep conditioner to see if that helps with the matting.
I have been on my curly journey for 3 months now and I am seeing results (thank you btw). but I was wondering if my waves/curls are being stretched out or weighed down. My hair length is past my butt, and when I scrunch/put in all my products I have 2b-ish hair but for my baby hairs and hairs which are closer to my neck I have around 2c and 3a hair, do I have a combination hair or is it being weight down by the length?
My best guess would be that it’s a combination of all those things. With really long hair like that, I think most any hair type would be somewhat weighed down. It’s also very common for people to have a mixture of curl patterns in different sections of their head, though. So my guess is that if you were to cut your hair, you’d still see some differences in curl pattern i different areas.
It’s particularly common for people to have tighter curls around the nape of their neck and at their temples. I believe that is a combination of two things – the hair at the nape of the neck and temples is often very fine hair which can allow it to curls up tighter than thicker hair strands do. But also, some people find that their hair in those two spots gets curlier if they work out or that those areas get curlier the farther they get from wash day, and I think that is related to sweat. The temples and the nape of the neck often will pool sweat more than other areas of our heads, so I think that can basically moisturize those sections of hair more than the rest, and some people find that the more moisturized their hair is, the better it curls up.
That’s awesome that you’re seeing results! And it’s awesome that you are managing with hair hat long, too. That’s a lot of work, I imagine!
The most relatable article ever! Thank you for posting. Now , at 22, I finally realized my hair is actually Wavy ! 😀
Hi Emily!
I’m honestly incredibly confused about my hair, and I kinda wanna do a lil’ vent/question thing.
My dad had very straight, thick, fine hair, and my mom has 3a/3b curly hair. My hair seems to range from 1c to 3b, in various places. Currently I have random ringlets, tight waves, loose waves, and patches where my hair is straight. My hair is pretty long, and I’ve been treating it just like you would straight hair (although my hair could never pass as straight).
When my hair is in the drying process you can still see all of the various hair textures. My hair definitely has lots of frizz, and it definitely gets frizzy when it’s humid (or whenever I dry brush it). When I brush it, it becomes one big, loose wave, but it’s extra frizzy and it’s poofy (may hair is always fizzy, always, no matter whether it’s brushed or not), and that lasts for about an hour and a half before it goes back to normal. I was pretty young (pre-puberty) last time I wore my hair short, but pictures show it being fairly straight, with a few patches that had a wave when at my chin, and having a big, consistent wave when it was mid-neck to shoulders, and then becoming the inconsistent mess it is now any time it got longer.
Like I said, I’m confused. I’m wondering whether I should go ahead and try the ‘is my hair wavy test,’ whether I should see if any products used for curly hair help at all, or what I should try. I’m not too bothered by the differences in wave texture, but I hate how a ringlet looks next to a straight section of hair, and how frizzy my hair is.
If you have literally any advice you feel like sharing, and some free time, that would be incredible.
Hi! I think that starting with the wavy hair test would still be helpful for you even though you are certain your hair is wavy/curly in some areas. The test basically uses gel to help preserve the texture you have when wet, so with you saying your texture varies while it’s wet, it’s likely to still vary if you do the ‘test’ but for most people it will vary less than it would if you didn’t use any products. With you saying that your hair brushes out into one big wave rather than staying in defined waves or curls, I suspect you may have fine hair and/or a fragile hair texture so I think even though you have some curly pieces, that wavy advice is still likely to apply well to your hair type.
Hey there just after a bit more info if possible? Firstly thank you for sharing this, i cannot believe i have gotten to 36 years old and always thought i had straight hair! My question is how do i carry on the routine on day 2,3 and so on till my next wash day? I have tried the method you laid out for day 1 and it worked amazingly! But on day two my hair had dropped dramatically so i rewet it and added more mousse! But again on day 3 my hair had dropped dramatically and on day 2 I actually wrapped my hair before bed! I added more mousse on day 3 but my hair went really crunchy and no amount of scrunching helped so i had to rewash my hair 🙈 what am i doing wrong 😂 please help
It honestly sounds like you’re doing awesome for just starting! Refreshing day 2 (or 3) hair can be pretty challenging. Part of what is challenging is everyone’s hair will act a little different so it will likely take you experimenting with different techniques to find out what will work for your hair. My hair responds best to having more mousse added to dry hair, but it sounds like that was too much for your hair on day 3 at least. Rewetting hair will reactivate any gel or mousse that is still in your hair from the previous day, so maybe on day 3 you could dampen your hair and it would reactivate the cast and you wouldn’t have to add more mousse? That’s what I’d try next. But if that doesn’t work you may find that refreshing in some other way, such as with steam, or adding in leave-in conditioner or something else works better for you. I also find that the exact product I use can make a difference. I like to refresh with cake curl whip mousse, but I’ve tried to refresh with other mousses and they get producty/sticky. So you may even find that the same thing but with a different type of mousse may be fine for your hair.
Hiii my hair is up to my chest and I always thought it was straight but I’m getting a lot of the signs that I have wavy hair. My hair tends to be wavy at the back normally anyways. I tried scrunching it up with a tshirt while drying and it does achieve some curls but they’re very weak in the front and top layer of my hair and it’s not very obvious at all that I have curls. It just becomes a floofy frizzy kinda wavy mess… at the end I have to brush it straight cause it looks so bad. Any advice for stronger and neater waves? If you want more info about my hair it’s also very thick and dense and low porosity.
If you aren’t using gel then I’d recommend giving that a try. It should help hold the shape you get when your hair is wet and keep your hair from getting as puffy/frizzy as it dries or as you go about your day.
Hi there:
I used to have really straight hair when i was a kid, and now im taking more care of it, but somehow, my sides are 3a-b and the middle of my scalp is 1c and i dont know how to make it curly too. Also, I cant really scrunch it much or anything because my hair is about 4 inches(Im a boy).
My mother has 2c and my Grandmother and grandfather both have 3a. My father has about 1c-maybe 2a and my aunt and grandma both have like 3a. Its wierd because my hair is very very curly in some parts(coils when its pretty short) but its not all that wavy when its wet, and if i brush it out whilst its wet all the waves go away. I use cantu curl activator, a cantu gel(custard) and a curl mousse. When I use all 3, it goes curly, even in the middle, but I can’t help thinking that it might just be because of the products, and not because my hair is actually that wavy. Can you help me please?
Hi! It’s a common misconception that hair products can “turn” straight hair curly but they really can’t. Things like perms and curling irons can alter hair texture, but gels, custards, mousses, etc just help hold the shape that your hair had when you applied that product. It doesn’t make an all-new curl pattern out of nothing and someone with super straight hair wouldn’t be able to use any products and make their hair wavy or curly.
Hello! I just found this website and I think I might have wavy hair. It is funny because I perm it at the moment since my mother says I look bad with straight hair. My family all has wavy and curly hair but mine never was… It was fine and dry and had a weird wave at the bottom that I would brush away. I always brushed it right out of the shower and didn’t use conditioner (which probably helped with the terrible poof and fizz I had)… I decided to perm my hair and it has been three years, it never fades at the ends and the roots seem wavy when it grows out. My hairdresser even said that perms stick abnormally well and last longer and look more natural in my hair. Also and this just could be a coincidence but as soon as I started treating my hair curly, due to the perm, it got so much thicker and it looks healthier even tho I have been perming it for years… Everyone thinks the curls are natural even when the roots are grown out to the bottom of my ears (over half my hair)…
It sounds like your hair has become wavy (likely due to age or hormonal changes) as if your roots have grown out to the bottom of your ears but that part of your hair is wavy even though it’s never been permed, then that part is natural. The ends that were permed before may not be your natural pattern, they might be the perm still…but the part that was never permed has to be natural.
Hi Emily! My hair seems to be mission impossible. When I brush my hair, it seems straight, but fluffy at spots, dry and tangles all of the time. It doesn’t stay straight if I leave it all day after that. But on the other hand it doesn’t really seem curly either. I tried to wrap a shirt around it after having taken a shower and let it air dry apart from that. At some parts there seems to be a bit of a wave, other parts seem straight. And above all; if I let it air dry and not brush it, my hair looks pretty bad. Like I didn’t do anything to it for months. My hairdresser mentioned she thought I actually might have wavy hair. But the waves don’t seem to come out very nice and it really seems like something in between. I’m not very sure what to do now. Since it gets fluffy/tangled when I brush it, it doesn’t seem to want to be fully straight. But it doesnt look good when I just let it be either. What to do next?
By the way: Love this site and your hair!
Aww thank you! This sounds like wavy hair to me. It’s common for wavy hair to only hold a defined, wavy shape if you use a product with hold like gel. I’d recommend trying my wavy hair test to see how your hair behaves when you use gel and diffuse it dry.
Hi! This is the clearest article I’ve read on this topic so thank you. I am 40 and I think I’m realising my hair is wavy rather than straight. When I was a kid my hair was wavy-ish but I’ve always straightened and dyed it etc. I haven’t dyed my hair for years now so it’s completely natural (but still damaged) and a couple of weeks ago I stopped using tight hair bands and swapped for a silk scrunchie when I sleep, I have also started using hair oils. I have been brushing my hair as normal at night and put it in a loose bun in a scrunchie then when I wake up it’s wavy! If I brush it it goes straight again but if I scrunch it up with a bit of argon oil it goes way and stays like that all day until I brush it again. If I hadn’t had changed hair care routine I don’t think I would have noticed. I’m now going to try the curly girl method and see what happens. Thanks again!
Had to find this article again because- I’m sure you get this a lot- it completely changed my hair care! My poofy, frizzy, damaged-looking “straight” hair has always been such a nightmare to take care of, and I stumbled on this article looking for solutions. I didn’t need to test if it’s wavy, there’s always waves/curls no matter what I do… might even be curly with the way it acts. Well, it only took 22 years of living to figure out I need to care for it that way. I’m going to try out your curly routine and I’m very excited!
Aww thank you so much for this comment! It made my day.
Hiya Emily, I’m 17 and I’ve had wavy hair my whole life my mum used to put it in buns after towel drying my hair when I was a child and then I’d get lovely defined curls with no frizz but now I’m older I just can’t seem to manage my hair and my mum says it’s because I’m a teenager and ill grow out of it but it’s starting to take its toll on my self-esteem, I don’t have much going for me I’m 6,1ft with crooked teeth a hooked nose and big ears so I really want my hair to be one thing I can be proud of. My routine is a shower every two days I use lukewarm water and a function of beauty shampoo with frizz control booster serum mixed in I have only started using conditioner recently because my hair is so so greasy as well, so after I’ve rinsed everything out I put it in a hair wrap towel for 30 minutes and then add olaplex products (which I spent £60 on and it doesn’t do much/I don’t see a difference maybe I’m using it wrong I have the bond smoother and bonding oil) and a Pantene leave-in cream on my ends then try to fully dry with a hair dryer which makes it double in size and frizzy so I brush it till its flat then twist it up in a hair clip and hope for the best but in never looks good but it’s all I have time for and it already takes too long especially if I have to shower in the morning before college. So my hair is both frizzy and greasy if I want to get rid of the greasy it creates more frizz if I try to give it more moisture it won’t last a day and will dry greasy and I’m just finding it so tiring, If I have time to or it’s a special occasion I will spend an hour drying it with a hair dryer so its actually fully dry then going over the surface of my hair with a flat iron to eradicate the frizz and that usually works (not fully I will have to fly-aways and my hair looks weird because it’s not flat and sleek it’s so it’s poofy when I straighten it) but its the best I can get my hair. Because I have exams and work a Saturday job I don’t have time to do that every two days so normally I shampoo my hair with no conditioner (to save it from being greasy and last an extra day for school cause id rather have dry hair than greasy hair) and don’t have time to fully dry it ill put it up in buns like my mum used to do and when I take them out they look great but not for that long as they’ll be all frizz in less than 30 minutes. Anyway, you get the point basically what I’m trying to say is what should I do;
-I don’t want a long lengthy routine with expensive products as I’m a student I need to be realistic
-but I do want to encourage and define my natural texture and curl pattern
-I would like my hair to be less greasy so I don’t have to wash it as regularly
-I would like my hair to not be so frizzy, have so many flyaways on the top of my head or be so wide and poofy only on the ends and instead have more volume at the scalp
(Extra information: I do not understand when people suggest not brushing it I need to should I buy a specific comb or use my fingers I don’t know, I also own a diffuser attachment for my hair but I don’t use it properly so it doesn’t help and I’m getting a haircut and hopefully and hair treatment would you have any suggestions to help my hair type while keeping length i.e layers and a keratin treatment)
Sorry for bombarding you with so much info but I didn’t want to leave anything out, I understand you’re not a miracle worker and everyone is different but I just wanted to get some more personal tips and tricks for my situation, thank you so much x (Also sorry if I sent so many of these comments it just said id sent it twice but I only clicked post once but I read your comment about spam so I understand that you have to approve them hopefully my comment got to you okay 🙂
Hi there!
I of course don’t know you, but I’d bet that you are just feeling like you look worse than you really do! Teen years are tough and so many find it hard to be comfortable with our appearance as teens. I hope it gets better for you. From what you’ve shared, I’d suggest trying a clarifying or chelating shampoo to make sure you don’t have product buildup or buildup from hard water deposits. A lot of times frizz on top of the head is the result of buildup, and it sounds like you’re using an oil regularly, and oils tend to contribute to build up pretty quickly. With you describing your hair has greasy, I’d suggest that you consider no longer using the oil as oils can contribute to greasiness, and while people often try to use them to reduce frizz, they often result in more frizz when used regularly. Oils create a barrier between the environment an our hair, which can be good in some conditions (like when it is extremely humid) but that barrier can also make it hard for products to get into our hair shaft and so then they just sit on top of our hair and look greasy or create build up, sometimes.
Honestly, it’s tough to embrace naturally wavy hair and have a fast routine for a lot of people. I would suggest buying a gel or a mousse, and trying to learn how to use your diffuser the correct way and see how time consuming that is. For some people, it takes 15 minutes or less, for others it takes over an hour – it’s all about how quickly or slowly your hair dries. The reason I suggest gel is, it will help hold down frizz and it will help hold your waves in shape.
You can try this routine if you’d like:
https://wavyhaircarer.com/how-to-test-if-your-hair-is-wavy-before-starting-the-curly-girl-method/
If you find that is too time consuming, then you may find that embracing your waves isn’t for you right now. In that case, a way to cut back on the time needed to straighten daily would be to get a chemical straightening treatment done, such as a keratin treatment. However, those do damage the hair some, so you may see an increase in your frizz, if the frizz that you currently have is related to damage. If your hair is pretty healthy though, your frizz might just be caused from product build up and/or hard water build-up, and in that case, doing a keratin treatment may not increase your frizz.
You can use the search feature on my blog to look up clarifying and chelating to learn more about those. I also have a blog post on ‘do I really need gel’ that talks about how/why gel is so key for wavy hair. I also have blog posts on diffusing techniques. Best of luck to you!
Hello! I am hoping you could help me with mine. My hair was curly when I was a baby and it straightened out as I grew older. These past 3 years my hair became poofy. I live in Philippines and it’s very humid so it’s understandable that my hair get’s so poofy once it dries (my hair’s straight when it wet though). A damaged hair can also be one of the factor since I bleached some streaks of my hair (like Narcissa Malfoy) during pandemic and that’s where I’ve noticed my hair becoming poofy so Ig my it is damaged. However, I cut my hair short so I can get my healthy hair back but it still grew poofy 😔 and then one time, I saw a picture of me, it was a stolen shot and my back was facing the camera. And then I noticed that my hair is a bit wavy, I was convinced that it was my natural hair coming back. I cut my hair again last year and as expected, it’s still poofy and a bit wavy. Idk if it really is my curly/wavy hair coming back or not, I haven’t done anything about it yet since I am not sure and I don’t want to waste money for products.
To add, before I bleached my hair it was straight even if it’s humid. It’s just after that that I noticed it gets poofy. I really don’t understand if it’s damaged or not, and if it is, shouldn’t it be healthy now since I cut my hair short?
Hair usually grows at a rate of about half an inch per month so about 6 inches per year. If the last time you bleached some streaks in your hair was in March of 2020 then your hair will have grown around 24 inches since then, so unless your hair is quite long (which I doubt based on you saying you’ve had multiple cuts in the last few years) then the part you dyed a few years ago is likely completely cut off now, so any poofiness that you are seeing would not be the result of that damage. Have you seen my article about how to test if your hair is wavy before starting the curly girl method? It suggests using any your regular shampoo and conditioner, plus any gel or mousse that you may have on hand. Or, if you don’t have one on hand, you could just buy a random cheap one from a local store. No need to buy special shampoo or conditioner if you’re just looking to test if your hair is wavy. Here is that article if you’d like to try my process of figuring out if your hair is wavy. https://wavyhaircarer.com/how-to-test-if-your-hair-is-wavy-before-starting-the-curly-girl-method/