r/curlygirl

I’m looking for product recommendations + general tips! I’ve been trying to find a solid product lineup / routine for YEARS and haven’t found one I love + that works for me.

Currently I use:
Nizoral dandruff shampoo (2x/week)
Amika hydro rush shampoo (2-3x/week)
Amika hydro rush conditioner (2-3x/week)
Amika hydro rush hair mask (1x/week)
Amika frizz spray/leave-in (daily or almost daily)
Ouidad frizz mousse
Amika defining gel

I always air dry / rarely diffuse and always sleep with a bonnet (which often falls off overnight)

Looking for recommendations for:
Clarifying shampoo
Any better daily shampoos/conditioners? I like Amika but curious if there’s any others people really love
Styling products?
How to keep my bonnet on ?

In the first photo is my natural hair - clearly very dry and lots of breakage and I got my hair done using the curly girl method and the results were amazing but I never got told what products to use.

Shampoo and Conditioner:
Pantene Repair Shampoo and Conditioner

Other Products:
Pantene Curl Care Curl Cream (I’ve tried this before but it caused frizz within an hour)
No gel mousse or other styling products were used in this routine.

Drying Method:
Air-dried

Additional Notes:
I didn’t use a bonnet satin or silk pillowcase.

Lifestyle:
I’m very active and play water polo three times a week hockey twice a week and go to the gym four times a week.

My hair is extremely frizzy, prone to breakage and lacks definition without product. My mum has straight hair and I haven’t been taught much about curl care.

I’d love to receive any tips and advice for maintaining healthy hair with my sporty routine and finding a way to reduce frizz and breakage.

what do you all do to keep your hair from being Soo dry?

Ever since I was born, I had curly/ wavy hair. I never learned how to style it, so I began using heat on it in 7th grade. Now, I usually wash my hair, put on heat protectant, then blow dry my hair. I’ve tried many times to go natural for a couple of weeks, but I just can never style it properly, leaving it looking STRINGY and frizzy. I also don’t have much hair so I can never get much volume. My hair is naturally black and has never been dyed. What type of hair do I have? It is also very thin and can get dry so I’ve tried training it. Please leave tips on how to style it, and if you have a curl type similar to mine, what routine works best for you? Do you diffuse? Thank you!

Second to last photo is wet and towel scrunched, Last photo is of my hair blow-dryed

Literally anything helps, I just want healthy curls that I feel confident in 🙏🏼

Edit: Tbh I don’t remember the products I used in the photos, I think I used a leave in conditioner cream, and a curl cream, all by Shea Moisture.

edit: please only comment if you have a product recommendation. i’m not asking to accept my hair, i just want to know what could help my hair stay blown out 😔

Hi! I have wavy/mildly curly hair. when i do my curly routine it looks great, but most days i prefer to use my shark flex style to give myself a blowout to make it easier to manage. For context, i live in heavy florida humidity, and when i step outside, my hair poofs and frizzes up and starts to get wavy after only 30 minutes. I’ve tried the straightening and frizz shampoos, Color Wow Dream Coat, the L’oréal and Amika sprays, everything!

Any recommendations on what products to use to keep my hair pin straight after styling that lasts all day in the humidity?? my hair is VERY stubborn. the picture i included was only 20 ish minutes after blowing out my hair completely straight and going outside :(

I've always had frizzy hair in humidity and a bit on the wavy side, but then I had a baby and my hair is allllll waves now! I'm loving it, but I have no idea how to style it properly.

Here's what I'm doing and what I'm using:

- applying and scrunching curl cream to wet hair and I hear the 'wet hair' squelch when I do
- I plop with a microfiber towel
- then I apply curl mousse and plop again
- then I use a diffuser to dry my hair (I try to dry the roots first, then I use the diffuser in sections).
- then the final crunch the scrunch

I'm using Curl Talk Activating Mousse and Curl Talk Defining Cream.

A hairdresser told me not to use gel because my hair is too thin and it would weigh it down.

Questions:

1. What type of curl pattern do I have? Does that matter for the routine?
2. How do I avoid my hair looking wet even after it's dry? I feel like it always looks like I just got out of the shower.
3. Do y'all brush your hair during the curly girl routine? What about after? I brushed my hair the day after and my hair looks insaneeee.

TIA!

Hi all, I’ve just started styling my natural curls after years of straightening/blow drying my hair. Here’s what my second attempt looked like right after scrunching out the crunch! Let me know what y’all think. I’m not entirely sure what curl type I have, so if anyone can provide any insight that would be so helpful!

I was also wondering what suggestions anyone may have with refreshing my curls on day two/three? Any advice appreciated!

Hey guys, I just want to ask if this is normal or if it’s just my products—should I switch them? I have a mix of 3A and 3B curl patterns. For my routine, I’ve been using the Garnier Hair Food mask as a leave-in conditioner, styling it with a brush, and then applying gel on top. I don’t use a specific gel for curly hair ( the one in the photo below).
My hair is super smooth and freshly hydrated when I use the conditioner, but as soon as I apply the gel, it feels dry. After I diffuse it, it looks all good, but by Day 2, the 3B pattern at the back of my head starts to frizz—and it’s not a normal frizz, it looks unhealthy.
I also wanted to ask: what is the purpose of hair mousse, and should I buy one for my hair type?
If you have any gel or mousse suggestions, please let me know! Also, do I need to use a proper curl cream instead of the Garnier mask? I used to use Skala and changed it for some reason, but I’m willing to buy it again. The last time I styled my hair, I used flaxseed gel; it worked very well and gave me zero frizz at first, but by Day 3, it just didn't hold my curls at all.
Note: Please only suggest European or locally available brands since I don't have access to American products.
Thanks!

I straightened my hair yesterday for 4th of July, just flat ironed it, I was bored.

My 4 year old climbs in bed this morning, looks at me and goes “I wish you could fix your hair”. I said “What do you mean?” He goes “well look at your hair, look in the mirror, I don’t like it”.💀

He’s never seen my hair straight. The last time I did anything to my hair was like … 2019. Since then I’ve done pretty much nothing but wash n gos cuz I’m lazy.

I got too many comments about my hair being straight between yesterday and now today. Let me go ahead and wash my hair 😂

Hey
I‘m really insecure about Styling in general, but I Think I might have curly hair potential. This is what I could do:

I used my daily shampoo „Alterra Naturkosmetik“ and then before blow drying: 1 drop hair oil by Alterra into the lengths, got2be curl mousse like a small handful, and Langhaar Mädchen Lockenhalt Spray (if those brands Are known here).
Then After those products I blow dried it with this diffusor thing. And put in some hair spray.

One Picture is my hair After i straightened it a little.

So, what do you think? Is there potential or am I delusional?

My daughter has coarse, tightly-coiled hair that springs upward rather than draping, even with layers. I love her curls as they are, but the styles she’s drawn to only really work with looser, softer curls that have less spring. She also wants to be able to manage/style it herself, which she can’t really do with her current texture and spring-back — and being able to do her own hair would mean a lot for her confidence and sense of independence.

Considering a keratin treatment to loosen the curl pattern a bit so it’s more manageable and shorter/layered styles sit better.

She’s a minor, so I’m cautious about formaldehyde-releasing formulas. Has anyone used a genuinely low-chemical or “formaldehyde-free” version with good results on coarse curls? Did it actually soften spring-back, or just add temporary smoothness/shine without changing curl behavior? How long did it last, and did regrowth look odd at the roots?

Also open to hearing if this is a bad idea for a kid’s hair long-term — trying to weigh softening benefits against health/chemical concerns.

Hi everyone! Hope you're doing great. I've been growing my hair out from a buzz cut for two years now, and I haven't gotten a haircut at all since then because: (1) I'm afraid of cutting it incorrectly and messing it up, (2) I don't know any good curly hair stylists in my country, and (3) I actually like how my hair looks now.

Lately, though, I've been wondering if it might look even better with some layering and maybe trimming my bangs a bit. I'm mainly thinking about layering because I'm not sure if my volume looks a little goofy or if I'm just overthinking it. As for my bangs, if I let them dry naturally they end up covering my eyes and even my nose, so after showering and styling I use a headband to lift them up at the roots while they finish drying. That keeps them from falling straight into my face.

I really don't know what to do. I'm worried I'll make a decision that I'll regret, so I'd really appreciate some advice. Thank you!

(The products I use are from a local brand, so they may not be available outside my country.)

Routine:

1. I wash my hair with Bless shampoo, focusing on my scalp and letting the shampoo rinse through the ends.
2. I apply a generous amount of Bless conditioner and detangle with my fingers while my hair is well-conditioned and soaking wet.
3. I rinse the conditioner thoroughly, making sure to remove any that got on my scalp.
4. I gently dab my hair with a towel so it's not dripping wet.
5. I apply Bless leave-in conditioner (adding a little water to my hands if needed) and style by scrunching it into sections of my hair. Then I finger-comb it through.
6. I diffuse until my hair is completely dry.
7. I scrunch out the crunch.
8. I sleep on a satin pillowcase.

I do this routine once a week and usually don't refresh my hair during the week. By the end of the week it tends to get bigger and frizzier, so I usually put it up in a puffy ponytail.

Hi everyone,

I have fine hair, but it is also very dense and highly porous, which makes things complicated.

Honestly, I am feeling pretty desperate.

I have been trying to find a curly hair routine and styling method that finally gives me a result I am happy with.

Today, I did a clarifying wash and tested a new routine :

• Kinky Curly Come Clean
• SheaMoisture Manuka Honey & Mafura Oil Mask
• Curlsmith Essential Moisture Conditioner (detangled with a Tangle Teezer + a few squish-to-condish motions)
• Kinky Curly Knot Today
• Denman D3 on selected pieces around the front and top
• Curlsmith In-Shower Style Fixer (praying hands, glazing, then scrunching) instead of my Aunt Jackie’s Flaxseed Gel
• Diffused on low speed and medium heat (I did not use the diffuser bowl because it seemed to dry my curls too fast and flatten them)
• A tiny amount of jojoba oil at the end to try to scrunch out the cast

But the result really disappointed me.

The Curlsmith gel gave me an unbelievably hard cast. I know a cast is normal, but this was not a normal “slightly crunchy” cast.

My curls stayed extremely rigid, hard, and cardboard-like.

I tried scrunching them out with jojoba oil in my hands, but it barely changed anything. It felt impossible to soften them.

I do not know whether I used too much gel, applied it incorrectly, layered too much conditioning underneath, or whether this gel is simply too strong/heavy for my fine hair.

I also feel like :

• My curls are too flat and seem weighed down by the gel
• The sides look messy and unorganised, with curls going in different directions
• The top/front looks worse, with visible gaps and scalp showing
• The back also lacks uniformity
• I wanted volume and defined curl clumps, but instead my hair looks rigid, flat, and overly separated

I also tried applying products underneath the outer layer of my hair, on the inner sections that are not visible unless I lift the hair up.
I never used to do that before, so I am not sure if it helped with hydration/definition or if it contributed to weighing everything down.

For a strong-hold gel, should I really do praying hands first and then glaze the outside, or should I only apply the gel on the surface ?

Could praying hands be separating my curl clumps too much or applying too much gel inside my hair ?

I would really appreciate honest feedback on the photos and my routine. I am trying hard to learn the right application methods and finally get curls that I feel proud enough to post here, instead of being disappointed after every wash day.

Thank you in advance !

Hi r/curlygirl 👋 I’ve been growing my curls out for a while and I’m at a crossroads. I love the volume and shape I have now, but I’m not sure if I should, Go for a low cut / shorter style (something like a longer bob or shoulder length) Or add extensions to get more length while keeping the curls Here are some recent pics of my current hair, I usually air dry, use a diffuser sometimes😅, and my routine is pretty simple gel + leave-in. My curls are somewhere between 3A/3B.