Is it better to apply styling products when your hair is sopping wet?
 

Or, do you wait for the sop to ease up? I accidentally discovered the latter today and had a great hair day as result. This is a first as I always apply stylers (l.i., curl creme, etc) when my hair is just dripping.

Don't know if it was a fluke, but wondering what your routine is like in regard to applying styling products?

Is there rhyme or reason to this, or not?

I have tried everything I have used both in damp and soaking wet hair and I have found that almost all of the products I use work best when applied to soaking wet hair, right from (or still in) the shower. The only exception to that rule, for me, is FSG. For some reason I have found that to work better on damp hair. Don't know why.

I have been experimenting with this for a while now and have come to the conclusion that it depends on the product.

Please note my hair is really temperamental and possibly posessed by some demon or evil entity.:angry5: So don't take too much notice of my regime. However the following seems to be working for me.

I think some products do well applied to sopping wet. Some I scrunch in to very damp and some I add water to in my hand and then scrunch into reasonably dry hair.

Interested to know what others think.:dontknow:

I actually only apply styling products when my hair is almost or completely dry. If I add products before that point, my fine hair gets weighed down and loses its curl.

Aha! :thumbright: It's only recently that I figured out that my hair is fine. I just have a LOT of it (apparently yet another trait of 3a hair). Today is the first day that my curls held up ALL day.

I never realised that could be a function of having fine hair, but you hit the nail on the head (for me).

I use several floursack towels, and I use a Denman brush to rake the water out of my hair. I use about 4 to 5 towels (if I don't S&C , I need 6 to 7 towels). I get my hair as dry as brushing and toweling will allow before I add any styler product. I have fine hair, and this method, while decreasing the size, tightness of my clumps, increases volume and dramatically shortens hair drying time.

I can wash, add stylers, and I only need to diffuse dry for about 20 mins. So, my hair is done in 25 mins out of the shower. I like that.

I keep reading about flour sack towels. Where would I purchase something like that?

Mir, your post confirms it for me. It makes much more sense to wait until my hair is damp to apply styling prods.

I have to leave the house at 5:45 tomorrow morning so am going to try drying with the tee shirt, adding stylers and diffusing. I never (or seldom) diffuse, so we shall see.

I bought two different sorts: one ended up being more like nappies (diapers, very soft, nice cottony). I like those for the first round to get lots of the initial water.

For scrunching the subsequent times, I really like these:

http://www.amazon.com/Now-Designs-Fl...7118855&sr=1-1

I got them in "Dune/Citrine/Tarragon" color combo (my house is in yellows/greens/beighes/golds). I got two sets, and I take 3 to 4 to the salon with me when I go.

:D

Yep. I'm with Mir. I discovered this summer that my hair turns out MUCH better when I add product to damp hair (the exception being MD Lemon Yogurt Smoothie, but I don't top it with anything until after I have scrunched out excess water). Plus, the super-fast drying time is a bonus. I was *really* sick of my hair taking hours and hours to completely air dry.

Okay, this is totally interesting to me. I'm only 2 months CG, so I've been following what appears to be the general recommendation - put product in while hair is soaked. This waiting until damp or almost dry thing fascinates me. Here's my main question - how do you ladies keep your hair from frizzing up on you while it's drying and before the product goes in? Or maybe it doesn't matter, since the product will coat the hair and take care of any frizz that happened before it was applied? I'm trying to get a sense of the steps to a routine here. Anyone want to tell me step by step how they do this?

I'm really interested because I feel like scrunching with my CLU towel to absorb water after products are in takes most of them right back out! And I hate to waste product.

I'm fine haired and can only add product to soaking wet hair. If I do try to add anything once it starts to dry--it's lots of frizz for me! That's one of the reasons why I wet and style every day.

What works for me is to rake a very small amount (e.g. pea-size) of product to soaking wet hair, scrunch and/or plop, then wait until barely damp to scrunch in the rest of my product. The small amount I add initially helps reduce frizz and encourages curls and clumps, but doesn't weigh me down the way it would if I added all my product to soaking hair.

this is interesting, my favorite combo right now is AG recoil and CK. I've been applying them both to damp hair but the REcoil is pretty sticky(like caramel sauce consistency) and I find I use a lot of CK to basically rewet my hair in order to be able to scrunch successfully.

I'm going to try a two prong approach by applying REcoil to dripping hair in the shower to get better distribution, then plop for 5-10 as usual and then apply my CK and diffuse. I hope this cuts down on the stickiness of REcoil but gives me the structure I need and the CK can take care of the frizz as usual. Maybe if I can use less CK, the drying time will lessen as well.

Thank you! I'm going to try this tomorrow and see how it goes.

When I apply product when my hair is dry, I'm choosing the lesser of two evils. If I apply products when my hair is wet, the curl falls out. I still have body and curls if I wait until it's dry. There may be a LITTLE frizz, but I'd rather have slightly frizzy curls than stringy hair.

Here is my routine:

After I wash my hair, I stand in the shower and scrunch most of the water out of my hair. Next, I use a towel and scrunch for another minute or so. Turning my head upside down while I scrunch helps to retain the curl. Next, I use my fingers to twirl each individual clump. It helps with curl definition and fights some of the frizz. This takes about 5 minutes. When my hair is almost dry, I spritz a few squirts of spray gel into my hands, rub them together, and lightly scrunch my hair and pat down any flyaways at the crown. Ta-dah! That's my hair.

Thank you both for your routines! I can't wait to try something new tomorrow!

We all do it differently. That makes it easier for you! haha!
I apply a curl cream or leave in to soaking wet hair while still in the shower, scrunch out water with a thick, white t-shirt once I dry my body off wth a towel. Then I apply my other gels.
It helps that I have a corner tub so I let my hair sort of drip in there before scrunching.

Ladies who apply product when hair is not very wet, how in the world are you distributing it through your hair? Can you section and comb it when it's not superwet? It seems like this would flatten the hair. Or are you somehow managing to scrunch in stuff after it's not very wet? It seems like it wouldn't distribute very well without the water to squoosh it around.

Please reveal your secrets!

For me, the point isn't even distribution so much as taming the halo of flyaways on the canopy of my hair. The twisting is what gives me the curl definition, and the little bit of gel is what keeps it in place. I don't rake it through or anything. I do scrunch a little with my hands, but that's about it.

I didn't start to get good results until I started squeezing out as much water as I could - but always upside down. That way the curls don't get flat. First I use my hands. Then I use CLU towels and squeeze until the water doesn't drip from my hair. If it starts to drip a little, I do another squeeze or two with the towels. Then apply a curl enhancer (usually CHSCF) and squeeze it in just like I did with the towels. My hair is still pretty damp at this point, just not dripping, so I think it does distribute well.

Pour my coffee, put on my glasses. Now I can see my hair. Flip my hair over, arrange the curls, and apply gel. AnGel but am anxious to try CJ new gel. Diffuse to 50%.

If I had a flat area the day before, I might apply a minute amount of CJCF. If I had a dry area I put in a minute bit of SSDD. Just to those areas. (before gel)

This routine is starting to give me consistent hair that is curly and generally frizz free. Often wondered if I'd ever get to this point. The styling thing was a problem for me at first.