Another losing curl story - help

Kayron · 02-21-2013, 06:36 PM

I am in my late 40's but hormones are still in check. I have always had great curly hair 3A 3B without any fancy techniques. I have been using only natural no chemical/sulfates shampoos for many years and Prairie Naturals Harvest moon conditioner the past 2 years. The conditioner has silica (not silicone), I also go back and forth between a natural hair gel and hsfg, either one is giving me curl anymore. The only way my hair curls - and not much is from twisting it around my finger.

I use the most 'natural' hair dye (solifine), but it still has some chemicals, the one I used to use Nyacolor is not available.. My gut tells me I have lost my curl from either the hair dye, or the conditioner...or ?????

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

lucyprimrose · 02-21-2013, 09:41 PM

I really wish I had some good answers. I don't really, but just thought I'd say that I lost a lot of curl from hair colour that contained bleach and was left on too long. I think bleach always has some loss of curl consequence and I would guess other dyes do have a little but not as much. It probably isn't the conditioner but it seems that if you've been using it for a long time then it might be worth clarifying with a shampoo (if not SLS then at least coco betaine) and changing up your products for a bit to see what happens, since that shouldn't be too hard. If your products don't contain any protein you could try introducing a few that do, or if your products have been high in protein try cutting it down and focusing more on moisture for a bit.

The other thing that can mess up curl is if a hairdresser has razored into your hair or 'thinned' it in some way that stops the curls from forming properly (this also happened to me). You have to basically grow it out depending on how high up it goes, and ask for no razoring or thinning each time you go. If your hair has gone short to long it could be weighing down the curl, a shorter style or even just some layers could help there.

One thing about having used the same stuff for a long time is that it should be easy to work out whats been going on your hair (eg protein etc), and one easy step you can take is just clarify and start over with some new products. You could have some build up even without using silicones - I am no expert but things like interacting ingredients, oils, cationics causing build up are rumours I've heard!

Sorry I can't be confident that any of these will help as I haven't managed to coax my curls back to how they were, but hopefully they're worth a try. Good luck, I know it is sad feeling when your curls are missing!

kathymack · 02-22-2013, 05:25 AM

The best way to get good advice is to give people more information about your hair. Hair properties are the best way to choose ingredients/products. Here's a link to help you with yours Live Curly Live Free - Curly Hair Basics Once you determine your hair properties, look for others with hair like yours and see what they use (in signatures.)

Maximizing your curls is all about getting the moisture/protein balance. If the color damaged your hair, my first suggestion would be to do a protein treatment and follow it up with a moisture treatment.

The other thing to do is read and learn. That way, you'll understand more about your hair and what it needs.