texture = best products

rbb · 01-21-2009, 07:03 AM

anyone interested starting a thread about specific hair textures -- one for each - fine, medium, coarse?
i find that hair texture is more important when trying to figure out which products work best, how much, much more important that curl type.
thoughts?

mem53 · 01-21-2009, 08:39 AM

I think how strong your curl pattern is also makes a big difference. If you have a lazy curl pattern like me, you need stronger holding products than someone who has strong curl pattern and can get away just using curl creams.

Oriental Curl · 01-21-2009, 09:59 AM

Yes, I agree, but I think the OP might have a point. I think that the fact that my curl pattern is lazy might come from the fact that hair is very fine. I suspect that fine hair holds a curl less easily than courser hair, but I have NO experience with the latter to back-up this opinion. (sorry about the clumsiness of that last sentence: it made perfect sense inside my head). Maybe someone with more experience (or with very fine but really curly hair) can correct me?

whatsercurl · 01-21-2009, 10:11 AM

I feel that porosity is a factor too. I have hair that's between fine and medium but resilient curls. But the curl gets greasy, lanky and undefined (a general mess) if I over condition and I think I OC easily because my hair is porous. Oddly enough it doesn't seem to get weighed down from styling products.

I agree that, for me, curl type isn't that important when using products. In some ways it behaves like 3B and others like 2A.

So many variables

kathymack · 01-21-2009, 10:40 AM

I agree with whatsercurl. I think porosity may be "the" factor. My hair is fine and has low porosity (I think.) I can use the heavier products and not weigh down my curls. My fine curls are also lazy, I always thought I was a 3a in summer and a 2 in winter. Now that I have the products and technique--most would say I'm a 3b when I'm done my routine. Of course, going out on these windy cold days with single digit and negative dew points isn't good for anyone's curls!

mpgirl · 01-21-2009, 11:16 AM

I agree with KM and Whatsercurl. I think porosity determines how much product your hair can utilize and and how much moisture you can retain. I use some of the same products as KM, but they can easily weigh my 3b/3c curls down. My hair is more porous than KM's.

Since I have learned that I have a medium porosity and a medium texture, I changed how much product I use. It has made a huge difference. I thought that because my curl pattern was so robust that I had to use tons of product on it. It seemed to soak it up. Once I got a good balance of moisture into my curls, I didn't need so much product. I'm not layering as many products either any more.

Curl pattern is curl pattern. I can't really alter that naturally (except for a little tighter or a little "bigger").

starcrosser · 01-21-2009, 11:18 AM

How can you tell what kind of porosity your hair has?

Good idea for a thread though - to discuss the different textures. I have very fine textured hair, and I find that a lot of curly-hair favorites don't work for me.

mpgirl · 01-21-2009, 11:33 AM

Read about it here.

mem53 · 01-21-2009, 12:46 PM

mpgirl, thanks for that link. It was very informative!!

curry curls · 01-21-2009, 01:16 PM

Ok, so my hair is fine and porous. It's pretty short. Just cut off a couple of inches and it's just below my ears when wet. My hair isn't damaged, but it's pretty dry...getting better though thanks to CG and now holds a good curl in Winter also thanks to CG. I don't know if my products are heavy or just moisturizing. I put in about one tablespoon or even a bit more of my conditioning balm after co-washing and conditioning and a pea size amount of gel. I also scrunch after it's dry with the N&S. My hair doesn't get weighed down at all. I also tend to agree with Oriental Curl about fine hair not holding a curl as well as coarser hair. My youngest has somewhat coarse hair and I was thinking that her hair holds a curl better than mine does.

rbb · 01-21-2009, 01:49 PM

yes, porosity does make a difference. i'm still not 100% certain what mine is, altho i think i'm medium to high.
i think texture tells me what products to use, and porosity how much??????
by the way, struttswife's website is very enlightening about this, as is her blog.

starcrosser · 01-22-2009, 08:55 AM

That's a very helpful link; thank you for posting it.

However, unless I missed it, the article didn't mention any tips for working with your hair's texture. She did mention how using the wrong type of products for your texture can affect things. Does anyone have any resources on what kind of products and care should be given to each of the hair textures?

I did the strand test. The first time I did it, the hair felt pretty smooth. So I did it a few more times to see if I was missing anything (haha). After a few swipes, it looked a little more roughed up. So I'm guessing I have normal to high porosity. Now I just need to know what to do with that little piece of information.

rbb · 01-22-2009, 09:46 AM

if you go to her blog, tiffany's blog, which is listed on her website, livecurlylivefree, you will learn a lot more about texture. you can just click on it from the website, the menu on the lefthand side of home page. i found it very helpful. on her blog she stated that the next time she will discuss porosity -- i am waiting!

persephone5 · 01-22-2009, 09:29 PM

hmmm.....I just did the test and I can't tell if I am normal or low porosity. I'm not sure if my hair repels products or not lol how do you think I can tell??

I know my hair takes a long time to dry, even with it short and thinned out.

it feels pretty smooth and it kinda squeaks going up lol

kathymack · 01-23-2009, 05:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by persephone5

hmmm.....I just did the test and I can't tell if I am normal or low porosity. I'm not sure if my hair repels products or not lol how do you think I can tell??

I know my hair takes a long time to dry, even with it short and thinned out.

it feels pretty smooth and it kinda squeaks going up lol

I kind of feel the same way. I know my hair isn't porous, it feels smooth doing the "test." But, it's so fine, it's hard to "feel" anything. I don't have trouble doing color process or getting it "wet" in the shower, or the other "indicators" of low porosity hair.

rbb · 01-23-2009, 06:28 AM

on struttswife's blog, tiffanys blog, she is going to discuss porosity in detail next time she blogs. i am hoping it is soon. i, also, could not say for sure what my porosity is.
don't you wish we could send her samples and she send back a report!! haha!! that would be great. then, continuing with the fantasy, the curl chemist would take that info and shop with us (like a what not to wear, only what not to use!) and pick out all the right products for our hair!! and, of course, there'd be that nice check that goes along with the what not to wear. i can have my fantasy, right? :-) it is difficult trying to read all this and make sense of it. would so love to have an interpreter who knew for sure. but then you have the humidity to deal with, which in itself is not bad, but then you have outside humidity and inside humidity, and my poor hair at times gets confused!! :-)
our straight-haired sisters have no idea! but, i'd much rather have curly hair and do love my hair.

starcrosser · 01-23-2009, 07:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kathymack

Quote:

Originally Posted by persephone5

hmmm.....I just did the test and I can't tell if I am normal or low porosity. I'm not sure if my hair repels products or not lol how do you think I can tell??

I know my hair takes a long time to dry, even with it short and thinned out.

it feels pretty smooth and it kinda squeaks going up lol

I kind of feel the same way. I know my hair isn't porous, it feels smooth doing the "test." But, it's so fine, it's hard to "feel" anything. I don't have trouble doing color process or getting it "wet" in the shower, or the other "indicators" of low porosity hair.

Same here! I have no problem with my hair taking color. I also have no problem with overdoing product on wet hair. I can pile as much as I want, it's never too much (despite the fact that my hair is fine and thin). I wonder if this is because it only absorbs so much and then the rest evaporates? Hmmm..

kathymack · 01-23-2009, 07:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by starcrosser

Same here! I have no problem with my hair taking color. I also have no problem with overdoing product on wet hair. I can pile as much as I want, it's never too much (despite the fact that my hair is fine and thin). I wonder if this is because it only absorbs so much and then the rest evaporates? Hmmm..

Oh, I can overdo product on wet hair. I don't have a lot of hair--so I don't need much. This is especially true of some of the heavier products.

starcrosser · 01-23-2009, 07:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kathymack

Oh, I can overdo product on wet hair. I don't have a lot of hair--so I don't need much. This is especially true of some of the heavier products.

That's the weird part. I have super thin hair. It's odd. Most of the products that are too heavy for thin hair work fine for me.

kathymack · 01-23-2009, 08:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by starcrosser

That's the weird part. I have super thin hair. It's odd. Most of the products that are too heavy for thin hair work fine for me.

That's why I thought my hair might be low porosity. But I thinking medium to low.