Beauty Notes: Wavy Hair

Having very thick, course, dry, wavy hair (as well as a lot of it), it has taken me twenty-seven years to figure out how to manage and take care of it. As a teenager, I cut my hair into the very short cut you see in my sketchbook, in large part so I wouldn't have to deal with so much hair. As it turns out, short hair is a lot of work. I ended up using a straightening lotion and blow-dryer for ten minutes every morning to style my hair. After a few years of that, I cut my hair a little bit shorter and used Bumble & Bumble Sumo Tech every day to give my hair shape and hold.

About a year ago, I got tired of having extremely short hair. I'd had variations of the same cut for ten years, and while it was flattering, I needed a change of pace. I decided to grow my hair somewhere between a bob and shoulder-length. Although this plan never saw fruition, during the few months I tried to grow my hair out, I had the opportunity to stop hiding it behind hair cuts and products and truly learn how to take care of and enhance the hair texture I have.

In the process of learning how to care for my hair, I've found it's far more important to actually care for my hair than it is to style it. I suppose that's true of all hair types, but I feel it's especially true for dry, wavy, and curly hair. Without proper moisturization, these hair types quickly start to look and feel dry, compromising even the best hair style. Hair has to look healthy in order to look good, and it's easier and cheaper to actually care for your hair than it is to load it up with chemicals to reverse the damage of previous chemicals/heat tools. It's also easier and cheaper to work with your hair texture than to try to turn it into something it isn't. As my hair has a lot of volume and wave, the only product I need is to use something to help hold its shape. This is a huge relief, having previously believed I needed to use force to coax my hair into manageability. I have found the single most important thing I can do to take care of my dry hair is to use a deep conditioner every time I shower. As long as I use a deep conditioner, I can get away with using lighter and cheaper leave-in conditioners. My conditioner of choice is Bumble & Bumble Super Rich. It's the only conditioner I've ever tried that has a fragrance I can stand and that leaves my hair soft to the touch. The first time I used it was the first time I ever had soft hair in my life, and hair texture continues to soften and improve with continued use.
Although I don't absolutely require a deep leave-in conditioner, using one does leave my hair even softer and healthier. The deepest leave-in conditioner I've found is Bumble & Bumble Grooming Creme. Combined with Super Rich, this conditioner leaves me with the healthiest hair it's possible for me to have.
I'm lucky enough that my hair looks good airdried. I'm not prone to frizz, and the waves give it body, shape, and texture. The problem is that I often go to bed with my hair wet, after which I wake up with it either plastered to my head or in some ungainly sculptural shape. When this happens, I wet my hair and use Bumble & Bumble Styling Creme to give it a bit of hold. As my hair is dry, the wetter or oilier a product is, the more my hair soaks it up and loses shape. Styling Creme has a dry finish and is one of few products that is dry and strong enough to keep my hair's shape. Plus, it looks better throughout the day.

Another problem with sleeping on wet (and sometimes dry) hair is that doing so compromises my hair's volume and wave. I use John Frieda Sheer Blonde Fine Mist Wax to enhance my waves. Spraying it directly on the hair deposits too much, so I spray two or three spritzes onto my hands and run it through the underside of my hair on the ends. The method of application brings back my volume, and as the product dries, it enhances and defines my waves. It's the only product I've found that does so. Everything else has either not had an effect or makes my waves kinky.