Non-Kinky/Curly Natural Hair Regimen?

[patient1]

Are there any members who have natural hair that is not kinky, tight curly, coily, or even tightly wavy?

I need a regimen for my oldest daughter who has fine hair that is about bsl. Her hair is not bone straight but also does not dry very curly. I guess she has deep waves. I don't know.

Anyway, her hair texture is different from everyone else in the family and I'm realizing that I've been neglecting it. I think I've assumed that her hair will take care of itself. It doesn't hold braids/cornrows well so I don't spend time on those styles the way I do with my 6 year old. Her braids/twists last for a few weeks or even a month.

Her ends are a bit dry sometimes but I don't detect any splits. She's 11.5 and wants to grow her hair to its former length (I got into the habit of cutting it to her ears or shoulders). She uses products that are around the house but I think that stuff that's good for me, might not be good for her. For instance, shea based products are great for me and my other daughters, but seems to weigh her hair down and make it seem greasy and clumpy. Her hair also tangles easily while it's drying. The top half of her hair

Any ideas advice? Does it really matter? I've been trying to get her to conwash, but she seems to enjoy shampooing. What can I use to make braids hold.

I feel like a nappy hair guru but clueless as to what to do with straighter hair.

Help would be appreciated.

p1

p.s. there are pics of her hair in my albums (creative crowns?) but this pic is a year old and her hair has grown out.

 

[camellia]

You guys both have beautiful hair!

I'm really bad at hair typing but I can see that your daughter has a much looser curl. My hair doesn't hold twists well either without a ton of product added so I've pretty much given up on them. Aveda products are really good for natural hair, but the cheapie conditoners like Suave, V05, ect are great for conditoner washes.

How does she normally style her hair? Does she use heat often? If not then the dry ends should be easy to correct. A good creamy leave in (Humectress, Aveda Elixir, NTM...) applied right after she washes and then some butter (avocado, hemp seed, macademia nut...) to seal in the moisture should take care of the dryness. That's what I do every time I wash and my ends are very soft and silky now.

You mentioned that the shea based products leave her hair greasy. Perhaps instead of the butters she might try just a coating of light oil after the leave in. Grapeseed, macademia nut, raspberry, ect... are what I consider "lighter" oils and they won't weight the hair down as much as the butters, but they will help seal in the moisture and leave the hair shiny and silky. Just a very small amount of oil is needed, maybe a quater size amount.

 

[patient1]

Thanks for your reply Camelia. Thx for the compliments! Love your hair too.

To answer the questions you posed.

She's NEVER used heat and her daily styles is a ponytail. I keep catching her swiping gel over the front of her hair in the morning to smooth down the wisps, but she's doesn't put it on her ends.

I'm going to try the creamy leave-ins you suggested and have her start sealing it in with a light oil or butter as suggested. I'm trying to train her to detangle from ends first but still catch her brushing or combing for the roots and stopping when she encounters tangles. So I don't think she's detangling completely except for shampoos. She only shampoos about weekly. I wonder if she should wash or conwash more frequently.

I'd say her hair is very similar to your first siggy pic. Her hair just doesn't get the visible close waves that show up in your second pic. She does get "poof" if you will and experience shrinkage but it's straight poof shrinkage not tightened curls if that makes any sense. It's like it shrinks out or something. I don't know. I don't get her hair at all and if I deal with it my instinct is always to cut it like in the pics. She's just getting to that age where she wants it to grow. I showed her your siggy and she said that's the length she wants. She'd have it already if I hadn't started cutting her hair so early on. I don't regret the cuts though. She's learned from an early age that hair grows back.

I have to admit to myself also that I don't spend as much time on her hair because I don't want to send the wrong message to my other daughters about textures. People have always fawned over the older child's length and texture so I NEVER say anything about it in the household and fawn over the middle child's hair (need to upload her pics) to offset everything. Now I'm realizing that it's not fair to the oldest to neglect her hair either. I need to strike a balance.

Thanks again Camelia.

p1

 

[camellia]

No problem!

Your daughter's hair looks a lot like one of younger sister's. She has a looser pattern than I do. In order to get the curls I have in my second pic I braid my hair up while it's wet and then take it down the next day once it's dry.

It's wonderful that she's never used heat, you're doing a great job by teaching her she doesn't "need" heat to manage her hair. I wish my mom had taken as much of an interest in the health of our hair when we were young.

Learning to detangle from the ends up can take some time. I still catch myself starting to comb from the roots sometimes. But it's excellent that you are teaching her now.

With her texture she could probably get away with using a tiny amount of butter to smooth down the front of her hair. That's what I do now and it works well.

 

[patient1]

So I just put your advice into action.

Had her wash her hair with Jason Biotin.

Then we applied some NTM Deep Recovery Mask on the lower half (I bought this for her a while ago...found it when I was throwing out a huge bag of old products).

She put her hair in four big braids after she detangled with a brush with widely spaced prongs and a wide tooth comb.

Rinsed the braids after about 10 minutes.

Loosened braids and added some AO Mandarin Magic Moisturizing Jelly and a lil Kinky Curly Custard. I sealed with some castor oil.

We'll see what we get. Thanks Camelia. I think I'll tell her to braid her hair up every night in the big braids after spritzing, moisturizing, and sealing. I was trying to get her to bun, but she wasn't into it.

P1