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Dana ;)
Hi Dana-
As you may see in Lisa's post (second post in the thread)--she recommended a 50/50 human synthetic blend to achieve that curl pattern without frizz. I also addressed the curl pattern issue in your other thread here. Please keep us posted on how you make out.
Sue
Camille Hair Tech
Curly Sue and All Curly Girls,
Since I advised the 50/50 blend of synthetic and human, our factory rep. now recommends we do all human. She said they can achieve the curl without frizz. They say it is very helpful to send a picture of the type of curl you want.
As Camille said, I would also caution against perming your system yourself. You do not perm a hair system the same way you perm your own hair. I would leave that to the professionals.
HD Lisa
HD Hair Tech | lisa@hairdirect.com
Hi Curlies!
Ready for some education? When straight hair comes out of the follacle, it is flat - or rectangular - like looking at a thick book from the top/bottom. When curly hair comes out of the follacle, it is actually rounded, but only on one side of the follacle - think of the shape of a rainbow or a tube cut in half-lengthwise. The best example of curly hair is the ribbon for wrapping presents - when you "zip it" to add curls to the ribbon, you have just curled it like a hair shaft. Now think about it - the human hair gets processed and re-processed, then it gets organized and blended with more people's hair and evenually tied to the base. No matter how good they are, the people tying your hair are not going to be able to control the direction that your hair falls in completely. And if all of the hairs are not moving in the same direction, then you will not be able to achieve that lovely - make every other girl jealous - spiral curl that you grew up with. A long and technical way of saying - not likely to happen.
Hope you enjoyed the read, anyway! Have you tried nightly rollers like our grandmothers used to do?
Bald and proud, MacNoHair
Macnohair,
I was just thinking the same thing. I may be showing my age, but I can remember the time before blow dryers when we used to put curlers in our hair every night. My hair was wavy and at that time, the straighter the better was the style. You wouldn't have to totally wet the hair, just dampen it and put some curlers in it. That shouldn't dry it out. I wonder if that would work.
Camille
Hi Mac-
Yes, I am aware of the difference in the hair shaft. It's odd though--I had poker straight hair until I was about 12 and then a frizzy patch started growing from the top center back of my head. You could actually see and feel the difference in the texture of the hair. It eventually spread to my whole head and by 14 I had curly hair. It was during this time that I also started to lose my hair. Interesting how the follicles actually changed during puberty. I've talked to others who said this has happened, or the reverse.
And yes, it's incredibly difficult to achieve that curl but I put the challenge out to HD and they did it this time. I don't have pics to post yet but they did a great job. My hair now blends in seamlessly. Also, I've seen fabulous spiral curls done with synthetic hair.
As for rollers, I have what may be a unique problem. I am always trying to blend my curly hair with the unit. If I got a straight unit and put curlers in every day (there's no way I could sleep in them) they would actually straighten my own hair. For some reason, trying to curl my curly hair makes it straight. And there's just no way I would have time to roll my hair in curlers everyday anyway. The curl from the rollers would never match my natural curl anyway so we're back to the same problem. I'd rather have the perm that I didn't have to curl everyday and worry about the curl falling out over the course of the day.
Thanks for the info!
CurlySue,
I was thinking that you would only have to roll the hair from your unit into curlers, and not your natural hair. With your unit already having a wave, the curlers (if they were the size of the curl you want) may be just enough to get the hair to go into the pattern you desire.
Yeah, I know. It's just impractical for my lifestyle and hair type. My own hair is just finicky, trust me! If I wore the unit hair up in curlers to bed, my own hair would be almost straight in the morning. I don't have time to do it in the morning. I can imagine if I was rushed and didn't have time for the curlers I'd have long straight hairs with curly q's underneath. Actually that's happened a few times before when I had the wavy unit shown in my pics. It's really stressful and embarrassing because the difference is very obviously noticeable. I had to straighten my own hair everyday to blend in with that unit.
Such is the dilemna of a curly girl. It's hard to understand if you don't experience it actually on your head, if you know what I mean. Still thanks for the suggestions, I'm sure that there are others who can use the rollers!
Hi everyone-
Just wanted to let you curl seekers out there know that I posted a few more curly pictures (three pics where I'm wearing a white sweater). There are not many photos of long curly hair on the site and I wanted to show you another example. http://www.hairdirect.com/community/photos/curlysue/default.aspx
These pics show my natural hairline exposed. I recently started to use a teeny tiny bit of Couvre to fill it in a little because it is thin. You absolutely cannot tell I am wearing a unit.
It does take time and practice to be able to work with a unit this curly. This particular unit has actually been worn for 12 weeks (I count in weeks because I rotate with other units--that way I know how old it really is. I've had it for 5 months but it's only been worn for 12 weeks). I finally like it. The curl was way too tight for me until about week 10. It took that long to relax! I did do a bleach/ammonia treatment on it once which really helped eliminate the heavy tangling caused by such a tight curl and heavy processing. It was very difficult to work with during the humid summer but this time of year it seems to be working out great with the cool air. The hair air dries smooth, shiny and frizz free. My products are listed next to the pics.
I also wanted to give you an example of how different the lengths look depending on the size of the curl. ALL of my pics are 16" length hair, but look quite different depending on the size of the curl.
Hope this helps some of you!
Hi Curly Sue
I was just reading your posts. I saw your pictures with your natural hairline a few minutes ago, and I thought you must have a nice think hairline! Now I read that it is really thin and you use a product, Couvre, to fill it in. I am going have to look in that! I will google it, but if you have more info on it, would be so grateful!
Thanks, Nellie
PS I learn so much from you posts!
Nervous Nellie
Hi Nellie-
I have an OK hairline--not great, but OK. Basically it's still in tact probably because I had hair transplantation surgery 11 years ago in the front area of my head.
Bangs are hard to work with on curly hair so I started just pushing them aside sometimes. My hairline is fine on it's own with a thin set of bangs cut into the unit but if I don't want the look of bangs I've been adding the teeniest little bit of Couvre to fill it in--like a spec's worth. It works perfectly for my needs right now. It also does not rinse off with water or rain. I rinse my hair in the shower every day and yet I only need to reapply the Couvre every 3 or 4 days if my hairstyle that day calls for it. I also use a little in the temple areas when I wear my hair up because my sides are very thin too. It works like a charm for me, for now. I think the tube could last my entire lifetime because I literally use about a spec sized amount one or twice a week. If I am wearing bangs, I don't need to use the product at all.
Here's the link. For your reference, I use the Dark Brown color which works well but I could have probably gotten away with the Medium Brown even. Dark Brown would work for black hair as well.
http://www.spencerforrest.com/couvre.asp
Thank you Curly Sue
My hair is straight except for the back bottom part of my head, it waves and curls under at the end. Weird.
Having straight hair of course I always wanted curly or wavy! I just never realized the problems associated with curly hair. Your pictures look so beautiful I just thought you wouldn't have a hair care in the world! Wow, after reading these posts I see how wrong I was!
Just goes to show - we all have stuff to contend with!
Take care, Nellie
I know what you mean--my hair is as curly as that unit in the back, but the sides that I have left (skimpy as they are) are virtually straight. I have to tuck them behind my ears to try and hide them under the unit! They don't hold a curling iron curl either. The top of my hair that I have to shave off was very curly as well. My real bangs are so curly that they hang about an inch above my eyebrows, but when I stretch them out, they come all the way down past the end of my nose!
In hair wearing world, straighter hair is easier to contend with. Because I had straight hair until adolescence, I can also say this applies in the real world as well!
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