Hate blowdrying hair straight for 30+ min,what about ol'fashioned bonnet dryer or..

[greek salad]

Ah the saga of frizzy, coarse, super thick, unruly shoulder length hair.....

Let me just say that for many years I used to wear my hair curly -- just let it air dry or used a diffuser and was done with it. Loved it. Well over the years the texture of my hair has changed quite a bit (see above) and now if I let it dry curly I look like a Brillo pad. Nope, not the cut, its the hair -- the person that cuts my hair confirms it. I think its from the grey (I do color it).

So, to make it look nice, I have to dry it straight for 30+ minutes, than flat iron. Low maintenance chick with high maintenance hair. :rolleyes:

I hate the time it takes to style my hair, plus I get all overheated etc.

Last time I got my hair cut we tried for the heck of it, drying my hair (with big velcro rollers) under one of those ol'fashioned bonnet dryers. The hair looked great and I could read my Cooking Light while my hair dried. It was a real humid afternoon so my hair frizzed up (and looked crappy) about 2 hrs later. Not sure if it would have done the same if I flatironed -- thinking it doesn't "seal" as well.

Anyone do this? Any suggestions for a dryer? Or, any tricks/product etc that might help me with the blowdrying and flatironing?

I have tried so many no frizz, help with making your hair straight products etc -- nothing really helps. If you like anything, feel free to suggest!!

Thanks,

[funniegrrl]

My hair is curly, tends to frizz a bit, but is not coarse. I've been air-drying for years (except for random evening occasions when I blow-dry and/or iron). One thing that let me finally let go of the blow dryer was the discovery of silicone-based smoothing serums. John Frieda came out with the first one, I used Redken Glass Smoothing Complex for a long time, and now they are everywhere. I use a medium- to heavy-duty one (i.e., one that's thick rather than watery). While hair is still wet, I pour a dollop into my palm, rub my hands together, to coat palms and fingers, then work through my hair, roots to tips distributing well and being careful not to get too much in one spot. That seems to restrain (not eliminate, but restrain) the frizzies while allowing it to dry with (somewhat) tame curls.

http://www.johnfrieda.com/images/products/large/53_large.jpg

Given what you describe, that may not be enough for you, but it might be worth a try.

P.S. After it's dry, a very very light "smooth down" coat helps tame fly-aways.

P.P.S. What about wearing your hair up?

[VAcooker]

So, even if you blow it dry with a diffuser, it still is brillo-like? Or is it only when you let it dry naturally?

My hair is such that I never can let it dry naturally and expect it to curl because it turns into a pile of frizz. However, if I use product on it (Curls Rock Curl Amplifier--love this stuff) and then blow dry with a bucket type-diffuser, bending over at the waist while hair in bucket of diffuser--I typically get really pretty curls--no frizz in sight.

I give you credit for blow-drying it straight--what a pain. To this day, I can not do it correctly on myself and it comes out like crud. My only days of straightness are when I return from the salon after my stylist blow dries it straight for me.

My only experience w/ the bonnet was just this last time when I had my hair cut. My stylist put product on my hair (she uses Brocato, I think) and she scrunched it a bit and sat me under the dryer and my curls looked great. She told me to scrunch it a bit every couple of minutes while I was under there. I do think the bonnet is a great idea, but not sure how many minutes you'd need to sit under there for though...I have not looked into it though, since it would take longer than the few minutes I spend blow drying w/diffuser.

[kim21]

Oh the trials of thick, coarse, wavy, unruly, misbehaving hair! I went grey early and do color my hair...My hair gets really, really big when it is hot and humid and I moved to FL in May :eek: ...my youngest niece tells me it is easy to find me in the airport because of my "big hair," and my oldest niece tells me that she is "proud" of me for keeping my hair under control now that I live in FL :p

Like VAcooker, I love Curls Rock. It is the only product that I have found that keeps my hair on it's best behavior even in the most humid of climates...and if my hair gets wet with a little rain, no problem, I just scrunch it. I put a dollop of Curls Rock (a TIGI product) in the palm of my hand, emulsify it, and work it through my towel dried hair. I take little sections of hair and twirl it around my fingers a bit (sounds silly, I am sure...but this is what I do) and then scrunching the little twirls a bit as I go along. Once it dries a little bit, on its own, I tousle it to loosen up the little twirls and ta da...done. I don't touch it for the rest of the day. I do not use a blow dryer and have not used one for years. My hair is cut in a rounded, layered, chin length bob.

My stylist either finishes my hair with a dollop of Curls Rock or a dollop of Silk, which may be similar to what funniegrrl is describing.

Have you been going to the same stylist forever? I ask this because sometimes just even getting a consultation with another stylist is helpful. There are stylists who having additional training in working with curly/wavy/coarse hair and for me, finding a stylist and going for a consultation before she actually did anything with my hair was really helpful.

Best wishes, Kim

[Robyn1007]

As an example of what a different stylist can do, I have fought my hair for years. It likes to flip out. It's fine and straight and there's a lot of it and it's challenging. I went to a new person yesterday and she did it! It is falling the way I want it and staying that way all day. I am beyond excited. Your stylist says it's the hair but she may not know of techniques that could assist you in making it lower maintenance.

Good luck, hair challenges can be very frustrating.

[Angelsfan]

Greek Salad,

I don't know if this will help, but I have had good luck by doing part of my hair in the evening and part the next morning (I have crazy wavy, but not "cute" wavy hair). I am a high school teacher and have to be out the door by 6:45. I have started taking my showers at night. After I shower I do little chores and let my hair dry about half way. I then blow it dry to get some of the kinks a bit straighter. I use my flat iron in the morning and it doesn't take that long. It's much better than going to sleep with wet hair because it is in a giant beehive knot by the time I wake up.

I hope this helped, it has been a life saver for me this school year :) .

-Heather

[greek salad]

Thanks everyone... keep the ideas coming.

Angelsfan - I also sometimes do the "half and half" -- dry my hair straight at night, and then flatiron in the morning. I agree, does save time in the morning.

I have been known to get up when my alarm goes off, check in the mirror to see if my hair looks halfway good, and if does, reset my alarm and go back to bed. Too bad, often it looks like a wild mess.

Great suggestion about trying new stylists... I have been to others and they say I just have difficult hair. Lovely. At least it looks great when I get it done professionally.

Kim21, VAcooker -- Curls Rock, I haven't tried that. Guess what I am buying this weekend. If I was able to wear my hair curly and look good, I would toss out my brushes! I've tried products geared to curly hair (Ouidad etc) -- but not much help.

VAcooker --- Brillo look happens if I let my hair dry naturally. If I spend the time with drying straight (ah the collection of brushes, clips I have) and then flat ironing, it looks good but sooooo time consuming.

Funniegirl -- I've tried the no frizz products, I think helped when my hair was different texture. I could retire in Tuscany if I got back all the money I spent on hair products, flat irons etc --- but always in search of.

I was intrigued about putting my hair in velcro rollers and sitting under a dryer since at least better than pulling and tugging with a brush etc.

I evern tried the Japanese straightening which I hated.

Thanks.

[VAcooker]

greek salad: I have had no luck with the Ouidad products either...what a waste of money for me...The special "Ouidad" haircut pretty much sucked as well...and cost me a fortune...

How I came across the Curls Rock stuff is that I asked the lady at the register of the beauty supply store what styling product does she think most curly haired people buy and she said the Curls Rock stuff..said it flies off the shelves...I love it...

And I agree about changing your stylist...I just did this recently...found a good one from a recommendation at naturallycurly.com (you can search by state for reviews). This particular stylist has curly hair herself and not only cuts my hair perfectly, she adjusts the cut based upon the season (i.e is it frizz weather, etc.). I firmly believe that if you had the right cut, along with the right product that works for you (and you may need to try several...), you can have the curly no-fuss hair you want. I never believed my hair could come out so nice but it does. Although there are very humid days in the summer where I just suck it up and put my hair back in a ponytail...some battles are not worth fighting!!:)

[cookinator]

Love the Name! Greek Salad! Cute!

My Daughter is my Curly Girl..lots of great advice has already turned up here. She used FrizzEase first. Now she has Curls Rock shampoo and conditioner. On wet hair she puts a dab of Curls Rock Amplifier. A good cut helps a lot. We also go to naturallycurly.com to look for a stylist. She shampoos at night and rewets in the am before the dab of Amplifier. Those curlies are looking very cute. I think she has found what works for her.
Recently I found a stylist on Yelp! I buy her products at a beauty supply store.

[SusanPC]

Have you considered Japanese hair straightening? It is expensive and takes about 6 hours....but my wavy hair is very straight now. I get it done about every six months. (I found an Asian salon vs. my pricey salon and it costs about $250 vs. the $750 my salon charges for the same process). Used to take 45 minutes to straighten hair each morning. Now it takes 15-20 to blowdry and no need to pull on the round brush so hard that I break a handle on a monthly basis. I am not embarrassed to let my hair air dry at the beach after swimming, etc. I highly recommend it!

[hlao23]

I used to use the velcro rollers/bonnet dryer. Overall I liked it. I could wear my hair in big loose curls right out of the rollers or just quickly flat iron it. Before ceremic flat-irons came out, drying my hair in rollers was the ONLY way it was going to stay straight even after using the flat iron.

My only problem was I could never find a great place to use that dryer (height-wise, comfy-chair-wise).

BTW - I have very fine, super curly/frizzy hair.

[KimK]

Have you considered Japanese hair straightening? It is expensive and takes about 6 hours....but my wavy hair is very straight now. I get it done about every six months. (I found an Asian salon vs. my pricey salon and it costs about $250 vs. the $750 my salon charges for the same process). Used to take 45 minutes to straighten hair each morning. Now it takes 15-20 to blowdry and no need to pull on the round brush so hard that I break a handle on a monthly basis. I am not embarrassed to let my hair air dry at the beach after swimming, etc. I highly recommend it!

Susan, can you also color your hair with this straightening process? I have super fine frizzy/curly hair that I blow dry straight, but I am also quite grey, so I have to color once/month. (I'm not quite ready to go grey!) Can I both color and use the Japanese straightening technique?

Also, does this straightening work for 6 months if your hair grows really fast? My hair usually grows 1/2" to 3/4" every 4 weeks, which my hairdresser says is quite fast.

I would LOVE not to blow dry so carefully every day!! And today I'm making a special trip to Sally to buy a new brush, as I broke a handle yesterday.

Thanks,
Kim

[Chris415]

Ok, so I've kind of glanced at some of the responses. I'll let you know what has worked for me. My hair is pretty curly and I had it long for several years, but cut it in March after realizing my hair doesn't really look good that long. :rolleyes: So, I now have a "bob," which I have been using straightener on, so it isn't so curly and frizzy. That has worked well for me. So, maybe a different hair cut? I'm lucky in that I have a good hairdresser who works well with curly hair. And in the past when I've been looking for a new hairdresser, I always ask who works on curly hair. I don't care what anyone says, there are some who are more talented in this arena than others. I called a hotsy-totsy salon once and they said all of their employees works on curly hair. Um, no thank you, I've had more than my share of bad hair cuts in the past. But, I digress.... Do you like your hairdresser? Maybe someone new might be able to give you good suggestions?

Another thing that I've been thinking about buying is an air brush. My hair dresser uses this on me, because she always straightens my hair when I get it cut. I love it, but have yet to buy one for myself. I've tried drying it then using a curling iron to straighten and that just doesn't work. Talk about looking like a clown!

I've used everything out there on the market. The hair straightener I've been using lately is Marc Anthony (I think that's the name, just like the singer!) and I like it. (You can get it at the drugstore.) It doesn't make my hair sticky or crunchy. I like Ouidad, but can't justify spending the money on it. I've never heard of Curls Rock, I'll have to check that out. And of course, Aveda anti-humectant, although it tends to make my hair greasy. I tend to shop at Sally's Beauty Supply and see what they have there for straighteners and curlers. I like that most of their products aren't tested on animals and I usually am successsful with my purchases.

Ok, probably way more than you needed...but with a head of hair like I have, I've spent the better part of my life on the constant quest to find something/anything that works! Ah, to have straight hair! ;)
Chris

[Cherise]

Ah the saga of frizzy, coarse, super thick, unruly shoulder length hair.....

Let me just say that for many years I used to wear my hair curly -- just let it air dry or used a diffuser and was done with it. Loved it. Well over the years the texture of my hair has changed quite a bit (see above) and now if I let it dry curly I look like a Brillo pad. Nope, not the cut, its the hair -- the person that cuts my hair confirms it. I think its from the grey (I do color it).




Great, you're giving me so much to look forward to. :rolleyes: Seems like we have the same hair type, but I only have a little bit of grey so far, so air drying is still the way I go. I admire your patience to spend as much time working on your hair as it sounds like you do.

I also like the frizz-ease type products. It's the only thing I've ever used on my hair that actually makes it feel smooth and silky. My DH can actually run his fingers through my (dry) hair when I have used this. I usually only use that on days I shampoo, in between I use Nexxus Humectress as a leave in conditioner after I shower. I used to use gels and such to try to control the curl, but I hated the way they made my hair feel "crunchy" or sticky. I find that just using the conditioner, and leaving it in, my hair feels softer and still curls nicely.

The rollers and old fashioned dryer sound like a good idea if you have the time to spend doing that, but it sounds like you spend a good bit of time on your hair anyway. I know I'm not much help, but thought I'd commiserate with you. Good luck finding something that works well for you.

[Robyn1007]

Another thing I thought of that you should probably get in the habit of. I occasionally (not too often because it's fine) actually dampen my hair and then put conditioner on pretty heavily in the evening, heat it with a blowdryer for a bit and then sleep with it still on. The shampoo and condition as usual in the morning. I would say trying this once a week or so may help the condition of your hair.

[jabelt]

A friend of mine mentioned a new technique called Brazilian straightening. She said it's not as harshly straight as the Japanese straightening and the one person she knows who has had it done looks fabulous. I don't know the risks or costs of such a process, but thought I'd throw out the idea in case you were interested in researching it.

[foodfly]

I could write a book on this subject. For decades I called my curly hair a curse. After years of fighting it, I now love my curly hair.

When I was young, I used a bonnet dryer like it was a religion to straighten my curly hair. I wish I could get back the years I spent making my curly hair lie down.

Before blow dryers, curling irons and flatirons there were only bonnet hair dryers. I used to set with big curlers (back then no Velcro; using rollers the size of orange juice cans), Dippity Do, and sit, sit, sit under a bonnet hair dryer (or try to sleep that way :eek: My neck hurts just remembering the torture). Another technique was wrapping the hair around your head from one side holding with a clip, drying and then back in the other direction (using your head as if were a huge roller) under a bonnet hair dryer; or ironing your hair (with a real iron & ironing board) if the hair was very long.

What I can say beyond a shadow of a doubt was that the best results with a bonnet dryer were always temporary. If the weather wasn’t humid you might have a shot; but then there was going to the beach or near a hot shower. Oh, and rain; or drizzle; or swimming in a pool. You get the picture. It was a constant battle.

Lucky for you, having curly hair today is popular……it was not when I was young. And I agree that there are plenty of stylists that swear they know curly hair, even have curly hair themselves, but no one understands your hair the way that you do. I’ve tolerated stylists cutting my hair short and/or yanking & pulling on it with round brushes, blow dryers and hot irons; and baking me under a dryer. You simply cannot brutalize hair like that on a daily basis and expect that it will remain healthy in the long run. So I stopped.

After decades of fighting my curly hair, I have now successfully grown it long. I do color and have found a product brand named Satin that has not damaged my hair using the minimum 10% volume peroxide (not 20). I do not blow dry – it dries natural. If I do blow dry on rare occasion, I do not use a heat setting – only cool air so that my ends do not get brittle. I’ve tried lots of gels for control but they were always drying to the hair or sticky to the touch. Over a period of time, I found my hair worsened after a long period of use. My hair stylist was always cutting my ends off and I whined about why I could never grow my hair long…..I always blamed my curly hair, not the stylist's recommended products.

With horses, I am outside a lot, so I take care to condition. I discovered Ouidad Hair products for curly hair about 4-5 years ago. I use their products exclusively, even though I can purchase salon products at discount. They have an online questionnaire called a Profiler http://www.ouidad.com/cp.asp that
targets product to your specific needs. It took me alittle bit of time to acclimate my hair to Ouidad products – trial & error; but ultimately, it has been worth paying retail for the result.

Ouidad products aren’t tacky or slick feeling either. For the first time in my life, my hair is relaxed and long enough to blow and swing with the breeze and it is growing, growing, growing faster than ever before.

I have found that if my hair is drier in texture or as it became greyer over the years, the more prone it was to frizz. Yes, my hair texture and thickness did change with graying-- Just another problem to deal with. Consistent conditioning as well as avoiding products, styling or drying techniques that damage hair is critical.

I particularly love Ouidad’s Deep Treatment conditioner which I use frequently as well as their most recent spray-on leave-in conditioner, Summer Shield. A good hair vitamin helps, too. Don’t forget that great hair starts from within -- I supplement with Arthur Lessman’s Healthy Hair, Skin & Nails vitamin at HSN.

[greek salad]

Thanks so much for the posts!!

Someone mentioned the Japanese straightening --- I did it twice, but for me, it just wasn't good. My hair basically lost all its body, and it wasn't wash and go, I still had to dry it straight etc. Plus, I found it real damaging and growing it out was a hassle since the roots would come in curly/wavy. For some, it is fantastic, but for me not so much. I think the fact that I color my hair played a part plus I just have some crazy texture.

I've never hear of the Brazilian straightening but will look into it.

Years back, I wore my hair curly and loved it -- but the texture of my hair has just changed so much that it just looks bad. But you bet I will try the Curls Rock. Really the best look for me, right now, is straight. I do pull it back in a pony sometimes, but not a good look for me

I have the Ouidad but doesn't do that much for me --- maybe I need to do the deep conditioning with their treatment more.

When I dried my hair (with velcro curlers) it looked great, but after a couple of hours I was wild, frizz hair. I'm thinking that it doesn't last as long as flat iron since flat iron seals (frys) hair more. And foodfly and others mentioned it too. But it looked great since hair not as flat as it is with a flat iron.

I do deep condition my hair, but haven't done it in awhile -- so will definitely take that suggestion. Plus, will try it and leave overnight.


Thanks --- any other ideas/thoughts welcome !!

[SusanPC]

Susan, can you also color your hair with this straightening process? I have super fine frizzy/curly hair that I blow dry straight, but I am also quite grey, so I have to color once/month. (I'm not quite ready to go grey!) Can I both color and use the Japanese straightening technique?

Also, does this straightening work for 6 months if your hair grows really fast? My hair usually grows 1/2" to 3/4" every 4 weeks, which my hairdresser says is quite fast.

I would LOVE not to blow dry so carefully every day!! And today I'm making a special trip to Sally to buy a new brush, as I broke a handle yesterday.

Thanks,
Kim


Kim--I don't think you can do any coloring that includes bleach. I do a semi permanent color and I have no damage, but when I first started doing this (almost 3 years ago) I had some blond highlights around my face (I have dark brown hair) and they got a little fried looking... I've opted for the convenience of the straightening vs. the highlights.... I am getting some gray now and find my hair does ok with the semi permanent....but I have to get it done more often.

My hair grows super fast as well. I don't have a problem with the growth b/c the rest of my hair weights it down. The only area I sometimes have an issue is with my bangs....since they get cut more frequently and thus grow out faster. But, they are a breeze to dry quickly.

I agree that the process makes your hair look really flat, and for someone with curly/wavy hair, it can be a major adjustment. I find I really don't like the first week after the process...it is board straight. But, after about a week when root growth develops I LOVE it. Seriously, for me, it has been life changing.

Re: the Brazilain process, my hairdresser was just telling me a woman came back from vacation in Brazil where she had it done. She said her hair looked amazing. My hairdresser was taking a class on it last week. I'll ask for more info next time I go back. It is supposed to be a lot easier on the hair.