Thread: The Gathering of the Wurlies and Curlies!

You're very welcome, tntsmom!

All right curlies, question: What are you changing in your hair care routine to combat winter dryness?

And for the curlies who are in the Southern Hemisphere: what are you changing in your hair care routine for summer?

Well, I sometimes use aloe vera in my hair to define curls (usually mixed with coconut oil).

I don't do this in the winter, though, because from what I understand about humectants, they take either impart or take away moisture according to the level of humidity in the air. Since winters are usually very dry, especially in heated houses, I avoid humectants in fear of drying out my hair more.

I'm late to the party. But definitely a curly/wurly creature.

As for winter routines... I really don't change much. I don't worry about CO/rinse outs having humectants, since they're only used in steamy shower situations. I do avoid glycerin, panthenol, propylene glycol, etc. in my leave ins though. I actually use Aubrey Organics Honeysuckle Rose as my main leave in year round, I just get more heavy handed with it in the winter (and I know this has some aloe in it, but it doesn't bother my hair /shrug). However, I also top off my LI condish with a 50/50 mix of coconut oil and raw shea butter, and I think that goes a long way to keeping my hair happy. I really don't use gel/styler type stuff much, so I have no idea what products would work well in the winter in that category.

I also try to DT more. Once a week at minimum, more if my hair wants it (and no, my hair does NOT understand the word "over-moisturized").

Fun reading if you wanna get more info on dew points/humectants:
Pittsburg Curly: Dew Points
--Humidity, Humectants, and Hair
No Poo Jillipoo: Cold Weather Hair Care
She also has a post on aloe vera, where no one quite seems to agree about how it acts on hair. /shrug Like all things hair, it seems to be personal. Nebraska winters get VERY dry, but like I mentioned the aloe in AOHR doesn't bother me - however I think that might be because there are so many oils in the conditioner that pretty well offset it.

Welcome, Kaijah! Thank you for all of the links.

I agree that AVG is one of those things that varies from person to person. My hair seems to work well with it, though I can't seem to use the right amount. My hair normally hates humectants.

After reading this thread, I now consider myself a cwurly. I've noticed that over time, my hair has grown more curly and less wavy. When I first found the hair boards 10 years ago, my hair was just wavy. Now, it has definite curl in it.

I had to learn to love my hair the way it is. I bought a flat iron once to straighten it, but it didn't work. Lesson learned. My hair is the boss of me. It would've been very bad for my hair, anyway.

Welcome to the thread, cowgirllong! I'm glad to hear your cwurls have finally come out of hiding!

I know exactly what you mean by your hair being the boss. I think that once we learn to love our hair for what it is, it becomes a lot more manageable.

I have a question for my fellow curlies and those with wurls how do you measure your hair wet or dry? i find it really hard to get an exact measurement when dry so lately i have measured it when wet because thats when its at its straightest and easier.

When I do lenght measurments I do it wet. When I do body marker measurments I do it dry. Honestly those are two very different measurments.

I don't ever actually "measure." I prefer to go by body markers. "Waist length" is an easier visual than "29 inches." And I go by the length it is when it's dry. That's the hair that everyone's going to see when I take length shots My hair is much longer when it's wet, it's already past hip, but I don't count it because I'm not exactly walking around with wet hair every day and I would feel like it's cheating to claim that length.

I measure dry, but I try to do it on days when my hair is "straighter" -- this usually means close to wash day, since that's when my curls get pulled out from brushing/oiling.

I prefer to go by body markers, too, but I like to measure as well, because then I can get a rough estimate of how many more inches my hair has to grow to reach a certain body marker (although with my curly ends -- of course they're the curliest part! -- it makes it tough to even get a guesstimate. ).