Questions

Cheryl.Tompk

Hi everyone. Let me first start out by saying I'm sure what I'm looking for is probably on the site however I'm having trouble navigating on a mobile device and am getting frustrated. I stumbled upon this site when looking for a way to manage my frizzy and curly hair while traveling abroad. In general I am looking to see if someone can help me confirm I have 2a/2b hair. And then I'm looking for product and cut recommendations. My hair is just so thick! I can't get a photo to upload via mobile of my hair but it's thick around shoulder length and my curls start as loose weighs just above eye level and end up more defined at the ends (big chunky loose curls) on most of my hair. I have some "ringlets" and some which barely have a wave to them. Since I cut back on how much conditioning I use and eliminated heat along with plopping it seems more are coming out and not weighed down. Recommendations on cuts around shoulder length (like long bobs think Sophia bush or short hair Hana from pretty little liars) that help curls lay is helpful!

rbb

it sounds as tho your hair is really 3a (which so many 3a's started out as 2's, myself included, til we changed our products and haircuts).

the first thing you need to do is to try to understand your hair's properties, texture (fine, medium, or coarse -- and here i will say many of us had been told by stylists that we had coarse hair and turned out it was medium or fine. majority of curlies have fine hair, but that does not mean your hair isn't coarse.
he other important property is porosity, and the popular water test is NOT reliable at all. the best way to determine porosity is by air drying time -- rule of thumb is 2 hours high, 3-4 hrs normal, 4-6 hrs low.
both these properties will help you understand what ingredients might work best for your hair. the 3rd property is elasticity, but i think if the other two are satisfied, the elasticity might follow, and it is also effected by chemical and heat applications.

there are websites to read about this -- i can start you out and hopefully others will chime in with more places.
curljunkie.blogspot.com (or just go to curl junkie and click on the top horizontal menu the curl junkie blog). scroll down on the blog site and there is a great blog on porosity and texture, with pictures demonstrating texture.
livecurlylivefree.com is another website with info on this.

and, a great book to start your journey with is The Curly Girl book by lorraine massey. sold on amazon, bookstores, in libraries. it is under $10. the latest edition is the 2009 edition and comes with a dvd. it explains so much to a beginner.

also, the Newbie forum on this site has a lot of helpful info. so just keep reading and come back here with questions.

Cheryl.Tompk

When you say dry time do u mean while plopping or not? I usually wash my hair at night or just condition if I'm taking a shower without washing. And I always slept on my wet hair. Often it would be sort of dry by morning. Curl plopping almost always results in still wet locks by morning. For instance plopped last night. Put my hair up in a pony tail this morning and the center of my pony tail at 9 am is still slightly damp. Thanks for the other links I can't wait to try them out!