Newbie 2A (I think) needs help

in Hair Type 2
Hi--I tried posting this on the main curly forum but it has been ignored. I guess maybe 2A people are considered posers or something.
Hoping maybe y'all can help...
My hair changed texture from straight to wavy when I went off birth control pills and had kids. I recently decided to wear it wavy instead of blowing it dry straight. It's fine (but there's a lot of it) and extremely soft. I have it colored once every 6 weeks (to cover gray) at the salon. After trying and hating several mainstream salon "curling gel" products, I ordered Jessicurl styling products and really like the [buylink=http://www.curlmart.com/Jessicurl-Rockin-Ringlets-Styling-Potion-p-100.html?utm_source=naturallycurly.com&utm_medium=text-link&utm_content=curltalk-post-text&utm_campaign=jessicurl-rockin-ringlets]Rockin' Ringlets[/buylink] and [buylink=http://www.curlmart.com/Jessicurl-Confident-Coils-Styling-Solution-p-116.html?utm_source=naturallycurly.com&utm_medium=text-link&utm_content=curltalk-post-text&utm_campaign=jessicurl-confident-coils-styling-solution]Confident Coils[/buylink]. I tried the [buylink=http://www.curlmart.com/Jessicurl-Gelebration-Spray-p-101.html?utm_source=naturallycurly.com&utm_medium=text-link&utm_content=curltalk-post-text&utm_campaign=jessicurl-gelebration-spray]Gelebration[/buylink] but it wasn't heavy enough to give me any hold. When my hair is wet it looks great, all even and wavy like I have a perm. I clip the roots along the part and the back of my head (I seem to have a small overlayer of almost straight hair--the hair gets wavier underneath).
The problem is once it dries and I remove the clips, the wave pattern is not even like it is when wet. By the time I lightly scrunch out any "crunchy" spots, I lose a lot of definition--the hair is simply too soft. The only solution I can think of is touching up with a curling iron and hairspraying it. But that sort of defeats the whole purpose of letting it air dry and be low maintenance. I even tried using the diffuser and it turned out the same way. I can't really do the low/no poo thing as I'm not a true curly head. I use Biolage shampoo and conditioner for color treated hair, and do the only-comb-in-the-shower routine. It is *extremely* humid where I live, which always made my straight hair wilt.
Anyone have any advice? I am so jealous of beautiful, formed curls--is there anything I can do to give my too-soft hair some hold and definition? I've read lots of info on here--the one thing I don't really get is "plopping"--the link seems to be broken and it says "File not found"--I'd love to see a pic of how to do this. Thanks!
Chris

My hair changed texture from straight to wavy when I went off birth control pills and had kids. I recently decided to wear it wavy instead of blowing it dry straight. It's fine (but there's a lot of it) and extremely soft. I have it colored once every 6 weeks (to cover gray) at the salon. After trying and hating several mainstream salon "curling gel" products, I ordered Jessicurl styling products and really like the [buylink=http://www.curlmart.com/Jessicurl-Rockin-Ringlets-Styling-Potion-p-100.html?utm_source=naturallycurly.com&utm_medium=text-link&utm_content=curltalk-post-text&utm_campaign=jessicurl-rockin-ringlets]Rockin' Ringlets[/buylink] and [buylink=http://www.curlmart.com/Jessicurl-Confident-Coils-Styling-Solution-p-116.html?utm_source=naturallycurly.com&utm_medium=text-link&utm_content=curltalk-post-text&utm_campaign=jessicurl-confident-coils-styling-solution]Confident Coils[/buylink]. I tried the [buylink=http://www.curlmart.com/Jessicurl-Gelebration-Spray-p-101.html?utm_source=naturallycurly.com&utm_medium=text-link&utm_content=curltalk-post-text&utm_campaign=jessicurl-gelebration-spray]Gelebration[/buylink] but it wasn't heavy enough to give me any hold. When my hair is wet it looks great, all even and wavy like I have a perm. I clip the roots along the part and the back of my head (I seem to have a small overlayer of almost straight hair--the hair gets wavier underneath).
The problem is once it dries and I remove the clips, the wave pattern is not even like it is when wet. By the time I lightly scrunch out any "crunchy" spots, I lose a lot of definition--the hair is simply too soft. The only solution I can think of is touching up with a curling iron and hairspraying it. But that sort of defeats the whole purpose of letting it air dry and be low maintenance. I even tried using the diffuser and it turned out the same way. I can't really do the low/no poo thing as I'm not a true curly head. I use Biolage shampoo and conditioner for color treated hair, and do the only-comb-in-the-shower routine. It is *extremely* humid where I live, which always made my straight hair wilt.
Anyone have any advice? I am so jealous of beautiful, formed curls--is there anything I can do to give my too-soft hair some hold and definition? I've read lots of info on here--the one thing I don't really get is "plopping"--the link seems to be broken and it says "File not found"--I'd love to see a pic of how to do this. Thanks!
Chris
0
Comments
This is a little late but here's a link to the plopping article.
[url]Http://www.naturallycurly2.com/curlcolumns/articles.php?id=140[/url]
Also, conditioners for color treated hair are usually ultra-moisturising so perhaps that is why your hair is too soft. Maybe you should switch to a conditioner for fine hair (you mentioned Jessicurl's products, have you tried her [buylink=http://www.curlmart.com/Jessicurl-Aloeba-Daily-Conditioner-p-104.html?utm_source=naturallycurly.com&utm_medium=text-link&utm_content=curltalk-post-text&utm_campaign=jessicurl-aloeba-daily-conditioner]Aloeba conditioner[/buylink]?)
You could use a leave in conditioning spritz with sunscreens to protect your hair if it is colored.
As you could stand to lose the softness, try scrunching your hair with a little gel for more definition. Have you tried Biolage Gelee? It dries smooth and non flaky. Given your wave pattern, I would work about a pea-size or less throughout all the hair.
HTH!