YO!! (sorry, couldn't resist. It's late here on the West coast, and I get a little crazy when it's late)

I've recently gotten hooked on damp braiding 8)
Some questions for everybody:

1. How do YOU set waves? We've seen many techniques-- like damp bunning, damp braiding, "plopping" (which sounds like a floor mopping method.. useful if anybody else explodes ;)), and the mini Rosebud technique that eKatherine used recently... Any more to add?

2. How long does the wave stay in your hair?

3. Do you find your grooming tools change with the sudden wave? This goes for naturally curlies and wavies too.
Personally I stop with the BBB and the seamless acetate, sticking with only hardwood on those days.

Let us know ;D
Anais

When I'm in the mood for waves, I do a damp bun.  When I want a bit tighter waves, I do ropes.  When I want tighter curls, I do braids.

My curls/waves will last through the day if it is not humid.  My hair will lose it's curl quickly in damp air.

I try to do as little as possible to my hair when I have waves or curls - primarily just finger combing.

if i braid my hair i'll end up with waves - even when dry if i leave the braid in long enough - if it's damp when i braid it i'll have waves that don't go away until i wash it

The most natural-looking waves came when I did a double-half crown braid, like the one in my avatar. I parted the hair into four sections - a circle on my crown, the lower half, and a center part dividing each in two. Starting the braid at the part in back, I braided around, and when I reached the front part, instead of continuing around on my hairline, I switched to the crown section on the opposite side. When I got to the back, I braided down to the end, then repeated the process on the other side. This resulted in the braids crossing at my front hairline. I wrapped the tassels around the bottom of the braids, put an extra elastic to keep them in place, then looped the braids and pinned them up.

Important: I got caught in a rainstorm. Everyone was drenched, umbrellas or no, though I was the only one who had every hair in place all day.

When I finally took down my hair the next day, the waves were amazingly deep, and there was no straight section at the top, as I had braided right up to my center part. I got so many compliments on that.

Tres cool... Rope braiding.. is that where you twist two braiding strands in two different directions, and then they automatically twist together?
When I find the patience and dexterity to do a crown braid, I definitely will :P
And Lauraliz, I see you've changed your avatar! My hair is the same way, in its behavior from braiding. A couple nights ago, my hair wasn't even damp... and the next morning, wave city it was!

Anais

Damp bun. I leave it in all day, the bun is still damp when I take it out. The wave seems to stay in my hair until I do something to remove it. Not only does damp bunning give me waves, one time I got a couple of groovy curls. BTW, and this may be upsetting to some people, but as I am perfectly happy with the straight hair I was handed out in this life I've never actually *tried* to get waves. It is just a side effect of putting my hair up wet  ;D.

Gollan;
I don't think there is anything wrong with liking your straight hair.  In fact, many people with naturally wavy/curly hair work hard to get their straight. (The grass is always greener on the other side, isn't it!).

wrote on Aug 23^rd, 2004 at 3:18am:

Tres cool... Rope braiding.. is that where you twist two braiding strands in two different directions, and then they automatically twist together? When I find the patience and dexterity to do a crown braid, I definitely will :P Anais

I've done it, with my straight hair, and here's how it works:

You twist two (or more) strands in the same direction, then cross them in the opposite direction. You have to twist quite tightly in order for it to stay neatly. There's a lot of twisting and crossing involved, and it's tricky. Then, it looks good for about half an hour, as the ends pop out and the rope gets really hairy.

It might work for you. I find it works much better on kinky synthetic hair than on my own.

You can also do ropes with 3 strands.  There are instructions under How to Braid Hair.  

When I braid or do ropes, I usually keep my hands damp with water or aloe vera gel.  This dampens the hair and helps keep those pesky flyaway ends under better control for longer.

When I braid or do ropes for curl or wave effects, I will do them in a french style so that the waves start closer to the scalp and look more natural.

..."gets really hairy"!! LOL That's funny ;D
Thanks everybody! I especially like the aloe vera gel idea ;) Also, I don't understand the majority of people in the world, who want their hair to be something it isn't... If people loved their hair just the way it is, maybe then they could grow to love themselves too. Kudos to you Gollan for loving your straight hair!!

Anais

I'm with you, Gollan, I love my hair and wouldn't change it for the world!

I'd better add my $0.02 to this thread, as I have curly hair which goes all straight/slightly wavy if I brush it. I have tried French braiding at night so I won't have to rinse my hair every morning (the curls disappear when I sleep on them, I wake up as Medusa). This makes the hair on my crown flat and lifeless, and the rest is frizz-city.

To enhance my curls, I:
1. NEVER brush or comb (except when creating a part)
2. Sometimes use curl-enhancing goop (it doesn't do much)
3. Always air-dry
4. Scrunch my hair while drying, including with my head upside-down
5. Twirl curls around my fingers while drying, creating ringlets which keep their shape

How do you keep the hair on your crown from getting flat?

/Kate

Wow, lots of great advice here! I looove my straight hair though, and usually am more concerned about keeping it nice and straight than curling it. It does hold a wave pretty easily though, and when I want it wavy I usually just sleep with damp braids.


wrote on Aug 25^th, 2004 at 8:02pm:

How do you keep the hair on your crown from getting flat?

That's an awfully good question...I wish I knew!

Thanks for the advice, everybody  :D :D

Kate-- is "scrunching" what I think it is...? (Does it have to do with scrunchies? speaking of scrunchies, I have the munchies... lol)

Lately I've been obsessed with how easily my hair gets wavy ... especially because of the Arwen Evenstar pics I've collected. I posted her picture on my internet welcome html page, as encouragement and inspiration. So every time I get online, I'm greeted by long gorgeous Elf hair!

Anais

Scrunching is just taking handfuls of hair and squeezing them together and upwards, it encourages curls rather than waves. I usually sit at the computer while my hair is drying so I do it automatically now.

/Kate

Ah-ha! Thanks Kate...

I tried "plopping" last night, and it worked quite well. I started with damp hair and applied some aloe vera gel to hold the curls and slept with it up. It was still a tiny bit damp this morning, but dried nice and wavy. Of course the rain and humidity didn't help at all, but the process worked very well.

Hmmmmm, I like this thread.

My hair, until it gets VERY long and pulls down enough, will not stay completely straight. It gets these kind of funky waves in odd places that I can't really do anything with. If I blowdry it, it will go totally straight, but I know that's hard on hair. As for curling/waving more...I live in Florida. The humidity is NASTY, my hair is fine, and it refuse to hold any kind of shape I try to put it in. I basically can't get it into a nice, coherent shape until it's quite long (and consequently straightens out completely) unless I layer it.

Any suggestions? I never have been able to find a solution that isn't damaging to my hair, and I'm still trying to find one.

Ella

I've found that trying to fight the natural instincts of your hair will only bring frustration.

If your hair has some natural wave in it, try to accenuate it by putting your hair into a damp bun and let your hair dry in the bun over night or all day.  The longer you leave your damp hair to dry in a bun, the "stronger" the waves will be.  Using a bit of aloe vera gel or jojoba oil on the hair before bunning can also help the holding power.

Let's see, how do I create waves...

It's a very complicated process actually. I hop in the shower, wash, and... air dry. LOL!  ;D

When I want *different* waves, I will put it in a damp swirly bun and let it dry. This allows the waves to calm down, so it is still wavy but a looser pattern.

Have you tried French braiding, ella? Your hair should be long enough. I don't really like to as it gives me unnatural waves that always feel like they're lying strangely, but it might work better on your less curly hair.

On the Curly Girl board, we've spoken about using hairnets while air-drying. That might also work for you, just to keep your hair in one place while it's drying.

Good luck!

/Kate

Hahah. That's funny. My hair isn't even long enough to put in a PONYTAIL yet. In fact, I just bought a few headbands yesterday as I have JUST recently come to need them to keep the bangs out of my face.

I was just asking for future reference.  ^_-   I should try braiding and french braiding and buns when it is damp, though, once it gets longer. I will definitely be doing a lot of experimenting!

Ella

I just posted a picture of my hair with LOTS of waves/curls from braiding.  You can see it here.

Well, I sometimes French braid my boyfriend's hair (1 inch) so it *should* be possible! :-) Maybe not necessary yet though! The hairnet thing might work.

/Kate

ella,
maybe you could put your hair into tiny little buns all over your head...not much hair length should be required for that...i think!

Wow. How is it possible to french braid hair at one inch? THIS I've gotta hear!

Ella

LOL, in retrospect I used a fair amount of gel! You have to get them when they're sleeping *very* soundly.  ;D

/Kate

LOL!!! Awesome. I should mess with my roomie's hair while she's sleeping...but nah...she's a really light sleeper, she'd wake up and kill me! Heehee...

I just looked up Fia's Hair Typing System (I've heard some people around here mentioning it) and this is the best way to describe my hair:

"1b - straight but with a slight body wave, just enough to add some volume, doesn't look wavy"

And once it gets to about BSL it pulls down to stick straight. But like the quote above says...it really doesn't LOOK wavy at all. It looks sort of...funny. If I want it to really LOOK wavy I have to mess with it somehow. If I want it to look completely straight, I have to accomplish it by blowdrying.

Ah well. Once it gets a little longer I'll definitely try some of the stuff you all are suggesting.

Ella

The thing about Fia's typing system is that it doesn't describe my hair at all. My hair is clearly not 1a, as I have a bit of a wave at the ends, yet for 1b, the wave is supposed to give my hair volume, which it absolutely does not. Silky fine hair doesn't have volume no matter what.

The wave in my hair(1cFi) gives me NO volume whatsover.  (Or maybe my hair would look even flatter
if it were stick straight).

Babyfine-

Does your wet hair hang in ringlets and then straighten out when it gets dry, as mine does? I think if my hair had enough texture to hold its wave, it might have a different classification.

My hair has gotten wavier of late.  I wasn't sure how to classify it.  I didn't want to go 2a, because I don't really
have S waves throughout my hair.  Yes, my hair seems
to be wavier when wet, It's straight on top but my eye-brow length bangs are very wavy when I air dry them
and the ends are wavy especially some at the nape
sometimes do form ringlets.  The humidity of summer
makes my fine hair wavier(or frizzier) and it straightens
out in drier weather.  Also, when I use to put highlights
in my hair, the color would straighten it somewhat.
I also have a few grays coming in the bang area which
are downright curly.  But still not too much gray.  I'm
itching too get the highlights touched up but I want
to go natural to grow my hair out healthy.

wrote on Sep 2^nd, 2004 at 9:02pm:

The thing about Fia's typing system is that it doesn't describe my hair at all. My hair is clearly not 1a, as I have a bit of a wave at the ends, yet for 1b, the wave is supposed to give my hair volume, which it absolutely does not. Silky fine hair doesn't have volume no matter what.

Yeah...that's really me, too. I have almost no volume. But, 1b seemed closer than 1a. It is certainly not stick-straight. It waves some past the chin-length, but until that point it is just plastered to my head. It lies extremely flat except toward the ends when it is still shorter than BSL.

I dunno. I have irritating hair. But I've realized after the perm disaster that I would prefer to have stick-straight hair than this slight funky wave that looks rather weird...and when it gets long enough, it really does go stick straight. I could live with that, I think. But until I reach that point, I would love to be able to accentuate this slight wave I do have and make it look nicer, if I can.

Ella

Just a pic for those of you who don't get hairy braids, this one was in for about 6 hours before I took the picture. It doesn't do this when I pin it up, only when the braid is loose do the shorter ends work loose.

http://www.katherinesweet.org/images/hairybraid.jpg

If you look at the section closest to the head, you see the hairiness doesn't seem to start til about 3" down. I'm thinking that reflects improved hair care practices since April, when I became aware.

I have no intention of trimming off the damaged part.

It's a giant, hairy, man-eating caterpillar!
Run for your lives!

/Kate

hahahaha  ;D

mine get like that too....its quite annoying! but owell!  :-/

Yup, my braids always end up like that as well. It's the curse of disregarding my hair's needs for so long.  ::)

mine's pretty bad about that - it usally takes less than an hour for mine to get like that - sometimes i even end up with about a fourth of my hair coming out of it - or at least thats what it seems like - lol  :)

I get hairy braids sometimes too.. but it's mostly because my hair replaces itself so fast... much growth but quick fallout I suppose. Then again, my hair never wants to stay in a braid for more than a few hours without loosening and unraveling.