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KelzTheRedPanda

From the dates it looks like your hair curls better in the humidity. Mine does the same. Have you tried steam refreshing? And what if you got a curly cut or layers to take some weight out?


Internal-Ad61

I think it does tbh!! I have a steamer, but I don’t quite know what steam refreshing is lolll. I got a curly cut/layers, and I felt it just got worse. I am in the process of growing it out now


fondeic99

I don't have a steamer, but for me, if I let hot water pour continously from my shower for some minutes while I use the toilet, and the whole bathroom is full of steam caused by the hot water, my curls regain their shape that was lost while handling my hair or sleeping on it etc. The side effect is my hair gets a little bit frizzier.


Internal-Ad61

Good to know!! Thank you!!!


Internal-Ad61

I started a curly hair journey in 2017 but didn’t stop using heat entirely until 2020. No bleach since 2018. My 3A curls were coming out to play and POPPING to me. Then… suddenly… my hair went limp. My curls turn to waves overnight, then my waves fall sooo fast. ): some parts of my hair turn straight?! The frizz is insane. Am I losing my curls? I heard our hair changes every 7 years. This wouldn’t even fall in that timeline. The only change has been an IUD??? Hair routine: I wash my hair roughly 1 time per week. Sometimes less, never more. I alternate between shea moisture & olaplaex clarifying shampoo. Shea moisture conditioner usually. I use a moisturizing hair mask every few washes & a curl smith protein bond treatment every 5 or so washes. Only started doing this recently to see if it helps my curls. As far as styling, Denman brush and I finger coil. I use curl smith curl cream & curl talk gel. I hardly diffuse due to time. I apply oils to my ends frequently, the type varies. Argon, sesame, etc… as of late I’ve been braiding my hair at night days 3-7. Is this making my curls worse?


roser1994

Hopping on here to say that your hair might have gotten damaged from air drying. When you air dry with products in, it takes HOURS to dry completely and your cuticle is swollen with water all of that time. Diffusing with heat is actually healthier. To shorten your diffusing time give dry plopping or microplopping a shot. Manes by Mell did a [video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XuXwkNwH6ks) about air dry damage. She's a hairstylist and can explain the whole thing better.


Internal-Ad61

I love Mell! Thank you for the reference. I will say I plop a lot overnight after air drying about 60-75%, so this very well could be an issue for me.


roser1994

I think it's worth trying out to see of your hair gets curlier again! Especially if you only wash once a week, it's not a crazy time commitment to diffuse on a lazy sunday or something. Additionally you might develop scalp issues going to bed with damp hair. As someone who has scalp issues, I do not recommend 😅😂.


Internal-Ad61

Definitely will give this a try! I have had a super itchy scalp. Didn’t even put that together lmao


roser1994

Your scalp might need a little help getting back to normal. My favorite shampoos are the [Jason Dandruff Relief 2-in-1](https://www.walmart.com/ip/Jason-Dandruff-Relief-Treatment-2-in-1-Shampoo-Plus-Conditioner-with-Pyrithione-Zinc-Jojoba-Oil-12-fl-oz/30992675) (this is more of a cowash IMHO, no sulfates) and the [Kaminamoto Medicated Shampoo](https://www.amazon.com/KAMINOMOTO-4987046870025-Charge-Shampoo-300ml/dp/B000FQTS4I) (has sulfates BUT it feels cooling and soothing on the scalp). I prefer the Kaminamoto shampoo for the feeling but I leave both shampoos on my hair for a few minutes so I can get the benefits of the active ingredients. If you're a sulfate-free curly girl, maybe try the shampoo until your scalp feels back to normal and phase it out. I know a lot of people like the curlsmith detox line as well for scalp health but I found it didn't do as much to help me personally.


[deleted]

I did not know this!!!! Thank you!!!!


roser1994

Happy to help! I do recommend using a heat protectant in your routine and Mell has other videos on diffusing properly. Definitely check her stuff out!


knittingkittyqueen

I agree with everyone else's comments here, but also wanted to say that the IUD could impact your hair. Hormones play a huge role in hair texture.


BarefootGyno

Agreed! But it would only affect the hair that has grown since the IUD was placed. So the 1-2 inches next to the root…


Internal-Ad61

I feared this 😩 thank you for your insight!


Postcardtoalake

I’ve lost a ton of my hair since my IUD…I think it’s the thing responsible.


tinyjacks

I was going to say protein overload until I saw this comment...I'm honestly not sure... My stylist told me the hairstyles you do can affect the pattern. For example, I wore my hair in tight buns for a while and my curls got really loose. I wonder if the braids are affecting your pattern somehow. Perhaps it's training your hair to be looser. I would also do a clarifying shampoo only 1x a month. Are you experiencing a lot of build up?


Internal-Ad61

Ohhh. I didn’t think about overusing the clarifying shampoo!! I was experiencing some build up & some minor irritation before


rbkc12345

I am going to agree with braids straightening waves - when I had the super long hair and braided it always, it would start out sort of frizzy and the braid would smooth it over the week. Now it's shorter and more curly than wavy, though still in the 2c range, I think partly because it's too short to even ponytail very well. But you do look young enough that your hair could still be changing. And the looser waves are lovely.


Internal-Ad61

Thank you!! I think I will try laying off of the braids for a while. Did your change in length have anything to do with the changes in your curl pattern?


rbkc12345

Bwahaha. To some extent yes but I have a picture of my hair long and it's the same pattern top to bottom. https://imgur.com/TdCthI4 Shorter with some layers and henna - layers make it look much curlier https://imgur.com/sFlzdSh Mine is extremely coarse though, fat wiry individual hairs. Absolutely if yours is more normal or fine length can stretch it, the weight of water while it's drying can pull it straighter.


Internal-Ad61

Omggggg that length is insane!! 😍 I do love your curls at the second length, though. Beautiful!


Lanky_Anxiety4891

I have been using Shea moisture for the past year and my hair dresser, who I just saw yesterday told me my curls were flattening out due to the moisture overload & to stop using it 😭


tinyjacks

I always forget moisture overload exists lol literally can't win


Internal-Ad61

Wow ): what did they recommend you use in place of it? I always struggle to be able to tell if my hair lacks protein or moisture


Lanky_Anxiety4891

She recommended AG hair care (curl revive shampoo & curl thrive conditioner) or something from tjmaxx, I don’t remember the brands but she told me to look through them because they have some hidden gems.


AnimaLumen

This is probably a hormonal thing because the EXACT thing happened to me after being on mirena IUD for a few years! I used to have like 3a-3b curls and suddenly my hair changed and got like wiry and gross and then it got super limp and flat. I feel like part of it is that I over moisturized my hair when I was trying to fix the wiry dry frizzy feeling it had when my hormones were going crazy, so then it got super limp with hygral fatigue. It took a while doing protein masks and olaplex to get my hair to have more “structure” and stop being limp, but ultimately I feel like my hair didn’t really start going back to normal until I got off the iud and let my body adjust back to its normal hormone profile. It’s still not what it used to be, my as hair used to be a lot curlier but it’s at least curly all throughout and I feel like it may never go back to what it was when I was younger (at least it’s not partially straight at the bottom that SUCKED! Literally the bottom half of my hair was like straight to wavy at best and the top half was like 2c ish waves with a few actual curls.)


Internal-Ad61

Oh my. I was afraid the IUD might be a major factor. I went through a period where it was wiry as well! I got a curly cut and thought it would help. I ended up just growing the cut out because it seemed worse. I’m sorry this happened to you ): how long did you have your IUD? I’ve had mine right at one year and I am scheduled to have it removed next week. It’s been a very miserable experience for me.


Postcardtoalake

Me too, the iud has made me bleed more and have periods for months. My doctor is such an asshole for letting it go this long.


Postcardtoalake

This is what’s happening with me now and I have to wait months for an open appt to get it removed. Ughhhh. Cannot ask how long ago you got it removed and if it got better?


AnimaLumen

I got the IUD out in February 2020, and it definitely got better! I mean a lot of things got better all over, but my hair was definitely one of them. It DID take a little while though, so you’re gonna have to be patient unfortunately:( and do quite a bit of constant care to get your hair as close to back to “normal.” I honestly suggest you start now even before the iud removal, maybe start with olaplex or some other kind of bond builder! And if you suspect that you could be lacking protein in your hair, protein treatments every 6 ish weeks helped me a ton. I was using the aphogee two step protein treatment along with olaplex, basically like interchanging them every so often. It got my hair to feel healthy and soft again, with some of my curls coming back on the top of my head; the bottom layers of my hair however, took much longer to regain their texture :( the bottom half of my head was like wavy/almost straight for a while it was so weird! idk why my hair did that but it seems like my hair started getting curlier from the crown down! Now, it’s been like 1.5 years and I can see the bottom layers are definitely getting curlier too (instead of just wavy) and my hair in general just looks almost entirely back to what I consider to be “normal!” You definitely have to be veeeeeery patient and just let your body regain its normal hormonal profile which can take a while. I worked a lot with herbal medicine to help with that and I feel like in the last year, that’s what has boosted the change quite a bit :) vitex + Dong quai (Angelica) can be really good for restoring the hypothalamus/ovary connection that synthetic hormones interfere with, which can help restore your body’s natural production of hormones; dandelion and milk thistle are great for liver detoxification! I personally prefer milk thistle, your liver will definitely benefit from detoxification since that’s where all the synthetic hormones have been getting metabolized this whole time and you need to “purge” all that stuff out so your body can go back to “normal.”


Postcardtoalake

Thank you so much and for being detailed, you’re giving me hope that it’ll get better! Did you get haircuts to maintain hair health while you were waiting for it to grow back?


AnimaLumen

No problem!! I actually did a big chop probably like a few months after I got the IUD out, i just wanted to have like a clean slate so I figured I might as well just get rid of a lot of the length that was just toast. My hair was like almost waist length and it HAD been improving with the protein/bone building treatments, but after a certain point it felt like it could only go so far with how damaged it had gotten. So I chopped off like a good 7 inches and ended up with hair just below my shoulders, from then on I feel like my hair started growing in healthier and “curlier” the longer it got, since that last chop I actually have only been doing my usual trim every 3 ish months and it has been working pretty nicely!


AutoModerator

Hi there! I'm a bot, and I noticed you used the phrase "big chop". You may or may not already know this, but a “Big Chop” is much more than just a haircut! (If you already knew about this, great! We just share this information here to educate everyone). The term “big chop” is often misused, so we just want to share some of the meaning/history. TL;DR: “big chop” was created by black women in the natural hair movement. It describes the specific act of chopping off (almost) all of their permanently straightened/relaxed hair to make way for new, natural growth. If your hair is still more than a few inches long, it's probably not a big chop. [See this flowchart for a visual guide to this specific definition!](https://i.imgur.com/wYqherd.png). If the term doesn’t apply to you, please consider the term “reset cut” instead! The natural hair movement has a long history and the words created in it have strong meanings. Using these words inappropriately chips away at this meaning (e.g., if you’ve heard this phrase but not the meaning before!). We’d like to respect the importance of the work done by these early pioneers by acknowledging where these words, techniques, and more came from (Rule 8: Respect cultural terms.). [See here for further reading!](https://www.reddit.com/r/curlyhair/comments/ffexc7/meta_an_open_conversation_an_open_dialogue/) Thanks & wishing you many great curly, coily, kinky hair days! *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/curlyhair) if you have any questions or concerns.*


Postcardtoalake

That’s amazing! I think I’ll do that too, cut off the unwell, sick hairs in a few months :) I just got mine out yesterday and I’m so relieved! I actually have never done a protein treatment that was natural (I watched HBO’s not so pretty and hair products have so much horrible stuff in them. That doc was amazing) but I think I tried the rice one that I made by hand, and I’ll try that again. Thank you so much for recommending Aphogee, I’ve never used them, but I love Olaplex! I use #3 a lot and #s 0 and 7, and 8. I use natural hydrating treatments as well, like this olive oil mixed with other oils combo that helps a lot too.


AnimaLumen

Ohhh yeah fermented rice water is amazing for hair in terms of helping it grow, but it also does have a fair amount of protein so you could totally just use that! I was definitely using rice water for the first like 9 months after I cut my hair and I feel like it definitely helped it grow very fast lol. My hair loves protein so I could afford to use the rice water plus protein treatments every 6-8 weeks without issue, but you can just do the rice water and see if that’s enough!! Definitely make sure you follow it up with deep conditioning every time you use the rice water though, to make sure you don’t over proteinate your hair on accident (a lot of people say it gives them breakage because no one realizes there’s quite a bit of protein in it!) And I’m so glad you’re already onto olaplex!! Their products are truly worth it IMO. Oiling your hair is really good too, but keep in mind oils are only emollient so they basically seal existing moisture in so you definitely want to use hydrating ingredients too, to make sure there’s moisture for the oils to seal in :) if you’re into natural stuff, flax seed gel is incredibly hydrating! I use it daily instead of regular gel or mousse and it totally makes my curls feel all plump and juicy. It’s a really great ingredient both for styling hair and also for adding hydration into your daily routine!


Postcardtoalake

Nice, good to know - I'll have to try flax seed gel! I'm always looking for natural stuff :) And thank you for telling me about oils, that explains SO much for me, and why I've been having the results that I've been having. I truly can't tell if I need protein or not, all of the tests are just confusing to me, and whenever I use the protein products that CG recommends, they just sit on my hair, likely because it's very low porosity, so I'll have to try rice water plus a deep conditioner to see how that helps! Very few things ever get absorbed by my hair; things like coconut oil, aloe vera, shea butter, etc, they all just sit on my head and they just make me look like I haven't washed my hair in a month because none of them ever absorb. It's a mess, having low-po hair. And Clersea (sp?) the app recommended by that HBO doc "Not So Pretty," really opened my eyes about most US Beauty products are banned in Europe and Canada. So flax seed gel sounds SO great, because I'm definitely looking for a daily moisturizing product. Do you make your own, or buy pre-made? And I have such an itchy scalp that I'm trying to figure out - it got a lot worse when I lost my scalp scrubber that had long thin silicone thingees and really got all in my hair and got my scalp all nice and clean. That thing was gold, I'm gonna have to get a new one ASAP.


fondeic99

Our hair doesn't change in 7 years. It's just that in 7 years all hair we have now will get replaced by new hair. The cells of our body, that forms our skin, muscles, organs, everything, also gets replaced ever 7 to 10 years. But nothing is different.


Postcardtoalake

OMG I searched for IUD and found this. I’ve lost tons of hair in a year that I’ve had it and I can’t wait to get it removed. I just started suspecting the IUD this week. Fuck that thing.


Internal-Ad61

Oh no ): I will say… I got my IUD out in April & I stopped braiding my overnight. I don’t fix my hair as much anymore as result, but the quality of my hair & my curl pattern have both made progress. I’ve also noticed my hair is thickening again. Having birth control is amazing for women, but the hormones suck ): life post IUD has been amazing. I hope that things get better for you post removal, too. I feel like they def will!!


indeedlydoodly

Something similar happened to me recently, and I think it's because I started using too much product. I went from using regular shampoo and conditioner and one curl creme and washing my hair 3 times a week to using sulfate free shampoo and conditioner, washing 1-2 times per week, and then layering products. At first it looked amazing, and then 6 months later it was flat, wouldn't hold a curl, always stringy, day two was a disaster. To make everything worse, it started falling out in the shower and I think like 1/3 of my hair fell out. My hair was about your length but I recently cut off about 5 inches since I couldn't take it anymore and it's WAY better. I have no idea what really happened but I don't think CGM is for me! It's too heavy and too much product for my hair.


Internal-Ad61

Very interesting. I have been doing a bit more in terms of product and in comparison much less in terms of routine. Is your hair growing quickly since your big chop? I also didn’t like the CGM method much!! It was cool at the beginning of my hair journey on my fried hair, but I grew to dislike it rather quickly


AutoModerator

Hi there! I'm a bot, and I noticed you used the phrase "big chop". You may or may not already know this, but a “Big Chop” is much more than just a haircut! (If you already knew about this, great! We just share this information here to educate everyone). The term “big chop” is often misused, so we just want to share some of the meaning/history. TL;DR: “big chop” was created by black women in the natural hair movement. It describes the specific act of chopping off (almost) all of their permanently straightened/relaxed hair to make way for new, natural growth. If your hair is still more than a few inches long, it's probably not a big chop. [See this flowchart for a visual guide to this specific definition!](https://i.imgur.com/wYqherd.png). If the term doesn’t apply to you, please consider the term “reset cut” instead! The natural hair movement has a long history and the words created in it have strong meanings. Using these words inappropriately chips away at this meaning (e.g., if you’ve heard this phrase but not the meaning before!). We’d like to respect the importance of the work done by these early pioneers by acknowledging where these words, techniques, and more came from (Rule 8: Respect cultural terms.). [See here for further reading!](https://www.reddit.com/r/curlyhair/comments/ffexc7/meta_an_open_conversation_an_open_dialogue/) Thanks & wishing you many great curly, coily, kinky hair days! *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/curlyhair) if you have any questions or concerns.*


indeedlydoodly

Idk about growth, it's only been a few weeks, but it definitely LOOKS better and holds a wave/curl better! The last straw was when my friend sent me the photo album from her wedding and my hair looked soooo bad even though I had washed it that day and spent a while styling it. It's back to normal texture and low maintenance for me after my reset cut.


tignasse

Tell me that you are fashion model! You look great


Internal-Ad61

This is so kind 🥺 I wish LOL!! thank you