Biracial Hair Help

[blasianrocker]

So I'm Asian (Mom) and Black (Dad) and have no idea how to deal with my hair... My hair was natural up until age 10-ish and then I stopped perming at age 13-14 (I don't really remember). I'm 16 now.

When I was a baby, my hair was loose and curly, my mom said around age 2 or so, it started getting well you know.. "nappy". First question, why did this happen and I know it goes against all odds, but is there ever a chance of going back to that? I still have like remnants of that time, I have curly straight strands all throughout my hair, and sections that are smooth. The curly straight strands really annoy me sometimes because when I wear my hair out, the strands don't do anything but stick out. For example, right now my hair is in a curly fro (a twist out wetted) and there are a couple curly straight strands right in front of my eyes.

When I was little my mom always had my hair braided in cornrows so we never experimented with it.

I'm completely natural now, again, but I am at a lose as to what I can do with my hair. My hair makes ringlets but I don't know how to get them... When I wash my hair it makes ringlets, so I know it's capable. The other day, I had my hair in Bantu knot outs and took those in half and wet my hair. The ringlets were perfect, all the way up to the root! My mom put leave-in condition in it.. and the ringlets were gone. The curls on the ends stayed but near the root they did not. This usually happens. My hair will keep the curls on the end but will not do anything but voluminous waves up near the root. How can I get the curl all the way up the hair?

Should I just try the Bantu knot out thing again and let it air dry before putting anything on it? Will it keep the hair or will it poof?

My question is... how can I get my ringlets without products? I don't want product in my hair if I know I can have ringlets without product. Is this something I should go to a hair salon about? I don't want waves because my hair makes waves already. I want the ringlets to come out. If need be, I'll use a product, but I want a clean cut method, I don't want to have to keep going out and buying, buying, buying, only to find that something doesn't work.

My mom says I just need more weight on my hair. It's about to my shoulder blades now. I'm a teenage girl, so waiting isn't really my thing.. Do you guys have any suggestions? :D?
Plus I don't really know how well I can trust my mom's hair advice because she doesn't really know black hair...

Also, are there any tips for detangling? When we do it, it always just poofs.. is it supposed to do that? I really have no idea...

Sorry I kinda wrote like a paper here... got carried away... but this is my first time, actually asking outside of my family for hair help. I've done research but never really went to ask.

[NuNique]

Wow that's quite a bit. First things first, I think that because of how long you've stated that your hair is, your hair may not curl all the way up to the root. The waviness may just be the texture of your hair, there really isn't any way of getting around that. Now, as far as possibly defining those curls, if you say it does it when wet, I would suggest using a product to get it to do that again. I know you said you don't want to use products but that will assist your hair in remaining moisturized for that particular style.

Have you heard of cowashing? Essentially, it's using conditioner to wash your hair instead of a shampoo. Use a regular conditioner to cowash, not a leave in, something like Suave, or Vo5 or Herbal Essences or something of that nature. When it's time to rinse, just leave a little of the conditioner in, don't rinse it all the way out. That's what we call a wash and go, and if you already have an existing curl pattern, your curls should remain defined. Just don't touch your hair until it dries because that may cause frizziness. Another method that some naturals use to define their curls is with gel. The type of gel depends on the person. I'm not very familiar with this because I don't define my curls. But look up searches on this site and on youtube.com about shingling and defining curls. There should be plenty of advice and tutorials on how to do that

Another thing, as far as detangling goes. Make sure you're doing it while your hair is soaking wet with conditioner. You can either finger detangle, which is the best for a lot of people, or you can use a wide tooth comb. Start at the tips and work your way to the roots. You want to finish with a detangling brush to remove the shed hairs. You have to make sure that you properly moisturize your hair and I think that will help with the "poofs". Find a good leave in, seal with an oil or butter (castor, olive, coconut, and shea are good ones).

The key is finding a few good staple products that your hair responds well to. In the beginning it is a lot of trial and error, I must admit. But after you find the right combo of products and techniques (these go hand in hand), your hair will respond. Just be ready to accept the fact that there are some things your hair will and will not do. Remember, patience will be key :)

[YoGirlToo]

hi there!
i 'm black and when i was a baby i had straight hair but its nappy:
imho i don't think there's a way its going back
for detangling hands down kinky curly knot today

try sectioning your hair and putting a small amount of water on each section
then put a oil like coconut oil, olive or jojoba joboba .. these oils are not greasy
then tie your hair up and sleep overnight
that works on my 4a texture and it really softens it up
maybe your texture doesn't support ringlets - you know there are alot of fun styles
to try - i've gotten lots of ideas from this site
and http://www.maneandchic.com

[NaturallyMeka1217]

Wow! You sound just like my sister in law as far her texture. She is Korean and Black. After years of practice she SWEARS by using Mizani Rose H2O cream hairdress. She puts it on her hair while it's wet, combs it thru with a huge wide toothed comb and either let's it airdry for ringlets or does a braid out for waves. She's got exactly 3.5 feet long hair so it takes a little while and she runs thru the Mizani fast. She gets it at Target for $17, but it works for her. She uses pantene relaxed and natural shampoo and conditioner, no leave- in conditioner at all (Mizani in place of leave in).

[blasianrocker]

Thank you guys for responding :) I'm new to the forum, so don't really know if there's a certain way to respond to people, but I'm going to go with what I know.

@NuNique Yea.. I also think part of the reason I wrote so much, is to procrastinate against the homework I have...
I've tried co-washing before and it hasn't worked for me.. though I may not have done it right.
I've a couple wash and go, but it depends on the way you have your hair styled right? Because every time I wash it's never come out the same way twice...>> is that normal?
My mom didn't want to use gel on my hair because of the ones with alcohol but I told her there are ones without alcohol (which I recently found out). such as the Eco Styler Gel, so I might try that some time :)

Oh... I didn't know it should have conditioner while detangling... I would wash out the conditioner and we just sprayed water on it. So after I detangle, I can wash the conditioner out and it won't clump up again? So like wash hair, condition, detangle, wash out conditioner?

@YoGirlToo
Hello :)
The Kinky Curly looks pretty. Is it just sold online? Or is it in stores too?
I'll try the oil idea too because I've heard and seen a lot of stuff using oils.
I will also check out the site you sent.

@NaturallyMeka1217
Ok so to me, this promising so thank you :)
I'll try and get some Mizani tomorrow. What I use now for my shampoo is Garnier and Aussie for my conditioner... do I need to use Pantene? If I really need to, I can get it from my sister because that's what she uses. She's permed, so not really helpful to me in the natural realm.

~~~~

Another thing is.. I'm not really sure how to put headbands on ^^; I have to do something special right? But I don't know what.. when I try.. my hair like "eats" the headband so yeah...
And putting my hair into like a ponytail poof... how do I get my hair smoothed down? Like the part is brushed/combed and leads to the puff? Like the other day I was going to wear my hair in a curly ponytail, but didn't know how to smooth my hair down...

[NuNique]

It really depends on what look you're going for. Not all wash and goes will look the same, it just depends on the person's texture as well. There are some that can shampoo, then detangle, then condition; some that shampoo, then condition then detangle; then there are those like me that detangle with conditioner, then shampoo, then condition. Lol, it all just depends on what you find works best for you. Trust me. Just take a deep breath and try one at a time to see what works for you :)

[Ms-gg]

Do a search for Kinky Curly Custard....and welcome to NP :)

[Ms-gg]

Oh yeah and Empressri got the curly hair game on lock! Check her out!

http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=richeau#grid/uploads

[YoGirlToo]

here is the kinky curly website
http://www.kinky-curly.com/
but i got mine at whole foods

[curlyebliss]

For detangling, you want to do that when your hair is completely covered in conditioner, and with a side tooth comb, so as to disturb the curl pattern as little as possible. The best detangling, seamless comb I've found is the Ouidad double detangler. It's weird looking, but definitely worth it.

If you want your curl pattern defined, it is best to apply a product when it is completely wet (but not dripping) and do not touch the hair until dry (causes frizzies). Best stylers I've used are Elasta QP Feels Like Silk Liquid Gel, Kinky Curly, Uncle Funky's Daughter Curly Magic, or Curls Gel-les'c.

[Hadasah]

I've been able to make my hair smooth with the Curly Primer (http://tightlycurly.com/technique/curlyprimer/) method (maybe you'll do well wit her advice). It doesn't hang in loose curls but I can detangle my hair in a half hour with my conair large-azz paddle brush. My hair's in a puff with a pantyhose leg I cut off, but I can use elastics, too.

[NiceNapLady]

Ok, I'm not really sure if this will help but here is the link to a natural hair youtuber name taren916...she has biracial hair, although I do not know her mixture. I think that her videos are great and very informative, maybe this can help with your hair journey.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCRZnBjDaSM