The Long Hair Community - Curly, yet straight on top

citymorningblue · May 20th, 2006, 08:18 PM

This is how my hair dries when I leave it alone:

It ALWAYS dries curly from about shoulder-level down, but much straighter above that. Does anyone know why this happens, or what I can do to change it? I'm getting a little tired of half my hair constantly being flat against my head.

(More pics at my hair journal if you're interested

)

Rydain · May 20th, 2006, 09:50 PM

My hair is similar. It's straight to the shoulders and wavy from there on down. I've seen a rare small S-wave up the back of my head, but other than that, the head hair is flat. I don't know why our hair does this, but I read a while ago that some people's hair doesn't show its wave or curl pattern until it reaches a certain length.

spidermom · May 20th, 2006, 11:49 PM

My hair is pretty similar to that. Prior to shoulder length, it looks like it has a lot of body, but no curl and not much wave. After shoulder length, the curls start showing up. I don't know why, but I'm curious to see how it grows as it gets longer.

LittleFlower · May 21st, 2006, 12:10 AM

Sorry I can't answer your question but I just wanted to say where I live, a LOT of girls get their hair permed so that it can look like yours - straighter on top with curls at the bottom. Except yours looks so much prettier. They'd probably all be jealous that you get to have hair like this naturally

Steve<3 · May 21st, 2006, 12:45 AM

Very pretty hair!

Maybe the weight of it pulls the top straighter.

Tabitha · May 21st, 2006, 02:10 AM

It's pretty! your head looks small and neat and then these beautiful curls come cascading down ... a lovely look.

Pierre · May 21st, 2006, 02:22 AM

My hair has shallow waves on top, then tightens to curls past the ears. Should this be a new datum in hair types?

Prettypolly · May 21st, 2006, 04:17 AM

I think it's probably just your hair type & length. But I LOVE hair like that!! It's very pretty

I also wonder if maybe your hair is changing it's type? Maybe some crazy puberty thing? So it's getting straighter?! Hmm.

wonderlywroughte · May 21st, 2006, 04:38 AM

Mine used to do this too! Now I can sorta get it to curl further up by doing Dianyla's separation technique, and also plopping. It may just have to do with the weight of your hair, or the fact that all the layers of hair are hanging together there and can't spiral individually. That's where Dianyla's separation technique comes in. I wish the articles section was up, because the pictures made it much easier to understand.

I can't even attempt to describe it with words.

busnutmedic · May 21st, 2006, 05:22 AM

Mine kind of does that (gets wavy at the bottom) but I just wanted to say that your hair is gorgeous!

Bonnie

getoffmyskittle · May 21st, 2006, 05:22 AM

My hair does that too, only mine is more similar to Jennifer's than to yours - it's straight till about the last 6-8". (My sig pic has a bump up at the top because I'd had it braided.) I like it.

It makes it really pretty and interesting when you do half-ups. Your hair is gorgeous, by the way!

HerbalAnnie · May 21st, 2006, 05:33 AM

When I would get perms, I thought they looked best when they had grown several inches and only the bottom half curled. My guess about why it doesn't curl at the top is because, against your head, it doesn't really have room to make the curls. My hair isn't as long as yours is, but after I shower, when it's still drippy wet, I bend at the waist and comb it toward the floor, then gently scrunch it to make it loose around my head. I flip it back up and don't touch it (it's become a joke around here - don't touch mom's hair while it's wet) until dry. That may be similar to the separation thing, but I don't really know. If I don't do that, I get a triangle head.

citymorningblue · May 21st, 2006, 06:03 AM

Thanks for all the help, everyone. I think I understand now why this happens. And thanks for the compliments too, they made my day!

Bella Babe · May 21st, 2006, 06:09 AM

My hair is similar, but not as curly. It's only a little past BSL though, so I am curious to see if I will get more curls with length. Right now it's very straight to my chin, S waves to past my shoulders and then just the last 2-3 inches or so I get a defined curl.

So apparently, according to this thread, it's pretty common. !

HairColoredHair · May 21st, 2006, 07:15 AM

Your hair is soooo beautiful! I always wanted my hair to do that! And you're so lucky to have it so healthy and wonderful at your age!

The first thing that popped into my head was weight pulling it straight, though I suppose it could just be how the hair works... Perhaps plopping would help, as I think someone already mentioned.