Girls with Natural Dead Straight Hair

I always think it is funny when it comes to hair. My sister always wishes she had my hair, thick and a kink in it and she has dead straight hair which I would prefer. I had a half perm many years ago and hated it and couldn’t wait for it to grow out.

These days, I now have just above my shoulder and have to have it thinned out every 6 weeks. For summer I do get a few layers in the back and sides to try and get the heaviness out of my thick hair.

My neighbour uses those velcroe rollers for her hair but I find she comes out a bit boofy with them. Maybe she needs some help with them.

It is hard to find a good hairdresser sometimes but when you do find one, you never want to lose them.

I hear you Nicoler –

I have hair similar to your. A few years ago I still had it VERY long, I have also had it very short and now it is shoulder length again. Sometimes I use hot rollers but I need to leave them in for at least half an hour for the curls to take. When I use tongs, I only take a thin strand at a time. This is quite tiring and sometimes frustrating especially around the back when the curls don’t sit the way you want them to.

I have discovered that not all trained and qualified hairdressers are capable. I have tried MANY but only ONE at this stage is able to cut my hair so it styles easily and falls nicely. I truly believe a perfect cut solves half your problems.

My easiest option is a long bob either cut straight or with a few layers that blend in.

Using a lot of styling products does not necessarily give it more volume or make your style hold longer. I find most a waste of money. All I use is a good shampoo and conditioner or hair mask, some heat protection spray and sometimes a type of hair oil for the ends. A little hair spray and that’s it.

To Duality and Trish.
Thank you so much for these ideas. As I live in the country, there is no teaching salon nearby, but I will look into the next town and see what I can find.

In the meantime, I will look for some velcro curlers and see what happens.

Thank you both so much – I do appreciate you both taking the time to give me some advice.

I too have very straight and very stubborn hair. During my twenties and thirties, I kept it long as banding into a tail was just so much easier with young children. In my early forties, I had it cut off but the resulting flat head hugging style just looked awful. I tried various short styles and I think I hated each one just that bit more than the previous one. My main problem was that my hair just sat on my head and had no lift – no matter what I did (or do for that matter.)

Then I tried a perm. I was able to blow dry into a style I liked, there was a lift that was much more flattering and I was reasonably happy with how I looked. My preferred style was probably best described as a layered medium short cut – not too short but shorter than a bob.

I am now pushing 70 and still have my perms. Only problem now, is that I find the arthritis interferes with holding the brush and the dryer, I also colour the grays so as you can imagine my hair is also very dry.

So, ladies, what do I do now???? I am still vain enough to want to look good not only for myself but also my family.
Any tips, hints, advice gratefully received!!!

thanks for the responses lovely ladies. I have never considered a perm before as I thought they were an old lady thing to make like an old lady fuzz top not for a natural curl. Seems like a lot of maintenance though so not something I would do lightly.

It is definitely always one of those ‘the grass is always greener’ things

Hey lovely, I have the same hair type as you.

Thick, dead-straight, waist length hair that is very full and healthy when in a pony tail.

Last year I had always wanted waves in my hair and tried so many curlers (NUME, Remington etc), my curls never held for more than 2-3 hours before being straight again.

This year I started using only two products together and I’ve been able to achieve big sexy curls that last until I wash my hair (3 days, sometimes even 4). I was honestly SO shocked lol, and absolutely NO HAIRSPRAY was used! I was seriously waiting for my hair to drop like usual but it never did, and I always woke up with defined curls.

I use the “Bumble & Bumble Hairdresser’s Invisible Primer Oil” as a heat protectant first. It’s a miracle multi-tasker in a bottle and does so many good things for your hair. I already have naturally healthy hair to start off with, but this gem just makes my hair soft and shiny after curling, it’s gorgeous! You can read up on it on mecca.com.au and the travel sized bottle is only $12. I bought the full sized after I finished that one. Make sure it’s the oil primer not just the plain oil version.

Second item is the curler. You wouldn’t believe it only costs $24 (at Bing Lee)!! It’s the “VS SASSOON – VS325A – 25MM CERAMIC CURLER”~ Best curler I’ve used for our type of hair. Heats up super fast and I recommend turning the notch to level 8, that’s the temperature I get the best results. I swear to you you’ll never be able to look at GHD the same after you use it lol. So, so good.

So for only $36 I was able to get my stubborn hair to hold a curl for days!! As opposed to spending hundreds on other things that always made my hair droop before I even left the house.

Hope that helps. Update us on how your hair goes!

I had this hair for 30 years! Man I’d give anything to have it back lol even though I hated that it was unable to do anything but hang. I cut to below collarbone above shoulder blades and had the ends only thinned, it gave it movement without the bluntness off layers. Millions of compliments.

Before that I had hip length hair always in a ponytail….

I have dead straight long hair. My hair is fine but there apparently is a lot of it. I don’t find it looks heavy though, and a ponytail looks quite thin, so maybe it is a little finer than yours.

I try not to fight my hair type, I have accepted it is always going to be a loosing fight to try to get any body or curl into it. I work with it and go for the sleek and smooth look that others need to use a GHD to achieve.

I wear my hair long with a straight fringe. Luckily my hair is in great condition, so its straightness actually accentuates its shine. I have it cut regularly so it has a nice sharp line to it and looks like has a deliberate style. I always wear it down, only in a ponytail if I’m at the gym or in the pool.

When I was younger I did have a chin-length then a collar-length blunt bob, but I think longer hair suits my face shape better. These styles did work with my hair type though.

If your hair does look heavy, maybe you could add some layers (according to my hairdresser my hair is too fine for this) or highlights to break it up. I did consider a body wave some years ago, but the advice from my hairdresser was that it would be damaging and not last long on my type of hair. I think this was mainly due to its fineness, so it may not be an issue if your hair is thicker. Probably best to have a chat with your hairdresser to discuss what would work for your hair.

This is legitimately me!! I have medium length hair and I just have to wear it straight or up. Most days I just rock a messy bun, if I’m going out its a Hugh pony all the way

I suffered from the exact same problem! I’ve had long hair for the majority of my life and it’s always looked so lifeless and flat particularly near my scalp. I couldn’t handle it and I ended up cutting my hair to around shoulder length and I was amazed by how many compliments I got after, you would think that I looked like an alien before lol.

But I did find that after cutting my hair it did seem to have more volume and the top seemed less flat? When I really want my hair to have some more volume I usually wave my hair and use some sea salt spray or setting spray/hairspray from John Frieda. Recently my hair’s grown out so I got it permed so its wavy near the end which is probably a good way to make your hair seem more lively if you have long hair.