Mission: Control

If you are a regular reader, you might be wondering “But how did she ever deal with her crazy hair?” If you are a regular reader with crazy hair, you might have wondered a slightly longer wonder, ending with “and what should I do with mine?”

I cut 7” off my hair between Christmas and New Year’s Eve. I had been wearing it pin-straight, with heavy bangs, and I wanted to mix it up a little and work with my natural texture. (And also, spend less time working on my hair.) I had a photo of a great cut that seemed perfect for my texture, but it wasn't. It turns out my hair got way curlier in the two years since I wore it shoulder-length and natural on the reg.

I wrote a post about my perpetual bad hair day, then set about trying a million different things to try to tame the beast, starting with the products I used to use when last I managed really nice natural waves. When that didn’t work for me, I tried a bunch of products specifically formulated for curly hair. All of those things made my hair GIGANTIC, and many of them left my hair crunchy or weirdly textured. I tried other stuff based on people’s recommendations and things I read: Moroccan oil products, heavy conditioners, leave-in conditioners, keratin sprays, even something called “Curl Calm” which sounded exactly like what I needed, despite being found in my brother-in-law's bathroom (true desperation there). Still, no luck. I tried so many products in so many combinations, but nothing worked well enough to be considered a real solution.

I continued to see my regular hairdresser, who proceeded to flat iron my hair every time I was there, and told me to let her know if I figured out any good products for the curls. She gives really great and very “cool” haircuts for straight hair, but didn’t seem to have a lot of experience dealing with curls, waves, or whatever my mess was. Her solution was ironing it into submission, or using a ton of sea salt spray and just having messy hair. She told me I was getting older and my hair was “getting belligerent.”

And then, of course, summer. In NYC. The humidity didn’t help, and I resorted to the nonstop topknot of summer, as usual. Eventually though, I got sick of never being able to wear my hair down. Sometimes my head gets tired and sore if I do too many buns in a row. Plus, it’s just boring. I was Over It.

There was one bit of advice I hadn’t taken, because it was so dramatic. It was from reader (and commenter!) Jo, and it involved cheating on my hairdresser, who I love, and who I have been faithful to for 9ish years, by going to the Ouidad Salon, which specializes in curls. Another drawback was the $150 pricetag on such a haircut, plus tax and tip. But then one day a Daily Candy deal magically appeared in my inbox, and since they were offering a discount, I just had to do it.

Sidenote: My husband, who is loyal to the same hairdresser as I am, couldn’t believe I was going to see someone else. He was like “What are you going to tell her? When you go back she’s going to know someone else cut your hair!” (I will tell her the truth.)

I made an appointment to get into Ouidad as soon as I could, and was paired with a stylist named Ayanna. First, we met to discuss my hair texture and what I wanted. She declared my hair “definitely curly” and told me it’s really common for hair at the back of the head to be straighter and frizzier than the front, like mine. We decided not to take too much off, so that my hair could grow out and weigh down the crazy curls a bit, which will look better with my bangs.

After we had our game plan, I was off to get shampooed, conditioned, and then to the cut! The very special cut! Ouidad stylists are trained in the“Carve and Slice” method, which is actually trademarked. It removes the bulk while preserving the natural curl pattern, and allows the curls to fit together like a puzzle. There wasn’t a lot of chitchat with Ayanna, but she explained everything to me as we went along. The whole experience was really informative. I’m not sure if that’s how they always do it, or if it’s because I came in going “Helllllllp, I don’t know what to do with my haaaaaiiiiirrrrrr…..”Aside from creating more manageable curls, Ayanna explained that with their method you need fewer haircuts, because your hair doesn’t grow out huge and bulky. (Mental note: This offsets the price, plus saves time! Especially because the Ouidad Salon in NYC is all the way up on 57th St.)

After the cut, we moved to product. PRODUCT! This is what I’ve been dying to know. WHAT PRODUCTS TELL ME PLEASE. Ayanna told me I didn’t need a lot of products, and recommended Climate Control Gelfor the summer humidity, and Curl Quencher Gelfor the winter, when the air is dry. I had tried Climate Control Gel before, and hated it. It had made my hair crunchy and weird. But I trusted her and followed along. She had me touch my hair so I could feel how wet it was before applying the gel: Not to soaking wet, but not too dry either. I would actually describe it as “perfectly wet” because it won't drip on you. (I hate that.) She also showed me the amount of product she used, and then demonstrated how to rake it through sections of my hair and then shake it through so the curls would fall into their pattern. She pinned up a section at the crown, then treated the left and right sides of my head before going back and taking care of the reserved section. Just three sections. This was like a hundred times faster and easier than the directions on the sample of gel I had tried, which involved lots of 2” sections. Then she sat me under one of those old-lady hairdryers for awhile, and told me never to touch my curls until they’re dry, or they’ll frizz up.



After I came out from under the dryer, my hair was still a little wet, so Ayanna used a diffuser. But she didn’t scrunch my hair with it, she just blew the air at me from a few inches away. I’ve never seen this technique before, but I’ve adopted it. (Though most of the time I just air-dry the whole way.) Then she used her fingers to rake some frizz serum through the curls. She told me I could use whatever kind I have at home, which happens to be a cute little bottle from Bumble and bumblethat Sheri, a friend and reader, sent to me.



And then I was done! Soft curls! No frizz! (All bets are off in the rain though, it’s not magic, after all.) Ayanna loaded me up with a bag of samples, a little instruction booklet, and didn’t suggest I buy one single product. I bought a bottle of Climate Control Gel though, because I was so desperate for a product that worked and I knew nothing at home did.

I’ve been trying what Ayanna taught me for a few weeks on my own now. The first time I was too stingy with the gel, but since then, it’s been good. The first day I wash my hair I get the smoothest curls, after I sleep on it, they start to get all roughed up. (Friction is a great way to create frizz.) On the days when I don’t wash my hair, I mist it with water and comb it with a wide tooth comb to reset the curl pattern, then add a bit more frizz-serum. It’s not perfect, it’s still August in NYC, and honestly, I really need more length on my hair to weigh these curls down a bit so they'll work better with my bangs. I’m thinking by November/December, I should have the hair I want. Just a full year of working on it is all.