Once upon a time.....
There was a little girl,
And she had a little curl
Right in the middle of her forehead.
When she was good
She was very, very good,
And when she was bad she was horrid.
And she had a little curl
Right in the middle of her forehead.
When she was good
She was very, very good,
And when she was bad she was horrid.
~Longfellow (from Mother Goose)
The little girl with more than one little curl was me. And now I am a granny who still has curl right in the middle of her forehead. Down through the years I've had short hair, long hair, ironed hair, hat hair, frizzy hair and even tried smooth, straight hair. I have wrestled and wrestled with the curls that God gave me until just a few years ago. Now you can say I'm "embracing" my curls and it is sure a whole lot easier. Yesterday Leslie from Wayside Sacraments was talking about natural beauty products for hair on her blog and then later I heard from Joyce at Plain Ol' Vanilla about plopping. Today....I've been plopped. Or maybe I should say, I plopped!
Whatever it is, I just tried a drying technique that works especially well for curly girls like me. I'm an old dog, but I can still learn a new trick or two. The word is that terry cloth towels should never be used on curly hair. Yup. All those years and all that frizz! With plopping (or plunking) it is recommended that you use a T-shirt, a microfiber towel, or a flour sack dish towel for wrapping up the hair to dry. Basically, you take your wet head, fresh from the shower and plop it over a T-shirt, wrapping your hair up turban style and letting it dry from 10-30 minutes or more. I think it made a huge difference in drying time and curl. The curls seemed to be lighter and bouncier and more defined -- not as much frizz as when drying with the diffuser. Usually when I air dry my hair it gets flat on top, but this method gave a little boost at the roots. When I diffuse my hair it's pretty good, but any blow drying creates more frizz for me. I'm so glad I tried this!
After I washed my hair today, I added a pump of clear aloe vera gel (my gel of choice) to my hair and plopped it and wore the T-turban on my head for about 30 minutes before unwrapping it. Then I let my hair air dry for bit. (I had to go outside to help Hubs load up a bull so I got lots of nice fresh air blowing through my locks.) I did use my curling iron on my bangs a little bit (remember the curl?), but I wouldn't have had to. That's it. Not much frizz, lots of defined curl, happy me. For a tutorial or two on plopping or plunking, click here and here and here too!
How cute! You're a lucky girl - I sure wish I had naturally curly hair!
ReplyDeleteYou have great hair, Jody! I think curls are adorable. My hair got curlier and curlier with each baby, but now my youngest is 12, and my hair is getting flatter all the time :( boohoo!!!
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteI love your curly hair! I use to do that also when my hair was longer. I cut it quite short, but now letting it grow longer. Never thought of pure aloe, I always made the flax seed stuff.
ReplyDeleteThanks!
Hugs!
Cat
Cute hair and cute YOU!
ReplyDeleteMy hair is straight as a broom. I really should be nicer to it, though!
Lookin Good!!
ReplyDeleteGorgeous curls! You look so beautiful. Isn't it wonderful when we find something new to try and it works so well! xx
ReplyDeleteCannot wait to try this! Our hair is almost the the same...I have more gray..;) which I am embracing by the way. I used to try and try for straight hair..why is it we always want what we can't have? And then I thought why am I being so silly. Just go with what the Good Lord gave ya, which at this point is gray curley locks. But I am always on the look out for things to keep the frizz away. Thanks bunches!
ReplyDelete~M~
Do you know how much money I have spent through the years to get my hair to look like yours? It is so pretty. I love the curl. My hair is straight as a string. I just love the soft curls.
ReplyDeleteI like the length. I have let my grow so long now but I yours is my favorite length. Pretty color too.
Can I have your hair. :)
I'm going to try this. I too fight the frizz. Thanks, Jody! (you look fabulous, btw!)
ReplyDeleteI used to get perms all the time when I was a teenager, but the curls never really took. I envy yours!
ReplyDeletexofrances
Oh my...your hair looks gorgeous!! I just have waves, but I am going to try this:). Thanks for sharing and you are NOT an old dog!! You look so young Jody!!
ReplyDelete~Julia
Your hair looks super to me, who has the opposite "problem" to yours. It really is great when we women find something that makes us feel better about our hair!
ReplyDeleteYour hair looks sweet! I wonder if my hair would do that? I use a flat iron. I think my hair would be better described as bushy rather than curly. But I'm going to give your tshirt idea a go. I'll let you know how it turned out - but I can't promise there'll be pictures!! :)
ReplyDelete