Susan's Place Transgender Resources

I need help learning to tame the unruly mess that is the fro.
Im really light, but my hair is genetically of african discent. I do not know what to do with mah frizzy, crazy frodatious thing that i have on my head and i was hoping some of you gals out there could let me know if theres a way to style, straighten, and take care of my hair. Just let me know whatever you can tell me.
Please and thank you! ^__^

Love,
Noelle

I doubt this is helpful , but at least you know you were heard. I have a friend who is very dark. She uses vaseline to tame her hair. I would have never thought of such a thing and think it must be hard to wash out again. She does it often though so it must work for her.

Hmm... I may try this.
Its sort of the same texture as grease. A bit thicker maybe. It might work.

I don't think it would hurt to try.

Right!
Imma try asap.
I wanna know if this stuff will work.

A professional hairdresser? You know all woman are gorgeous and many have hair to die for, just some of us are more challenging. I look like a red head scarecrow most of the time. My hair is 90 degrees to my skull.
I look like a loo brush on steroids.

If anyone quotes that they are dead!

I would advise against using vasoline in your hair, there are other petroleum based products that you can use to seal moisture into your hair but you need to experiment to see what works best for you and what feels good. How often do you wash your hair? That can contribute to how dry it feels or how frizzy it gets - you may find that washing it once a week or so with a conditioner can work better in terms of keeping moisture.

What you should be looking for in hair products is something that has water as a main ingredient, you should use that as a base then seal that moisture in with a natural oil like coconut oil or extra virgin olive oil. This would go towards tackling the frizziness you mentioned. You may want to style your hair into twists or another protective style and cover it with a silk or satin scarf every night before you sleep.

I recommend looking on YouTube for some natural hairspiration - there are some great tips, techniques, and styles you can try out, I've included some links below :)

http://www.black-hair-report.com/hair-products-and-styling.html

http://youtu.be/SmVjzTeJMuw

The vaseline was used more of a styling gel than as a hair moisturizer.

I know im not supposed to wash my hair too often but my scalp gets itchy only 2 days after i washed it. Should i just use conditioner every so often or find something else to clean it?

If you're finding your scalp is itchy have you considered upping your water intake? You could also possibly change from shampooing every two days to washing your hair with conditioner (co-wash) every two days and then shampooing every week or so? Here's another helpful link :)  http://www.howtoblackhair.com/the-reasons-why-you-have-an-itchy-dry-scalp/

Not directly relevant, but this thread reminded me of this story from the wayback machine.

http://www.fibroid101.com/shampoo.htm

This helps a lot!
My regimen consists of shampooing every 2 days so this is very useful to me.
Plus i dont use any hair product. Which is probably a bad thing.
Time to go shopping! \(>_<)/

@gwynne
Thats scary...

Quote from: Emo on January 04, 2014, 10:22:05 AM
I know im not supposed to wash my hair too often but my scalp gets itchy only 2 days after i washed it. Should i just use conditioner every so often or find something else to clean it?

You can wash it one day and rinse it for the next day or 2.

Quote from: Cindy on January 04, 2014, 04:42:05 AM
A professional hairdresser? You know all woman are gorgeous and many have hair to die for, just some of us are more challenging. I look like a red head scarecrow most of the time. My hair is 90 degrees to my skull.
I look like a loo brush on steroids.

If anyone quotes that they are dead!

(https://www.susans.org/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fscienceblogs.com%2Fstartswithabang%2Ffiles%2F2011%2F06%2Fvan-de-graaff-generator-girl-hair-stand-on-end.jpeg&hash=3bf86768cf6714b6051349f5e4a210c3f08371a0)

There you go, Ms. van de Graaf.   ;)

Quote from: Emo on January 04, 2014, 01:22:45 PM
This helps a lot!
My regimen consists of shampooing every 2 days so this is very useful to me.
Plus i dont use any hair product. Which is probably a bad thing.
Time to go shopping! \(>_<)/

Glad to help :) Let me know how you get on!

Ok. So i already use fruictice shampoo and conditioner which is water based. My plan is to use conditioner every 2 days, shampoo once a week, i just bought olive and coconut oil so i will find out which i like best.
If theres anything else i should try, let me know.
Thank you guys so much for the help! ^__^

Emo,
    Go to a hair salon run by black women and get their take on your hair and what products would work best. I know a lot of nappy haired gals spend a small fortune getting it straightened, but i'm sure you'd get some excellent advice. I had my hair cut at a black women's hair salon in St. Louis some years ago, was the only white person there and had the best time being fussed over.

Lol. I know the feeling. Other ethnicities are so clueless when it comes to my hair. XD
The salons around here are mostly asian or white. I found a black one that did a great job with it last time. Ill probably go back soon.

Quote from: Emo on January 05, 2014, 02:41:03 PM
Lol. I know the feeling. Other ethnicities are so clueless when it comes to my hair. XD
The salons around here are mostly asian or white. I found a black one that did a great job with it last time. Ill probably go back soon.

Good plan, let us know how it worked out!

I'm white, but every few months I warm up a small bowl of olive oil and massage it into my hair, then put on a hat (or shower cap) and let it sit on there for an hour... or longer, then just shampoo it out, making sure to scrub your scalp to get the oil out. it works wonders for my hair making it shiny and healthier looking

Quote from: Elijah on January 05, 2014, 02:50:51 PM
I'm white, but every few months I warm up a small bowl of olive oil and massage it into my hair, then put on a hat (or shower cap) and let it sit on there for an hour... or longer, then just shampoo it out, making sure to scrub your scalp to get the oil out. it works wonders for my hair making it shiny and healthier looking

That's the best treatment for a dry scalp condition too!

I used olive oil and it worked wonders! Its awesome.
Then i styled it in the shower and looked like an anime character. XD
Not going out in public like that tho. :p

Haha I love doing that when my hair's wet too :) I'm glad its working for you, i'm using coconut oil and Shea butter right now in my hair and my hair is so much softer its awesome.

I feel you. My hair although not really an affro when it is longer than 4 inches (below that it is) its really unruly. Im not very experienced but since ive started using conditioner and leaving it on for about 5 minutes it has improved.

Also make sure you take very good care of it when youre drying it as that can make it frizz back up

Good luck :)

Oh black people hair, how I hate it.

I'm mixed race and have very curly hair that frizzes up when I don't brush it and also during the summer when it's real hot. When I had long hair and was not out yet, I either used grease or hair gel/hair spray that is meant to tame my type of hair.