Workin' With Whatcha Got: Type 3 Hair

I have long hair. Long, thin-stranded, hair. My hair is confused and has been for years. It doesn't know whether to be straight or curly (regardless of the years of appointments it has made with the straightener), and the result of my hair becomes a funky, wavy-frizz. 

How does a hair type like mine fit in with being a Type 3, especially when Carol Tuttle wants us to be exactly who we should be and that we should embrace all aspects of ourselves.

I understood that as including your hair. So I did some searching on the perfect, T3 hair.

But, a good chunk of the photos I see online of those who get makeovers to look like their true, Type 3 hot self, are this:

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(Aren't these ladies beautiful?!)

The problem between my hair and these 'dos: I can't pull off short hair. Seriously. Nope. Nuh-uh. No way. Sadly, even the great Carol Tuttle doesn't have a wand magic enough for me.

This is exactly how I would have my hair, erryday if I could. Red, sleek, piece-y, pointed at the ends. 

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I can do the color, and have considered it. But straightening it takes a while. Ok, not terribly long but too long for this Type 3er. On top of that, I live in a humid location. Is there any reason to straighten my wavy hair while residing here? And on top of thaaaat, wearing my hair straight pulls my face down. 

One would assume then that that would make perfect sense for me to chop these locks off and go short. Because it would take minutes to straighten and be easier to keep tame.

Sorry. No can do. My crystal ball tells me I'll be an 80 year old great grandmother and will still have my long hair.

Have you ever heard beauticians labeling some 'dos as "low maintenance"? Especially as they chop 14 inches of hair off their victim who now can no longer wear ponytails? Anything that requires 20mins of blow-drying, 30mins of straightening/curling, and forcing your hair to act different from it's natural movement is not low maintenance.

IMHO.

Or maybe I suffer from chronic laziness. I dunno. I'm one of those girls who wants to have her cake and eat it too. Chocolate please. With chocolate frosting. 

I want to do the least I can do and still get amazing results.

And I found that by letting my wild mane be, well, wild. 

What I do:

1. Wash my hair. Duh.

2. If washed at night, sleep on it wet. If washed in the morning, allow to air dry (doesn't take long with my hair). A nap works great during this time. Will blow dry hair only in dire need.

3. Put product on in my roots. My hair is flat on top. Several years ago I nearly cried buying this $18 can of Big Sexy Hair because that's what the lady who cut my hair told me to get and I'm gullible and will believe anyone and anything. I youtubed how to use it, tried it and considered this product trash. But I couldn't throw it away. It was $18! I pulled this out last month, since I believe in second chances, and dare I say, a love has kindled. Once empty I'll probably look for a Suave/Aussie comparable. 

I will spray the roots and massage in to spread evenly with the exception of the hair at the top of the crown. I have about a three inch wide section at the top of my hair that doesn't get this product as it does have a tendency to make hair look greasy.

4. I then use my diffuser to dry the product and give my roots a lift. 

We'll pretend mine looks this good. And that it's not offf-white and dirty, cracked, and held together with rubber hair ties.

(Below: Remember to attach diffuser to blow dryer before use.) 

(Below: And do a little this.)

4 1/2. After this, depending on how cooperative this 'do is, I am done and may spritz lightly with the Aussie Freeze Spray you see a little down the page.

5. Will add a small amount of this to my ends to give my layers definition. Since the layers of my hair have been razored to blend in, they tend to look even more frizzy than when I've had the layers cut. Word of advice with this hair type and what kind of mousse to get: Never use the maximum hold unless you want super defined curls and crispy ends. The lower the amount of "hold", the better.

This stuff (below) works pretty dang good too. The only unfortunate thing is the issue I have with getting the product out while it's running low. You have to give it a rigorous shake and hold the dumb thing completely upside down to get the product out or it will make loud, airy, popping sounds, says my irritated husband at five in the morning. 

5 1/2. Now I'm done. Rarely I'll diffuse over the product again. Doing that creates more curls and it's not the curls I necessarily want. I want the waviness and funky look.

6. I will spray this (below) in my roots and flip my hair back and forth like a show girl to give a little pump if I'm going out later. Or if I throw my hair up in a pony (seriously, all hair needs to be pony length...or own a few hats) then I'll spray on the ends of my hair and poof it to look spunky.

Once you get in the swing of it, this 'do takes maybe ten minutes. Easy peasy lemon squeezy.

A beautiful, long, Type 3 hairstyle. Drool....

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It rained today. It's still raining. And I was outside for a couple minutes while the fat drops from the sky thudded my scalp. And it didn't bother me a lick. 

Had I straightened my hair and this happened? ...another story.