Emily Evert, Author at Wavy Hair Care

Short Or Long Wavy Hair? The Pros And Cons Of Each!

April 5, 2024 by Emily Evert 4 Comments

I recently had my sister help me perform an at-home bob haircut. I flimed the process for my YouTube channel if you want to check it out.

Since she did this cut for me, I have really loved having my hair shorter again, but at other phases in my naturally wavy hair journey I have really loved having longer hair. I thought I’d share the pros and cons of short and long wavy hair, from my perspective.

Why short wavy hair is better

Less likely to tangle as shorter hair is younger hair that tends to be healthier
You have less hair so you’l use less conditioner, gel, mousse, etc which can save money over time.
Can feel cooler in hot or humid weather
Dries faster
May get tighter curls
Can look thicker/fuller

Why longer wavy hair is better

Causes and Solutions for Hair Build Up in Wavy Hair

March 2, 2024 by Emily Evert 3 Comments

What Causes Hair Build Up?

Hair build up is caused by hair products, your natural body oils, skin cells, hard water deposits, and even pollutants building up on your hair or scalp. At any given time, it’s natural for us to have tiny amounts of hair products, oil, pollutants and/or hard water deposits in our hair, as having 100% clean hair is nearly impossible. However, when we get ‘too much’ hair products, scalp oils, pollutants or mineral deposits in our hair it can start to cause problems with how our hair feels, acts or responds to styling. In severe cases it may even cause our scalp to feel irritated or itchy! So, it’s important to find a haircare routine that keeps build-up at a low level.

Does Hair Gel Cause Build Up?

Any products that you use on your hair or scalp can cause build-up, including shampoo! Yes, even shampoo. The more products you use, the more likely you are to get build-up. However, people often think that if they avoid using products like gel, mousse, curl cream, etc then they won’t get build-up, which is not the case. Everyone gets some amount of build-up, it’s just a matter of how much they get and how strong of a shampoo they need to use to clean their hair.

Not all shampoos are made equally, some are stronger than others, or work to remove certain types of buildup better than other products. You may find that some shampoos are not well-suited to remove build-up from certain products. The curly girl method attempted to simplify this by stating that if you avoid silicone products in your haircare products, then you don’t need to use a sulfate-containing shampoo. While this is commonly believed, it is not backed up with research or science (the curly girl method book sites no sources at all!).

Also, these days, there is a wide range of different strengths of shampoos even when looking at sulfate shampoos or non-sulfate shampoos. Meaning, even if you use all silicone-free products and use a sulfate-containing shampoo, you still may get build-up that needs to be removed with a stronger shampoo periodically.

Does The Curly Girl Method Cause Build-Up?

How Much Product To Use On Wavy Hair

January 22, 2024 by Emily Evert Leave a Comment

Does Wavy Hair Need a Lot Of Products?

Wavy hair does not require a lot of products to be styled well. In most cases, using several leave-in products will weigh down wavy hair rather than helping it look better.

Does Hair Type Determine How Much Product I Should Use?

How much of a product (like gel or leave in conditioner) you can or should use is impacted by your hair density. Whether or not you can or should use certain types of products (like protein treatments, curl creams, etc) is somewhat determined by your hair porosity.

I have a blog post designed to help you determine your wavy hair type if you aren’t sure what yours is.

Does Hair Type Determine What Type Of Hair Products I Should Use?

Hair texture (straight, wavy, curly or coily) can give you some really vague guidelines for how much products and what types of products you’re likely to use. For example, wavy hair is generally naturally more moisturized than curly and coily hair so it doesn’t need as much moisture, and it’s easily weighed down. It also often needs more support from a product with hold. However, these are really general rules of thumb.

Learning your hair type in terms of properties like strand thickness, porosity and density will give you more customized information about what products to use, how much of them to use, and how many products your hair can tolerate. I have a blog post designed to help you determine your wavy hair type if you aren’t sure what yours is.

How Do I Know If I’m Using Too Much or Too Little Product In My Wavy Hair?

Wavy Curl Memory – Can You Take A Break From Styling Wavy Hair?

January 11, 2024 by Emily Evert 3 Comments

What if I’m going on vacation and can’t bring my diffuser with me. Can I take a break from styling my hair wavy?
I’m pregnant and the morning sickness has been lasting all day, I don’t have the energy for my full wavy curly hair routine. I don’t want to lose progress with embracing my waves. What can I do?
I’m in a wedding and the bride has asked us all to straighten our hair to coordinate. Am I doomed to lose all of my progress?

I Stopped Styling My Hair Wavy For 3 Months

I’ve seen questions like these all over wavy and curly hair groups, and I’ve received them in my blog comments and email inbox as well. A lot of people worry about taking a break from styling their hair wavy. Some worry about skipping it even one wash day, and others are worried about managing their hair during longer periods, such as during a pregnancy.

Regular readers may have noticed that I had a longer gap between posts than usual. The last few months, I’ve been really busy with my other blog and I’ve been really focused on putting all of my emotional energy into therapy. I have found it hard to find motivation to do my hair a lot of the time. It’s just not been as high on my priority list. So, I thought it was the perfect time to show you what happens if you take a break from styling your hair wavy.

I’d estimate that over about a 3 month period, I styled my hair wavy about 5 times. Is my hair now straight? Nope!

Here is my hair earlier this week. I styled with a medium hold gel in this photo, where I usually go for hard hold. I believe this is the primary reason why my waves weren’t as tight as they usually are. Also, I am in pretty bad need of a haircut.

Here are two photos from days in the last couple of months where I styled my hair wavy after days or weeks without.

Do you always have to style hair wavy to maintain your waves?

You can take a break from styling your hair wavy and your waves will come back as soon as you style it wavy again.

There is a myth that floats around which talks about ‘curl memory’. It claims that the more you style your hair wavy curly, the more your hair will ‘remember’ its shape. People then assume that if you take a break from styling your naturally wavy hair, that it will stop being as wavy. This just isn’t true as far as I can tell. I have attempted to find any sources for these claims of ‘curl memory’ and have found no research or even really well respected sources talking about this. It seems to be a commonly repeated concept on social media only.

Do You Always Have To Style Hair Wavy On The Curly Girl Method?

You can take a break from styling your hair wavy while following the curly girl method. If you use curly girl method approved products while not styling your hair wavy, you won’t need to clarify or do a reset wash. However, if you use non-CGM products during your break, the curly girl method book says you should use a clarifying shampoo when you go back to following the curly girl method. Check out my blog post on clarifying wavy hair to learn more.

Is Curl Memory Real?

I have tried, but have been unable to find any evidence to support the concept of curl memory. I have instead found that hair texture (meaning straight, wavy, curly or coily) is determined by the shape of your hair follicles. Hair texture sometimes changes with age (often around hormone changes such as puberty, pregnancy or menopause) but generally speaking, you can’t “train” your hair to be a certain texture.

The hair you have is the hair you have. You can use methods that embrace or enhance your texture (such as using gel and diffusing in naturally wavy hair) or you can use methods that stretch out your texture (such as brushing it before letting it air dry). Different types of treatment or styling like this can make your hair look wavier or straighter, but it doesn’t change your hair itself. It’s just a difference in styling technique.

Choosing to wear your hair straighter for a while, or choosing to wear it wavier for a while, won’t change what your hair is capable of doing after your next hair day.

Why Does Hair Get Wavier The Longer You Style Your Hair Wavy?

If curl memory doesn’t really exist, why do so many people see their hair get wavier or curlier the longer they follow the curly girl method or otherwise style their hair wavy?

Lots of reasons! For many people, they learn how to treat their hair more delicately when they start embracing their waves, so their hair grows out healthier and less damaged. For many, when their hair is healthier, it gets wavier or curlier.

There can be a pretty big learning curve to learning the techniques and products that work best for your exact hair type. I don’t mean straight vs wavy vs curly, but instead things like hair porosity and thickness. If you aren’t sure of your hair type, check out my how to determine your wavy hair type blog post.

Want to maximize the tightness of your waves? I have a whole blog post covering how to make your hair curlier.

The benefits of taking a break from styling your hair wavy

The benefits of taking a break from styling your hair wavy can largely vary from person to person. Here are a few to consider though!

Mental health. If you find that styling your hair wavy is stressing you out, you are likely to see a mental health benefit from taking a break.

Feeling for build-up. If you always use a styling product on wash day, then you won’t know exactly what your hair is feeling like when it is product-free. This can make it harder to catch on to build-up, to see how healthy your naked hair looks and feels, and so on. Occasionally washing your hair and just letting it air dry without any intentional styling can give you great insight into how your hair is doing.

Variety. Sometimes it’s just fun to have a variety of looks! Not always styling your hair wavy leaves you room to add some variety.

Save time. For most of us, styling our hair naturally wavy is more time consuming. Diffusing my hair takes almost an hour, while blow drying my hair when I don’t use any styling products takes maybe 20 minutes. Taking a break from styling my hair wavy saves me time.

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