Question for GIRLS on the spectrum

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I just wash and air dry - I'm aiming for long hair I do a fair bit to keep it healthy, lots of olive oil conditioning treatments, I don't use shampoo (I use CO washing), no styling products ever, no hair dryer, occasionally straightener which is a habit left over from when I used to use shampoo which made my hair super-frizzy so had little choice but to straighten or else look like a poodle.

I have a huge forehead so can't wear my hair up without looking horrid, can't have a fringe ('bangs') due to cow-licks, so I just let it do what it wants - I have good hair, but 2A type so wavy in a way that looks like I've done nothing to it, so I'd love to do something with it...I'm just not girly enough to know what to do or how to do it.

Curly hair - think Cheryl Cole (as someone from Newcastle I point out how much it pains me to want anything like hers) type big curls - is my holy grail...I do try to play about with curlers, but nothing seems to give me nice curls

Wash and wear for me. I used to style my hair. In fact, I had a TON of different styles. They didn't do much to attract men, though (I'm straight as an arrow), because they were MEN's styles. It's the style I liked. I would get it cut to about an inch and then spike it, one time I shaved the bottom half of my skull, kept the top half of the remaining hair about at an inch and a half and styled that part, and threw on a headband in the middle. If I had had my way when I was ten or so, I would have shaved all the hair on my head except for the middle, from my crown to the back of my head for, you guessed it, a mohawk! I wanted a foot-tall blue mohawk, but being ten years old, I was still subject to my mother telling me "no".

The shortest I've ever had my hair (while I was still styling it) was about half an inch at the longest. I've styled my hair with blond and purple streaks, soon after the purple turned grey and everyone at my middle school called me "salt and pepper". There are too many crazy hairstyles that I had when I actually styled my hair to count.

I eventually got sick of all the gel and mouse products that would flake off white when touched and look like dandruff, and I was slowly able to grow my hair out (over the course of 3 years) to mid-chest. And you know what I do with it now? Wash and wear. I have two hairstyles; tight ponytail with no bangs for practicality, and my hair down with a side part when I don't want to deal with putting my thick hair into a ponytail. No products but water and shampoo.

My point is, when your dad/parents tell you to do more than "wash and wear", you can reply, "Well, I heard a bunch of suggestions from this girl on the forums!" and give them the examples that I just gave you.

Yey @ longhaircommunity forums
I wish my hair was that long, mine takes forever to grow.

I miss my dreadlocks, but they have been a memory for almost four years. My hair is past my shoulders now. I get it dyed reddish, previously bleached blond, naturally dark brown. The dreads started dark brown and went blond. I always wait way too long between colorings. I have only recently started to style my hair on occasion to appease my hubby, meaning I bought a curling iron a couple of months ago. funny, he is surprised that with the makeup and styling that he has cajoled me into dealing with, I now take as long as a girl to get ready to go out. of course! it is not that i had super speed, i just skipped all the unnecessary steps.

It's interesting how many of us have wavy or curly hair and it seems like many also have thick hair.
For the majority of my life, wash and wear, I spent many years with inch or so long hair, it still got compliments, but I did have a good hairdresser and it required no maintenance whatsoever.
Now that I am in my 50's I actually fuss a little more and it is a little longer (collar length), if you can call spending 10 - 15 minutes a day after my shower on it fussing; that's about as fussy as I get. This involves a blow dryer with diffuser so it's not wet when I leave the house as it's so thick and then I will often run a flat iron quickly through it. I use a little putty afterwards for a slightly messy look and for some hold and shine. It seems to work for me for this stage of my life and with my career.

Now I'm wash and wear...I've gone through phases where I've been REALLY obsessed with making my hair look a certain way though....... My hair is also think and frizzy and hard to manage.

It's a good idea to blow-dry your hair. Don't lay your head on anything or you might get messy hair.

Wash and wear. I don't have any patience to style it. All my life I have straight cut hair with a fringe. Sometimes I look like Spock, sometimes like Emily Strange, but it's still the same hairdo. I avoid dryers, gels, waxes, sprays and other annoying stuff.

I frequently wear my hair in a scrunchie, occasionally i'll put it in braids. My hair dries out badly if i use shampoo on it too often, so i dont wash it everyday. But even with the "wash and wear" style, i always get compliments for the thickness and lack of split ends my hair has, so much so that i've considered donating it to children with cancer, but i dont know any "locks of love" sites in my area.

I think it's just the reason. Wash and wear allow the hair to stay in good condition. Dryers, curling irons, straighteners and stylizers have damaging effect to hair. Many people ask me what I do with my hair, but when I say they should throw away all the stuff, they don't want to.

Consider Conditioner-Only hair washing method - conditioners contain mild surfactants so cleanse your hair but without drying it out as unlike shampoo it doesn't strip hairs natural oils, much healthier for hair. See Conditioner-Only Hair Washing for a very basic explanation, although it doesn't explain that conditioners that contain silicones like dimethicone should be avoided for CO washing and that transition is minimal.

FYI - Locks of Love also very rarely give hair donated to children/people with cancer, very unethical, see posts here

wash'n wear hair is definitely what works for me, for my skin and hair. Back in my teens I used to wear makeup and curl and blow dry my hair, but makeup always got smudgy and gave me a rash, and I couldn't stand the feel of the hair dryer on my scalp. Also,the curls used to end up straightened out after a few hours anyway (under my hair's own weight). Now it's below shoulder length, often in a loose bun or braid.

I only wash my hair about twice a week, using a 2-in-1 conditioner. I don't use styling products, so there's not much gunk in it anyway. Everyone at work tells me I have the healthiest looking hair, but I can't bring myself to tell them that the secret is washing it way less than people think necessary and rarely stressing it by brushing or combing

Going wash'n wear has reduced the amount of time it takes me to get ready to go out, reduced the amount of smelly chemical products in contact with my skin, and saves me money too. Also, it's taught me to feel comfortable in my own skin.

Most of the time I don't even comb it, but it looks pretty good even without doing anything to it. If I'm bored or it's cold out I'll dry it and maybe put some product in it. But that's once in a blue moon.

extremely thick curly hair. buzz cut in high school. dreadlocks in college and now

Do you mean without brushing it? Oh heck no, a couple days without brushing = painful detangling.

It was pretty much wash, brush and wear for 25 years. No make up, pony tail, t-shirt and jeans. Attempting to launch a professional career somewhat changed my routine. The fact that well polished people get better gigs was not lost on me.

So I picked up a hair dryer and made the leap from "wash, brush and wear", to "wash, brush, blow dry the bangs and wear" and I started to wear small amounts of make up. WOOO. The makeup didn't last for daily wear, but the blow drying did. I also discovered mouse was easy to use and did wonders for normally uncontrollable hair. I also wear make up more often now, but just for social activities.

this sounds like a good idea! I'll try it before I buy any more 2-in-1 shampoo. I also sometimes use a bit of honey like a conditioner after washing my hair, honey is a good humectant (holds moisture in) and is all-natural. It's also good for washing skin, too. Just make sure not to use it in the summer, or the bees will find you verrry interesting!