How Can I Make Hair Stylers Work For Me? (Pt 1: Styler Too Drying, Too Moisturizing, Frizz & Flakes)

I bought a styler for my wavy curly hair and it doesn't work! Help!
What can you do if you try a hair styler for the first time and it doesn't work for your hair? This is part 1 to a 2 part series. In this video, I go over how to make products that make your hair feel dry work, how to use up a product that is too moisturizing for your hair, what to do if a hair product seems to be causing frizz, and what to do if a hair styler is flaking.
Video References:
Previous Video Troubleshooting Shower Products: • How To Get Most Hair P...
How To Do A Hair Reset: • How Do I Get My Wavy C...
Product Battle Playlist: • Wavy/Curly Hair Produc...
Cantu Grapeseed Product Review: • Cantu Grapeseed Line R...
How To Know If You're Using Too Much Product: • 10 Signs You're Using ...
Products Mentioned:
EVA NYC Mane Magic 10-in-1 Primer: amzn.to/3J2Aiaa
Aussie Instant Freeze Hair Gel: amzn.to/4cIPKG0
Curls Dynasty Kalahari Leave-In Conditioner: Discontinued
Shea Moisture Curl Enhancing Smoothie: amzn.to/3PRGBRz
Not Your Mother's Curl Talk Defining Cream & Sculpting Gel: amzn.to/4aE8jt2
Cake Whipped Curl Mousse: amzn.to/4ah8U46
Cantu Grapeseed Curl Activator: amzn.to/4aBNW0d
Twist Ready, Set, Bounce Curl Defining Gelee: amzn.to/3xoI9Mz
Aunt Jackie's Knot On My Watch Detangler: amzn.to/43OjeOB
Lotta Body Wrap Me Foaming Mousse: amzn.to/3VMIRxb
Twist Boss Bounce Styling Cream: amzn.to/4cNi0Hp
Kinky Curly Custard: www.target.com/p/kinky-curly-...
Camille Rose Curl Maker Defining Gel: amzn.to/4cLKKk4
Fantasia Curl Custard: amzn.to/3PNgaMM
Not Your Mother's Curl Talk Leave-in Spray: www.target.com/p/not-your-mot...
Bounce Curl Clump & Define Cream: amzn.to/3VMJ2Zn
Curlsmith Frizz Rescue Curl Retainer: www.ulta.com/p/frizz-rescue-c...
Twist Weather Up Defining Gel: amzn.to/49mhxJn
Verb Curl Foaming Gel: amzn.to/3xhzUSo
Ouidad Advanced Climate Control Stronger Hold Gel: amzn.to/3J8o6EE
Twist Weather Up Lotion: amzn.to/49oRvVR
Timeline:
0:00 Intro
1:13 Where Should I Start When Troubleshooting a Hair Product?
4:08 What Should I Do If My Hair Styler Leaves My Hair Feeling Dry?
5:54 What Should I Do If Protein In My Hair Styler Is Making My Hair Feel Dry?
8:07 What Should I Do If My Hair Styler Is Causing Flash Drying?
10:18 What Should I Do If My Hair Styler Is Too Moisturizing?
14:53 What Should I Do If My Hair Styler Is Causing Frizz?
22:30 What Should I Do If My Hair Styler Is Causing Flaking?
23:46 Outro
Hair Type:
2b-3a Curl Pattern
Wavy Curly Hair
High Density
Low Porosity
Fine-Medium Texture
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Disclaimer:
Some of the links in the description are affiliate links. This means that if you purchase one of these products from the link I will receive a small commission. You are not obligated to use the link, but if you do, it will be no additional cost to you and will help to support my channel. Thank you for your support.

[@tomasgarcia7499]

Hi Lina! Thanks for a vid like this. I’ve been having a lot of trouble with my hair over the last year. Very inconsistent styling days.
I’d say my hair is 2A, low-ish porosity, and coarse and thick as HELL. My waves are a long S shape on good days. My hair is about half way down my back.
So I’ve been growing my hair since 2020 and my best hair days were in 2022 when my hair was just a bit below my shoulders. During that time, I used JVN’s pre wash scalp oil, Vanicream Shampoo (My scalp HATES fragrance), Olaplex 5, Olaplex 9, Olaplex 6, and then I’d finish with Argan Oil on my ends. I remember back then I had to squish the product into my hair A LOT to get it to look good, and my hair looked genuinely great. I have pictures from back then and it was very shiny, smooth, and I personally remember it feeling soft and holding up under the Texas humidity perfectly. I know a lot of ppl under the CGM method say that silicones are a no no, but my hair really loves them (although I’m open to using products without them).
Fast forward to now and I have yet to have one day that looks as good as it did back then. My biggest issue is that the hair around the top of my head tends to be frizzy no matter what I do. Think of it like halo frizz! Like my bangs do not hold their shape at ALL. They always end up frizzy. I don’t heat style nor do I color my hair, so it’s very healthy. I just feel like it’s always dry. Sometimes, there will be patches that look moisturized and you can see the beautiful S shape, but it’ll be put off by frizz that surrounds other parts of my hair.
I genuinely don’t know if I’m not putting enough product in my hair, or if I’m styling incorrectly (like not putting enough water?). I don’t think it’s moisture overload or protein overload because my hair can take A LOT of moisturizing ingredients and I’ve never had issues with protein. The only conclusion I can come to is that I’m styling wrong 😭. I find it hard to believe the Olaplex products would suddenly just stop working because my hair gained a couple of inches you know?
I’ve tried so many products to see if I could get better results, and I always end up going back to the Olaplex stuff. I’d like to find a replacement for the Olaplex 6 (which is a styling cream) because it’s just too expensive in the long run. It’s $30 for 3.3 oz which compared to other brands is quite expensive. I don’t plan on cutting my hair to a shorter length so I’d like to find an alternative to it, but I’m having trouble with that too. I’ve tried a lot of styling creams with no luck. I’ve used Curlsmith’s Weightless Air Dry Cream (it worked ok but I couldn’t take the smell), Pureology Color Fanatic Leave In (worked well but I couldn’t take the smell, it gave me a migraine), AG Fast Food Leave In (couldn’t take the smell and not enough moisture), Redken All Soft Leave In (didn’t give my hair enough moisture to hold on to), AG Recoil (did absolutely nothing for my hair), Ouidad Advanced Climate Control Gel (the extra hard hold one in the red bottle, didn’t do well recently), among many others 😩.
I’m just about at my wit’s end with my hair. I don’t want to cut it because I love having long hair and when it looks good, it looks REALLY nice (even though I’ve been struggling for a while lol 😭), but the consistency is so hard to get. Also money doesn’t grow on trees, and unfortunately as much as I like the Olaplex 6, I really would like to find a less expensive product that will last me longer. I’m okay with keeping the Olaplex 9 and Argan Oil in my rotation because the main crux of my styling is a cream, so I tend to use more of that than anything else. The Olaplex 9 also gives me beautiful shine like no other product and it’s a good heat protectant. The Argan Oil helps me seal everything in.
I even remember back when my hair looked its best how the products felt. My hair would feel very slippery when styling. Like once I put everything in, there was a lot of slip, and that was my telltale sign of “Ok this should look good tmrw.” I never feel that nowadays, not sure why.
I’ve tried gels and mousses and they don’t work well for me at all. Mousse made my hair feel even more dry (but also sticky? It was a weird feeling) and I could never get a cast with gel and it always ended up feeling sticky no matter what I did. I feel like the LCO method works the best for me.
There are a couple of products left I want to try. The Briogeo Curl Charisma Leave In sounds enticing to me and they just released an Air Dry Cream I wouldn’t mind trying either. Ulta is really good about returns so I usually will buy one and then if it doesn’t work just return it and swap for another one.
Sorry about writing so much 😅. I just wanted to vent about the situation to someone who would understand the hair struggles lol. Hopefully I can figure this out. I’d really like my good hair days to come back. Having a good hair day really is a self confidence booster. And also, a lot of my favorite video game characters have awesome long hair which inspires me to make my mine look the best it can too 😭.

[@Linas_lovelylocks]

Thanks for the in depth message! I have a couple of thoughts and suggestions. Things that you didn't mention in your comment. So I'll go through the things that come to mind, and if you're already do them or have tried them, I would disregard. ☺
I know you mentioned the shampoo you used to use, but wasn't sure if it was the one you're still using. But it looked to me to be more of a gentle shampoo. Do you have a more clarifying shampoo with something like sodium c14-16 olefin sulfonate in it? If not, then I'd start with a good clarifying shampoo to use once a month or as needed.
If you are using a clarifying shampoo, do you know if you have hard water in your area? If you haven't tried a chelating shampoo, I would highly recommend that. The best would be the Malibu C undo goo, the Ion Hard Water shampoo, or the Ouidad hard water shampoo. Hard water build up can do a lot of the things you've described.
Other things of note would be making sure that you're hair doesn't need a trim. And the last thought I'd had was to ask whether or not you use a diffuser. Unfortunately, the longer your hair gets, the less you can get away with air drying. It takes longer to dry, especially with coarser hair. So that could be causing extra frizz and the hair not holding its shape.
I hope some of that helps! Let me know. ❤

[@tomasgarcia7499]

@@Linas_lovelylocks You know, I actually don’t have a more clarifying shampoo! I actually have been wanting to find a new one, but the issue for me is most shampoos have fragrance somewhere on the ingredient list. When I first started growing out my hair I went through a multitude of shampoo options and noticed my scalp would always flake and get incredibly itchy after using them. I ended up realizing the common denominator was fragrance, so I’ve become kinda scared to try any other shampoos out of fear that my scalp will start itching and flaking again 😭. I will admit the Vanicream one tends to leave my hair pretty dry after using it too, but I’ve always attributed that to it cleansing my hair and scalp properly?…idk!
I have a shower filter that I use to filter out the hard water sediments, so I haven’t ever used a chelating shampoo before. 😮
I recently got a trim at the beginning of May, so I’m good on that front. I actually do have a diffuser! It came with the blow dryer I got at Target a while back. Maybe I should give it a go lol. I tend to just micro plop my hair, but yeah, perhaps I should give the diffuser a go! Oh also idk if this helps but I wash my hair 2 times a week. Tuesday and Friday!
Thank you for replying. I really appreciate it 😭.

[@Linas_lovelylocks]

That's definitely fair. I was looking around and you're right. It's really hard to find a clarifying shampoo without fragrance. I did find one on Amazon that I'm going to try. I'll let you know what I think and add a link if I like it. I think a clarifying shampoo will do a world of good for your hair.
If you have a filter on your shower that should help though to be honest, I don't know a ton about them or how well they work. If the clarifyibg doesn't help, that would probably be the next step, just to make sure.
And I get it 🙂 I honestly resisted using a diffuser for a long time too. I didn't want to spend the time on it. But I have found over the years that it makes a pretty big difference, especially the longer my hair gets. Could be worth at least trying once.

[@Linas_lovelylocks]

Turns out the one I used did have a fragrance in it. It wasn't very string and didn't bother me, but if you're sensitive it might not work for you. So I found two other options. One that's really popular and I've seen a lot of good reviews on its the Ouidad bond building shampoo, which is actually fragrance free. amzn.to/4bxoybx this one is actually on sale today. The other one I don't knife much about, but I thought I'd give you options. It's called No Nothing Sensitive Volume Shampoo (amzn.to/4cNjMrj). Let me know

[@colleenmuehl1652]

Thanks for another great video! I’m still searching for frizz fighting products, the latest being Curlsmith’s protein styler. Not sure yet if I like it, but I’m going to do the isolation thing you talked about on my next wash day.

[@Linas_lovelylocks]

It can definitely be hard to get rid of frizz especially if you live somewhere with a lot of wind or humidity. You'll have to let me know if you figure anything out that works really well for you. ❤

[@ceystal]

Love love love these tips! I also found if you find a few different products give you flash drying it also helps to look at the ingredients list and see if they all have the same culprit high up in the ingredients list which your hair may not like. Some hair types dont like certain humectants or oils or fatty alcohols.
Another tip for flash drying is using a lightwight oil after you cream or leave in conditioner in the shower. It helps seal the moisture and i heard it can potentially help with flaking as well.
Innersense is known to be high in protein. Curlsmith strength line is their protein line. Ouidad has products high in protein. AG haircare and briogeo as well.
Drugstore options: curls blueberry bliss line, curltalk as you mentioned, some products from sheamoisture jbco line and yogurt line, aphogee, giovanni has some products as well, marc anthony strictly curls

[@Linas_lovelylocks]

Thanks for all those wonderful recommendations! My brain must have been fried when I filmed this 😂 there were a few of these I didn't know though. I didn't realize the Marc Anthony curls products and the Curls blueberry line had protein in them. I'm gonna have to check them out now.
That's a good point in the ingredients too! Some peoples hair really doesn't like certain ingredients.

[@simplyamandashomesteadsampler]

Would adding the oil after the cream or leave in be considered the LOC method?

[@ceystal]

@@simplyamandashomesteadsampler sort of. If you use both leave in and cream then LOC is leave in, oil, then cream. Or the LCO which leave in, cream, then oil. I wouldn't use both unless you have very thick or highly textured or high porosity hair. Or the leave in is a spray/primer or provides heat/uv protection then you can follow up with a cream. A few drops of a lightweight oil before your styler works super well for me. Hope this helps!

[@simplyamandashomesteadsampler]

@@ceystal ty! My hair seems to respond well with oil. I prepoo with it most wash days and notice that it looks better after doing so. My hair is so dry! Going to try this on the next wash day! Tfs! Blessings!

[@ceystal]

@@simplyamandashomesteadsampler my hair is also dry and loves oil! I'll usually prepoo oil overnight, deep condition, and either mix oil or apply it after my leave in/cream. I also recommend the kinky curly curling custard Lina shows in the video! If you want to check it out it's the most moisturizing gel I've found so far

[@OddinaryOne]

Thanks for the tips 😊 do you have any specific tips for hard hold gels that make your hair look “gross”/oily even if mixed with water and applied on wet hair and used in small amounts? I’m seeing if I can find a use for curlsmith in shower style fixer, but I kinda just hate it. I’m thinking of making it into a foam, mixing it with a leave in or even adding it to a small bowl of water before applying, but IDK if anything would save it for me 😂

[@Linas_lovelylocks]

I do talk more about hard hold gels in the next video, but to be honest, I struggle with them a lot as well. Someone left a comment on the other troubleshooting video saying that they boil water, mix in the gel, and turn it more into a spray gel... But I haven't tried this yet 😅 I have tried the curlsmith in shower style fixer, but I do have their fragrance free hard hold gel and I have similar problems.
Sorry I'm not very helpful on this one... I'm going to do more experimenting though and see if I can't figure something out.

[@helennoble9587]

I hate the hardness that gels leave and I’ve bought so many of them, I get better results out of a wave spray or salt spray .. so to use up the unliked gels, mix a cup of gel with boiling water, once it’s cool transfer into a spray bottle, use on damp hair as usual 👍

[@OddinaryOne]

@@Linas_lovelylocks nice, thank you. No, it’s helpful, I just have “particular” things I’m struggling to use up 😅 I unfortunately have the shine gel too 🥲

[@OddinaryOne]

@@helennoble9587 how much water to the gel? 50/50, or? Thanks for the tip

[@helennoble9587]

@@OddinaryOne I do 30 gel 70 water , depending on the gel and how strong / how hard it leaves my hair
Your welcome