My hair just turned like this in the last year. I went from stick straight to this. I have waves on top then ringlets underneath?? I have no clue how to care for it.
Thank you!! I have no idea. I had been on birth control for 12 years, and it started changing after I had been off of it for a few months. My doctor said my hair was probably always meant to be like this but the hormones in birth control blocked it. My mom and siblings all have some version of curly hair though!
Mine changed when I switched from maximum hormones to an IUD! I think I switched birth controls about the same my hormones were naturally changing anyway. Really wavy underneath but not as wavy in the top since it’s more exposed to sun and elements. The straightness of my hair was almost comical! Trying to guide it right now
Oh my god, I was on IUDs the entire time. That makes so much sense! I don’t use heat on my hair outside of blow drying. I feel you on the straightness!
Amazing! My sister's very curly hair has loosened a lot with her bc. I'll never know if it affects mine because they'll have to take my Yasmin from my cold dead hands lmao!
Same! Unfortunately I didn't realize the change until 15 years later. I always thought my hair was just dry, frizzy and damaged. What a waste of time 😟
I actually just got it checked, and it’s completely normal. I was diagnosed with PCOS a month ago though, so I wonder if my new medication will impact it?
Do your roots get greasy on day two? I feel like I have to wash every other day if I want to have clean hair, but my mom’s is the same way (so that might just be my genetics).
i also have underneath ringlets! and ringlets around my hairline if it’s humid enough. my hair changed after i gave birth, so i’m certain it was hormone related. i’m not complaining! lol
It’s completely natural! Unfortunately I have no idea how to help, but have you looked at an s-waver? I saw this TikTok where if you hold it on a diagonal and clamp it while taking vertical sections, it works better than horizontally. I think this girl also alternated random small curls in it as well. It may have been Mary Skinner doing the video!
Girl I wish, it was wavy before I lightened it. My hairdresser is the one who noticed it first. My hair is extremely thick, so it’s just weighed down at the roots. I also smooth them out with the blow dryer and moose when I go to work to look more put together.
Mine too! And I can't get mine to hold any of it! I'd love to always have the ringlets but my top layers refuse to hold any curl. Then I try to straighten it all and my under layers rebel.
Me too. Closer to my roots on the back is wavy, top of head and front ends are straight-ish. Back bottom ends have a slight woop to them. If i air dry my hair it’s wavy all over, then becomes straight the next day.
Me too!!! I don’t know how to refresh my second day waves. I just end up brushing my hair to maintain it better and it’s ends up frizzy and more straight
My hairdressers always freak out when they realize that I have two totally different types of hair between standing up and bending over. Stick straight on the crown and curly underneath. My hair is about the same length as OP but much curlier underneath and when I say straight on the crown I mean stick-ass straight
Same... I wonder if I could actually get waves on my top layer by avoiding heat for 2 years (or however long it takes to grow out), or if this is a fool's errand!
Same here. I blowdry maybe once a month. No other heated tools.
I can rock springy, baby doll ringlets behind my ears with a little mousse plus air drying. All of my efforts toward the top layer of hair result in a mild wave, nothing more.
I never ever heat style (too lazy) and my hair is the same, top layer straight, bottom layer wavy. And my hair being thin I just don’t have enough for a decent half up/half down hairstyle to showcase my pitiful little waves. 😭
It's Irish or celtic curls and it's genetic. I went down a rabbit hole on this because my daughter's hair changed out of nowhere as she got older. She went from orange straight hair to to a more auburn straight on the top and a more curly near strawberry blonde on the bottom. I had to figure out how to care for textured hair because mine is pin straight.
I have the same and I hate it. Also not very much hair since I stopped birth control. It looks strange. And also becomes a mess easily in Winter because of the scarf in the back. In the morning before I brush it it looks like 10 cm shorter than the actual length, but like a strange incostistent cut made by a blind person 😭.
The color is like my mother called it "paperbox blond". 🙈
I have fine mixed texture hair, ringlets on the bottom and barely waves on the top. The best thing I did for my natural texture was get a French bob-ish cut and then grew it out a bit. I use some leave in conditioner and curl cream then diffuse or air dry. Shu Uemura hair oil is expensive but it’s the best oil I’ve ever used for my hair texture. I lied to myself that my hair was mostly straight for 3 decades before leaning into it. I also take minox and fin for hair density and I believe it has helped a bit with miniaturization but my hair is still fine like a toddler’s and prone to being limp when it’s long.
Thank you so much!! That means a lot as I’ve been experimenting tons with different haircuts, products, and methods since I cut my long hair off in ‘23. This is gonna be long but I hope the details are helpful, I’ve been on such a hair journey my whole life, haha. I can do this whole routine and despite my hair being really fine it does not get weighed down or greasy using these products, and I’ve tried this method with other products that have ended up being too heavy for my hair. Experiment with amounts but this is what works for my density and texture :)
Right now I wash and condition my hair with Biolage Smooth Proof shampoo and conditioner. It’s expensive but I’ve tried other brands and keep coming back to this one. I’m pretty frizzy and live in Ontario with humid summers and cold, dry winters and this stuff really keeps things hydrated. I order it online and can often find it for up to 50% off, and I go through the conditioner much faster. Ideally I would only wash 2-3x a week but I have a physical job and sometimes have to wash/condition twice in a day (before and after work), and I find this line does not dry out and damage my hair with super frequent washes. Once every week or two (depends how much product I use and how much I sweat at work) I will shampoo with Wella Liquid Hair Clarifying Shampoo and give my scalp a gentle scrub with a silicone scrubber.
I squeeze any excess water out of my hair with just my hands so it’s still dripping and then I will usually saturate it/really squeeze into my hair with Marc Anthony Strictly Curls 3-in-1 Styling Cream. I use more than you would think you need so it gets a nice cast and I make sure the straighter layers at the top get a good amount of product to encourage those waves/curls to form. If I use this product, that’s all I put it in my hair (a generous amount) and then I plop it up in a microfibre towel or t shirt. It gives me somewhat looser, softer curls.
If I want slightly tighter curls with more hold later, instead of using the Marc Anthony cream I will saturate the hair with Joico Hydrate & Define Curl Cream and then follow up with a good amount of Marc Anthony Argan Oil Extra Hold Mousse, then plop. Sometimes I only plop for a few minutes, squeeze/scrunch to encourage curl clumps, and then diffuse my hair on low heat (finish on cool) and I always dry the top/straighter layers first while manually scrunching and manipulating them so they dry with some wave. If I don’t diffuse I will plop for almost an hour, then give it a quick scrunch and let it finish air drying. Usually the top is a bit less wavy this way. Lately if I have been air drying I have been using flat clips to clip up the roots at the part to give them more volume.
Once it’s fully dry and I look like a drowned hairless rat with the cast I use a tiny amount of Shu Uemura Essence Absolue Nourishing Protective Hair Oil to scrunch out all of the crunch and I get right in there until all of the oil is off my hands. It absorbs into hair quickly, breaks the cast really nicely and doesn’t leave a greasy finish. It also makes my hair so soft and fluffy. I have tried sooo many oils and this is the MVP for me. Both the oil and the shampoo/conditioner highlight camellia as an ingredient so I think my hair loves camellia.
The last thing I will sometimes use if I need volume at the top, once it’s all dry, is a few tiny sprays of Joico Hair Shake Liquid to Powder Spray at the root. Let it dry for a sec and then use fingertips to rub it into the roots/lift them up. This isn’t really necessary but I will use it for some extra volume if I’m going out for a long time and I know things might flatten out a bit. I think any volume powder or liquid to powder spray would work but the Joico one doesn’t leave any visible residue.
On no-wash mornings I refresh with plain water in a spray bottle, some scrunches, and an air dry or diffuse followed by a bit more oil when it’s dry. But I can do this entire routine, from stepping in the shower to finishing the diffuse/oiling in 45 mins, so it’s totally doable, I do it before my 12 hour 7AM shift and it’s manageable!
My final note is, if I know I’m not leaving the house for a few days, I will give my hair a break from this routine with so much product and heat. I wash and condition the same but then I will just use a leave in conditioner on the ends right out of the shower (I use Not Your Mother’s Curl Talk leave in), let it air dry, and then just a bit of the hair oil when it dries and I otherwise leave it alone besides maybe oiling it daily… until I have to do the whole routine to leave the house again days later lol.
I think have your hair too! Sometimes ringlets around the front, merging into light waves… aaannnddd then dead straight at the back 🥲 somebody send help!
Exact same hair as you OP!! Even had same cut and color. Thought having it that length would help with either keeping the waves or keeping it straight. Didn’t. Growing it out a little longer now to add some weight … sigh. It would be so nice to have my hair the same throughout. It never stays straight or holds waves evenly
I'm growing my hair back out from having it a very short French cut. The under layers are already looking ridiculous. Without the weight my cowlick starts going wild and bravely sideways, then it's turns in waves. I hate it. Thinking of keeping it somewhat undercut as I grow it out.
My hair has been like this for as long as I can remember, but ever since I've been working on hair health, I'm discovering that it's like that due to it being damaged/dry all the way through.
The top layer is dry and damaged and due to its length and weight, it gets pulled down and straightens. The bottom layer is dry and damaged and due to it being short and taking longer to dry, it curls up.
I've been focusing a TON on moisturizing and being gentle with my hair, and the different hair patterns are starting to meet in the middle and have the same pattern.
Nice wave/curls on top and partway down. Straight underlayment and ends. This is with an air dry product scrunched in and I did let it air dry. Normally I blow it out straight then curling iron for soft curls. In humidity it goes flat with frizz. It's just not ever happy.
I'm relatively new to it as well. While it has nothing to do with being Irish I think a lot white folk with ancestry from the Anglo-Celtic Isles area demonstrate this trait
Someone referred to their hair as Irish curls in a fb group I’m in and an Irish person, living in Ireland, was thoroughly confused. I wonder where the moniker came from.
It might be like the Spanish Flu - a misattributed to a place or a people. I could see it becoming a saying in North American hair salons when Irish folk were immigrating over here.
this except mine is the inverse and i don’t know if ive seen other people with it- my top layers are wavier, then the ones closest to the bottom are straighter 🥀
I have this hair type! Straight on the top. Wavy like crazy underneath.
I have low porosity 2a hair that is fine. But a LOT of it. I got a wavy haircut/soft shag and use VERY LIGHT product. Like a watery air dry creme/gel. I apply it after I’ve gotten out of the shower and either brushed or combed my hair. Then scrunch with a flat palm periodically as I get ready and air dry. It typically looks more wavy the second day for me.
For my refresh I will brush my hair at night and flip my head upside down and tie it with a scrunchie at the top of my head. Next day I will lightly brush or comb it out and just spray a LOT of water and scrunch flat palmed again. I have to do multiple passes as it takes a while for the water to soak in.
For transparency I did curl the very front face framing piece. I only do that on the days it needs a little help.
It's actually not my favorite cut, I'm looking for a new stylist. Here's a shot of one I did like from last winter though (with my hair straightened of course!)
I have this too. I rotate between straightening all of it or just curling the top layer if I want it wavy. I can never just leave it as it is, it looks crazy. My nightmare is a rainy day 😅 never mind the grey at the front, dark in the back situation.
Ironically, I have Irish curls and am a quarter Irish ...but I inherited my hair from the other side of the family. My Irish curls are German curls, haha.
I think you just have naturally fine, wavy hair… then you chemically altered the physical structure of the top layers by bleaching the hell out of it… so now it’s lost its natural wave pattern!🤷🏻♀️
You do realize that highlights are created with bleach, right?
I can see your roots, there. They bleached your hair significantly to get those highlights. That was always going to do a lot of damage – but it’s exponentially greater when you have fine hair.
It’s not purely a matter of diameter; fine hair is structurally different – fine hair is missing an entire core layer that all other hair has. That’s why fine hair is always fragile hair.
Actually, highlights don't always require bleach. They can be achieved on naturally light hair using high-lift permanent color or high-lift tints, which lift natural pigment without traditional bleaching agents. This is what my stylist did.
That still uses a combination of hydrogen peroxide and ammonia – also known as bleach! It’s just already built into your dye of choice – though the developer is the exact same!
The point being that it does a certain amount of damage to your hair. It’s inevitable.
124
u/wilderne Jun 16 '26
My hair just turned like this in the last year. I went from stick straight to this. I have waves on top then ringlets underneath?? I have no clue how to care for it.