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Hey guys, I've been growing my hair out for about a year yet have got it trimmed occasionally, wish I read these posts earlier...anyways I was wondering if there is a way to manage long curly hair, I usually use a moderate hold gel to take away some of the frizziness, thanks
Yes, refrain from the trims.
I have found that the best thing to do is gently comb the curly hair when it is wet after rinsing or washing/conditioning, get a small amount of gel (I like L'Oreal Melting Gel - Medium Hold) in your hands and run it through your hair, but you don't really need to work it in, just kind of over the top. Then when it dries, it shouldn't have much frizz going on. If you kind of scrunch your hair when its about half dry, it won't be crunchy when it is through drying. If the humidity is very high, there isn't much you can do. Hairspray would be an option, but I hate the stuff. It's not much good to brush curly hair when it's dry, even if it is possible for you; it doesn't look any better when you get through ;-)!
If my hair gets wind-blown and has some gel dried in it, if I wet my hands and run them over the top of my hair, it will kind of reactivate the gel and everything lays down and looks nice.
This gel-reactivation is also effective for making a nice ponytail if you were to want to tie back your hair when it gets to that length. It really works out well; it is hard to believe how well it works. I can hardly wait till I make it back to that length.
There is another fellow here, Bodhi, who posts occasionally, and has very long curly hair who uses a pomade type product with very good results. Another, 80's metal also has many solutions for curly hair, so some of them may have more things to tell.
Good luck! Bragi
Besides Bragi's suggestions, I pose that you cut down on shampooing a bit. You may be doing it too much, and since shampooing strips all the oils from your scalp, it makes the hair dry, and thus, frizz emerges in full combat uniform. Do you condition your hair much? If not, you should start - among other beneficial things, it should get rid of some of your frizz. On days you're not shampooing your hair, you can use only conditioner on it. You can leave in a bit when you're rinsing it out.
Also, you could try applying some jojaba oil to the ends of your hair after you've bathed.
Your hair doesn't really look frizzy in the pic, though. I wouldn't worry too much about it.
Peace