I have thick, curly hair. It's between chin and shoulder length (when dry) depending on how crazy I went with the scissors. It's the kind of curly that produces tight banana curls until I run my fingers through them to loosen them. Then they become full curls. I actually like humidity and how my hair looks when full and curly--my hair isn't at all kinky.

I let it dry naturally. After YEARS of wrapping (I'm peri-age), blowing, straightening, curling on coffee cans, etc., I will NEVER do anything to it again. No styling, no nothing. Just a great cut.

I'd like to know what shampoo and conditioner those with hair like mine recommend.

I just bought Curlfriends products. VERY exepensive and nothing special.

My hair gets fried in the summer sun and flat and lifeless in the winter cold. I'd like something that keeps my hair shiny and curly, but, doesn't look wet or stiff or fake. When I was young there was a product called "No More Tangles" that was great (even though I wrapped my ass-length hair so it would be straight--actually wavy).

My hair can get fried in the summer too (probably because I use color on it) and because of the texture, I can never wear a hat in the winter or summer, talk about flathead!

Okay, enough complaining......I don't use a lot of products, but I do like Infusium, its a moisturizer and you put a dollop in and leave it in. Sometimes when my hair gets flat and needs to be wet and fluffed up (only a curly head would know what I mean) I use Infusium with some water and it makes it shiny.

within a week of us dating, I discovered something amazing...his hair was actually longer than mine (waist-length at the time) when it was soaking wet.

both of us live for the monthly oilings. I like avacado oil best, he prefers coconut oil (strictly for the smell, he admits) but we'll use grapeseed oil if that's all we have...we tie it into a high ponytail, and saturate the whole tail (the hair nearest your scalp HAS its own share of oils) and go about our sunday...around 2 PM, we'll re-do the last 6 inches, which are older and more dried-out.

in between times, we like the infusium leave-in, and I'm a sucker for the biolage brand intensive glop.

the only other hint is stay away from frizz-busters with silicone... they're the chapstick of the hair care world, and doo more harm than good.

Oddly enough, even though I have thick hair, Pantene's conditioner to make hair thicker works the best for me. However, I keep searching for better products. Other products leave my hair too soft -- those with curly hair know what I mean.

In the meantime here's some info for you...

Water-soluble silicones are dimethicone copolyl (sp) & PEG-modified dimethicones. These are the only silicones 'good' for your hair.

Drying alcohols are SD-40, 40-B, 23, & Isopropyl, for instance. A couple of the 'good' alcohols are steryl & ceteryl (sp).

The main cleansers of shampoos are ammonium and/or sodium sulfates. They're pretty harsh/drying though.

There are two books full of good information that you could borrow from your library on the subject of curly hair...

Curly Girl by Lorainne (sp) Massey
Curl Talk by Ouidad

And there's a website dedicated to wavy & curly hair...
www.naturallycurly.com

There's a chemist & a shampoo, conditioner, & styling product-maker who post there, plus many other gals who are professed product junkies who've learned by trial & error. There's an ingredients dictionary, curl-411 guide, product lists/guides, articles, etc., on that site. It's free to join.

Although they are a bit pricey but they last quite long on me. The ingredients are all natural and organic so I'm really lucky I found these products that don't ruine my scalp. The conditioner also protects my hair from heat. My hear looks natural, healthy and frizz-free."