Tuesday, April 3, 2018

D is for Diffusing With A Strainer, I Kid You Not


I have curly hair. Sometimes, I straighten it (depending on the weather). Sometimes, I do the beachy wave thing (by the way, my hair NEVER looks like that when I'm actually at the beach; rather, it looks more like whipped sphagnum moss). Beachy waves are also weather-dependent. Most of the time, I wear my hair curly.

That may sound easy to someone with straight hair ("Oh, how lucky, you can just let it go and it has all those curls."), but the truth of the matter is curly hair has to be handled very carefully or it frizzes. It takes various hair products and careful drying and following the #1 rule of curly hair: DON'T TOUCH THE CURLS ONCE THEY'RE DRY.

I found this pin on Pinterest, and I was all in:



First problem is I'm 200 miles from the nearest Ikea, the source for the strainer, so I had to resort to a dollar store strainer. It was slightly smaller than the one pictured, but my hair is also a good four to six inches shorter than the girl's hair in the picture, so I figured it would come out about even. Here's how it panned out:


Ends of hair in the strainer first. Check.


Lift strainer to roots. Check.
Blow dry through strainer. Check.
Turn off dryer and move to next
section before turning back on. Check. 

  
Look disappointedly at frizzy, straggly results....

Continue to move strainer and dry
other sections, hoping against hope
that beautiful curls REALLY ARE forming
under the strainer....


Resign yourself that this is the best
you're going to get. Show husband, who
says, "Well, I'm not sure what you are
going for, but I'm not impressed, if
that's what you're asking."

Contrast the Strainer Method with the Dyanne Method:


Use diffuser intended to gently
 dry curly hair and not one intended
to strain spaghetti noodles. Check.

Turn off dryer before moving to another
section. Check.


End result: curls that are not frizzy
not very frizzy and don't look as though
they were dried with a spaghetti
strainer over your head.

Pinterest fail.

21 comments:

  1. Fun post. Maybe I need a strainer too! I also have a curly-top with a mind of it's own. Dopamine: Do you Drip or Do you Drown?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. If I were you, I'd stick with the diffuser on the hair dryer!

      Delete
  2. Chemo has give me the straightest hair possible. I used to have ringlet curls. I don't think I care enough about my hair to use a strainer anymore! LOL

    ReplyDelete
  3. Having straight hair, it's interesting to read how one deals with curly hair. Had never heard of diffusing hair with a strainer. :) Glad I stopped by here from the A to Z Challenge! https://harvestmoonbyhand.blogspot.com/2018/04/hobbies-that-begin-with-d-blogging-from.html

    ReplyDelete
  4. haha... that gave me a laugh this morning while enjoying my coffee. Maybe you had the wrong size strainer. LOL I could easily try this as I have collected several strainers over the years, but I think I'll pass and go work on my Nancy Drew post for tomorrow. I give you credit for trying and posting... it was funny! Sorry it was a fail for you... Can't wait for the next try! I'll be with Nancy Drew over at... https://everyonehasafamilystorytotell.wordpress.com/category/2018-a-to-z-all-about-nancy-drew/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The directions said too big of a strainer made your hair swirl around like a cotton candy machine. It was bad enough with the small strainer!

      Delete
  5. LOL LOL LOL. Who would think up that idea? A strainer on the hair? LOL.
    http://findingeliza.com/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I can't imagine what would make someone think "Hey, I think I'll put a strainer on my head and dry my hair through it!"

      Delete
  6. My curly hair drips-dry everyday. Every so often, I wonder if I should spend more time/effort on my appearance, but it’s posts like this that make me think, “No.” What you see is what you get with my curly mop, no matter how many times I might try a miracle product (or a strainer, apparently!)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I currently have a couple of products I use to control frizziness that are working fairly well. I just bought a new bottle, so that means it will STOP working...

      Delete
  7. I have a close friend with super curly hair. She's beautiful but it is challenging for her to do her hair. I will tell her not to try the strainer method. The diffuser method came out really pretty. Weekends In Maine

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I get the idea behind the strainer, but it's lacking in follow through.

      Delete
  8. Fun! lol. My hair is stick straight and I always wanted curls. My daughter's is curly and now I'm not so sure I want natural curls lol!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I can always straighten my hair unless it's humid. So I wear it curly most of the time from April through October!

      Delete
  9. I am laughing so hard here! Just the thought of you standing there attempting to dry your hair with the strainer in place is hysterical! Had it worked, it would have been wonderful, but it's obvious that the normal diffuser technique works much better. I am with those who envy your curly hair, mine is coarse and flyaway, and I tend to just let it do it's thing, that's why it's now waistlong and totally unkempt. :-) My daughter with baby fine stick-straight hair would give anything for your curls. You always look smashing, but I'd say this new look is a bit "smashed". We'll call it a fail. :-)

    Visit me at Josie Two Shoes

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Maybe if you had a hair emergency and didn't have your diffuser but DID have a strainer.... I have spent years and years trying to get rid of my curls, and I finally embraced it. I still straighten it fairly often, but it's so much easier to let it be curly!

      Delete
  10. From one curly haired chick to another --- oh dear. Such a fail! I always let me hair dry naturally and let ms say, those are typically the more frizz-free curls. A little Moroccan oil while damp and perhaps a slide twist with a clip or two until dry and there ya have it.

    Then again, I prefer the lowest hair maintenance as possible.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. If I let me hair dry naturally, I look like that woman in Dilbert comics with the triangle hair.

      Delete
  11. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete