Bridal Style - Naturally Curly Hair

@ Casey- you don't have shitty hair! You have beautiful curls! Enjoy them! And a great hairstylist will make you feel great day of. Seriously, look at the third link I posted in my second post- I think something like that would look great on you

Best of luck!

Look up Sarah Angius on Instagram/YouTube! She has some really great formal and informal styles as well as care tips for people with curly hair. So jealous of people with naturally curly hair - I think it's stunning!

With my natural curls!

Casey, you do not have shitty hair! Like I said before, this is very similar to my hair and many African American women's hair texture. I totally understand that it's frustrating to style and I too want my hair to look decent on the big day. @Enchanted has some very good tips that I use in my routine. I feel like with certain hair textures, there's this stigma that that kind of hair isn't beautiful or common, and thus, there is a lot less information about it. BUT that's simply not true!!! It was a tough stuggle for me once I stopped permanenly straightening my hair to find information and styles. You'll find something that works with your hair and seeing a good stylist who's good with textured hair can do wonders and they can give you tips. Best of luck!!

I too have naturally curly hair that goes to about the center of my back, but I'm not leaving much down. I am going to do like a Victorian like bun. Loose though.

Products have been a serious uphill battle for me. My hair prefers to be washed as infrequently as possible, but my scalp is absolutely not on board. Even when I try to go totally without shampoo for multiple months at a time, my scalp never catches up. I still use sulfate free, about twice a week. I need help with definition and probably with clumping. No matter what I do my hair is super frizzy and super dry. Doesn't like protein. Doesn't like oil. Soaks up literally as much conditioner as I put in. It's a disaster.

If your scalp is fickle, you should be using a shampoo with TEA-lauryl sulfates instead of sodium lauryl sulfates which can dry the hair. Sulfates are cleansers and you likely need a gentle one in order to cleanse the scalp. Have you tried hair conditioning treatments like olaplex or philip kingsley elasticizer?

Just here to say that I LOVE your natural hair and I think it is gorgeous! If I could have those types of curls for my wedding day, I would feel blessed! Rock your hair with confidence! I vote a small braid at the front to keep the hair out of your eyes, with a beautiful sparkly or flower head band and you will f-ing kill it!!

@Casey I think we have similarish curl texture. There are so many lovely braid styles that you could try for your wedding. A front side french braid that tucks into a bun with a bit of curly ends peeking out for flair for example. Or a series of french braids in the front to catch any baby hairs and give you a smoother style for the camera and ending in a braid that gets coiled into a bun. I have friends who wear their really curly hair loose when it's about the same length as yours and they use a bit of product to define the individual curls and pin them back with a headband and bobby pins. you might also be able to get more individual curls if you do a wet pin curl so it's not heat making the curls, but the curls drying into that shape naturally.

Like another PPer said growing out your hair a little bit will open up more styles that you can do and can even make curly hair more manageable. With my own hair I noticed that I get less of the crazily sticking in all directions once I had enough length in the curl to let gravity do its work. You might be stuck at the "awkward length" for curly hair and growing it out a bit more might make a world of difference.

With whatever hairstyle you decide to do I would test it out a couple of times before your wedding day to make sure that you like it or can do little tweaks to refine the look.

@Enchanted my mom definitely learned between me and my four sisters what worked with our heads and didn't. Being the oldest and the guinea pig growing up was interesting. My hair wasn't too happy with castor oil either, but it was ok with jojoba/olive oil. Honestly though mine seems happiest when I just dilute Aveeno oatmeal lotion and use it to moisturize while I detangle and braid. Three of my sisters have a more complex routine where they mix jojoba oil with a leave in conditioner and some other product then use that on their hair. I'm not sure what the other one does, but she has the straightest and most slippery texture of the five of us so she can get away without using a more involved hair routine.

The only length I have is the awkward length. The most recent cut I got was after almost five years of growing my hair out. It won't go past my shoulders. I hit shoulder length and it just gets wider and wider. Psycho, shitty hair.

My hair is a different kind of naturally curly, but just wanted to add my sympathy for finding a "special" updo or something. For my friend's wedding, where I was a bridesmaid, I had it straightened and it took the guy FOREVER and though everyone raved, it didn't feel like me at all.

You don't have shitty hair! Curls can be high maintenance but they're beautiful. Find a curl-friendly stylist, they can have the creative vision for you. I wish I had advice for your weekly routine but I struggle with my own every curl haired style guru has their own products / ingredients that they swear by but the frustrating truth is that it's trial and error that can take years.

Pinterest...look for Hispanic styles. That may help.