Are products "for curly hair" supposed to straighten hair, make them more curly, or just formulated not to effect the curl at all?

Submitted ⁨⁨4⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago⁩ by ⁨schipelblorp@sh.itjust.works⁩ to ⁨[deleted]⁩

https://sh.itjust.works/pictrs/image/beef0156-2734-492c-9e1d-6fd8ec994937.jpeg

The problem in english is that “for” can have multiple meanings in this case. It can mean the product is just meant to be used on item X or it can mean it intended to make the product more like X.

In this case, I’m confused because some people with curly hair hate it and want it straighter, so “for curly” hair might make it straightens or at least not make it curlier, while people with straight hair who DO want it curly would want a intentional product “for curly hair” to make their hair curly.

Which is it?

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ada@piefed.blahaj.zone ⁨4⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
I’m one of those people with curly hair that hates it. I hate it, because I can’t opt out of dealing with it.

That out of the way, products for curly hair are designed to assist in caring for curly hair.

Products that are designed to straighten hair, or intensify curls will state that explicitly for all the ambiguous wording issues you’ve mentioned

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- Obituarykidney@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
  Technically you can opt out of it. Bald.
  
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- dkppunk@piefed.social ⁨4⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
  
  I’m one of those people with curly hair that hates it. I hate it, because I can’t opt out of dealing with it
  
  As a person with straight hair, I empathize with this so much. I cannot opt out of it either, my hair will not hold a curl to save my life and it’s dull, scraggly, and takes so much effort to manage when it’s long.
  
  I know it’s not an option for everyone, but I just said fuck it and cut it all off. I’ve had a pixie cut most of my adult life lol
  
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  - ada@piefed.blahaj.zone ⁨4⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
    Opting out and getting dull and scraggly as a result is the type of opting out I want
    
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- starlinguk@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
  Nobody can opt out of the type of hair they have.
  
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  - SaveTheTuaHawk@lemmy.ca ⁨3⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
    Image
    
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- lorty@lemmy.ml ⁨4⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
  I think it’smostly a problem that straight hair is taken as the default and everything is made with that in mind.
  
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NathanDerWeise@feddit.org ⁨4⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
Products for curly hair are designed to minimize the negative effects of curls (such as frizzyness) while attempting to accentuate the curl.

I don’t think I’ve ever seen a product for straight hair other than maybe a straightening iron (and mists, etc. designed to be used before/after ironing), which does indeed iron your hair in an attempt to make it straighter.

There are two exceptions to this: a permanent (“perm”) solution does actually make your hair more curly. Despite being called permanent, it only lasts a few weeks or months. The opposite of this is called a hair relaxer. It’ll make your hair more straight for a similar amount of time. Both of these are more harsh chemicals, and people generally go to a salon to get them done professionally. There are also home versions sold.

In summary, read the entire package before you use it on your hair.

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RBWells@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
Generally speaking, products labeled for curly hair are gentle (because curly hair is often delicate) and designed to help reduce frizz and help with definition.

So it won’t make straight hair curly, no. It will help curly hair look “curlier” because less frizz and better separation of the curls makes it look curlier, but it doesn’t literally tighten them, may even relax them very slightly.

So they are for people with curly hair, to improve the look and/or health of curly hair.

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zaphod@sopuli.xyz ⁨4⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
As someone with slightly curly hair my experience is that products for curly hair are intended to make it more curly and products for straight hair make it slighty more straight. I wouldn’t expect a product for curly hair to make it straight, but if you have straight hair don’t expect to get curly hair from it either.

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TheLeadenSea@sh.itjust.works ⁨4⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
Are you straight or are you curlyy? 👀🏳️‍🌈

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- schipelblorp@sh.itjust.works ⁨4⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
  I’m wavy and the curly/straights don’t take me seriously.
  
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  - Shellbeach@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
    You my friend, I bet you have textured hair like tones and tones of women who have been tortured in salon with wet cut, straightened hair or waved with a curling iron, only to end up crying going back from the hairdresser. There are so many of us that have neither straight nor curly or kinky. They call our hair freezy, unmanageable, dull, or we get the witch (the crazy maniacal one, not the cool crazy maniacal one) look when long.
    
    A few of the curly girl hair methods have worked to some extend for me, but I feel like we do not have the technic or technology to care for that kind of hair because it was just not considered a thing until recently. It requires a tremendous amount of trials and errors to find something approximate and if you ever find a stylist who understand your hair, keep them very very close and never let go.
    
    Anyway, to answer your question, curly hair products are supposed to care for your curls.
    
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- Quokka@quokk.au ⁨4⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
  I’m a curly girly
  
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Melusine@tarte.nuage-libre.fr ⁨4⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
We have the same issue in French, but I would say that it depends on how positive the topic is. Dry skin is bad, so a product for dry skin will mean to take care of and hydrate it. For curly hair, it is a neutral description of the hair, so taking care of it would be more like caring them (maintaining the hydration, helping them curl, opposed to scraightening them). If you look for product that would help straightening curly hair, it would be marketized as “straightening curly hair”, not “for curly hair”.

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BeUnique@lemmy.zip ⁨4⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
Yes.

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Tiral@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
Image

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- schipelblorp@sh.itjust.works ⁨3⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
  Sodium Lauryl Sulfate sure does seem to have a lot of uses.
  
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ExLisper@lemmy.curiana.net ⁨3⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
Best question I’ve seen here so far.

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Resonosity@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨3⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
Wavy hair people unite

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rain_enjoyer@sopuli.xyz ⁨4⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
i think that hair product that straightens curly hair should be labeled “against curly hair”

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- SaveTheTuaHawk@lemmy.ca ⁨3⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
  Those products are toxic AF, surprised they are still legal.
  
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one_old_coder@piefed.social ⁨4⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
For curly hair: you have curly hair, or wavy hair and want more curls.

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th3dogcow@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
If you want to think about it grammatically, it would be “for curling hair” or “for straightening hair” if the function of the product was to make your hair more curly or more straight.

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