Taming Curly Hair on a Budget - Queen of Free (2024)

Yesterday, I received this very sweet message from Lady Cindy:

Good morning! Just watched your segment on WTHR as we do often, and I have a question, not about good deals, but about your hair. Obviously, it is naturally curly and it always looks good – no frizzies and a great finishing product. Can you tell me what products you use? Can you please tell me what shampoo, conditioner, finishing products and appliances you use to get your gorgeous “do”? Thank you!

This just made my day. Over the years, I’ve been called everything from Rosanna Rosanna Dana (YouTube it if you’re too young to know the references) to Pippi Longstocking. It ain’t easy being the redheaded frizzyhaired girl, friends. Also, my curls can be completely uncontrollable at times. After we finished paying off all of our debt, I went on a serious quest to find the best hair products I could to keep things in line. Not only did they need to be able to style what can be incredibly unmanageable, the products also needed to be very mild (or completely non existent) in fragrance. And me being me, I wanted to spend as little as possible for the best result. Here’s how Ihandled my curly hair on a budget dilemma.

There is nothing worse than paying a hefty price for a product that doesn’t work at all on your texture of hair. So I began my journey by asking a stylist friend exactly what I needed (she suggested a good conditioner and a pomade) and then headed to Sephora to try out everything that I could. The sales associates were incredibly helpful in finding me several products to try out. It took me awhile, but I settled on two products – Carol’s Daughter Black Vanilla Hair Smoothie($23.99 but lasts me for 4-5 months) and Bumble & Bumble’s Styling Wax ($19.99 and lasts 2 months for me). The first couple of times, I purchased them directly from Sephora making sure to use my Beauty Insider Card to at least log some points. But the products became increasingly more difficult to find (more on that later) and more than I wanted to pay on a regular basis.

You know I love a good Amazon bargain and the prices were slightly cheaper ($17.98 a piece) for both products on Amazon. Acouple of times, I ordered from there. However, the Bumble & Bumble product was just too expensive for as much as I needed. So I looked for something similar in Target. I also purchase Herbal Essences on Amazon for washing and conditioning my hair (which I do pretty infrequently, maybe every couple of days).

At Target, I sniffed and sniffed until I found Curls Passion Fruit Curl Control Paste($7.99 and lasts 6 months) to replace the Bumble & Bumble product which was great because Bumble & Bumblequit making it on me (figures). It’s a much better fit for my pocketbook, regardless. During the last two months, it’s been more difficult to findCarol’s Daughter Black Vanilla Hair Smoothieeven on Amazon but browsing at Target, I found out why. It’s because they changed the packaging and now are selling at Tarjay. #Boom and the price came down to $14 for the same size.

I don’t style or wash my hair every day. It’s actually not good for curly girlys to wash their hair on a regular basis. So I often sport a pony tail. When I do style my hair, I do so after it’s already dried. I run my fingers through it with the Black Vanilla Hair Smoothie (which is really supposed to be a wash out conditioner but works better for me to use occasionally as a leave-in). I scrunch up the hair with my hands and typically tons falls out as I drag through my tangles. Then, I finish by scrunching a small amount of the Control Paste through, hanging upside down. I also use a dab of water to eliminate frizzes.

I don’t blow dry my hair unless I think it will freeze, typically washing the night before or the day of and letting it air dry instead. So no appliance purchases are really necessary, only some extra time needs to be budgeted.

I’ll be the first to admit I am very low maintenance, but I do like to pull it together from time to time and these two products help me feel polished and confident. They’re aren’t cheap but $22 in styling aids that last around 5 months for me is an investment I’m willing to make.

If you have curly hair, what do you use to keep the frizz at bay without breaking the bank?

Gain inspiration to pay off debt! Check outInspiration to Pay Off Debt: 30 Days of Encouragement from the Queen of Freeon Kindleor Pre-OrderSlaying the Debt Dragon: How One Family Conquered Their Money Monster and Found an Inspired Happily Ever After(releasing January 2nd, 2015).

This post contains an affiliate link. That means when you get a great deal or maybe even something for free, you also help our family pay off our mortgage early. And for that, we royally thank you!