A few years ago, I shaved my head with a friend who had cancer(she's cancer free now!). Before, I had somewhat wavy hair, but it grew back a lot curlier. I still havent adjusted to the change, and I can only get my hair to look good on days it wants to or when I straighten it. I would LOVE to give my chi a break and be able to go au naturale more often :]

So! Feel free to share your routine, tips, necessary products, etc to get more maintained curls.

If it helps, I keep my hair really long and layered near the ends.

If you are looking for some permanent fix, may be you can think about Japanese Hair straightening. I tried it once 3 years back and was happy with the results. The only drawback was that my hair fell out a lot, but I had lot of hair in my head then so I was not worried.
I now use my straightening iron everyday, and have noticed that with time my hair have become less curly and wavy. Although, I don't know the reason behind that.

Well that is a good suggestion, and thank you for it :]
But I am really looking for ways to tame my curls so I can wear my hair curly. Hopefully nothing too time consuming, of course too!

Try Bumble and Bumble products. They're pricey but work great without making your hair crunchy. My hair is naturally curly too. (In my profile pic my daughter had straightened it).

I had stick-straight hair until I turned 34. Suddenly, I'm curly! SO. WEIRD. But in the last 8 or so months, this is what I've figured out:

*Wash every 2-3 days. Really really avoid every day washing, even if you're sweaty from the gym! Just rinse and go.
*ALWAYS rinse with cold water when you've washed out conditioner. It helps your hair be less frizzy.
*I use Catwalk products: Curls Rock shampoo and conditioner, and on days I want to mess with it the curl amplifier, too. The curl amplifier is really thick and heavy, and feels like slightly dry Elmer's Glue. Wet your hands, use half the amount the package says (if that!) and spread it on your fingers before you touch your hair. Scrunch periodically when drying.
*On days I don't want to mess with the curl amplifier, I spray my wet hair with either BedHead Spoil Me (defrizzer) or Matrix curl.life (hairspray) and brush it through and let it dry. I like BedHead better.
*I never use a hairdryer, so I have no insight about that.

I'm still in the process of figuring out how to manage curly hair, but I hope this helps a little!

My hair is naturally curly and I wore it mid back to waist length up until 2 years ago when I got my first short cut. Now I wear it layered and shoulder length. One thing I would suggest is a few layers to make it look more structured. One product I can't live without is Paul Mitchel Super Skinny Serum. I put it in when my hair is wet and either air dry or if I'm in a hurry blow dry (always with a difuser if you are curly haired!) and I don't get the frizzys.

HTH

My hair is naturally very curly - I LOVE it

My general routine is wash everyday (in total contradiction to an above post lol) with a deep moisturising shampoo and conditioner, or I use a curl hydrating conditioner (pantene usually).

I brush my hair when its wet - never ever when its dry.

I don't worry about rinsing my hair with cold water. It's never affected its frizziness either to lessen it or make it worse.

I brush my hair with a brush or sometimes just finger comb it.

Never blow dry. Ever. Period. lol.

I use a produce by Redkin which is basically just a leave in conditioner and curl definer from time to time if I am wearing my hair out.

My hair is reasonably long, it's well mid way down my back but I don't find it hard to manage.

Both my sisters have hair like mine. One straightened hers to the point the hairdresser refused to do work with her hair for fear it would fall out whilst the other has chopped hers back so it's a few inches long and she just wears it like a little cap of curls.

Curly hair is awesome

There's a website called NaturallyCurly.com I think...anyway, they talk about "no poo" and avoiding certain things like silicones, etc.

It may be a website you'd find helpful. It's a busy message board.

I found it when I was looking into a keratin process - which i got and loved (lasted about 3 months - but was pricey)

That website looks great! Thank you so much!!
And thanks to everyone else, I know have some better product ideas :]

I have naturally curly hair. I wash my scalp daily, but never wash the length of my hair. I condition daily, and put coconut oil on the ends once a week. I use Giovanni shampoo and conditioner, it's really gentle. The two products I've had great results with to tame my curls are Aveda Be Curly Curl Enhancer, and Nexxus Curl Energee. Neither give that crusty feel/look, it's like not having anything in your hair only it looks good.

I also always have layers in my hair, it really helps give shape to what would otherwise be a poof on my head.

I never blowdry or brush my hair unless I'm straightening it, which is about once a month.

I also haven't noticed less frizz with a cold rinse in the shower, but I have noticed it helps with shine, since curly hair tends to be less shiny than straight hair.

I have "somewhat" wavey hair. I wish it would go either one way or other. It is a cow-licked mess. Stuff flying every which way. I coud complain, I am glad I have hair. I like to use a large roller hot brush and some mousse. it turns out okay. My biggest change yet is to stop coloring it. I have gone natural. I colored it since about 16 and stopped when I was 48. now I am one month shy of 50. It is a beautiful tweedy mix of grey, dark brown, silver, gold. You can't get this from a dye bottle.

I love my diffuser. I would die without it!!!

I was my hair every day because it's fine and gets oily fast otherwise. I make sure I use a really good conditioner (I'm not fussy about brand), but I only condition the shaft and ends, not the roots. Once a week I deep-condition from roots to tips (I use a really great Oscar Blandi mask).

After my shower I comb my hair, and towel dry. Then I use a curl-enhancing spray, flip my hair over and diffuse it. After it's dry, I usually turn the hair dryer on it's cool setting and go over my hair quickly - I find it sets my curls better. If I don't have time, I will just let it air-dry, and that works, but my curls aren't as nicely defined that way.

I am a big fan of Frizz Ease products - I use a tiny drop of the serum, then a few sprays of the leave in conditioner, then some mousse, then some spray gel. It sounds like a lot of product but it's a fairly quick routine and I get a lot of compliments on my curls & waves - my hair doesn't get sticky or crunchy with that stuff. I also let it air dry since I don't know how to blow dry without making a mess.

My hair is too thin to straighten But it's been thickening back up recently so I am thinking of buying a ghd iron for my 50 pound gift.

I have naturally very curly hair. For most of my life, I wore it medium to long, with long layers. I would shampoo only twice a week, condition every day, and use a leave-in conditioner for moisture and a silicone anti-frizz product (like frizz-ease) for shine and frizz control.

However, I found as I grayed (and I started graying in my 20's), the curl pattern and texture started to change, and coloring got to be a royal pain. My hair started thinning out (hormones and chemicals) and it was becoming less manageable. So, as I approached my 50th birthday this year, I stopped coloring and took the leap to get it ALL cut off to a short, wavy (salt and pepper) pixie cut. It's wonderfully easy-care and people tell me I look younger now than I did when my hair was longer.

The only thing I have to watch is that curly hair gets wild when it's at that "in between" length. So to keep it tamed, I have to keep it really short. I absolutely love the change and the fact that I don't have to fuss at all with my hair any more. It's drastic, but it's certainly a curly hair option ...

One side note: I probably wouldn't have liked my hair this short when I was heavier because my face was so much rounder. I probably would have looked like a cue-ball. But with a thinner face now, I think the pixie cut is flattering. Face shape is a huge consideration when picking a hair style!

If your hair is long keeping it layered helps with the curls, keeps it more structured. I 2nd the Paul Mitchell Super Skinny. Also the only washing every 2 to 3 days.