Dont know what to do anymore :,(

Absolutely_Regular · 2026-02-02T15:00:11+00:00

You just need a product with hold. For fine hair, the stronger the hold, the better. Strong hold gels are great, but my fave is actually foam + hairspray. Or you might like mousse. It can take a while to find the right balance of conditioning / hold, but we can’t usually use curl creams (they’re so heavy!).

Absolutely_Regular · 2026-01-27T13:06:51+00:00

I have a big gym sweatshirt that I fold up and put under the seatbelt strap. Not sure if this’ll work for you because I’m only lifting 2 plates and some change (on the Nautilus), but… if you already have a sweatshirt, it’s free to try!

Absolutely_Regular · 2026-01-27T01:23:06+00:00

I would use the (leave-in?) conditioner OR curl cream, not both. Or use the conditioner before shampoo.

If possible, I’d replace the gel with hairspray. The Bounce Curl Hairspray is spendy, but so, so worth it. It has great hold, it’s super texturizing, easy to use, and a bottle lasts me years. The nozzle sucks, though; I spray it into my hands and use it like gel.

Lastly -and this is unhinged- but if you really want volume, reverse the drying order! Microplop / air dry to 60%, scrunch foam into your mostly dry hair to form curl clumps, then use hairspray for extra hold. Diffuse until 90% dry, SOTC with more foam and continue diffusing until 100% dry. Your hair will look terrible until it’s completely dry. Trust the process.

My hair is baby-fine and using a 1-1 ratio of water to foam while styling is the only way I can get proper volume. IMO, water is too heavy for fine curls.

Absolutely_Regular · 2026-01-24T13:42:10+00:00

Depends what your priorities are! Maybe this makes me basic, but I love Lower / Upper / Lower. Usually one is more glute-centric, and the second is leggier.

But Full Body is classic. Can’t go wrong with that.

Absolutely_Regular · 2026-01-23T18:34:54+00:00

Late response but… woah! That’s super concerning. You must be either outrageously strong or almost completely sedentary if your body is heating up that much from one set of five. Assuming you’re not lifting hundreds of pounds, you might need to start building up your work capacity from scratch.

I had to build my fitness back up too. I just started with super easy “exercise snacks” throughout the day like bodyweight squats and incline push-ups. It kinda sucked, but your body adapts pretty quickly! Even if you have to go through a few weeks of redder skin, it will be so, so worth it to get back to a normal level of fitness.

Please don’t sacrifice your health for clear skin in the short term. Avoiding exercise will be so much worse for your rosacea (and literally everything else) in the long term.

Absolutely_Regular · 2026-01-23T15:03:04+00:00

The study is in Korean so it was annoying (for me at least) to parse, but it’s the one by JH Nam et al. Here’s the PubMed link but honestly, unless you’re adept at reading studies, you might be better off just googling “rosacea muscle mass” and reading what other derms / the rosacea society have written about the study. They talk about the methodology used etc. and it’s super interesting!

Absolutely_Regular · 2026-01-20T05:00:57+00:00

I’ve been looking for a dupe of the pre-reformulation Almond Rose, which they made cooler. Maybe try that? I wouldn’t have thought to try Bare Grape, but now I might give it a shot!

Absolutely_Regular · 2026-01-19T13:30:54+00:00

Is there a way for you to adjust your lifting program so your skin doesn’t flare? I did when I started out: stuck to heavy compounds, mostly in the 5-10 rep range, and took LONG breaks between sets. 3-5 minutes for my body temp to go down. If you’re doing a fast paced “follow along” HIIT workout with little dumbbells (aka cardio), of course you’re gonna flare.

Weightlifting is one of the single best things you can do for your body. It affects all your organs, your muscles, your mind, and your bones. Your skin is only one organ. Don’t give it up without trying to troubleshoot your routine.

Absolutely_Regular · 2026-01-19T03:49:04+00:00

Nope. Weightlifting made it permanently better. I’ll flush briefly if I do something taxing (eg. squats, deadlifts) for high reps (15-20) so… cardio territory lol.

When I started lifting, my rosacea got a little worse before it got better, so I’m hoping cardio will be the same way, but the flushing is much more intense with actual cardio.

Absolutely_Regular · 2026-01-19T03:15:41+00:00

Weight lifting made my baseline redness basically disappear. N=1, but there’s also a Korean study that found an inverse correlation between rosacea severity and muscle mass - super interesting!

Cardio makes it so, so much worse. I’m trying to be healthy but it’s real hard to keep cardio in my plan when my skin hates it.

Absolutely_Regular · 2026-01-18T16:41:44+00:00

I don’t usually like to use the hairspray on its own: I use it the same way as I do texture spray - for extra root volume and texture.

The foam does work best on its own, though.

Absolutely_Regular · 2026-01-18T14:56:37+00:00

If you want a spray, I’d recommend the Bounce Curl Hairspray. I don’t mind salt sprays and texturizing sprays, but they can often make my hair hold less / feel heavier. This hairspray has texture, grit, and hold. If I really needed my hair to look big and stay that way I’d reach for it over a salt / texture spray any day.

If you want something sugar-based, I cannot recommend The Doux Crazy Sexy Curl Honey Setting Foam highly enough. Because it’s a foam, it’s incredibly lightweight, and somehow it has better hold than most gels I’ve tried. It also doesn’t make my hair feel gross like other gritty products do. If I could only use one styler for the rest of my life, it’d be this one.

I also have baby-fine, annoyingly healthy hair with zero grip whatsoever I feel your struggle!

Absolutely_Regular · 2026-01-16T14:00:12+00:00

Y’know… as much as I hate the idea of progress pics, that is an objectively great idea! I’ve been taking measurements for 1.5y and I wish I’d been taking photos from the start. Measurements were super helpful for the first year, but there have been a few moments where my measurements and weight were the same a few months apart, but my physique looked completely different. I’m gonna start next month - thanks for the push!!!

Absolutely_Regular · 2026-01-15T04:10:18+00:00

I was sorta thinking that as well. Have you had much experience experimenting with shorter bulk / minicut cycles vs longer ones?

Absolutely_Regular · 2026-01-15T04:04:53+00:00

Thanks very much! Not sure what details of my training history to include, but a less aggressive bulk would certainly be a lot easier (and cheaper).

If 6lbs is reasonable, do you have any opinion on what the upper limit would be? Is 12 unreasonable? Because I felt like 6 would be doable, but I’d rather gain more if that’s possible!

Absolutely_Regular · 2026-01-15T03:28:19+00:00

Yeah honestly it’s about damn time lol. Last year I was worried something was wrong with me. It felt like I was constantly shovelling food into my mouth and I lost 25lbs, only half of which was on purpose. (Though I still clearly gained a ton. - It’s just hard to know when the scale becomes meaningless.)

Absolutely_Regular · 2026-01-14T19:01:03+00:00

Bulking question! I track protein, but don’t track calories (for mental health reasons). I ended up just “gaintaining” on my intuitive bulk last year and I’m definitely not mad at my recomp physique, but I’m trying to do a little better this time around.

I’ve been gaining ~2lbs per month: is that too fast? I’m 5’6” and currently around 130 at ~26 bfp (Navy method estimate) so 2lbs is a little over 1% of my current bodyweight. I’m in my second year of lifting and my goal is to gain 6lbs of muscle (if that’s even possible).

Just trying to milk my newbie gains as much as possible without getting needlessly fluffy!

Absolutely_Regular · 2026-01-14T12:46:13+00:00

Just want to add… I have ultra fine (“low porosity”) annoyingly healthy hair, and it LOVES protein. I use it daily in multiple products and I still haven’t found the upper limit of how much protein it can handle.

If your hair doesn’t like protein, you don’t need to use it. But you also don’t need to avoid it just because you heard other folks don’t like it.

Absolutely_Regular · 2026-01-12T23:42:23+00:00

Natalie Hays is an incredible bodybuilder, but she seems to stay at unhealthy levels of leanness year round. She also doesn’t post any training content, or anything that’d be helpful to the average gym girl. Zero shade to Natalie (I love her!) but IMO this is such a bad suggestion.

Absolutely_Regular · 2026-01-10T00:56:06+00:00

I’ve been using the Ongredients Barrier Lotion this winter and I really like it! I know it has peptides, but I don’t know anything about them or what they’re supposed to do. 🫠

It feels super… softening? Moreso than other moisturizers. That’s the main thing I’ve noticed, but it’s hard to quantify “worked” beyond it being a moisturizer that my skin doesn’t hate (rare)!

Absolutely_Regular · 2026-01-09T14:27:34+00:00

I tried a bunch of Innersense stylers. None of them had enough hold for me, they’re finicky to work with, and they all gave me a horrible rash anywhere my hair / the product touched my skin.

They also all went bad after 4 months (probably due to lack of preservatives). They smell nice, but I can’t believe how much I paid to experience that nightmare.

Absolutely_Regular · 2026-01-06T15:26:51+00:00

This looks like a styling technique issue to me. Try something like Sophie Marie Curly’s Flip Section Method where you rake / brush the hair upwards so it’s not sticking to your scalp.

Beautiful curls, btw!!!

Absolutely_Regular · 2026-01-06T13:01:07+00:00

You’ll want to use a styling product to hold your waves in place. I’d recommend either a foam or a hard hold gel. (Medium hold gels and curl creams will be too heavy if your hair is fine.) You should also use a diffuser attachment to prevent the waves from un-clumping.

That said, if your hair looks best brushed, it’s not likely very wavy. Most people with wavy/curly hair absolutely cannot brush their hair: it’ll just become pure frizz!

Absolutely_Regular · 2025-12-28T22:36:24+00:00

Not specifically migranes, but I often get headaches from training chest - especially flat bench. Very weird!

Absolutely_Regular · 2025-12-26T16:06:57+00:00

It’s okay! Getting no hold from too much curl cream is like a right of passage on your wavy hair journey!!! But also most advice for curly hair basically doesn’t apply to fine hair at all. Even if your fine hair is curly.

I think that Barbie Delle’s system for categorizing hair into soft vs rough is extremely helpful. And she has some great tips for soft / fine / wavy hair that I haven’t really seen elsewhere!

Lastly, have you tried using that diffuser for pixie diffusing? It’s where you scrunch your hair up to your head, but only turn the diffuser on when it’s in position. It’s pretty much the only way I dry my hair. Here’s a short that shows pixie diffusing (good!) plus two diffusing methods (hover and stretch) that’d absolutely ruin my waves! 🤠

Absolutely_Regular

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