What can I do about my thick, coarse hair?

I have that is very thick and coarse, and it looks poofy unless I put something in it. It's almost like hair that should be curly but is straight. My dad's hair is like mine but his is a little curly (he's italian) and my mom's is thick too but straight (she's irish).

So what can I do about my hair? I've used conditioners and currently I've switched to Redken for Men, it's like $10 a bottle and I've tried two kinds - one is called aquafy which is a shampoo/conditioner to hydrate the hair (thought this would help cuz it's dry), and then I tried get relaxed, it says "smoothing shampoo for coarse, unruly hair."

I spend a lot of money on this stuff, it works OK but doesn't do too much. My hair just looks POOFY all the time, unless it's really short like for about a week after I just get it cut. I used to gel it all the time, that would help a lot but I hate having gel in my hair and it's a pain to put it in every day.

Any advice? Ideas?

What can I do about my thick, coarse hair?

Ok. First off, you never said how long your hair is now! If you have short hair, the longer you grow it; more the puffiness will subside. The more layers you have, the more your hair will look BIG. The longer the layers the better. I would also suggest thinning the hair at about an 1" from the roots (depending on how coarse your hair is.) (a straight razor is best)

If your hair is shorter I suggest major texturizing with a straight razor. (throughout, (root to end)) I would try a different stylist.

Redkin Allsoft ( the heavy cream conditioner ) %26amp; their regular "All Soft " daily shampoo %26amp; conditioner is great as well. The heavy texturizing will make your hair light %26amp; spikeyish. The messy look. This is the look for today!

I am afraid gel or wax type products are needed with any style or hair type. Good Luck!!! Dar P.S. At least you have plenty of hair to work with! You can always take hair away but if you have nothing to work with to start, you really lose.

What can I do about my thick, coarse hair?

You need to get your hair thinned