does bleach cause a loss of waves?

I don't really use curly girl as I have my own ways if getting my hair curly that I've used for a couple of decades as they just seemed easier than the curly girl method. Because of this, I dint really know what 2a or b means! I've pretty much ignored it and I can't look it up right now (as I normally would) as my browser on my iPad is playing up.

Any way, yes, bleaching does cause hair to lose some curl/wave. My hair is always looser curls as the proteins are removed. But if you use coconut oil while bleaching it helps. My hair has had better natural curl when bleached since using it, but it still does lose a bit of curl. It's definitely possible it's various products though.

Ah ok thank you! That would certainly explain what's going on.
(2a is like a loose S wave, some bits might be straighter and some bits might be more wavy. 2b is a slightly tighter S pattern all over)
That's too bad bleach can do that because I love my waves but it's a trade I'm happy to make 🙂
And yes, coconut oil! I've been doing that but the first time I bleached in a while it sort of slipped my mind. So maybe that's also why the waves are looser. I'll be sure to use coconut oil every time! Maybe regular coconut treatments will help bring some wave back. I'll have to try that and see if anything happens.  *thx*if you

Oh also if you don't mind sharing some of the ways you get your hair curly I'd love to know. I'm just looking for a little extra texture where my waves have relaxed some.

My natural texture is a 3 a/b. When i first bleached it (over 3 years ago) I managed to keep a lot of the curl/texture but it was much shorter then. I don't know if it is the length, the damage that i have inevitably accumulated over the past few years or a combination of the two, but i don't think I could get a type 3 curl in my hair now. (I generally dry it as straight as possible without heat, so I don't ever encourage the curl, hence the vagueness) It is more of a 2 b now. I do have extremely fine hair though, which probably makes a huge difference.
I use coconut oil to shape my hair whilst drying, and use the heat from my hands to twist it. I am aiming to smooth/straighten, but I am sure you could use the same technique to encourage curl.

I'll have to try that and see how it goes. My hair does not like to hold texture well, even when virgin. It didn't stay flat ironed and didn't hold curls...it just wants to be it's own wave pattern. My hair currently looks a little more wavy than your avatar pic, but in the front some pieces have lost almost all wave 🙁

I do have a question about drying my hair. Is it still causing damage if I go from damp hair to mostly dry using a diffuser on lowest heat? Or should I be using the diffuser only on cold air to dry? Or is that still damaging somehow. 

I am currently growing my hair out and it's much wavier, almost to the point of curly, than it was when it was bleached.

" Is it still causing damage if I go from damp hair to mostly dry using a diffuser on lowest heat? Or should I be using the diffuser only on cold air to dry? Or is that still damaging somehow. "

Yeah, it is. But less than if it were hot. But just living causes damage 🙂 The safest way is always letting it dry naturally.

I've looked it up and I seem to be about a 3bish naturally. When damaged anywhere from 2a-3a. At the moment it's probably round about a 3b again because it's short and not being pulled down. The longer it gets, the straighter it gets. Maybe I have it a bit wrong, but that's how I understand it.

When it was longer, I would wash as usual, long before I'd heard of co washing, and then tip my head forward a little, letting the water go through my hair. I would rake my hands through a few times so it would separate out in to chunks. They would then just start to spiral naturally. I'd then let it start to drip dry as I washed. When I got out, I'd just dab up at my hair with the towel. I didn't cover it, never rubbed it, just let the towel soak up the bulk of the water holding the towel under the curls. This went some way to setting the curls as I was basically pushing them into the spirals as I did this. Then I'd scrunch in a bit of serum or oil and then a tiny bit of a dirt cheap curl cream. I'd then air dry, avoiding touching it as much as possible as that is the thing that would mess everything up! Once I was sure it was all dry I'd rake through it with my fingers. I usually needed to refresh it in the morning with a spritz of water.

It sounds way more complicated than it is and it has similarities to the curly girl method. I remember now I tried the curly girl method out a few years ago and just didn't get the same kind of results, so didn't bother again! For me, the main trick is the leaving it to dry and just don't touch! My curls are the kind that are quite tight, but can get bent out of shape easily.

I notice that my curls (I'm wavy/curly with very fine strands) 'drop' after I bleach it. Once I get condition back into it, the curls come back.

This happens each time I do a bleach bath or do anything which could dry it out, affecting the condition.

A few years ago, I did fry my hair by double processing and the curl disappeared completely. It was just frazzled! Only the healthy re-growth had curl.