Thick, hard to control hair- in need of back-to-school styles, quick!!?

My hair is sorta long (a few inches below shoulders) and is really thick. I have a round pale face so I need to find something to do with my hair. It is currently dark-med brown. which I'm adding red hues to. When my hair is down (with natural oils) it is pretty wavy and looks somewhat like a poodle, (wavier at the bottom).

When I go back to school, I want to show off my new color. I'm SO SICK of ponytails. I want to play with my hair!

What can I do to easily curl it and tame it so it doesn't look poodley-thick when I leave it down?

When I wash my hair, it turns into a lion's mane, so I usually put TONS of gel in and curl it into tight little scrunchy twists, whch looks nice, but I want to have soft wavey curls, not hard crunchy ones.

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Please share your ideas. I am going out shopping so if you want to mention anything specific let me know.

PS- I do NOT have a ton of time in the morning, so I need some quick-easy solutions!

Thick, hard to control hair- in need of back-to-school styles, quick!!?

keep the length and ask your stylist to thin it out, it'll make it less thick , the longer the hair the better.

try straightening it OR

run some moose in it and start scrunching