imo the way to resolve this is gelcasting

i had never heard this term but i've somehow done this exact thing anyway? i just called it, idk, a weird way of drying. i haven't done it in years, i should try it again and see if it works still with all this length, it works great on shorter hair for sure

my hair is chest length and it works great for wavy curl definition! the downside is it takes ~6 hours to air dry, at least for me