What to do with this hair??

ur hair its really nice...i wish i had ur length...and ur color looks great..maybe just play with some new hair pins and headbands and just let it gow out

Your description of your hair was a lot worse than the picture.  I am not a fan of using chemicals (such as relaxers, perms...) is hard on your hair...it looks like your hair could be susceptible to damage (as much as I can tell from a picture).  
I think you have two options:  Grow it longer and have it thinned (by inner layers) or go short and let the flips and such become part of the style (using some styling product). 

Vfrey77 wrote: Hi everyone! I'm new here, and I'm desperate for some hair advice.   I've been battling my super-thick, wavy (not curly) hair all my life. When it's short, it sticks out everywhere, the ends flip in random directions. When it's long, it's hot, heavy, and I call it the "carpet on my head". It's very difficult to style, I can't have bangs because they curl and flip and look bizarre, and it will only part in the center (if I part it on the side and leave it that way all day long, ONE puff of wind will blow it right back).   WHAT are my styling options?? Should I perm it? I love curls, and my hair has natural wave, but I don't want to get a poodle effect since I have tons of hair. Should I get it thinned out? I've heard countless horror stories about stylists butching hair when trying to thin it, but I sure would love to have it more flat and smooth and get rid of the bell-shaped POOF factor.   Here's a picture of my hair from behind, to give you some reference: http://i197.photobucket.com/albums/aa44/Vfrey77/IMG_1141.jpg

Good to have you here.  Thanks for the photo.

Your hair looks really healthy. 

Basically if you let your hair grow a lot longer, the wave will eventually compress where it will be a lot less prominent.  Longer hair is heavier and weighs down the waves.  So if you can wear your hair a lot longer, that is a great option which means no chemicals or messing with your hair.

If going a lot longer is not an option consider a light relaxer like the ones made by Rusk.  In fact a lot of men use the Rusk relaxers because they will soften texture but not make hair stick straight and the chemicals are mild so that they don't damage like chemical straighteners.

A relaxer would also get rid of the pouffiness and give you softer, smoother hair.  Thinning the hair would cause the waves to become more prominent because there would be no weight to hold them down.

If it were me I would either grow longer (and even wear some ponytails to make hair sleeker and captured in place) or I would consider a chemical relaxer.

One other option is to use temporary straighteners when you wash and then blow dry with a paddle brush to get a smoother finish.  Are you using rinse-out or leave-in conditioners?  They will also help smooth poufiness.

Just my 2 cents.  Hope it helps.