I started my hair journey almost two years ago, and in that time I have come across a lot of products that haven't worked all that well for me. Some were flat-out duds; others work well for certain times of the year, or during certain hair conditions. Most of these were relegated to The Product Graveyard, only to be brought out once in a blue moon.Lately, my hair has been (to my standards) kind of blah lately. Look at the last pictures I posted of my hair. Now look at that great picture to the right. Quite a difference, right? That's what my hair looked like when I first started CG. That's what I want to get back to. Heck, I'll even take the curls I had in my 100th entry if it's on a consistent basis!
My first thought this morning was that I needed some protein, and maybe a harder-hold gel. Once upon a time I tried the L.A. Looks Gel and hated it. It was chock full of protein and I'm pretty sure that's why I cast it into The Graveyard. So I went looking for it.
I didn't find it (I think I gave it to my brother, so I'll be digging through his old stash next), but I did find some of the products I used when I first started expanding the collection.
Elucence Moisture Balancing Conditioner & Biotera Curl Creme
(I also found the bag containing my ayurvedic herbs!!
And an almost-full bottle of CK!!)
(I also found the bag containing my ayurvedic herbs!!
And an almost-full bottle of CK!!)
I did the usual Spritz & Condition with GVP Conditioning Balm. After getting in the shower, I did a vinegar rinse, scrunched in some Elucence, and clipped it up for a few minutes. Rinsed upside-down in cold water. Scrunched out some water, scrunched in KCKT and one pump of Biotera. Scrunched out some more water and scrunched in KCCC. Double-plopped and used Aussie's Instant Freeze gel.
It looked REALLY good coming out of the shower and after I finished diffusing. Curls everywhere and with volume. Then it finished drying and I scrunched the crunch out. Now, not so much.
Not sure what's up. I'm thinking I need to cut the Spritz & Condition and switch to a lighter conditioner. Temps are high 90s to 100s with dews in the high 60s. I ordered the Honey & Almond conditioner and Ecostyler gel from Sally (20% off code from retailmenot), so that should be here soon!
Anyway, here are some pics after scrunching the crunch:
I have not abandoned KCSS or Re:Coil. I just haven't been able to post pictures (missing camera cord and all). I guess I'll continue to post poor-quality webcam pics like the ones above.
KCSS hurts my head to think about. It seems to make everything soft. When used in a shower routine, it simply dissolves any hold my gel gives me. It's not like it gets rid of frizz or anything either. I'm experimenting with smaller amounts since KCCC works better for me in very small amounts. It doesn't work for SOTC or just taming frizz. So I'm not sure what to do with it yet.
I've used Re:coil twice. The first time, I didn't use enough gel or something because hold was minimal and I had ridiculous amounts of frizz that could not be tamed. The second time was better, but I still had surface frizz and not a lot of hold. I know Jessicurl's products do the same to me, so it may just be that I can't use magnesium sulfate at all. Another possible candidate for the graveyard (or curly cousins who read this, we'll see).
It looked REALLY good coming out of the shower and after I finished diffusing. Curls everywhere and with volume. Then it finished drying and I scrunched the crunch out. Now, not so much.
Not sure what's up. I'm thinking I need to cut the Spritz & Condition and switch to a lighter conditioner. Temps are high 90s to 100s with dews in the high 60s. I ordered the Honey & Almond conditioner and Ecostyler gel from Sally (20% off code from retailmenot), so that should be here soon!
Anyway, here are some pics after scrunching the crunch:
I have not abandoned KCSS or Re:Coil. I just haven't been able to post pictures (missing camera cord and all). I guess I'll continue to post poor-quality webcam pics like the ones above.
KCSS hurts my head to think about. It seems to make everything soft. When used in a shower routine, it simply dissolves any hold my gel gives me. It's not like it gets rid of frizz or anything either. I'm experimenting with smaller amounts since KCCC works better for me in very small amounts. It doesn't work for SOTC or just taming frizz. So I'm not sure what to do with it yet.
I've used Re:coil twice. The first time, I didn't use enough gel or something because hold was minimal and I had ridiculous amounts of frizz that could not be tamed. The second time was better, but I still had surface frizz and not a lot of hold. I know Jessicurl's products do the same to me, so it may just be that I can't use magnesium sulfate at all. Another possible candidate for the graveyard (or curly cousins who read this, we'll see).
6 comments:
I am having the same.exact.problems. When I saw the pictures in this post, it was like looking into a mirror! (except that your hair is about 4" longer than mine.) I'm looking forward to learning what you end up using - I think your arsenal is much larger than mine, and I'm not having much luck.
At least we're not alone! What products are you using right now? I'm hoping it doesn't take too long to figure this out!
I'm leaning more towards heavy/too much conditioner being the problem, since my hair didn't react to the protein at all.
I feel like that may be my problem too - this is my first summer CG, and all of a sudden it's in the high 80s/low 90s here in NYC. Yuck.
Currently I'm using the Whole Foods 365 Lavender Condish as my rinse out, a pea sized amount of Suave Pomegranate leave in, pea sized blob of pink boots, plop for 10-15, and HEBE gel. I stopped cowashing about 2 weeks ago.
I just started gelling after the plop this week and while the clumps and crunch are much better my hair looks blah overall.
I'm sort of at a loss as to what to start experimenting with - I used Biotera all winter with great results, but I also don't want to spend a ton of money on all new products.
I also did a PT/DT and and ACV rinse last weekend with absolutely NO change in my hair.
Huh. I'm not familiar with your conditioner, but your routine doesn't sound like it should be producing these blah results. Especially pink boots! That has also meant clumps galore for me.
What is your porosity/texture? If it's similar to mine, and we seem to have the same temps/dews, then we could definitely help each other. I'm going to start some serious deep treatments and some protein to see if that helps!
I have normal porosity highlighted 3A hair that is pretty fine. I don't seem to be particularly reactive or over sensitive to protein like some people.
I've only recently gotten happy results with boots. I tried it over the winter (when I bought it in the UK) with lackluster results, but the last month or so I've really loved it.
I've never used KCKT or KCCC, and that's next on my list to try since it's the right time of year for it.
Today I bought the GVP K-Pack at Sally's so I'm going to give that a try.
Good luck! K-pack sounds like it might do the trick. It took me a few months to figure out KCCC but once I did it became and instant HG.
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