Summer HGs

With the weather beginning to change (finally!), I think it's time to share my HG products of the summer. Yes, I realize that it's officially been fall for a month and that most people have been experiencing cooler weather for longer than that. But we're still having 80+ degree days, so it's more summer than fall here! So these are the products that I could not live without, especially in the 100+ degree weather that we had for months on end.

Favorite Summer Co-wash & Rinse-out:

V05 Champagne Kiss Conditioner - No brainer, I've been raving about this for months! It's moisturizing enough to use as a rinse-out, but light enough to use as a co-wash. It's cheap, so I don't have to worry about how much I use. It smells AMAZING, which is great because of all the products I use, the co-wash is the one that my hair usually smells like at the end of the day. And bonus: it has protein!

Favorite Curl Enhancer:

Curl Junkie Aloe Fix Lite - This is a bit on the expensive side, but I've been using generous amounts of this for months and still haven't finished it yet. It's the first product I've used with what I'd call "flexible hold" - it doesn't have enough hold on it's own to keep frizz at bay, but works great as a curl enhancer because it does have more hold than say, a curl cream. It keeps it shape after scrunching the crunch, but leaves my hair soft and touchable. I love it! I use about five dime-sized amounts every wash. It plays well with pink boots, almost like KCCC used to. Definitely repurchasing.

Favorite Deep Conditioner:

Curl Junkie Curl Rehab in Strawberry - I had an issue with a mild protein overdose in early July that left my hair dry and crunchy. I used this conditioner as a rinse-out and had probably the best hair day I've had all year. So of course I promptly took it on vacation and left it at my grandparents' house. I am contemplating another order from AveYou and will be adding this to my cart! Since my hair is fine now, I won't be using this often and even then not a lot. So barring any trips to the East Coast, this will last me a long time.

Favorite Gel:

None. That's right, not even BRHG. Back when I first used this stuff, I was in love. It didn't take very long for the honeymoon to end. I like the level of hold this gives me, but I really don't like the de-clumpifying and skinny curls. It literally takes away clumps that have already formed. Skinny curls don't work with my hair because they always end up wonky. I'm still using this because I prefer the hold level over the Aussie gel, but I really wish I could find a way to use this and get great clumps without having to use pink boots every time. My hair can't take that much moisture.

That's it for me! I'm excited to try new products now that the weather has changed, but also to see which of these summer HGs continue to work in the cooler weather. What are your summer HGs?

More BRHG Experiments

So Thursday night's experiment went really well!!

Here's what I used:

• V05 Champagne Kiss conditioner (co-wash and rinse-out)
• Pink Boots Curl Creme (the tiniest amount - less than a pea-size)
• CJ Aloe Fix Lite (scrunched in after pink boots and then to blotted hair)
• BRHG (smaller amounts than my first try)
  
  

In the morning, I spritzed and added a little AFL. I figured I didn't need the extra hold. This picture was taken at the end of the end of the day on Friday, a full 24 hours later. Awesome, right?!

I really missed using pink boots! It always gives me the best clumps - every time I use it, no exception. I've stayed away from it because it's too heavy moisture-wise for regular use now. But I highly recommend!

I washed again yesterday afternoon, which is unusual for me since I usually wash at night. So even though it turned out well and held up ok today, I'm not sure how it's going to go tomorrow since it will essentially be third hair again. No picture, but I did the same as Thursday night without the pink boots. I didn't want to overdo the moisture. I'll try again tomorrow night. But I'm definitely understanding what I have been missing! If you can't decide whether to try it, take the plunge! It's on the expensive side, but you use so little that it will last a while.

On another note, my blog is under construction. I'm over the polka dots. I can't really decide on a look, so it will stay like this for a while.

BRHG: Day Three

First - I took another pic yesterday and didn't get a chance to put it up. I'll update that post with a clearer picture.

Here's day three:

Yuck. This is what happens when your hair is already crunchy, but you decide to use CIAB anyway. Clumps disappear and your hair feels like plastic.

Off to wash and try again. This time I'm going to use a little less and try layering with a curl creme (probably pink boots, which I have missed!). Mixing will be the next step after this.

BRHG = Second Day Hair!

Second day hair is nothing new to me. Thanks to my pineapple method, it's a regular occurrence. In fact, I can't remember the last time I didn't have second day hair. However, my second day hair starts out awesome in the morning and clocks out during mid-afternoon. It droops and the frizz comes out to play.

So when I took my pineapple down this morning, I wasn't surprised that my hair looked decent. I added some water, CJ AFL, and CJCIAB like usual and went on my way.

What did surprise me was the level of hold I still have, the lack of frizz, and the curl definition my hair still has a full 48 hours after using this gel.

I was even told my hair was "amazing" by a closet curly who straightens. If that's not an endorsement for this gel, I don't know what is.

Yes, it's still flat on the sides and not as voluminous in the back, but the important thing to take away from this is that it hasn't really changed since yesterday. And there's no frizz, despite what the bottom of the back looks like in this horrible cellphone/mirror picture.

I really feel that this has great potential. I didn't start out with the best curls, what with the random clumps and lots of wonky pieces, so I'm excited to see what happens when I do.

Usually I wash again at the end of Day Two. Skipping that tonight. I want to see how it looks tomorrow. If it turns out horrible, I can always try a new updo. Stay tuned!

Update -

A little clearer.

BRHG: First Thoughts

For my first experiment with BRHG, I applied the gel pretty much just like I would with Aussie Instant Freeze. That is to say, I used a LOT.

So when I couldn't really SOTC this morning, a full 12 hours after application, I knew the rumors were true: this has serious hold. I had to use CJCCCC lite and some CJ Aloe Fix lite to get some of the crunch out. Of course, this led to deflated hair by the day's end (though I'm sure the clumps - they're back! - had something to do with this).

The good news is that working with a too-hard hold gel will be easier than working with a not-hard-enough hold gel, because I can control how hard it is with the amount I use and what I use it with. I think this will be fun to experiment with!

I didn't get a chance to take before pictures, but here are the pictures from tonight:

You can see how flat it is. But I think the second picture is somewhere between the before and after pictures from my "Melting" post - which is good!

Off topic - I'm hoping the cooler weather as we head into fall and winter mean that my hair can take more moisture. That's something I definitely miss about having really porous and coarse hair - I have to be really careful about how much moisture I use in my products. I found the perfect balance a few months ago right before we left for the East coast and I haven't found it since! It shouldn't be this hard!

Finally

Happy Labor Day! I hope everyone is having a great holiday! I got to sleep in and today is the first day in what seems like forever that it hasn't been at least 100 degrees! It really feels like fall is around the corner. This, of course, has me thinking of new product combinations to try as the dew drops. I'm excited!

An actual (!) final cold water rinse isn't the only thing I'm looking forward to when I wash my hair tonight - I finally picked up the supposed HG of all gels:

I'm so excited to try it! Any suggestions? I'll try to post my results and initial thoughts tomorrow!