Curl Junkie Curls in a Bottle!

Price: $18 for 12 oz. I believe I purchased this last spring at aveyou, so I got some sort of a deal with good shipping.

Claim: A lightweight liquid styling gel/serum with a light hold. Adds shine and helps to tame frizz. Also enhances and defines curls.

How I use it: I've tried this a few different ways. In the beginning, I was thrown off by the reference to being a gel. I tried to use it like I do all light-hold gels - as a curl enhancer. This doesn't really enhance. Next I tried this as a 2nd day refresher. It didn't help much; it actually hurt. It made my hair hard and more straight. I've tried using it after diffusing a while to help set gel; all I did was end up SOTC, which made my hold disappear and hair look horrible. Lately I've been using it as a serum after I plop with BRHG and right before diffusing.

Pros:
* Helps cut down on frizz
* Adds a little shine, at least in the beginning of the day
* Smells nice
* A lot goes a long way; like most CJ products, this will last a while
* It's working well in the winter (the season I figured out how to use it!)

Cons:
* No enhancement
* No hold
* I've only found one way to use this, and I'm not sure it's something I need to use

Final Thoughts:
This is good for someone who has problems frizz or dull-looking hair. I wouldn't use this if you're a wavy-curly looking for enhancement, because you won't find any here. The bottom line is: Do you really need a serum? And should you spend $18 on one? I'm not really a serum person - I never was one before I went CG. I think cold water works really well for me to reduce frizz and add shine. I probably didn't need to buy this product as it's just ok for me.

(Blogger is being weird, so hopefully this uploads and looks ok! If so I'll be adding some more posts in the coming days!)

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.

I'm Melting!

Hi everyone! I know I haven't been posting very often. I've been product testing but I feel like I can't report any of the results because they would be inaccurate due to the conditions these past few months. It has been over 100 degrees every day for 59 of the past 60 days. The dews have been all over the place. Most importantly, I haven't been able to do the cold water rinses at the end of my showers that promote clumps and eliminate frizz.

Oh, and my gel has NOT been holding up. And when I say gel, I mean gels. Because I've been testing some new ones. Hey, that's a great post idea. Testing gels inextreme heat. Ok, it's on my to-do list.

Anyway, consider this post a continuation of the previous one, but with pictures. I received some very nice compliments and while I appreciate that my hair is probably the in the best condition it's been in the past year (since changing hair properties and all that), it's definitely got a problem with "melting" during the day.

Case in point:

7 am

7 pm

7 am

7 pm

What you can't tell in the 7 pm pictures is how frizzy and soft my hair was (or maybe you can). I have it up in a modified pineapple now, but I'm not sure that I will be able to save it tomorrow. Which is really sad because I LOVE how my hair looked this morning. It's what I've always wanted my hair to look like, especially in the back. (I started trimming my ends - first time I've ever done this - and the top layer in the back was the first place I cut!)

For the record, here is what I used:

(last night)

• V05 Champagne Kiss conditioner (co-wash and rinse-out)
• Curl Junkie Aloe Fix Lite (scrunched into wet hair and then blotted hair)
• Aussie Instant Freeze
• a little Garnier Fructis Spray Gel (after clipping)

(this morning)

• spritzed hair with a little water and let sit for five minutes
• Curl Junkie Aloe Fix Lite (scrunched into sides and back)
• Curl Junkie Curls in a Bottle! (mixed with water and smoothed over curls)

111 degrees

I don't know what it's like where you are, but it is hot here! It has been over 100 degrees every day for over a month. There's no end in sight.

I took this picture last night after being out in the 111 degree heat (a new record high, woohoo). My hair hasn't been holding up (as you can see), which makes product testing very difficult. This picture was my first time using CJ CCCC Lite. I showered the night before and when I woke up, my hair was great! Bouncy and curly everywhere. Then this. Bleh.

The worst part is that I can't get my hair to clump like normal because I can't do a cold rinse at the end of my showers. I usually scrunch my rinse-out upside-down under cold water to promote clumps and get rid of frizz. It's been luke-warm for the past month, which is definitely not the same as cold. I never thought I'd miss a cold shower!

Finding a Balance: Moisture vs Protein

Alright, I'm home and ready to dive into some product testing (more on this later)! But first I wanted to discuss an issue that first popped into my mind about two and a half weeks ago: moisture versus protein.

I'll admit, I never paid much attention to this when I visited CurlTalk frequently, because it wasn't something that really applied to me. I avoided protein and was moisture, moisture, moisture. Easy enough, right?

So when it came time to actually have some understanding of this and apply it to my own hair, it was a lot harder than I thought it would be. I always thought that finding a balance between moisture and protein was a tedious process that involved using both at once.

But what if that's not true? (I apologize if this is something everyone else is aware of... I'm slow!)

Let's rewind. Two weeks before I left for the East Coast, I used V05 Champagne Kiss as both my co-wash and rinse-out. This is a light conditioner with more protein than moisture. After a week, my hair was noticeably dry (though not coarse/porous dry like the old days). So I decided to give it some moisture. I used the same V05 as my co-wash, but tried CJ Curl Rehab as my rinse-out.

Holy springy curls batman! My hair was curling all over the place, completely frizz-free and moisturized! It was awesome! I should have taken a picture!

The next wash, I figured my hair was already moisturized, so I used just V05 again. My hair "dried out" a little, and I still had great curls - not the poor ones that I had the last time I used this conditioner exclusively.

This is when the idea of "drying out" my hair and then seriously moisturizing it would lead to good hair all the time popped into my mind. I repeated this over the next two washes to amazing results. It seemed my hypothesis was indeed true.

Then I went to the East Coast. It was awesome, but not for my hair. It's fairly humid where I live, but nothing like this. So I did what I do on all of my trips; I kind of gave up. If it looked semi-presentable, good. If not, that's what pony tails are for. And let's face it, it was hot and humid. I'm not expecting miracles!

So I came back last weekend and haven't really been able to get back on the curl wagon. This could be because of the whole "do my hair at night and sleep on it" thing (i.e. not letting it dry enough before sleeping on it, which definitely leads to wonky curls), an overdose of Aloe Fix Lite, or leaving my Curl Rehab at my grandparents' house and trying to replace the moisture with CJ Strengthening conditioner, which contains protein. Or the ridiculously hot temps outside (we've been over 100 degrees every day for a while). Or a combination of all of these.

Anyway, has anyone else found this to be true for your hair? If you continually dry out and then re-moisturize your hair, do you get awesome curls every wash?

(Pssst! I'm working my way through reviewing my CJ stylers, so no real testing of the CJ Strengthening conditioner for a while. I think I'll go back to GVP CB until I get my Curl Rehab back! Early prognosis for CJ AFL is good! CIAB! not so much, but I've only used it once. Hoping it lives up to the hype!)

Shopping List

(Psst - I have taken down the poll. Thanks for the feedback! I will be incorporating the results into my posting. I have a new poll but blogger is being weird about it. Hopefully it will be up soon!)

I'm getting ready to go on vacation for a week (East Coast humidity, here I come!), but I wanted to update the status of my stash overhaul:

All mine!!! Ok, not exactly...

I decided that since my texture and hair needs have completely changed, I needed to completely change the products in my stash. I'm not getting rid of anything - we all know the #1 rule of product-testing is to try it in every season! - but I do need new products. My budget is around $75, which works out well since I earned a little more than that dog/house sitting this past weekend.

No way would I spend this much if I didn't need a complete overhaul. I know a lot of you are on budgets as you're trying to figure out what products to use. I definitely fall into that category with the whole graduated-but-not-teaching thing. BUT I had the opportunity to earn some extra money this past weekend and this was the perfect opportunity to spend most of it, since I really do need an upgrade. And I can say that I'm helping others by reviewing these products... See, I haven't lost my PJ excuses! :)

What I'm looking for: a couple of rinse-out conditioners and some styling products. Right now we're in the triple digits outside (with dews in the high 60s) and my hair is doing great with no leave-ins and using my co-wash as a rinse-out. This could obviously change, especially when the weather changes. It doesn't seem like I can use the same products every single day anymore, so I'd like some options.

What I was recommended:

Conditioners

• Curl Junkie Beauticurls Daily Hair Conditioner ($19 for 12 oz)
• Curl Junkie Beauticurls Strengthening Hair Conditioner ($22 for 12 oz)
• Suave Naturals Waterfall Mist Conditioner ($1.79 for 15 oz)
• Suave Naturals Wild Cherry Blossom Conditioner ($1.79 for 15 oz)

Styling Products

• Biosilk Rock Hard Gelee ($13.99 for 6 oz)
• Curl Junkie Aloe Fix Lite ($22 for 12 oz)
• Herbal Essences Totally Twisted Curl Scrunching Gel ($4.29 for 6 oz)
• LA Looks Absolute Styling Wet Look Ultra Shine Gel ($3.99 for 20 oz)
• Aquage Uplifting Foam Styling Mousse ($16.95 for 8 oz)
• Herbal Essences Set Me Up Extra Hold mousse ($3.99 for 6.8 oz)
• Herbal Essences Totally Twisted Curl Boosting Mousse ($3.99 for 6.8 oz)
• Curl Junkie Coffee Coco Curl Creme Lite ($20 for 8 oz)
• CURLS Curl Souffle ($16 for 8 oz)
• L'Oreal Studio Unkempt Out of Bed Weightless Texturizer ($4.99 for 4 oz)

What I already have:

• Curl Junkie Aloe Fix Lite
• L'Oreal Studio Unkempt Out of Bed Weightless Texturizer
• Herbal Essences Totally Twisted Curl Boosting Mousse

What I'm buying:

• Curl Junkie Beauticurls Strengthening Conditioner (check)
• Curl Junkie Coffee Coco Curl Creme Lite (check)
• Curl Junkie Curls in a Bottle! (check)
• Suave Naturals Wild Cherry Blossom Conditioner
• LA Looks Sports Gel?
• Another conditioner? (Mop Top?)

First, what I already have. I've used CJ Aloe Fix Lite for the past three washes and am really liking it. LOOB is a big question mark. I'm not sure how or when I'll fit it into the routine. I have the HE mousse but probably won't be using it any time soon. I think I bought it to combat flat top, and it's not doing that. Plus AFL is already doing wonders for volume. And I kind of don't know what to do with mousse.

On to what I'm buying! I've already purchased the first three on this list and they are in transit. I hope they get here before I leave. I got all three for $52 shipped from Ave You - originally $60, used a 15% coupon and got $1 shipping. Can't beat that (I tried!). The CIAB wasn't recommended, but got rave reviews by fine-haired curlies on NC. I know I'm medium to fine, but using the guidelines for fine hair has been working really well for me.

That leaves me with about $23 left in the budget. I'd like to get the Suave just to try, and it's not going to break anyone's bank. Neither will the LA Looks Gel. I'm kind of unsure about the "wet look" gel recommended, so I figured I'd just pick up the regular sports gel. I'd also like to get another conditioner, preferably without protein. I've been looking at the Mop Top Daily conditioner, but am totally unsure what I'll end up doing. And if there's room in the budget, I may splurge for BRHG. Can you believe in all my three years of CG I've never tried this?

Anyway, that's where I am right now - kind of undecided about what I'm getting next. Fine-haired curlies, any recommendations? I've been reading, reading, reading all the reviews on NC and they're kind of all over the place. And there are so many more options now than when I gave up PJing! I don't know where to start.

Weekend Tidbits

• It's been a while. I have a post on diffusers that's been sitting in my mind for a few weeks. I really need to just sit down and write it. Look for that soon!
  
  
• I learned how to make a fishtail braid over the holidays. It led to an updo for Christmas Eve that turned out really cute! I didn't get any pictures of it (but lots of compliments!), so I may have to recreate it for a post. I like the fishtail almost as much as a french braid, which unfortunately I can't do myself.
  
  
• My hair has been good, but a little dry lately. I switched back to V05 Raspberry for my co-wash (had been using Salon Care's Honey & Almond conditioner, which contains protein, since the CJ Daily Fix debacle) and it's starting to improve. Funny how something as simple as a co-wash can do that.
  
  
• Speaking of CJ Daily Fix, I switched my review status to "tentative." Turns out my reaction could have been medication-related (or really, lack of medication). I started using it RIGHT as I started having a reaction, so DF might not have been related at all. I'm on new medicine right now that could take a few months to really kick in, so I'll hold onto DF and re-evaluate in the spring.
  
  
• I was recently chosen to be one of NC's "Curly Insiders," which means testing out new products and possibly straightening my hair on a semi-regular basis. Which I am ok with. If it works out, I may be posting more reviews here.
  
  
• I started using mousse yesterday for second-day hair. It worked really well. I got the frizz control and curl boost I was looking for, without the crunch I get with gel. Fingers crossed that keeps working.
  
  
• I'm on the verge of taking back my bold comments a few posts ago concerning the clips I've been using on my roots. It hasn't been going well lately, even on wash day. However, they were good yesterday with the mousse, so I'm going to try it on wash day.
  
  
• My bottom layer is ridiculously dry right now. You would think the canopy is the most exposed part of the hair, but I think mine is my bottom layer. Since I wash out my rinse-out conditioner upside-down, the bottom layer gets rinsed out the most. I haven't been paying as much attention to it with my leave-in. And since my hair's so long, most of it falls (on its own) to the front of my shoulder, leaving the bottom layer exposed. I'm going to make a point of hitting it with lots of KCKT and maybe even some protein to stop the tangles.
  
  
• I ordered the new Curly Girl book from Barnes and Noble on Thursday. It was supposed to ship Friday, so it should be here soon. The first book was a bit of a letdown for me, but with the self-trimming section, I have a lot more hope for this one.

A Tentative CJ Daily Fix Review

Updated Jan '11: I'm switching this review to tentative status because there's a possibility my experiences with this product were caused be a reaction to medication. I started using this in mid-October at the same time I started getting this reaction. I don't want to judge this product's performance unfairly. I'm currently on a new medication and will re-evaluate CJDF in the spring.

Alright, I feel that I've used this product long enough to finally give a comprehensive review of how it works for me.

How I've used this:

For most of the time, I've used it only once or twice a week, with a co-wash in between. I have gone a week or two without using it.

Pros:

• This is pretty moisturizing, especially for a cleanser. No dry feeling after use. If I detangle before using it, my hair will feel like I did a DT after rinsing.
  
• Leaves my scalp feeling REALLY clean on wash day.
  
• Doesn't smell too bad.
• Gets rid of any itchiness that's going on.

Cons:

• How to put this? I feel like this product has undone two years of CG. My curls are fine - they haven't changed. But I can't go longer than two days without using this or a regular co-wash. My hair is greasy 12 hrs after using it, and it only gets worse. Even when I go a week or two without using, my hair gets greasy with a regular co-wash.
• Even though it doesn't feel dry after using, it DOES dry me out. My hair is way more frizzy on Day 2, and I have a plethora of dry scalp flakes. Not good.

I bought this thinking it would be the best of both worlds - a co-wash feeling with the cleansing strength of a low-poo. Unfortunately it didn't pan out that way for me. I still like the conditioner, and I think the bottle I have will last for a long time. It will probably be relegated to when I need to remove build-up and don't want to use a clarifying shampoo. I most likely won't be repurchasing.

Biting the Bullet

So I've decided to bite the bullet and order some Curl Junkie products.

I'm really unhappy with how my hair looks and feels right now. I don't think the dryness I'm experiencing right now is related to protein sensitivity, but rather my porosity. And my hair shouldn't be this dry what with washing it consistently and taking advantage of the S&C method. It has to be a product issue. I've done two DTs since my last post, and while it's curling better it doesn't feel moisturized at all.

I'm also reconsidering the CG method. Conditioner-only washing has been great, but what if my hair needs something more? There have been a lot of ingredients that my hair hasn't been able to handle with this method and I've always ended up using a sulfate shampoo to remove them. This is a lot worse than using a milder surfactant.

So I'm about to place an order for:

• Daily Fix conditioner
• Curl Rehab
• Aloe Fix Lite

I priced it out, and aveyou.com has the best deal for these three products. I'm boycotting CurlMart. I absolutely refuse to order from them and pay $13+ in shipping/taxes. They're not far enough away from me to warrant $10 in shipping charges. I have no problem ordering from the CJ site, but I found a great coupon code for AY, and they have $1 shipping for orders of $50+.

Anyway, I'm hoping this solves my recent hair problems. I did a lot of research before settling on these. The price was a lot to swallow for being unemployed, but my hair needs to look good for interviews, right?

Thursday Tidbits

I felt a need to update, so here are some thoughts going through my mind today:

• My scalp is being weird. I've been pretty good about co-washing every-other day lately, but it's started getting greasy. And itchy. I have no idea what's going on. I used to go every three days and be fine (more dry than anything, actually). It started doing this a few weeks ago and I blamed it on the Coconut Curlada conditioner. Now I'm not so sure.

• My hair is not as curly as it was two weeks ago (using my regular techniques). I used a lot of protein that week and have since when back to a moisture-rich routine. My hair is really dry and it feels like protein overload.

• I reread the original Spritz and Condition thread and decided to start using the method as originally described by Del. This means scrunching conditioner in, finger-combing instead of Denman-ing, and doing the entire routine upside-down. Curls got a lot better, but like I said before, it's really dry. I'm interested to see how this goes after the protein damage dies down. It's also interesting because my hair isn't as clumpy as it usually is. No ringlets. Curls are skinnier but more defined? It's definitely a trade-off. I'm not sure which I prefer, and though I've asked for opinions, apparently I'm the only one in this house who notices a difference!
  

• I recently cleaned and reorganized my hair/skincare/makeup area in the bathroom and discovered my other diffusers at the bottom of the pile. I've been experimenting with how I diffuse my hair lately, and I'm thinking about starting a diffusing experiment. My hair's long enough for the Sedusa again, and it would be cool if I could get the DevaFuser to work for me. If nothing else, it gives me something to blog about!
  

• I'm thinking about trying some Curl Junkie products again. I've been reading Marsha's blog and trying to figure out if it's something my hair could do. I'm very weary of oils, especially since the summer oil experiment failure. But I've been reading a lot of great things about the formulation of her products and overall quality. The only other problem with this is my current unemployed status and the expensive nature of those products, especially compared to the ones I'm currently using. Winning today's giveaway would solve that problem, but those winners also won't be announced until next month.

• I lost my Curly Girl book. I really want to reread it since it's been a while and a few discussions on the topic have caught my eye on NC. I know I had it in my last dorm room (spring 2009), but it's not with the other stash of books from that time. I guess I need to spend some time digging in the garage. Fun.

• I think I need a trim. But I really don't want to go back to my stylist. I'm thinking about doing it myself, and that kind of freaks me out, lol. The ends just need to be trimmed and a little shaping wouldn't hurt. I like my long layers, but I need something to help with volume up top. Decisions, decisions...
  

Returning to Curl Junkie

I know I said earlier this week that I am pretty much done with experimenting with products... but I just read through a few threads on nc.com and am thinking about trying one of the newer Curl Junkie products. Besides, it's been a long time since I've reviewed anything on here - that's motivation enough, right?

I really liked the conditioner I tried last year. It smelled great and moisturized well. The only problem with it was the oils it contained! It ended up being too much for me.

I also like and still occasionally use the Curl Fuel Spray.

I'm thinking about trying Curls in a Bottle, since it is protein-, silicone-, and oil-free, but I'm not sure how different it would be from KCCC.

If anyone has any ideas or advice, I would greatly appreciate it!

Bouncing Back

Just a quick update - this morning I decided to use Curl Junkie's Curl Assurance Leave-In as my rinse-out. It has some oils in it, but I'm going to shampoo again anyway after my GVP Conditioning Balm gets here. My curls are much better today. There is a little frizz in the back, but it's curling again and there are a few ringlets.

Speaking of shipments, Sally's website is out of Lustrasilk. So my order shipped without it. I may go down to my store and see if they have it. Of course I would go to the store after all this!

I'm officially out of my dorm. Very happy about that!

KCCC & Pink Boots

I tried this combo out for the first time on Saturday. I had heard good things about it and wanted to see how well they played together so I could possibly use it for Easter Sunday (more so for impressing my curly cousins than for the whole Easter thing. It sounds bad, but the few times I'd seen them in the past couple months my hair had looked like crap - and they have BEAUTIFUL curls without even being CG!).

After applying a leave-in (Curl Junkie's leave-in), I blotted moisture out and applied a thin layer of pink boots. It was about the amount I would use on its own - barely covering my hands when emulsified. I scrunched this in the usual way (I do everything à la mysteryflavored, including diffusing). Then I scrunched in KCCC the same way. Plopped, scrunched in Aussie Sculpting gel, plopped again, diffused, and clipped.

We actually ended up going over to my aunt's house anyway to do an Easter egg hunt because we were getting bad weather on Sunday. And I had about forty-five minutes in between when I finished diffusing and when we left. So needless to say, I was worried. I usually have at least an hour and a half before I scrunch the crunch. I had diffused on high power a bit, which I don't normally do. I'm having trouble figuring out how much water to blot out of my hair. It's easy to over-do it, but so easy to not get enough out. Saturday I ended up getting just the right amount out.

It ended up looking really good! It had some hold, but the pink boots made it pretty soft. I also do the icequeen method, so I had root curl and spirals everywhere! My cousins really liked it and we did a high-five for curls, lol. So I was very happy with it.

I did the combo again today and did not have as good results. I think most of it is due to the blotting issue. I guess I have more experimenting to do to figure out how much to get out. I took out too much water, and I think pink boots may have soaked up some as well. By the time I got to the point where I needed to scrunch in gel, my hair wasn't squeaking when I scrunched. So dry! I attempted to wet it down with a spray bottle, but that didn't do much. So I ended up with some fluffy curls in the back. And any hold that I had sort of dwindled by the end of the day.

I tried using CJ Curl Fuel Spray at various times to save it. I have learned that if I use too much, even if not at once, this stuff can turn on you. I get a greasy, build-up feeling. Like right now, I'm having the urge to go co-wash. But I'm experimenting with doing my hair in the morning right now, so it'll have to wait. For some reason, and it may be related to dropping an unneeded medication, I get about six to seven hours of sleep now. I wake up automatically at about 8am every morning, where it used to be 9:30am. Now that I have time in the morning, I can actually do my hair. My sleeping methods hadn't been that great with KCCC, so this works out.

So the overall verdict on KCCC + pink boots: Good, but I need to experiment more. If you want soft curls, don't need mega hold all the time, and happen to have both of these products, give it a shot. Otherwise you might find that it's not the best.

I've also heard good things about mixing them, so I may try that at some point. Right now I think I'll play it safe and go back to just KCCC.


Oh, and as for my previous post - I did make it through my wash routine, including diffusing. I was actually surprised! Then I got to make-up time and I literally could not lift my right arm. It was crazy! I'm still not sure why it was the right, since that's my dominant arm. I guess it could be because I haven't used those muscles in a long time. I marched cymbals in high school and left arm is more dominant than right. I woke up Saturday with pain in both that lasted all through Sunday. I'm so excited to play again when I get home though! I like punching for some reason (loved Tae Bo!).

Porosity: Where Products Come Into Play

Last week was very frustrating for my hair. After two straight weekends of success with KCCC, I couldn't understand why I kept getting crappy hair during the week. I live on campus during the week and return home on weekends because I'm tutoring a family friend's son for a reading assessment class I'm taking.

I was so ready to post a blog on Thursday about how my hair hated my dorm for some reason, and how it wasn't fair that it didn't look good for the majority of the week. Then I washed my hair on Friday. It was gross. I was at home; why didn't look beautiful and clumpy like normal "at home" hair?

Then I realized what I had done wrong. The first weekend I had success with this product, I blotted my hair before applying KCCC. Yes, I've been doing this every time since, so why was this time special? Because I had blotted more water out. I remember the panic of that first time because I thought I had taken too much water out. So each time after that, I didn't blot out as much. BIG MISTAKE, as I found out Friday.

So for me, blotting a lot = awesome hair with KCCC. Anything else is gross. There was a thread posted recently on nc.com about KCCC where people could post their tips. After posting about my experience with blotting, some others seemed very surprised that this worked. For those people, they need the extra water in their hair for KCCC to work it's magic.

This got me to thinking... Why does the amount of water in your hair with this product matter so much?

My theory: Porosity.

I have coarse and highly porous hair. My hair soaks up soo much water it's ridiculous. I plop twice just to get most of the water out (and my first towel is usually soaked!). When I do a DT and leave it in for a while, it will literally disappear in my hair. I had a crazy experience with coconut oil a few weeks ago that did this almost immediately. It really freaked me out - I had never seen porosity in action like that.

So for some reason, something in KCCC needs to be applied to hair that is less wet, but more moisturized, if that makes sense. I have to use more of a leave-in than I normally would, but also have to take out way more water than I do with anything else. My first thought is that this is because of the aloe. That first time I had success, my hair soaked it up. It felt dry, just like aloe had started doing to me. I'm going to experiment with this after the "less is more" experiment.

I think that for people with normal to low porosity, they need what they can get. Or really, their hair soaks up the perfect about of water for KCCC success. Then it's just a matter of how much to use. They don't have to worry about blotting at all.

I'm wondering how this would work with other products. Would I get much better hair days if I did this with all my products? Or is KCCC just special? Something to experiment with.

Some other happenings:

I'm really liking Curl Junkie Curl Fuel Spray. It's awesome for revitalizing my clumps the day after using KCCC (admittedly the only thing I've tried it with so far!). It doesn't work all the time - my hair was in a bun or a flexi-8 all week. But as long as the hair was good to begin with (a good first day as opposed to a crappy one), it works out well.

Today my hair was not looking good. I washed last night and then did an extra modified pineapple (much different from what I posted a few months ago - it's been modified for shorter hair). It really looked like it was going to be a flexi-8 day when I took it down. I sprayed CJ and scrunched, but it wasn't up to par. So I remembered something someone on nc.com had said about what she does with frizz and multiple day hair. She uses a "spritz, smooth, and scrunch" method with CK. I had nothing to lose, so I tried it. I'm so glad I did! My clumps are revitalized and my frizz is minimal. Of course I'm about to head out into the 30 mph wind (we had 54 mph on Thursday! Like my curls had a chance!), so it may not last. But thanks to whatsercurl for the suggestion!

More to come this week. I'm thinking about trying out a secret DT should my hair decide to not cooperate. Sounds exiciting, huh?

And thanks for the compliments :)

Quick Update on KCCC

I may have finally figured out KCCC (knock on wood!). I've used it a few times and had semi-ok days. I used it yesterday afternoon and had spirals eveywhere! This is the first time in long time I've seen spirals form before plopping.

So far I've been getting better results by applying a leave-in (KCKT) and then blotting/scrunching out some water. I've been getting a little frizz and I think this may be from taking out too much water. Scrunching in KCCC is the weirdest feeling. I think it may be the aloe, because it's similar to what FOTE did the last few times I've used it. My hair sucks it up and it almost feels dry. It's the weirdest thing. Especially because it's pretty wet when I take it down from a plop. So I'm going to experiment a bit with that and see how things go.

I got the Curl Junkie Fuel Spray on Friday and finally got a chance to use it this morning. It really perked up my curls! It was amazing! I'm excited to use this stuff during the week. Here's a picture of the KCKT/KCCC combo with CJ FS.

Yesterday I was planning on doing a DT. My dad was near Whole Food and offered to pick up some AOHR. Unfortunately, he got the shampoo (fail). So my sister is now the proud owner of both AOHR shampoo and the rest of my LVPNG. I told her if she got some HE mousse, her waves would probably come out to play. We'll see how that works for her. Anyway, I got some Burt's Bees Super Shiny Grapefruit & Sugar Beets conditioner for a DT. Not sure how I liked it. My hair does seem more moisturized, but that may have happened with any conditioner. So more experimenting to do!