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?

HG Status: The Spritz & Condition Method

So I've been having a lot of good hair days lately thanks to the CURLS conditioner and actually washing my hair every-other-day. My hair's had issues this summer with being dry (story of my life) but I was also washing every third or fourth day. Lately it's been more often. I always use the Spritz and Condition method.

Except for Monday. I was in a hurry. I didn't feel like waiting around for twenty minutes while my hair soaked up some conditioner. Turns out that was a bad idea. My hair was frizzy and did the weird thing my hair used to do with KCCC. I don't know how to describe it other than it frizzed out in clumps. It looked dry and really gross. It was barely wavy. I thought maybe my hair had had enough of the coconut conditioner.

Wednesday rolls around and I again do the S & C method with my HG rinse-out, GVP Biolage Conditioning Balm. Later, when I was rinsing out my rinse-out, it was like a miracle. My hair was well-conditioned and clumping and curling like crazy. I had some really great curls this wash.

And so, I have decided to give the S & C method HG status in my routine. I've used it with great success over the past year and will not go without it again.

It's Finally Happened...

One year and eight months later, I have finally finished my first jar of KCCC. I thought this day would never come.


And honestly, I think I used about half of it back when I was completely clueless as to how it worked best for me.

I held off on buying this for a few months after going CG due to price. At the time, this was $26 plus more than $8 in shipping in taxes from Curlmart. I paid a total of $34.75 to get this jar. That works out to about $1.73 a month, if I'm doing my math right. What a bargain! Especially considering this is HG stuff for me.

I just opened my new jar. I've had it for a little over a year. I panicked last spring when prices were going up and I thought I'd be out of my first jar pretty quickly (I'd already used up half of it). I bought this one for a total of $20 from Ricky's in NYC. How long will this one last?

100th Entry

To celebrate, here are some recent pics. Still trying to figure out the picture situation for graduation announcements. This was the lovely combo of pink boots & KCCC.

(It was windy!)

Kinky-Curly Knot Today

I've been using this conditioner for about a year and a half. It's my go-to leave-in. I use about a quarter-sized amount under EVERYTHING (especially so with KCCC), except FSG. It lasts me forever, so it's cost effective. It smells good. It's organic. And yet I've never really appreciated it's awesomeness until today.

We've all been there: standing in the shower for twenty minutes trying unsuccessfully to brush out the rat's nest that is your hair. Eventually you get to the point where the scissors start to sound really nice.

For me, that point came when I worked my way to the nape of my neck. I was using GVP CB and my Denman, which managed to get the ridiculous knots out of both sides. When I got to the nape of my neck, my hair laughed at these. The Denman wasn't getting anywhere, so I tried finger detangling for a while. Then I looked down and saw my bottle of KCKT. Bingo.

Fifteen seconds later, the piece that I thought I'd have to cut out was knot-free, slippery and smooth. All I needed was a nickle-sized amount of KCKT and my fingers. Done.

You may wonder how my hair got to be in the rat's nest state. Honestly, it was due to my lack of KCKT usage. FSG gives me great curls but it doesn't mix well with leave-ins. And I didn't DT this week. But you can bet I will this coming week!

So this post is dedicated to KCKT, the best leave-in out there. My hair felt so moisturized as I rinsed. Not even GVP CB brings that much moisture to the table. I love it!

Pink Boots + KCCC = True Love

I just want to reiterate my love for this combination. It gives me perfect curls every single time. The ringlets I saw tonight gave me flashbacks to the good old days!

There's nothing like getting done with diffusing and knowing it's going to be a good hair day... or will if it can survive overnight in a modified pineapple! Here's to hoping it lasts and I can use it more often!

Curl Acceptance?

I haven't posted lately because I haven't really been doing anything lately with my hair. I wash maybe twice a week. Nothing special in my routine - can't even use pink boots because it makes my hair too soft to survive sleeping on it. I've been doing my hair at night during the week because of school. It's good practice for student teaching this year, and I suspect for the rest of my career.

I do still lurk on nc.com, though I'm not posting as much as I used to. Someone asked the other day about what happens after you find your HG - are you content with what you have, or do you continue the search because so-and-so loves a new product? Honestly, I think I've reached the point where I've accepted my curl pattern and found products that make my hair look good. It's SO weird to come to this conclusion. The me of a year ago, heck even a few months ago, would never believe that I have reached this point. I used to think people were crazy for abandoning the boards and testing new products (and in some cases I was right - what with all the new techniques and texture/porosity discussion).

I've been a curly all my life (well, minus the first two years when I was bald). I've accepted it all my life. That doesn't mean though that I always knew how to take care of my hair, and finding nc.com was a godsend for that problem. For the past year, curly hair and the science behind it has consumed my mind. Now, not so much. I don't feel the need to wash everyday; to keep trying and trying to achieve maximum curl; to achieve perfect multiple day hair.

And I'm guessing that means I've finally accepted my hair as is - and that's a wonderful thing.

This doesn't mean that I'll stop blogging or posting on nc.com; far from it. I've just come to this realization lately, and thought I would share. It's a big moment!