Today's Hair

The Bad News: So it turns out that the CURLS Coconut conditioner may indeed have enough coconut oil to build up on me with regular use (sigh)

The Extra Bad News: Said build-up was too much to wait out, so I was forced to shampoo yesterday. My hair/scalp felt like I hadn't co-washed in at least a week, and this was happening a few hours after washing.

I shampooed, then immediately DTed with GVP Biolage Conditioning Balm and a little coconut oil. Actually, looking back that was probably a stupid move. But I also have never had a problem with coconut oil in that way.

I co-washed and did the whole routine. Results aren't horrible, but nothing to write home about. I think I may have used too much KCCC on accident again.


I'm going back to the HG routine for a while.

It's Back...

So my hair has looked pretty gross since Monday. It falls flat easily, is mostly wavy, and just generally not pretty.

I'm not 100% positive, but I think it's oil build-up from my one-time use of Lustrasilk Shea Mango. I thought it may have been over-kill from gel (I used it to SOTC on Tuesday night), but the frizzy-when-wet issue began before then and has gotten progressively worse. And that's especially discouraging because I thought my hair was getting better with oils. Sigh.

Now I know it's time to cleanse, but I'm really hesitant to use shampoo. Clarifying shampoo is never pretty and the only low-poos I have also contain oils. I'm kind of kicking myself for not ordering Curl Junkie's cleansing conditioner the other day when Curlmart had a 20% off code.

Would it be horrible to order it now and just bun it until it arrives?

And Once Again, I'm Reminded...

of how much my hair HATES sulfates! I cannot believe I used to do this on a tri-weekly basis! My poor hair!

I shampooed yesterday to get rid of oil build-up.

Not pretty.

At.

All.

It's actually embarrassing. My hair will be in a bun for the next few days (perhaps with a secret DT) until it recovers.

Thankfully my new bottle of KCKT and some duckbill clips will be here by then. I have a new bottle of V05 for my co-wash - blackberry sage tea - but have still not made it to sally's. Part of me is embarrassed to go in there with hair like this (ok, most of me). I may cave and order online... is that sad?

On a more positive note, this is my LAST WEEK living in a dorm! From now on, I'll be home with a regular bathroom with a regular electrical outlet strategically placed near a mirror. Finally.

Allergic to Suave

Sorry I've been MIA for a while. Between school, visiting family, and an underwhelming birthday, I've been busy. In hair news, the repeated use of BB's Smoothie has finally built up on me. My hair is frizzy when wet and not curling as well as I know it can. It only has a small amount of palm oil in it, so I'm now weary of all oils. I was thinking about taking advantage of the 4th of July sales and getting some of the CJ DT, but I really don't want to spend that much on something that might make my hair look worse. Thankfully I have not used any of the samples I got from KM. That would have been a waste.

I'm so in need of conditioner right now, it's crazy. I'm out of V05, so I used Suave Lavendar for yesterday's co-wash. BAD IDEA. I stopped using Suave conditioners a few weeks ago, thinking it was contributing to my allergic reactions after getting out of the shower. I was right. By the time I had finished co-washing yesterday, some hives and red patches had popped up on my back. I'm not sure what it is about those conditioners (maybe a preservative?) but it's bad.

I'm also out of a rinse-out - well technically I have some of BB's Smoothie left, but I don't feel a great need to finish it. I wish I liked it, but unfortunately I don't. I think that about Jessicurl as well. Sigh. But I've been meaning to pick up some GVP Conditioning Balm for a few weeks now (!) and just haven't gotten around to it. Today or tomorrow for sure!

And of course, I'm thisclose to being done with my first bottle of KCKT. It lasted six months - that's a good thing right?

Off to do some shopping - happy 4th, everyone!

Done!

Yeah, I know, it's been forever. But the semester is finally over! It was a rough last three weeks, so it's definitely a relief. And as my brain and sleep suffered, so did my hair. I had so many issues, from regular frizz, to being super soft on day 1 and super dry on day 2, to frizzy when wet. My scalp was dry and itchy. It seemed to take forever to do my hair, and when I did it just sucked. Low-poos, vinegar rinses, and baking soda didn't help. I had no idea what was going on.

So I got some help from the boards and discovered that it was most likely oils building up on me. It makes sense that it would be super soft on the first day and then dry on the second, since moisture couldn't get through. I did a sulfate on Wed night and slept overnight with some Suave in. Didn't get around to washing again until today (checking out of my dorm yesterday was a PAIN). It doesn't look great, but that's to be expected with sulfates.

I don't know what I'm going to do product-wise. I'm pretty much out of AOHR anyway, so nothing will be wasted there. I may go back to what I did last summer, which was just Suave, Aussie gel, and sometimes CK or FOTE. That's what I used in my profile pic at the top. The dews are in the 70s and I honestly don't know what I'm supposed to do. I know CK and FOTE worked great last summer, but all this "don't use humectants in high dew points" or "use anti-humectants" is boggling my brain (which is still in recovery, lol).

So that's that. I'll be updating more often now and I have some experimenting to do, so things will be better!