Closing in?

I think (or hope?) I'm closing in on the reason for my hair being un-curly lately. I was home sick all day yesterday and had an opportunity to do a lot of reading on nc.com and through Tiffany's ebook. At first I thought I might need less moisture in this summer heat, but a quick test of that proved me wrong.

Here's what I'm thinking:

1. I need a haircut. It's been nine months. My hair is still relatively healthy (no split or damaged ends), but my layers have all grown too much and it's affecting my volume.

2. I need MORE moisture. I haven't been washing regularly (maybe 2 times a week) for the past month or so, so it makes sense. Plus, I have a history. Read this. And I quote:

Which means my hair isn't getting the extra moisture that it NEEDS because it is porous... I've been burned by this before, so you would think I would know what I'm doing by now...

Seriously? I feel really stupid right now. The entry is even called "lesson learned." Ugh.

I dont' think I've ever been more thankful for my blog. At least this time I have a record of what my hair has done in the past.

3. I need protein. It's been a long time since I used enough of this stuff. My balance is off.

So this is what I will be working on.

Other interesting things I read about:

• Supposedly KCCC doesn't play well with oils?? Someone mentioned it in passing on a post last year and I couldn't really find anything to back this claim up (then again, I was on a different mission so I didn't go looking for it that much), but could this be why I don't handle oils well? I used to be fine with them until last spring, which coincidentally also happened to be when I started using KCCC regularly.
  
  
• I reread (and apparently absorbed the info because I didn't remember this) this article about oils. I do well with coconut oil which is saturated and easily absorbed by hair. So I'm thinking about experimenting with other oils that are similar in structure. It sure would open up my product usage abilities.
  
  
• I gave up Jessicurl's WDT last year because I thought it had a LOT of oils in it. Turns out it doesn't. Huh. Good thing I'm getting back into deep conditioning!
  

Confirmation

Tonya's new Curl Chemist article on nc.com has confirmed why my hair does not like most oils. Not only does it go more in depth, but apparently porosity can have a big effect on using oils in our hair - nice to know! It's also cool because we learned about lipids and the structure of saturated/unsaturated fats a couple weeks ago in my biology class (and today, we learned about parasitic round worms in apple cider vinegar - oh joy!).

On Sunday, I did a DT with coconut oil, then washed as normal. I didn't want to throw any protein into the mix for fear of the coconut oil making the effects more intense. Because I am super paranoid like that. My tangles were a little better.

I went through my stash and discovered a whole host of protein products I had forgottten about! So now I won't have to dig up the dreaded LVPNG to get my small shot of protein.

Not much else going on in my hair life. I'm hoping to do some product testing this weekend with the untouched samples I got two months ago.

Lesson Learned: Porous Hair Needs TLC

So throughout the many weeks of my lazy summer routine, I haven't been washing my hair as often as I used to - usually around 3 times a week. Which means my hair isn't getting the extra moisture that it NEEDS because it is porous.

Even in all these high dew points, my hair gets dry by the end of day one. It's also a little frizzy and tangled - especially on the nape of my neck. These are the types of knots that take a good five minutes to work through with conditioner in the shower.

I've been burned by this before, so you would think I would know what I'm doing by now, but I just had the epiphany today. My hair still feels soft, or at least normal, so it doesn't register to me that it's dry until day two.

And so begins the weekly deep treatments. The last time this happened to me (in winter/early spring), it was hard because all the popular conditioners marketed as DTs contain oils, which we have learned that my hair does NOT like at all. I guess this really is the first time I have to DT without using those conditioners. Maybe I should get some butters?

I'm going to start out with some GVP conditioning balm, maybe sealed with coconut oil? That will be tomorrow's project.

The Secret DT

I guess this starts with Sunday night. It was then I decided I needed to wash my hair, because I usually skip Sundays and throw my hair up in a bun or flexi-8 on Mondays. I wanted my hair to look normal for my Monday class. So I washed.

I decided it would be nice to try out a new conditioner. I took my mom to Whole Foods on Friday night to pick up stuff for our awesome new skin care routine. Some of the stuff we needed just happened to be in the same aisle as the hair stuff, so I looked. I ended up dropping Nature's Gate Herbal conditioner in the basket. I remember reading good reviews, and it was cheap, so I had to pick it up. As I applied it on Sunday night, there wasn't really any slip. In fact, it was almost the opposite. But it felt soo nice when I rinsed it out. The smell seemed a little strong, but I figured it would fade away as most rinse-outs do.

WRONG.

Yesterday afternoon, I was still going strong. And it wasn't a good smell... My entire head smelled like really really bad cologne. I don't know the radius of that smell, but I'm hoping it wasn't enough to where others could smell it. It was embarassing.

Anyway, I was really tired and busy last night, so I didn't re-wash. I know, the one time I should have and I don't. Instead, I woke up this morning and wet it down. Then I added in some Jessicurl Weekly Deep Treatment. The bad cologne smell was faint enough that the Island Fantasy scent completely overpowered it (yay!). Then I put my hair in a low ponytail and secured it into a messy bun with some bobby pins. It looked really cute and as so easy to do. And there you have it: the secret DT.

Why didn't I think of this during the winter? No idea, but it's something I'll continue to do as needed. I like getting the extra moisture and having a little secret is a great bonus!

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!

Deep Treatments

I'm taking a break from writing my philosophy of education (which also happens to be due in about two and a half hours... yay procrastination!) to talk about deep treatments.

I started CG in the summer, so moisture was never an issue for me. The one time I tried a DT, I actually got overconditioned. So I just stayed away. Then winter rolled along. In January, it got really cold and dry out. I started doing DTs with conditioner, olive oil, and honey (which may not have been the best idea considering low dew points). I noticed moisturized curls for a few days here and there, but the weather has been all over the place, so I never did it on a regular basis.

I thought my DT days were over when I started using pink boots, which is actually moisturizing to me, and then FSG. The weather has also been very nice here, in the seventies and eighties with dew points in the fifties. I really didn't think DTs were important, now that there is moisture in the air.

About two weeks ago, I began noticing bad tangles at the nape of my neck. By the end of first day hair, my curls there would be dry and impposible to untangle. Even detangling in the shower was hard. Soon my hair started looking dry at the end of day one. It didn't feel dry, but it looked like I hadn't conditioned in months! I thought I may need protein, as I was also getting fly-aways, but luckily never remembered to grab my LVPNG.

Today I grabbed all that I could get my hands on to do the mother of all DTs (at least the biggest one I've done so far...). I come home on the weekends to tutor a family friend for one my education classes, and I don't bring a whole bunch of product because it's a pain to lug down three floors and a block or two to the car. So I became resourceful and used what I could find.

1. Karen's Body Beautiful Hair Milk in Pomegranate Guava - I've been avoiding this for a while. I didn't think my hair was doing well with oils and the panthenol seems to do the exact opposite of moisturize (which is odd considering the first time I used the milk, I got overconditioned). Unfortunately, it's what I had. So I coated my dry hair with it, paying extra close attention to the nape of my neck.
2. Fruit of the Earth Aloe Vera Gel - FOTE is also something I've been avoiding. It worked well in late summer/early fall, but also seemed to contribute to drying me out. I know it's supposed to be moisturizing, and since the weather has improved, I thought I'd give it a shot. I squirted a few puddles into my hand and worked through my hair.
3. Olive Oil - I'm still not sure how my hair does with oils, but olive oil has never been a problem in my other DTs. I've recently discovered my skin needs oil to stay hydrated (liking Camellia oil right now), so I thought I'd apply the same concept to my hair. I ran a few palmfuls through my hair.
4. GVP Conditioning Balm & Suave Cucumber and Melon - It was at this point I realized I should add some rich conditioners. Except I didn't have any. I'm dangerously low on GVP CB. So I panicked and used about a quarter size blob of that and then some Suave.
5. Honey - With the dews being higher, I decided to add some honey in. I've been having some success with it in my homemade FSG. It was pretty sticky going in, so I added a little water.

I clipped my hair up for about two hours while I worked on some homework. When I washed it out, my hair felt very moisturized and my tangles were gone! I think I'll incorporate this into a weekly routine for as long as I need to. I haven't scrunched the crunch yet, but so far things look good!

Just to add, there are special deep treatments out there that you can buy. I'm cheap and usually just add whatever I have in my kitchen/bathroom to some conditioner and call it a day. Some of these include Karen's Body Beautiful Luscious Locks mask (which I've heard great things about, but can't justify the price), Jessicurl's Weekly Deep Treatment, and Aubrey Organics Honeysuckle Rose conditioner, which is also a good conditioner (though I've had some problems with it, of course...). I think the best approach to deep treatments, like everything concerned with curly hair care, is to experiment! Pay atttention to ingredients to see what's moisturizing or what has possible sensitive ingredients, like protein or humectants.

Another Update

I feel like I should be writing something other than updates on how my hair is doing (and actually, I should be working on school stuff right now, but that's not happening either!). But this is my first major "my hair is dry and looks like crap!" crisis, so hopefully it will help someone. And if it doesn't, at least I'll have documented it for my own sake.

Anyway, Saturday night I repeated the same DT as Friday night, but I think I used too much honey because my hair felt like leather (gross!) upon waking up. Results: my clumps and spirals are back, for the most part, and my hair is more moisturized!

It was actually a little frizzier than it had been on Friday night after the much shorter DT. I don't think I rinsed out all of the vinegar, and that didn't play well with FOTE. You can tell this is happening when scrunching in, because your hair feels weird and almost dry. Hard to explain, but if you've done this, you know what I'm talking about.

I pineappled last night and today was a good hair day! The canopy was a little messy, so I put half of my hair up in a flexi-8. Everything underneath that was very clumpy and spirally/ringlet-y. I honestly don't think there's much of a difference between these two terms, so I'll use them interchangeably. One of my clumps spiralled all the way to the root! There are more pics in my fotki, but here's what it looked like. I almost wish I had taken a pic on Friday for my before. And yes, the camera on my laptop sucks, as does the lighting in my room. Oh well.

Today's weather was the worst. Freezing cold. Sprinkling, which later turned to showers. Windy. Foggy. Gross. I had to drive up here in it, then walk around campus in it, then drive across town to go food shopping and stock up, because tomorrow it will likely be ice. We have an "ice storm" warning right now. Temp is 37 (feels like 29) with a dewpoint of 35.

I can't wait for my products to get here! I'm especially excited about Lustrasilk. Unfortunately I had them sent to my home address, which I'm not supposed to go back to until next weekend. I may make the trip down and back just for my stuff though! I also was a bad PJ and bought a DevaFuser kit on the swapboards - it was a good deal, I swear! Just checked my tracking number, and UPS delivered my Sally's order today at 2:30pm. Nice. That was about five hours after I left to drive back up here! And apparently I have another package that arrived - Donna Marie? They were having lot of shipping delays, so I'd be really surprised if that is my DM. The DevaFuser was just mailed today, so... pretty much torture for my PJ but I think I'll live!

The Road to Recovery

Just a quick update.

Last night I co-washed with GTTTT conditioner. I figure I need all the moisture I can get, and the tea tree oil is good for the itchiness, which for the most part has gone away. I didn't even think about using this until I read that someone else does this. It's been ok so far. The flakes are starting to disappear. Keeping my fingers crossed!

I then did a DT with a mixture of olive oil, honey, and KBB milk for between an hour and an hour and a half. After rinsing (used more GTTTT to get the olive oil out), I did an ACV rinse and used cold water. I then added a little bit of Suave Cucumber Melon from a bottle that is almost gone and the tiniest amount of FOTE. I started doing the "pump and scrunch" method. Basically I scrunch, hold it, and pump my fist 8 times. I think this mostly just gets rid of water, but it might help spread product. It's working better for me than just regular crazy scrunching and plopping.

I did the usual routine, but used HEBE instead of ASG. Diffused and clipped. When i was ready to go to bed, I just pineappled it loosely. I'm not sure how this works better than adding a scarf, but whatever. I woke up with pretty good curls! My hair feels like it has more moisture, and there was a lot more clumping. Some of my old spirals are back, which was nice to see.

I'm going to do another DT tonight, although probably longer. The temperature dropped considerably overnight. It's 33 (feels like 25) with a dewpoint of 14. Did I mention our weather is crazy?!

I'm glad I figured out this texture/porosity thing. No wonder DTs just didn't seem to matter.