Diffuser Week: Conair Pro Universal Tourmaline Finger Diffuser

AKA the BEST diffuser attachment I have EVER used! :)

Price: $9.49 ($8.49 with Beauty Club Card) at Sally's

Bowl Size: 5 1/2 inches

Bowl Depth: 1 1/2 inches

Finger Length: 1 1/3 inches

Hole Size: Small

Easily Adaptable to Other Dryers: Yes

Pros:

• Bowl is large and deep, so more of my hair can fit in at a time
• Consequently, faster drying time
• Shrinkage: I actually have some! (2-4 inches, actually)
• Encourages normal curls and ringlets
• Small holes cut down on frizz

Cons:

• If I had to pick one, I guess it would be that the adapter part of the attachment is similar to the one for the Devafuser, though I haven't had any problems with breakage. I didn't even notice it attached the same way until someone asked.

Overall Experience:

I love this diffuser. I had never tried a traditional bowl diffuser until now, and I'm sorry I waited so long! I'm not sure if it's the bowl size/depth or the fingers, but my ringlets (or corkicelli curls) come out to play every time I use it. I love that it fits more hair in at a time; instead of diffusing each side/upside-down in 4 sections, I do it in 2. I love that I finally have REAL shrinkage, none of this 1 inch stuff I had previously. I love that it works on any dryer. And best of all, I love that it's cheap!

Would I buy again? YES!

*

This marks the end of my diffuser series. Thanks for reading!

Diffuser Week: Remington Tstudio Tourmaline and Ceramic Diffuser Attachment

AKA the WORST diffuser attachment I have EVER used. Let's take a look:

From this picture, the diffuser looks pretty similar to the Vidal Sassoon Ion Select, though perhaps with shorter fingers. It's a nice size with relatively small holes. I'll zoom in for you.

Here's what arrived in the mail:

In what universe are these two diffusers the same?! Not only is it just practically one large hole (because there's not much separating all of those) but it's also way smaller in person:

What IS that?!

The stats:

Price: $39.99 with dryer and free shipping from Amazon

Bowl Size: A whopping 4 1/2 inches across

Bowl Depth: Slight

Finger Length: It varies. This has graduated fingers. So the tallest one is 1.3 inches and the shortest is 2/3 inch. The biggest is also on the edge of the bowl with the shortest in the middle. The "dip" of the bowl makes it worse.

Hole Size: Ridiculously huge

Easily Adaptable to Other Dryers: No

Pros:

• I guess you could say the design of the holes is cute

Cons:

• The fingers don't do anything for me; too small, made of hard plastic, spaced out weirdly
• The bowl is too small to function
• The hole size is ridiculous. Nevermind the fact that the only dryer it attaches to has temperature issues (even low heat with a low speed is scalding!), the frizz you get from just turning it on is ridiculous
  
  

Overall Experience:

From day one, it was horrible. The dryer's issues combined with the fact that it is SO small made drying time well over an hour. The frizz was intolerable. There was no curl enhancement.

The instructions that came with this stated that you need to hole the dryer at least 9 inches from your scalp while drying your hair. If I did that, there would be nothing touching my hair. And honestly, what would the point be? It's not like the air is in any way being diffused due to the huge size of the holes. I chose to use this in the traditional way (with my finger almost glued to the cool shot button) and my scalp dearly suffered for it.

Would I buy this again? Hell no. I'm making the dryer work since I needed one, but I bought this specifically for the diffuser and was clearly disappointed.

Diffuser Week: The DevaFuser

Price: I'm now seeing this for about $24 online. I picked it up in a swap for $30 with shipping a few years ago.

Hand Size: 5 1/2 inches tall; 6 inches wide

Hand Depth: I'd say about an inch

Finger Length: There are none

Hole Size: Medium

Easily Adaptable to Other Dryers: Yes

Pros:

• Comes with an adapter so it will fit most dryers
• Dries roots easily
• Holes around the attachment allow you to "dry from the inside"
  
  

Cons:

• Does nothing for curl enhancement
• Adapter broke pretty easily
• Hard to use
  
  

(My broken adapter will no longer hold the band that fits around the dryer)

Overall Experience:

My overall experience was a negative one. But I need a bowl and actual fingers for curl enhancement, so you probably knew that. I found this really hard to use, and consequently do not use it often.

Would I buy this again? No.

Diffuser Week: Vidal Sassoon Ion Select

Round Four: The Vidal Sassoon Ion Select Dryer for Fine Hair Diffuser Attachment

Price: I'm seeing anywhere from $14-$21 online, I think I paid $20

Bowl Size: 5 inches

Bowl Depth: Slight

Finger Length: 1 1/2 inches

Hole Size: Very small

Easily Adaptable to Other Dryers: No

Pros:

• Longer fingers make my curls happy
• Bowl size allows for a decent amount of hair to be dried at a time
• Small holes allow less dryer frizz (can you tell this has been an issue for me?)
  
  

Cons:

• Fingers are made of hard plastic and are completely inflexible
• Does not fit on other dryers

Overall Experience:

I love this attachment. I'd still be using it if the temporary attachment I used hadn't broken. This attachment belonged to my mom's hair dryer and she had no need for it. I liked the finger length and hole size, so I used a Devafuser adapter to attach it to my purple Revlon dryer. It was love. But it only lasted a year. One by one, the hooks on the inside of the Devafuser adapter broke. I'll have more on this tomorrow, but they're made out of plastic and can't be repaired. Eventually enough of them were gone that the adapter would slide of the dryer as I was drying my hair. I loved this attachment so much I started using my mom's dryer (I don't recommend it). That lasted about a month (the dryer died).

This gave me my best hair days up until recently. I do wish I still had the option of using it. I think I'm holding on in case it can fit onto a future dryer (I do learn from my mistakes!).

Would I buy this again?: Yes

Diffuser Week: Sedusa

Sorry for not posting yesterday; I'm dealing with a sinus infection and wasn't feeling up to much. Antibiotics made things a little better, so I'll be posting two entries today.

The third diffuser in my collection: The Sedusa Diffuser

Price: £19.95 or about $32 plus shipping, from here (I received this for Christmas a few years back, so no real purchasing experience)

Bowl Size: About 6 1/2 inches

Bowl Depth: 4 inches

Finger Length: 4 inches

Hole Size: Very small

Easily Adaptable to Other Dryers: Yes

Pros:

• Great bowl size; allows you to dry all of your hair at once
• Tiny holes protect you from dryer frizz
• Long fingers help curl definition
  
  

Cons:

• Only available in the UK
• Bowl size only really works with long hair
• Once dry, curls can be wonky and roots are flat
• Fingers can actually pull out curls
• Small holes also equal longer drying time
• Can't move bowl easily; have to shake curls out
  
  

Overall Experience:

I wanted to like this one. It's hard for me to plop my hair in this dryer and just sit without moving for twenty minutes at a time. Because that's what you have to do with this; if hair isn't dry, it will wrap around the fingers and not want to let go. Maybe that's a cause for wonky curls. I don't know. I also have to gently shake the diffuser a lot to let them go, even when they are dry.

When I first started using this, I asked other experienced users for advice. Something I heard a lot was to use high heat AND high speed for optimum performance (even though the company warns you NOT to do this). I tried this with my purple Revlon dryer and got sparks. So I only use it with high heat and medium speed.

In my experience, this would probably work better for what it's designed to do: give some wave definition to those with straight or barely wavy hair. When I use this diffuser, my hair looks like it was trying to get that minimum definition. The recommended "massage technique" of rubbing the diffuser against your scalp didn't do anything for root volume and I'm pretty sure it helped lead to wonky curls. That said, I know a lot of curly girls have had great success with this attachment.

(next to a 20 oz bottle for size comparison)

Would I buy this again? (or ask for it, I guess): It's possible. Maybe I'm being too optimistic, but I haven't used this regularly and feel like maybe I haven't unlocked the secret to its success yet.

Diffuser Week: Revlon Ion Pro Stylist

Round two in my diffuser series: The Revlon 1875 Watt Ion Pro Stylist

Price: ~ $20 at Target, with dryer and other hair accessories

Bowl Size: 5 1/2 in diameter

Bowl Depth: Again, slight; more like a saucer

Finger Length: 1 inch

Hole Size: Varies, mostly medium

(Yes, that is dust)

Easily Adaptable to Other Dryers: No

Pros:

• The bowl is big enough to diffuse a decent amount of hair at a time
• Holes are small enough that extra frizz from drying isn't a factor
• Good for travel (provided you bring the only dryer it attaches to)

Cons:

• Doesn't do much to encourage curl (5-6 on a scale of 1-10)
• Fingers are short and mostly made of hard plastic, which can be hard on the scalp

Overall Experience:

This diffuser didn't leave much of an impression on me, as evidenced by the fact that I can't really come up with things for either list. I also switched to a weird hybrid diffuser as soon as I could.

This diffuser didn't do much for me. It didn't help with curl definition. It was hard to keep my hair cupped into it when pixiecurling because the "bowl" isn't really a bowl and the fingers are too short for my curls to wrap around. It would work in a pinch, but I wouldn't buy this dryer because of the diffuser attachment.

Would I buy again? No. I think the dust says it all.

I do however love, and am currently using, the dryer. So it's pretty much the opposite of my last post. If Revlon sold this dryer with the first diffuser I reviewed, I'd buy it in a heartbeat.

Diffuser Week: Revlon 1875 Watt Chrome

Hi all! I'm finally getting around to posting about my experiences with different diffuser attachments. I decided that instead of doing one long post, it would be easier for all involved to split it up. I have seven diffusers to talk about, so expect a new post every day this week!

If you follow my blog, you know that my hair needs a lot of encouragement to curl. I can only scrunch product in and diffusing is a MUST. Having a good diffuser is important to me, so I'm very picky about what I use.

With that in mind, let's get started!

First up: the Revlon 1875 Watt Chrome Dryer diffuser attachment

(I'm 85% sure this is the diffuser attachment I used)

Price: ~ $20 at Target, with dryer

Bowl Size: Let's say average? No exact measurement available

Bowl Depth: Slight (aka not really a "bowl," more like a "saucer")

Finger Length: About 1 1/2 inches

Hole Size: Varies, but overall medium-small

Easily Adaptable to Other Dryers: Yes?

Pros:

• Flexible fingers made diffusing for long periods of time more comfortable
• Good curl definition (7-8 on a scale of 1-10)
• Bowl is large enough to dry a good portion of hair at time

Cons:

• Only available with dryer, which began having electrical problems 4 months into usage
  
  

Overall Experience:

This was my first diffuser and my second overall favorite that I have used. It really helped encourage curl definition - I attribute that to the finger length. I have a lot of hair and it was able to hold enough so that my drying time wasn't ridiculous. The holes were small enough that I didn't feel I was getting extra frizz from the dryer.

Unfortunately my dryer started acting up so I had to get a new one. I accidentally threw the diffuser attachment away with the dryer. I have no idea what I was thinking. Even though I LOVED this attachment, I didn't want to buy the same dryer in case it had the same electrical problems.

Would I buy again? Yes! But I won't buy this dryer specifically for the diffuser attachment.

My Hair Refuses to Dry

It's been a while since I've had a good old-fashioned rant. I'm rambling a bit here, but you can't say I didn't warn you, considering the title of the blog and all.

Here's the problem: My hair refuses to dry.

I'm not sure what's going on. It's like KCCC has become a magical force field that prevents water from leaving my hair for at least five hours. There are times during this process when it pretends to be dry, but that's not the case.

Not only that, but my dryer refuses to attempt to dry my hair. It's only interested in burning my scalp.

Once I figured out that the weird itch and pain I was feeling hours after diffusing was indeed related to the hot air going through the mega holes of my diffuser from two inches away, I started using the medium speed setting. Now it's content to make all the dryer noise and pretend to dry my hair. Twenty minutes after I turn it on, I realize my hair is still wet and I've fallen for it's tricks.

Here's Friday's hair:

This is after 45 min of diffusing time, three hours of air-drying time, and another hour after what I'll call the fakeout-SOTC. It looked good when I SOTC, but ten minutes later it was flat.

I wish I had a picture from later that night. It finally finished drying and the flat sides perked up to give some much-needed volume.

Today I spent another 45 minutes diffusing. After 30 minutes on medium speed, my hair was still cold and wet. That's ridiculous. I upped it to high speed and pretty much glued my thumb to the cool shot button. Two hours later, it's still not dry and no where near ready to SOTC.

I need to get some things done today (like a picture for a substitute teacher badge) but I can't go out with hair like this. I realize that sounds vain, but I've been burned by ID pictures before. Is it so wrong to want one picture to show what I normally look like?

Anyway, I will be writing a full review of the Remington dryer and our love/hate relationship very soon. I just really needed to vent. Right now, I will say that:

no heat/medium speed = my dryer laughing at me

medium heat/medium speed = hair that doesn't dry, ever

no heat/high speed = same as medium speed, but with cool high speed noises

medium heat/high speed = dry hair that will eventually fall out due to burnt scalp

It's like I can't win.

/rant

Haircut!

Today was full of hair-related happenings!

First, I actually got some semi-good results with my Revlon dryer and the horrible diffuser attachment. Typical. I've been using the dryer with the Sedusa attachment all week with mixed results. I like that I can fit all my hair in it and just dry it for 20 min, but I get some wonky "curls." Most of the time it seems to be for straighties who want "curl" rather than for curlies who just want to dry their hair.

A full hour after I finished drying my hair, my new dryer arrived! The diffuser bowl is different. It's like a mix of the one I had been using and can no longer attach to a dryer, and the Revlon diffuser. It's pretty heavy, but it's the quietest dryer I've used.

Then I got my hair cut. I haven't fully redone it with my own stuff, but so far I really really like it. She barely trimmed the length, so it's still long, but also added in a lot of layers. It's so much lighter! The shortest layer is just above shoulder length.

As usual, the only product used was KCKT. Wet cut. By the time I got home, it was almost dry (Sidenote: my hair usually takes 6+ hours to dry! Why does no product = dry hair in 15 min? Not cool!). So I spritzed the crap out of it with water, scrunched in some KCCC and Aussie gel, then diffused for a little bit with the Remington dryer.

The curls are skinny, but I have a lot of volume! And it did clump at the ends like usual. My hair is soft and bouncy. I don't usually like the skinny curl look, but I'm LOVING it right now. I might start using KCCC like this.

I'll probably redo tomorrow to get a true look. If I do, I'll post a picture or two.

Done

Ok, I'm done. No more spending any $$$ on hair products until at least the end of the year. I'm probably set for the next six months.

I did a lot of research and picked a dryer/diffuser. The Sedusa/Revlon combination is working ok for the moment, but doesn't really give me the curl enhancement that a regular diffuser does. I ended up going with the Remington D-2012 TStudio Tourmaline and Ceramic dryer. It had a lot of good reviews on Amazon and on NC.com. No idea when it'll get here though, since I ordered on Wednesday and it still hasn't shipped!

Look how pretty it is!

Sally's is offering free shipping for the rest of the month (code 555202). This is great, since my local store doesn't carry GVP CB. I also had a $5 coupon for renewing my beauty card a few months ago. So I got 3 bottles for the price of two!

That makes me set with rinse-out conditioners. My CJ Daily Fix will last for a long time and I still have half a bottle of V05 when it runs out. Stylers will last forever, no problems there. And a new dryer to round it out. No more PJ purchases!!

I've started shopping my make-up stash to cut down on how much I buy (because I'm already pretty much set for life where make-up's concerned) and I'm going to do it for hair products as well. Should be interesting to see what combinations I can come up with!

Diffuser Shopping

Well, I got my CJ products last week and had hoped to begin reviewing, but my diffuser had other ideas.

First, the Devafuser attachment that I've been using to attach a diffuser bowl to my Revlon dryer died. The little plastic pieces that hold the rubber attachment kept breaking off. The diffuser had been falling off at least three times during the drying process for about the past month. Last week, enough of the plastic pieces broke off so that I couldn't attach it to my dryer.

So I started using my mom's dryer, which is actually what the diffuser attachment I've been using came with. It was billed as being for fine hair, but I didn't really care. The diffuser is the part of the dryer that I care most about. The one that came with my Revlon dryer had short fingers that don't do much for curl enhancement. This was working fine until yesterday, when the dryer wouldn't even turn on. Apparently, it died. Which is great, considering I only bought it for her maybe a year and a half ago.

She went out and got a Conair Shine Ionic dryer last night. I tried it today and immediately came to the conclusion that I need to get my own. Now.

The holes in this thing were ridiculous. I might as well have just left the diffuser attachment off. Case in point: Less than two hours after I finished drying, all of my hair is completely dry. It usually takes at least four hours.

So I think I'll try my Sedusa attachment on my Revlon dryer while I'm researching new dryers/diffusers. I was thinking of just buying a better bowl attachment, but my dryer is two years old already and did not work well with the Sedusa in previous experiments (there were lots of sparks, if I remember correctly...).

CJ's Aloe Fix Light has not impressed me yet. I've only really used it yesterday and today, in the midst of diffuser problems. But still. Not good for morale.

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...
  

SOTC with... gel?

Here's today's hair:

I'm having some problems with my diffuser. For whatever reason, it doesn't seem like it's drying my hair anywhere near as fast as it usually does. My normal routine is to use it on the low setting. After five minutes, it didn't feel much different to me. So I've been using the high setting and it's helped a little. I really hope it fixes itself soon!

Anyway, after what seemed like an hour of diffusing, I realized I had forgotten to add gel halfway through. Smasters on nc.com had a great post last week about scrunching in KCCC when hair is 50% dry. I tried it last week with KCCC and it wasn't pretty. So I had decided to add gel this time.

I realized my mistake when I was done scrunching and my hair was soft. Oops. I diffused a little after that, but I had pretty much scrunched out all the crunch that was left. I was lamenting the fact that my hair hasn't grown and gotten all ringlet-y like it used to be until I looked in the mirror a few hours after diffusing. I didn't think it would look that great, but it ended up looking really nice! I had a lot of shine and my ringlets are coming back. And I have some volume! My webcam really doesn't do it justice (and it made my eyes look brown, when they are most definitely light blue!).

So this is something I may try again. Usually when I get done diffusing, it never dries in time for me to go to bed. But it was dry almost immediately after I was done diffusing. That could definitely work for me!

What I'm Reading

So it takes me a while to diffuse. Always has, especially with KCCC. The Spritz & Condition method has helped a little in the timing department, but usually it takes 25-30 min. Diffusing is the part of my shower routine that I dread. I would be so happy if I could just air-dry and come out with voluminous curls in less than an hour, but unfortunately air-drying for me means 6+ hours of wet, flat, wavy hair.

So I made it something to look forward to. This is my time to read, since I don't do too much of that anymore. Glamour is a staple for my reading while diffusing. It usually takes about two diffusing sessions to make it through an issue (unless they decide to make it a half-issue, and then it takes less than one!). During the fall months, I worked my way through Philippa Gregory's King Henry VIII/Elizabeth I novels (well, the two that I hadn't already read).

Right now I'm working my way through Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith; and absolutely loving it! I love the original and didn't have high hopes for this one, but I was wrong. I'm about a third of the way through. It's awesome.

I just thought I would share. What do you do while diffusing?

In other hair news...

I am happy to report that the urge to purchase hair products has passed. Really, I sound like an ex-addict. Thanks to everyone here and at NC who gave me great suggestions!

My hair has been ok this week. It went a little flat on Tuesday. I'm not sure if it was OD-ing on pink boots, from my one-time use of Lustrasilk Shea Mango, or just from being second-day hair.

C'est la vie.

My Diffuser

This is an entry I've been meaning to do for a while, just because my diffuser situation is unusual (as you can see!).

My diffuser is made up of three parts: a Revlon 1875 Ionic ceramic dryer, a universal adapter for the Devafuser, and the diffuser attachment from a Vidal Sassoon dryer.

Here's the story: When I first went CG, I had an "old" Revlon diffuser that had gone unused for about three years. I started using it and it lasted about four and a half months before it started acting up - it wouldn't start and if it did, it would be really hot. So I bought a new dryer (on a budget) and stupidly threw out my diffuser attachment along with the defective dryer.

The diffuser attachment for my new dryer was not at all like my old one. The old one had longer fingers. These were barely existent. I was not getting the curls I was used to.

At this time, I bought a Devafuser attachment from a member on nc.com. It did not go so well. I need REAL fingers to scrunch my hair up to the root to help set/form my curls. The Devafuser doesn't do this at all for me. So into the cabinet it went.

This summer I bought my mom a new dryer for her birthday. Her's was what I would consider a hazard. We have no idea how long she had it, but it had to have been at least eight years. The label had worn off. It looked primitive and dangerous. So I got her a new one. This one came with a diffuser attachment. She has short hair, so it was donated to me. Luckily it has the long fingers my old attachment has! Unfortunately it did not fit onto my dryer. That's where the Devafuser adapter came in and how my diffuser came to look like this!

Lustrasilk On Sale at Sally's

Yes, I caved and bought online. So what?

Since I was already on the site, I decided to check out Lustrasilk's Shea Mango conditioner. I didn't have an amazing experience with the Olive Oil version, but I decided to try it for a few reasons.

1. I didn't experiment much with it after that inital testing.
2. The weather has changed dramatically since then (dews are a whopping 60 degrees higher, lol)
3. Curlies with the same texture/porosity as me did quite well with it
4. It's on sale for $1.99
   

Less than $2 for a giant tub - I'm sold!

I know it's semi-hypocritical/probably stupid to purchase since it does contain oil and I did just shampoo for the second time in two months due to oil build-up problems, but... it's $2! And hopefully the shea butter balances it out.

Here's to hopefully fast shipping!

I'm also on the lookout for a new dryer/diffuser. My first one started acting up in October (it was four years old, but I had only used it for four months at that point). I bought another Revlon dryer (different model) and have been happy until now. I have to reset it at least twice every time I plug it in, which is followed by a burning smell for a second or two, and then it gets very hot. So I've been sort of looking around. I want to get a better one that will last me longer than a few months. There is a GVP dryer on sale at Sally's, but it's less wattage than the one I have now. Not sure how much of a difference that will make. So we'll see.

Navigating Natural Products

I know I said I would update with pictures, but for I can't find the cord for the camera and the computer isn't reading the chip. So hopefully they will be up at some point. I had some really great clumps, which is actually pretty normal for KCCC.

My problem right now is with volume on top. I diffuse upside-down and to the sides until my hair is crunchy. This method is great for getting lots of curl towards the bottom, but the upper-middle is not as curly, and the top is usually completely dry - and flat - by the time I'm done. I then spray some water around my roots and clip with mini jaw clips. I've tried spraying this with Garnier Fructis' spray gel, but it doesn't seem to make much of a difference. The clips usually fall out and it's just horrible.

Today I decided to try clipping before diffusing. Did not help much. They pretty much fell out (which is what I expected, but I figured I'd try). I think it's the clips. I switched to those about a month ago after trying the longer clips used in the Curlisto video. Last year I tried the square metal clips without much luck - they always fell out. Maybe I'll try the misfitcurls method next, though I need to get those clips.

Plopping doesn't help and wet-pineappling isn't much of an option because when my hair is wet, it needs to be plopped to help with curl formation. Which just gave me the idea of doing a wet plopped pineapple. Maybe I'll try this tomorrow!

Beyond that, I've used Botticelli Botanicals' Smoothie conditioner three or four times now. I have mixed feelings. When I put some in my hands and rub together to apply, it's like my skin absorbs a good amount. Then my hair absorbs the rest - I can't tell that I put anything in. It's not extra-detangling for me like LVPNG was (when I could actually use it...). There have been a few times where I had to use KCKT to help with detangling. I've also started getting bad knots, especially at the nape of my neck. I did an ACV rinse today, so hopefully that will help. However, after I finish detangling, it does have a decent amount of slip. And the scent (orange) is nowhere near as overpowering as the lemongrass scent of my BB FSG. So I don't know. It's pretty light - I actually think it would make a better leave-in conditioner. But it has a little oil in it, and I'm hesitant to leave that in after the recent oil incident. If the knots don't improve, I may switch back to GVP Conditioning Balm and save this for later in the summer when I don't need as much moisture.

I got an order from iherb today, so I finally have everything I need to make my own deodorant and specialized flax seed gel. I just finished making my flax seed gel and am very impressed so far! I hope it works well tomorrow!

I used:
- 2 cups distilled water
- 1/4 cup golden flax seeds
- a little more than 1 tablespoon of agave nectar
- a pinch of citric acid
- a few drops of sweet orange EO (which smells just like the oranges we pick off my grandpa's orange tree in California)

This overfilled my 8oz bottle, which was really surprising to me. With my old FSG, I would use the same amounts of water and brown flax seeds and make just enough to fill a 4oz bottle. Anyway, it seemed a little on the runny side, so hopefully the agave will give me enough hold. I may have to wash twice tomorrow!

I think that's everything. I'll try and update tomorrow with results and pictures.

* Edit *

Here are my results:

As you can see, there wasn't a whole lot of volume. I didn't blot or use a leave-in before applying, so I'm going to experiment with that. I did get some great spirals and clumps, but it was hard to get a picture of it (so I did resort to using the flash!).

I co-washed with Suave Green Apple (which I'm beginning to think I'm allergic too...), GVP Conditioning Balm as a rinse-out, homemade FSG, and Aussie Sculpting gel.

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!).

Update!

Yeah, I know, it's been a while. School has been SUPER busy lately. And nothing particularly interesting or rant-worthy has happened (knock on wood!!).

After a week and a half of commitment to flax seed gel (even I was surprised!), I went back to pink boots for a night. Not the same. Granted the temps and dew points have risen, so that could be making a difference. Last week it was up to 80 with dew points in the 50s. Today was about 60. I'm hoping it stays like that for the rest of the week.

Tonight I tried something different. I used Suave Ocean Breeze to co-wash, GVP Conditioning Balm to condition (love this stuff!!), and then scrunched in some FSG and plopped. When I took down the plop, I didn't scrunch as much Aussie in as I usually do. I know I over-did it with the gel over the weekend at least once, so I wanted to see what less super-hold gel would do. After my second plop I added more FSG and diffused. I've started diffusing a little longer and it's definitely helping with curl formation. When I was done drying, my curls looked much happier! I'm currently clipped (trying a different way of clipping, so another new experiment!) and air drying, so no official results yet. I'll take some pics when I scrunch the crunch.

I'm pondering ordering some of the famous magical products of BotticelliBabe on nc.com. So far I'm liking the results of my own mixture, but I'm "hearing" amazing things about her products. In addition to the flax seed gellee, I'm hoping to order the brulee and butter. I haven't made any decisions on ingredients to add though. I'm leaning towards just agave for the gellee - don't want to mess with magnesium sulfate!

*Edit*

The results are in! For some reason they didn't photograph well. They look much better in person. And I took some interesting shots that will end up on facebook.

Weekend of Experiments

As mentioned earlier, this weekend I am experimenting. I've done three so far.

The first experiment was the super experiment using both Lustrasilk and DM H&ACJ. Not pretty. There seem to be a lot of people that are having the same problems that I did with this. My hair sucked the Lustrasilk when used on wet hair. And not in a good way. And it didn't play well with DM.

Yesterday I used GTTTT for co-wash, KCKT for my rinse-out, Lustrasilk for a leave-in, followed by the usual pink boots and ASG. Ok results. Nothing special. It was better than Thursday night, but my hair still sucked Lustrasilk up. I took pics, but they didn't really photograph well. And actually, I will say that I used Lustrasilk after it dried and my curls perked up some. So that was nice.

Tonight I decided to experiment with my diffusers. I bought the DevaFuser kit off the swapboards and it got here yesterday. So I used KBB milk as a rinse-out, KCKT for leave-in, followed by the usual pink boots and ASG. I'm really loving pink boots. I wish they sold it here! Come on, Target! Get your act together!

After I took down my plop, I diffused with the Sedusa. I did two sections with varying speeds and heat levels. After that I used the DevaFuser on my roots and the nape of my neck. I have to say, it was hard to get the hang of this. I guess I have more experimenting to do.

Anyway, here are the results (more in fotki). Kind of weird. I'm starting to think this more hair-cut-related than anything else. If only I had the guts to make an appt to see the curly hairstylist in town...