Yay Coconut Oil!

I got a small jar of coconut oil with my order from iherb the other day, so I decided to try it out last night. I used it as a mini-DT before low-pooing with GTTTT shampoo (my scalp has been stubbornly itchy for over a week now, no matter how many brown sugar scrubs I do).

I didn't notice much of a difference last night. I SOTC a little bit before doing a modified pineapple and going to sleep. This morning I scrunched out the rest and used a little bit of pink boots to smooth away frizz. It feels SOOOOOO soft! I really like it.

I was reading a magazine last night while diffusing and it said we should do weekly scalp and/or hair treatments with coconut oil to maintain scalp health and keep it shiny and soft. If these results continue, it may be a new weekly staple for me! Which is awesome because having such a high porosity leads to dry hair at the end of the first day and definitely the second day. I know it hasn't been a full day yet, but hair is still soft and happy! And it seemed to really absorb well. I'm a little weary after just getting over an oil build-up problem, but it does seem to act differently than other oils.

On another note, I updated the previous two posts with picture results. Still experimenting to see what will work best. Summer school starts tomorrow, so now I have to re-adapt to not only living in a dorm, but sharing a ridiculously small room with someone. I had my own bedroom in the dorm I shared during the regular school year... sigh.

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...

Ice Day Means It's Time to Play!

Yep, we had an ice day yesterday. They called and texted everyone at approximately 5:23 AM to tell us. So I got to sleep in and do some hair experiments!

So I decided to change up the routine yesterday. I co-washed with GTTTT, which I'm just now realizing has protein towards the end of the ingredients list. Fortunately I haven't noticed any dryness or other symptoms of protein. I followed this with KBB SS as my rinse-out. After turning off the faucet, I squeezed some water from my hair and used about a quarter's worth of KCKT as my leave-in. I smoothed it on as if putting my hair in a ponytail. I took a very small amount of Pink Boots and smoothed it in the same way. Then I bent over and did the "scrunch and pump" method, before plopping in my curl-ease. After plopping, I finished off my usual routine with ASG.

I didn't scrunch the crunch and left it clipped until I was ready to go to bed. Instead of just pineappling, I double pineappled and clipped. Basically the first two inches of curls on either side of my part went into it's own pineapple near my forehead. The rest went into a pineapple at the crown. I then used five mini jaw clips - one on each side of said pineapple, and then one on the back of the first pineapple (in the direct middle of my head) to keep it from moving. It worked pretty well! I did start off the day with volume, and my front curls hadn't been stretched out, which is what I was noticing with just one pineapple. As the day went on, I did lose volume and gained a little frizz. But overall it was nice.

The weather today was 25 degrees (feels like 19!!! It was 80 like a week ago!!) with a dewpoint of 20. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. The worst thing about today was having to walk (more like SLIDE) to class. They gave us off yesterday and today campus opened at noon. Which is stupid, because all the sidewalks were still coated with ice. I can't imagine driving! And my sister (who is in high school about an hour south of me) and my mom (who works at another college about half an hour south of me) both got off! Lame.

/rant.

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.

Stuck in a Rut

So it's about this time that I have started wishing I had updated this blog earlier in my CG career (it's a tough job!), like when I created it in the early fall. I had such great success and I feel like now that I've started updating, I have nothing insightful or interesting to share.

Basically, I'm in a rut. The winter dryness has hit me hard. The dewpoint has been in the teens for much of the past two months (with random exceptions, like three days this week, where it's been in the late twenties). The weather here is notorious for being RIDICULOUS. And that's made it much harder for me.

Most of my pictures here and in my fotki are from summer. I feel I've been dishonest, because I've been CG for almost eight months now, and my hair doesn't resemble (in my opinion) what it was in the summer/early fall.

I haven't mastered the art of sleeping with freshly washed hair, which was necessary in the fall semester.

I haven't been able to figure out how to classify my hair. I don't know how porous it is. I have a mixture of all three types (fine, medium, coarse), so it's hard to pin what exactly my hair needs and likes. I don't know if a leave-in weighs me down. I should know that, right?

What worked in the summer doesn't work now, and I did such a horrible job of documenting what I was doing that it wouldn't matter if it did. I can't remember.

My hair is dry, like with my protein sensitivity. I don't know if this is related to FOTE or what. I don't have much time to figure it out, what with 18 hours of class a week and a part-time job taking up my time.

I need a haircut. But I'm afraid to go get one, because I'd like to have it done by the curly stylist that's close to home. But how would he be able to cut it if I barely have any curls? My hair looks like crap and I don't know how cutting it in this state would make it better. I'm really confused.

Monday night I used GTTTT shampoo, followed by Suave Ocean Breeze as my rinse-out, KBB SS as my leave-in, FOTE scrunched in, and Aussie SG as my final gel. I double plopped, diffused, and clipped. I had some spirals back and some volume on top. Things looked good. I loosely pineappled and wrapped with a silk scarf. In the morning, my hair was very dry, frizzy, and loose. It was embarassing. I actually put it half-up with a flexi-8.

Wednesday I wore it in a bun, and then added generous amounts of KBB nectar for an over-night DT. Yesterday morning, I co-washed with GTTTT conditioner, used Suave OB as a rinse-out, followed by the KBB SS, FOTE, and ASG. Same routine as before. I had to scrunch the crunch out about twenty min after I finished diffusing, so I'm sure that had a hand in the results. Still, I had a complete flat top, and all the hold from my gel was gone by mid-afternoon. I scrunched in more FOTE at various points, but I think that made it drier.

I'm home now. I do have some products here, but some of my more recent purchases are at school. I'm thinking I'll DT with whatever I have here and do more research.

I do have some products on the way:

• Donna Marie Honey & Aloe jelly
• Lustrasilk Olive Oil Cholesterol
• GVP Biolage Conditioning Balm
• Denman Brush
• Square Silk Scarf

I'm thinking the DM could replace FOTE in my routine. Hopefully the weather will get better (though tomorrow it's plunging again. Make up your mind!). It's almost 80 out right now, with a dewpoint of 41.

I might go get the GVP Conditioning Balm today to DT with. It's pretty cheap. And if I like it, I'll already have two.

Not sure about the Denman. I've only raked with the Jessicurl products, which didn't work for me anyway. I tried combing CK through during the summer without any success. That could have been user error or the fact that I over-diffused. I don't think I'm evenly distributing my products, and probably using too much trying to accomplish that. So I really hope this works.

I'm kind of excited about the scarf. The one I'm using now (when I actually use it) isn't square, so it's harder to use, I think. I'm hoping this will help.

Getting this off my chest makes me feel a little better. But it would be better to have my hair figured out soon.

Changing Up My Routine

So I think in my first post I went over the problems I've been having since fall/winter set in.

Basically:

• Figured out I was protein-sensitive
• Figured out FOTE wasn't helping
• Started using a leave-in, which I'm now thinking wasn't a good idea (it would be nice if I could figure out my texture/porosity...)
  
• Stopped co-washing altogether when shampoo bars arrived
• Ended up with frizzy/undefined curls with the addition of KCCC during the lowest of dewpoints this season
• The protein in LVPNG (practically the last ingredient of the bottle) got to me, so it's now in my stash for rare protein treatments
  
• Used a low-poo and went back to co-washing
• Clarified a week or two after with a sulfate shampoo and went back to the routine of Suave co-wash/rinse-out, FOTE, and Aussie Sculpting Gel
• Stopped experimenting with the Sedusa (need to find a good, consistent routine first)
  
• Added Pink Boots for about a week and a half with inconsistent results

Right now my hair hates me. It's frizzy, undefined, and stringy. And it's been flaking for a good month now, no matter how many brown sugar scrubs or ACV rinses I do. The itching has been worse recently, with nothing helping.

So I'm done trying to go back to the simple routine that worked in the summer. Obviously the weather has changed, so I'm not sure why I thought it would work now. I don't know anymore.

KBB stopped working for me around the time of the KCCC incident - or rather, I realized it had stopped working for me. My hair was getting tangled (it still is, which is a royal pain) and actually hard while wet. It was also frizzy, even when using Super Silky. I'm thinking it might be the panthenol, but I have no idea.

So starting tonight, my new routine will have a shampoo included for the first time since early June. I'm adding Giovanni Tea Tree Triple Treat as a weekly low-poo. I'll continue with co-washing the rest of the week. I'm thinking about adding the GVP Biolage Conditioning Balm and Lustrasilk after reading Katrina's blog. We'll see.

Well, I'm off to go wash. School starts tomorrow (suck!), so it's back to night-washing for me.