Productless

Happy February! I just got my hair cut tonight (a trim - my ends needed it badly!) and as usual, left with wet, productless hair. It was almost dry by the time I got home.

I'm not really in the mood for washing and doing the whole routine. I was going to straighten, but I'm tempted to just leave it like this for tomorrow (minus the frizz). Most people who ask about my hair seem to think it has magical properties because they have "bad" hair that "doesn't cooperate" and "could never look like that." This would show them! Oh the power of a good gel and diffuser...

Haircut Picture

I don't know why, but my camera doesn't like to do bathroom mirror shots. The lighting is always weird and they come out blurry. So I don't have a shot of the back. But I'm pretty happy with it!

Haircut Update

Just thought I'd give a quick update since it's been a while.

I got my hair cut yesterday - 3 real inches gone (wet cut). It's really short!! Well, short for me. It's about shoulder-length when dry. I think that's the shortest I could ever go. My hair was above shoulder-length until I was a teenager since my mom didn't know what to do with it. Going that short now would give me bad flashbacks.

Anyway, my stylist doesn't use any products or even dry my hair (my choice), so I don't know what it really looks like until I re-do it myself at home. It looked SO good yesterday after I finished diffusing and scrunched the crunch. I wish I had taken a picture. I had legitimate ringlets (more 3b than 3a) everywhere, it was crazy. It's always been a typical 3a pattern, curling more as it gets longer. So this was really surprising. It was like a completely new head of hair.

It was nice because my stylist said a lot of great things about the condition of my hair and mentioned the fact that I don't get split ends anymore. I also didn't feel pressured to use the salon's products like I have in the past. Before we could even talk about what I wanted to do, she asked if I had brought conditioner.

I had somewhere to be tonight, so I washed again today. It still looks good, but I don't have as much shrinkage and fewer ringlets. I'm not sure if that's because we're supposed to have lots of thunderstorms tomorrow or what. The difference in dewpoints from yesterday to today is an increase of 20 degrees!

I'm still loving it though. It really feels like I lost five pounds, because it was SO long. Still getting used to using less product and having a faster drying time. I got a lot of compliments tonight, which is always nice. I'll try and post a picture tomorrow!

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.

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...
  

Haircut!

I finally got around to washing and styling my hair for the first time since getting it cut. I have to say it FEELS shorter, but I think that's just from getting my layers back. It's curling a lot better than it was last week and I have some volume back on the sides. Overall I'm pretty happy with it! (Note: these were taken after spending an hour and a half in the sweltering 95 degree heat)

And the best part is that my total routine time went from 1 hr to only 40 min!

Pictures

Here are some pictures of the new cut!

It doesn't look too short, does it? It doesn't quite fit into a pineapple, so by morning I had a few pieces that had fallen out (and of course, some frizz). It does fit in a ponytail; not quite into a bun. But I'm really liking it! I think it feels shorter because it's just on the shoulders in the front, whereas it's a little longer in the back.

I actually had a hair conversation with my stylist. I told her my hair was super dry because of a protein overdose and she said "oh, well your hair is so healthy that you don't need much protein at all!" True - but no mention of my texture. It's a step though. I just had her rinse and use KCKT to detangle, which she really liked.

And if you ever needed to see a visual of why we need styling products...

I will say it dried in less than an hour with no product in it! I'm not sure how long it takes when actually styled, and I'm hoping my curls come out to play when I don't have to sleep on them!

Two Things

1. I got my hair cut. It feels SO short. I don't think I've had it this short since I was a freshman in college (senior now). But it doesn't look that short in pictures. Those will be up as soon as I can find the cord, or have time to find the cord. No product in my hair is very scary.

Now I just have to figure out how to do my hair for bed. A pineapple doesn't seem like it's going to work very well.

2. My Sally's order got here!!! How fast was that? Not even forty-eight hours later, and the box was at my door. Maybe they read my last entry? They almost redeemed themselves.

Ch-Ch-Changes

Well, it's happening. Haircut is scheduled for Wednesday at 5pm. I'm going for something much more dramatic than last time:


Just kidding. I could never do that. I need at least shoulder-length. Now the only questions are how short and how much shrinkage?

New Pictures

...are up in my fotki! I haven't updated that thing in a loooong time. I think it's been since my haircut on St. Patrick's Day.

Which is funny because I'm thinking it's time for a haircut.


Note: My hair is dried out from protein (only used it three times). I knew it was too good to last!

Weird Day

So I have some things to blog about, but I realized I haven't posted hair cut pictures yet. So I guess this will be extra long.

Here is my hair after the cut. Shampoo and [most likely] silicone-laden conditioner touched my head, and there is NO product in my hair (scary!):

Is it weird how much these look like my pre-CG pics? If you ever needed incentive to stay away from sulfates, this is it.

Here's the first wash after:

I got about four inches off (I think?). It's very different from long hair. It feels weird when applying product and diffusing. Not sure I have a sleeping routine down yet. It would really suck if I have to give that up and wash in the morning. She also cut with my side part, if I didn't mention that in my last post. I was worried but it turned out well.

* And now to our regularly scheduled blog entry *

I woke up this morning (well, it technically was morning), proceeded to make lunch and start the laundry, and then got called in for emergency babysitting (that sounds so exciting and dangerous, but not a good situation). No time to wash my hair. It was up in a bun for the majority of the day until I finally got a chance after dinner.

For whatever reason, I decided to experiment a bit. I used: Suave Green Apple for co-wash, LVPNG for rinse-out, KCKT for leave-in, KCCC, and Aussie Sculpting gel. Adding protein probably wasn't a good idea, but it's been so long since I've had anything, and it's almost the last ingredient. I did the icequeen method for clumping. I did a cold water rinse at the end, and then scrunched in some KCKT.

Then I had a DUH! moment. During the summer, I used to use two t-shirts in my routine. One for plopping and the other for scrunching water out of my hair before adding gel. I'm not sure why I stopped, other than because everyone was recommending adding products to extremely wet hair. Then I moved into a dorm, where it's easier to plop before walking five steps back to my room, then have wet hair. Though I guess that's not much of an excuse. Anyway, I totally forgot that I used to do that back when I had awesome hair.

So I hung my flour sack towel on the shower and blotted a bit before adding KCCC. Which was WEIRD. As soon as I started scrunching, my hair felt very dry. I had clumps and spirals everywhere, but it was dry and frizzy. I'm not sure what exactly caused it. On one hand, I did use protein. But that hardly every feels bad in my hair when it's wet. KCCC makes some sense, since I noticed it as I was scrunching that in. But I've used it before (and always with no success), and never felt this before. So I'm not sure.

Anyway, I decided I really could not plop for very long. I ran out of the shower, scrunched in ASG as usual, and then plopped in my Curl-Ease for five minutes - just long enough to get dressed. When I was applying gel right-side up, my hair decided to part down the middle. I half-attempted to move it back to the side, but didn't want to create more frizz. Then I diffused. Which was weird. Again. Each section looked great immediately after diffusing. Then it would droop a little. And it was obvious it was wet. Which was weird, because my hair was very dry when I scrunched in KCCC. After diffusing, I had some major clumpage going on. And my hair randomly decided to go back to a side part, which was weird. I clipped and air dried for a few hours.

Just took out the clips and scrunched the crunch. The back is kind of weird looking, but I do have curl all the way to the root! And volume! There's one clump that is literally three inches wide, which looks crazy. I scrunched most of my products in upside-down, so I'm guessing that's why. But this is crazy. I've never had anything remotely resembling success with KCCC.


So I'm pretty happy. Especially because this is hair that went through a low-poo and two sulfate shampoos in the span of four days! If this doesn't look great when I wake up, I may experiment tomorrow with some of BB's FSG. It's been a while.

Got My Hurr Cut

Woot... First, happy St. Patrick's Day!! I love being Irish! We went out to lunch at a local Irish bar and grill. It was PACKED. They had special menus with only four items on them. We all got Irish nachos and they were delicious!

But yes, I got my hair cut. It feels shorter than it looks. Not sure if that's a good thing or not. I brought in my KCKT so she could just rinse and use that to detangle. Apparently "wash and use this" means "wash my hair really well with shampoo and conditioner, and then use this." So kind of pointless, but whatever. I low-pooed last Friday anyway, so I already wasn't back to normal hair. It's not going to make much difference.

She didn't use any other product and my hair dried a little wavy. I'm debating washing it again. I think I may use a sulfate (since I have no idea what was put in my hair) and DT overnight. So it'll probably be tomorrow before I can tell what it'll look like curly. Feeling the shorter layers scares me a little. And I really hope I don't have to modify my routine too much!

Haha, I just told my mom about the shampoo/conditioner usage, and she said "Oh! Does that mean you're going to do a treatment tonight?" She's learning!