The Morning After

I think the back looked a lot better in person that it does in this picture.

For comparison, here's how it looked last night before I pineappled:

I just got back from getting my hair cut. I need to wash and style with my own products, so I'm not sure how it turned out. I'll probably update on that tomorrow!

Revisiting the Modified Pineapple

So last year I posted a detailed entry that showed how I put my hair up into a "modified pineapple" to safely sleep on hair. I still use this method when I shower at night and have second- and third-day hair, so I'm really just revisiting the concept here on my blog. I've changed it up a bit and thought I'd update on what I'm doing. Like the last one, this will be picture-heavy (though the lighting isn't the best).

For longer hair, check out the original entry here. When I got my hair cut super short (by my standards) last summer, I had to change up the way I pineappled. My hair is obviously longer now, so the new method will still work with long hair.

Alright, a "pineapple" is basically putting your hair up into a ponytail at the very top of your head to protect the curls while sleeping. This works for a lot of people. Me, not so much.

Here is what my hair looks like in a regular pineapple:

...Yeah...

I should note that I am using a soft cloth scrunchie, but I did not double the loop. I just slid it over my ponytail, so it's loose. Doubling it would leave a noticeable dent, which is definitely not what I want. It's pretty obvious why this doesn't work, but add the fact that I toss and turn a lot during the night and you can see why I don't use this method.

So the modified pineapple is basically the above picture but with clips. I clip the hair up on the top of my head where it is safe from my tossing and turning, but also doesn't poke me in the head all night. Right now I'm using four clips: two mini-jaw clips and two extra-mini-jaw clips. I used a lot more in the previous entry, but I lose these things easily! During the winter I only had one mini-jaw clip and it worked fine.

Anyway, you can use as many clips as you want, but the main thing is to have at least one mini-jaw clip. This size is important because it will fit most of your hair and be sort of the anchor for the rest of the clips. I should also note that I do most of this process while leaning upside-down.

Start with a regular pineapple.

Gently gather into ponytail and secure with scrunchie. Make sure it's not too tight or too loose. If it's too loose, you'll have more trouble with the clips.

Next, grab the ponytail about a third of the way in from the ends and bring it towards your forehead. Secure with mini-jaw clip.


Here I am with one mini-jaw clip (yes, I realize how ridiculous that looks!). I usually clip it a little higher so it isn't in my face so much, but it won't matter much in the end.

Next I add the second mini-jaw clip (red) directly to the side of the first one (yellow). Not all of the ponytail can fit in one clip since my hair's pretty thick.

Since the hair in my face is usually bothering me by this point, I clip it up next with an extra-mini-jaw clip. Here I've just swept it up to the side.

The next part is kind of optional for me at this point, but I do it for the added security. When my hair was shorter, I would clip the ponytail so that not much hair was in my face and then use two extra-mini-jaw clips to clip up pieces that had fallen in the back. Now I just use one.

I put it pretty much right where the scrunchie is. That way it doesn't hurt when I put my head on my pillow. It works pretty well for keeping the short pieces up.

Side view

Alright so that's the modified pineapple! It looks ridiculous and I get made fun of for it, BUT it works very well at keeping curls intact and frizz at bay. I'll try and take some second day hair pics tomorrow morning to see how it held up.

In other hair news, mine's starting to curl again! I did a DT with Jessicurl's WDT the other night. Then today I did the Spritz & Condition with Elucence MBC, followed by the pink boots and KCCC combo. I also did an ACV rinse and that helped a lot. Between this and the haircut I'm getting tomorrow, I'm hoping it will go completely back to normal. I'll post pics tomorrow.

Second-Day Hair

This is untouched second-day hair. Meaning I literally just took it down from a modified pineapple. If I were going anywhere today (I'm stuck inside working on my final project), I would do a little spritzing to calm some of the frizz down. It actually doesn't look that bad in real life. It was hard to get a good shot on the new camera.

I changed up my routine a bit yesterday. I decided to go back to basics. For about a month now, I've always added gel in the middle of diffusing. Not a good idea, apparently. I think it was causing the curls to fall and adding a lot of frizz. I skipped it yesterday and some of my spirals are back! They're also a LOT softer and more manageable. Guess that experiment is over.

Also, I finally got a shipping notice from Sally. Looks like there were others who had the same idea as me. The Honey & Almond conditioner was out of stock, so my order is shipping without it. Oh well.

Pink Boots & KCCC Revisited

OMG - why did I ever stop using this combo? I'm in love! Frizz-free clumps with root curl and shine - what more could a curly girl ask for?

Did I mention our temps are in the high 90s to low 100s? With dew points in the 60s and 70s??

As I said in my last post, I revisited this combo on Friday (after my previous blog entry on the subject was referenced in a post on nc.com -whoot!). I had really good second day hair on Saturday (enough to get some compliments, which hasn't happened in a long time!). I wasn't feeling well yesterday, so it spent most of the day in a bun. I decided to wash last night, and it actually looked pretty good when I took it down. So potential 3rd day hair!

I washed last night, scrunched out most of the crunch, and put it up in a modified pineapple. It was AMAZING this morning! I didn't even have to do anything to refresh it! I'm really hoping for third day hair. Not only would it be awesome to accomplish, but it's a serious pain to do my hair in this dorm room. I have two more weeks (but home on Thursdays for the weekend) after this that I'm stuck here. If I never have to wash my hair here again, I will be one happy curly girl!

I really wish I had pictures to post. My hair looked very similar to the way it did at my sister's confirmation a few weeks ago (at which time I also failed to take pictures!). I think it also has something to do with GVP Conditioning Balm. I've been using BB's Smoothie and not getting the same results. I pretty much scraped the bottom of my last bottle last night. Really need to get some more!

Flax Seed Gel

I've made my own flax seed gel off and on since going CG (in fact, there was one memorable incident where the plastic handle of my strainer melted and change shape, but that's a story for a different day), but I haven't actually used it consistently until this week.

I made a new batch after the superbowl. It was pretty runny, so I thought it wouldn't hold up as well for me. I spent the entire week experimenting with it, and my results seem to have gone from awesome to just ok. The weather has been changing (it's now in the 60s with dew points in the 50s) and I think I may need to do an ACV rinse tonight, so I think these have had some effects on my results.

I've been using it with various conditioners (and no leave-ins), and GVP Conditioning Balm seems to have the best results. I've also used it on dry hair to touch up on frizz and curl, and it worked better when the weather was much colder. I've always used some Aussie Sculpting Gel on top, though the amount has varied.

I'm really wanting to go back to pink boots to get my big spirals back. The first day with flax seed gel gave me some amazing ringlets, but I haven't seen them since then.

Weather changes suck. Just when I figure out what my hair likes, the weather goes and changes. It went from cold and dry to warm and humid. I used some KBB for my small dose of humectants and it didn't help at all. I'm hoping the ACV rinse takes care of these problems. Otherwise I may need to rethink my routine. Knowing our weather, it'll be back to freezing cold and dry by next week. I wish it was easier!

Note: I edited the blog entry about the modified pineapple. I'm getting better results by scrunching out the crunch before I put it in a pineapple. I think leaving the crunch in ensures that it is not fully dry, and that can mold some weird curls during the night. Thought I'd let you know, if anyone is interested...

The Modified Pineapple

(or the "Pineapple Sweatband Jaw Clip Doo Dad Thingy" as Del2c graciously named it!)

So I've said before that I've had problems with protecting curls while sleeping. I've tried everything from pineappling to a satin cap to pineappling with a satin cap. I've even tried a weird combination of a rectangular scarf held together with bobby pins and jaw clips (it was not a pretty sight and was even more uncomfortable to sleep on).

Of all the methods tried, the pineapple alone came the closest to 2nd day hair. So I recently decided to go back to it, with a twist.

Here are the problems my sleep option must overcome:

• long hair
• curls that are pulled out easily
• curls that are flattened easily
• tossing and turning
• a sensitive head (is it weird for me to make a "that's what she said!" comment here? Yes? Ok then - I've had my fix of "The Office" for the week anyway!)

My solution? The Modified Pineapple.

The Modified Pineapple (or PSJCDDT for short) consists of at least one pineapple that is secured by several mini-jaw clips. I have come up with two versions, though there is another one for shorter hair.

Version One: For True Second-day Hair (used on dry hair)

Step One: While head is turned upside-down, gently gather hair into a ponytail on the top of your head and secure with scrunchie-like material. In this picture I am using a sweatband (or so we think) that I stole from my sister (she stole some KCCC last week, so don't feel bad for her!)

Step Two: When right-side-up, gently gather hair towards the front of your head. Looking at the first picture, you will notice all hair is on one side of the sweatband.

Step Three: Using mini-jaw-clips, secure hair to the front of your head. Shake your head to make sure it is secure on both sides.

This is what the finished product should look like! Your clips should also be "in" enough so that when lying on your side, you should not be poked by the clips. You shouldn't even notice them.

Version Two: For Pseudo-Second-day Hair
(used on hair with crunch)

Complete with a weird view of my dorm room!

When I sleep on hair that has recently been washed, my hair needs a little extra care. The curls around my part usually form nice spirals that are easily pulled out. To prevent this, I use two pineapples - in the back and in the front.

Step One: Collect curls around part and place in pineapple. I do this one loosely because they are more delicate than my other curls. Notice this is a regular scrunchie.

Step Two: Clip Sides. This is similar to the first version. I do one clip on the left, right, and the back, so that it does not get caught in the second pineapple.

Step Three: Flip head upside-down and gently gather the rest of your curls into a ponytail. Make sure it is on the top of your head - mine is right in front of the crown.

Step Four: Clip curls to the side of the pineapple, just like the other version. I use two here.

The finished product should look like this. There are two scrunchie-like materials, one in the front and one in the back. I used a total of five clips, two on each side and one in the middle. Again, all clips are on top of my head, so there is no discomfort from lying (laying?) on my side.

Version Three: For Short Hair

I don't have short hair, so I can't explain how exactly I would go about doing this. It should be similar to the versions above, but with no pineapple - just clips. If any short-haired curlies are out there are reading this and would like to experiment and document it for me, I'd be happy to post them here!

If you have any questions or feedback after trying this, please share! I hope others are able to do this with success - it really sucks when something works for one person but not another!

EDIT 2/9/09: I've been experimenting with using the first version on recently-washed hair. I'm starting to prefer it more than the second version. I do scrunch out the crunch. I think my hair is still a wet factor to my hair when I am putting it up to go to sleep with crunch. And that helps to bend the curls and have them dry in weird shapes. So right now I'm doing the first version.