Short Update

I'm still here! Work has been crazy, and though I've had a few posts bouncing around in my head for a couple of months I obviously have yet to sit down and type. I'll work on that.

Here's what my hair is looking like these days:

I haven't gotten it cut since the beginning of February (when I last posted), and even then it was barely a trim. I've trimmed a few layers myself since then, but it's largely untouched.

This picture was taken this past weekend (Saturday night). We took a short trip to the east coast for a family event. I washed my hair Thursday night and took no hair products with me! We didn't check any bags and I didn't want to go through the pain of divvying up products into little containers to get through security. Luckily it lasted through Sunday when we returned. Isn't that awesome? I attribute it all to the low-poo and PT I did Thursday. Magic.

Joining the Dark Side

I have come to the conclusion that my hair has become even more fine in texture since receiving my CurlGenie results. My hair isn't responding to the routine of protein-moisture balance. Since I was using a moisture-heavy routine prior to this, I've decided to go ultra protein-heavy, or to what long-time followers of my blog will recognize as the complete opposite of what I've been doing for the past 3 years.

What exactly does this mean?

• Protein. Everywhere. In everything.
• No DTs, all PTs
• Avoiding most cream products
• More gellies
• Using smaller amounts of product
• Soap bars (yep, I'm going there!)

I'm still planning my list for my next online hair products shopping spree (would really like to try Spiral Solutions!), but I have been able to incorporate a few of these bullet points into my routine.

My co-wash/rinse-out (V05 Champagne Kiss) contains protein, but it seems to be weighing me down a bit. Weird, right? Old habits die hard - I was so used to using as much conditioner as needed for both co-wash and rinse-out that I didn't realize I'm probably using too much now. So I've started cutting down on that.

Every once in a while I use pink boots for its clumping powers. Anything more than that would weigh me down, which is weird since it used to be a-use-everyday-HG. I've been using CJ Aloe Fix Lite with wayyy better results.

Soap bars. Ok, if you hung out around NC about three years ago, you were there for the PJ craze that was the natural soap bar. This craze began just before the "enlightenment" that hair properties determine what ingredients you should use.

Keeping that in mind, it's no surprise that I was having the worst time with products in the fall of 2008. I had just figured out that my hair was sensitive to protein, so I was avoiding that. But I was stalking a curly who had hair that sort of looked like mine and her HG products were turning my hair into a nightmare. The soap bar nightmare was the beginning of the realization that my hair was indeed coarse and porous, and that I couldn't follow the same routine with the same results as someone with complete opposite properties.

Flash forward to now. I'm stalking this person again and the good news is it's working! I ordered a bunch of soap samples last week (I think they're the same bars as the used-by-everyone-on-NC bars) and have used one bar twice so far. I've had a little frizz, but that's normal for the crazy weather changes we're having. I'm also getting more curl and tons of shrinkage! Basically it's the complete opposite of my 2008 soap bar experience.

The only downside is that my curls are more skinny and less clumpy, but I think this is a product of BRHG. I don't know why it does this to my hair, but it does.

Anyway, I'm going to continue my journey to the dark side and use everything that used to be bad for my hair. I'll keep the updates coming (with pictures). I also have some ideas for new posts as I still need to review the CurlGenie analysis and share my summer staples.

Starting A New Chapter

First, thanks to everyone who has voted in my blog poll. It's nice to have some feedback. I'm going to keep it up for another two weeks or so, so if you haven't gotten a change, please vote!

In order to bring you the best content possible with future product and technique reviews, I've decided to go ahead and order Live Curly Live Free's Curl Genie profile. There are two reasons for this. First, how can I review something without knowing for sure what my properties are? Not only will this help me know what ingredients and products will have a better chance of working well with my hair, it will help those of you interested in these reviews, whether we have the same properties or not.

My second reason is more selfish - my hair has not been looking great recently. I really believe it's due to all of my old HGs in my stash not working anymore. Anything that can help me figure out a new routine is good in my book.

I went ahead and ordered it today. I got an email with a link to instructions. I co-washed to clean my hair and hopped out of the shower to let it dry a bit before getting my hair samples. The instructions say it could take a few weeks, but I've heard it can be earlier than that. Hopefully I will know something by the end of the week, so I can get a head start on picking up products (it doesn't hurt that Friday is pay day!) and testing them out.

I've also been looking around the interwebs for some updo ideas and have found a few. I will start testing them out this week!

As a sidenote, I've been looking around my blog stats for a while and think it is so cool that there are so many international curlies reading! I never thought anyone besides myself would be here, let alone hundreds around the world from countries like Australia, the Netherlands, New Zealand, India, Spain, Japan, Brazil, Germany, Norway, Croatia, Egypt, Iran, Canada, and the UK. Welcome! I would really like to get to know my audience more, so feel free to leave comments or questions!

Wind #2

Wind is not a curly girl's best friend.

Oh the frizz!

~*~

1. I got a haircut. A couple of weeks ago. Loving the length (or lack thereof), especially since it's getting hot outside!

2. Re-arranged some stuff around the blog. New poll on the right! New entries and feature updates are also coming soon. I'm working in an office for the summer, so I will definitely be trying some new updos!

3. Thinking about adding ads. Leaning towards not. Comments/thoughts appreciated.

4. Also thinking about sending in samples for the Curl Genie analysis. This texture change has been hard to deal with (example: For the past 2 washes, I have done protein treatments and not touched a rinse-out conditioner!). Confirmation and suggestions would be nice.

5. Today I went through my blogroll and reader's blogs. There were a lot of blogs that have been removed. So sad.

Thursday Tidbits

Wow, is it Thursday already? Sorry for the lack of updates - it's been a busy week! After no real job prospects in the teaching world (lots of layoffs coming this summer and it doesn't look like it's getting better for a few years...) I gave up and applied for some clerical-type jobs on Sunday. Monday I got the call to interview for a long-term sub position. When I got home Tuesday after the interview, I had a message waiting! I ended up subbing yesterday so they could see my awesome teacher skills (it went pretty well), and now I'm waiting for another call... Even if it doesn't work out, I got some great experience. And working as a secretary would mean going to grad school for free, so not a bad alternative. But it's funny how the call came completely out of the blue right after I had pretty much given up.

ANYWAY, here are some quick updates:

• I'm reconsidering the blog sale, because I'm actually re-testing some of my CJ products. Review posts coming soon on this!
  
  
• I'm officially changing my hair's texture from coarse to medium. Why? Because my hair doesn't actually feel coarse anymore. I've been using protein continuously for two months with no dryness to show for it. Actually, my hair gets limp if I don't use it... talk about a 180 degree turn... My theory is the change was caused by going off the pill, but I have no way to prove it. I'm not sure if it's even possible. I know it sounds crazy. But it's true. It's just not coarse like it used to be.
  
  
• The down-side of this is that my tried and true HG products aren't exactly what my hair needs anymore. I'm still using GVP Conditioning Balm for Spritz and Condition, as well as a rinse-out, but sometimes it feels a bit much. And I get frizz/less clumps if I don't S&C. So I guess I need more protein-heavy, lighter conditioners. This would be a situation where buying tons of back-ups did not work out for me...
  
  
• I got a lot of comments on my hair this week when I was out and about. As usual, I was not looking my best. Why does happen? Every compliment was for hair that was either 2nd day or 3rd (!!) day hair that probably would have been more presentable in a bun. On the flip side, one of the ladies I talked to asked me for product recs and even knew about co-washing. First time I've talked to some who knows what a non-sulfate shampoo is!

Blog Update

If you've been to my blog recently, you may have noticed the pages at the top. I'm organizing my posts so that it'll be easier to find stuff. It's still a work in progress, but so far so good!

There aren't a ton of product reviews since this has mainly been a way to keep track of what is working for me. That's going to hopefully change. Going through my stats, these posts are most popular. I'm planning on working through my stash so that I have solid reviews for all of the products I have.

I'm also thinking about maybe doing a mini-blog sale. My Curl Junkie products don't seem to be working that well for me. Is this something you guys would be interested in?

Besides those two things, is there anything else that you would want to see here? I appreciate the feedback!

A Curly Moment

So I've been thinking lately about cutting my hair. Nothing drastic, just a little shorter. It's a little too long for my tastes.

Then today it decides to shrink to the exact length I want.

Thanks, hair.

Now it just needs to be consistent!

(pre-SOTC)

Good Luck Charm?

I was at the bank today when the teller complimented my hair. We went through the usual "is it natural?" questions, and then she asked to touch my hair.

Now, I've read a lot about strangers complimenting curls and asking to touch them. My hair was still drying (about 2 hrs out of the shower at this point), but she seemed genuine and did ask, so I obliged her.

Then she told me she was touching them for good luck.

...What?!

In two and a half years of better curls, this is definitely the weirdest encounter I've had with a stranger.

So Close, Yet So Far Away...

So a couple of weeks ago, my brother came home from college to surprise my sister for Senior Night at her last football game (she's in color guard, not football!). During the course of the weekend, there was a discussion at home about shampoo.

My mom had a list of stuff she needed at the store, and there was a certain "dandruff" shampoo on that list. Now, my parents have used this for years. I've tried to get them off since going CG, but all to no avail. Upon seeing this on the list, I once again brought up how drying sulfates can be and pointed out that it was probably just dry scalp (and that the shampoo was probably causing it in the first place!). For some reason, this finally got through to her. And apparently my brother.

(Side note: During that trip we picked up a Giovanni shampoo for her, as well as some Herbal Essences mousse; she is the second person in my family I've successfully converted! Hooray!)

Fast forward to today. My brother is home for the week and went with me to Target today to pick up ingredients for the desserts I made for tomorrow. While we're walking around, he became really interested in getting me to pick out "the right" shampoo for him. Since he's on the budget, the only low-poo I could think that would work would be L'Oreal's Everpure. Unfortunately, we couldn't find it. I'm not up on low-poos, so maybe it's discontinued? We couldn't find ANY L'Oreal hair products in the store, though. I did show him what surfactant he needed to look for in a shampoo.

After the trip home, he went and got his hair cut.

When he came home, he begged me to go with him to CVS to pick out a new shampoo and conditioner. Again, no Everpure. They did have the Organix line, so he picked out a shampoo. Also got some V05 conditioner.

I was just about to point out the Ecostyler gel to him when he declared he needed some wax to style his hair. Apparently this was recommended to him during the course of his haircut. Because mousse gives him too much volume, and gel is too crunchy. I tried to explain and reason with him - he could try out some of my stuff at home and then get some wax if he really felt he needed it - all to no avail. I pointed out that he had specifically asked for me to consult with him on hair products, but apparently that was just for shampoo and conditioner. There were other people in the aisle with us, so I didn't escalate the argument. He left with, of all things, a L'Oreal wax. At least the ingredients aren't as bad as the other waxes that were there...

So close to converting him, and yet he resisted. Maybe he'll think differently when the build-up gets bad!

Anyway, as far as my hair is concerned: I think I'm over-conditioned, and I think it was the Daily Fix that did it. Weird, I know. I don't have any other explanation. And I never get over-conditioned! ACV rinse tomorrow will hopefully fix it. Daily Fix review coming as soon as I figure it out all the way! This is one weird product!

Youtube

I'll admit, I spend a good amount of time on youtube during the week. Mostly for music and makeup videos (love Emily's channel!). Every now and then I'll find something hair-related that's relevant to me.

This is one of those times.

I just discovered naturallycurly.com's channel (and yes, it was because the website's down)!!

How cute is this?



Check it out!

Do you have any favorite youtube hair gurus?

Multitasking...

...is deep conditioning

while reading a book

while hula-hooping!

My morning has been very productive!

*

Sorry for the lack of updates. Nothing new and exciting. Things have been kind of crazy since coming home last week. I had a lot of fun playing in the ocean (it had been about seven years since I'd been), but my hair didn't particularly enjoy it. I've been DTing regularly ever since!

I'm thinking about trying my hand at sealing. I think that will be the experiment next week.

Update

1. I'm back from vacation. My hair really suffered, but I had a good time and that's all that matters in the end. It doesn't look horrible in any of the pictures, so that's good too!

2. I will be DTing and clarifying today, because something about it is seriously messed up and I don't have the patience to try and fix it without clarifying. It's been four months since my last shampoo. I know it wasn't that bad last time. I'll have to look back to see what I did.

3. Funny story: I got a bad sunburn (only looks bad; didn't really hurt) last Sunday, mostly on my arms. In the middle of the week, I noticed my scalp along the part was pink. Then came the peeling. Now, in addition to already being weird, my hair looks like a blizzard.

4. New blog look. Not sure I'm liking it. It might be a little bright. Blogger changed their designs a while back and some of them are really nice. It was hard to find something that works with the curly hair theme, but I was in a summery mood. Opinions are welcome.

A Short Update

Well, it's over. I'm an official college graduate.

My hair was looking pretty good for a while. Then I went outside (it was really humid). Then I was put in a small room with a thousand other graduates and no air conditioning for an hour before the ceremony. It looks pretty good here after that experience.

I was thinking about changing the name of this blog since I'm no longer a college curly. But I don't think "Ramblings and Rantings of an Unemployed Curly College Graduate" has the same ring, so for now it will stay as it has been for the past year and a half. If you have any ideas, let me know!

Hair's been looking pretty good lately, if I do say so myself; all thanks to pink boots and KCCC. But I figured it was time to try some new products. I can't even remember the last time I tried something new and reviewed it here. I just put in an order to Curl Mart for Kinky-Curly's Spiral Spritz and AG Re:coil. I read some good things about KCSS. I know that Re:coil has magnesium sulfate and protein, but I think I need a little bit of them. And I do tolerate protein better in warmer weather.

Anyway, I will hopefully get that package soon and get some reviews coming!

100th Entry

To celebrate, here are some recent pics. Still trying to figure out the picture situation for graduation announcements. This was the lovely combo of pink boots & KCCC.

(It was windy!)

Wind

is not a curly girl's best friend.

Shipping LOL

So my package from Sally's just got here.

I mentioned that it came really fast and my dad asked where it came from.

So I looked.

It literally came from one hour away - in the same town as my college.

No wonder it only took two days!

Goodbye, 2009!

This was a great year for my hair (and I realize how ridiculous that sentence sounds to those not obsessed with their hair)!! I learned a lot, found my HGs, and even formed some friendships along the way! Here's a general run-down:

- I started this blog. I know it's not directly related to having good hair, but I was able to document my journey and I read old entries all the time to see which routines worked well for me. I wish I had done it when I started CG!

- The year started out with some pretty weird hair. Oblivious to my porosity and what it meant product-wise, I had done a lot of damage in December by using shampoo bars and not giving my hair enough moisture. I was also recovering from sinus surgery and unable to give my hair the care it needed. There were nowhere to go but up!

- I got a Sedusa for Christmas and was totally unable to conquer it! I gave up after a few tries and getting into a fight with it. It's still sitting in my bathroom, waiting to be used. Now that I'm motivated, my hair is too short!

- I bought a jar of Pink Boots from a curly traveling abroad and discovered my new love! I don't use it as often as I would like (mostly because I shower at night and it makes my hair too soft to carry a curl the next day - maybe that can be my new challenge?), but when I do, my hair is soft, curly, and complimented on all the time!

- Had a lightbulb moment and finally figured out my texture/porosity and how that plays into my product choices, thanks to the great discussions on Tiffany's blog and over at nc.com.

- Developed the Modified Pineapple. I use this every night when I'm not planning on bun-ing it the next day. I've modified this a bit since my hair is shorter (and have been meaning to update that post! I guess I can do that now that my laptop has been fixed!) and it works great, especially since I'm at the point where I get multiple-day hair regularly.

- Finally mastered the art of flax seed gel (both making it and using it successfully)! For some reason it only works well during the colder months. We broke up in the spring. Here's another thing I need to try again now that it's colder!

- Following my break-up with FSG, I decided to try KCCC again. I had tried it in the fall with limited success. This time I knew more about porosity and hit the jackpot with this stuff! I tried it in mid-March and have used it almost every time I've washed my hair since then! It is the ultimate HG and I use so little of it that it is also my cheapest! I bought a new jar in May, thinking I would run out soon. Haven't even finished my first jar yet! Can't live without this stuff.

- Figured out that my hair HATES oils (with the exception of my beloved coconut oil). More than it hates protein. I think this was one of the most important things I learned this year, right up there with the texture/porosity lesson. It was after figuring this out that I was able to find my HGs.

- Things have been pretty mellow for my hair after finding my HGs, but I did learn how short is too short for my hair in terms of curl-age. My cut in March rode that line, but my September cut totally crossed it. Almost four months later, I don't feel like it's grown that much and I'm just barely starting to get my spirals back. I don't think I'll ever cut it that short again.

Well that was exciting! My 1-year blog anniversary is coming up as well - crazy! Here's to a great hair year in 2010! Thanks to everyone for reading and giving input on the important curly issues!

Starting Over...

... kind of.

It's been about two weeks since I've worn my hair curly. No, I haven't gone to the dark side and straightened - I've been bun-ing it. This was partly due to laziness, partly because I shampooed and needed to recover with some DTs, and also because of the car accident I was in on the 16th that left me with bad whiplash. It hurt to bend over, which also seems to be about 75% of my curly routine!

I just washed my hair and am currently plopping (should probably start diffusing before it gets super frizzy!). It feels so nice to be back to normal in my hair routine! I even went over to nc.com and did some posting - it's been a while since I did that too!

I'm hoping to get my curls back to normal soon and continue to maintain it during the next (and last) semester of school. I was pretty run-down by the end of my observation days at the middle school and did not do my hair curly as often as I would have liked. Going into full-time student-teaching, I'm going to keep it a priority!! (fingers crossed though, lol).

A Curly Moment

Last night while co-washing I found a bobby pin hidden on the back of my head!

I have no idea how long it was in there (a few days at most).

Ah, to be a curly...

I Love My Curls

So my hair is in much better condition, made even more awesome by the return of my clumps AND spirals!! It's been almost two months since I've seen them! Guess I figured out the limit of how short I can go.

It makes my heart happy :)

Here is my "regular" routine, for the record:

• Co-wash: V05 Sun Kissed Raspberry Balancing Conditioner (less than $1, Kroger)
• Rinse-out: Generic Value Products Matrix Biolage Conditioning Balm ($5.99, Sally Beauty Supply)
• Brush through GVP CB with Denman D3 ($9.49, Sally Beauty Supply)
• Scrunch upside-down, clip up for a few minutes
• Turn the water as cold as I can stand it, flip upside-down, gently scrunch conditioner out underneath the water, then turn it off
• Leave-in: quarter-sized amount of Kinky Curly Knot Today ($12, NC.com)
• Scrunch out water once on each side - upside-down, left, and right - with a flour sack towel (Bed Bath & Beyond, $9.99)
• Scoop out dime-sized amount of Kinky Curly Curling Custard (now $30, NC.com; also have bought at Ricky's with discounts)and scrunch in upside down using pump-and-scrunch method (I scrunch 8 times); repeat for left and for right
• Plop for 5 min a most in Curl Ease Towel ($19.99)
• Using pump-and-scrunch method (again, 8 scrunches - I'm OCD apparently), apply Aussie Instant Freeze Sculpting Gel ($3.99??, Target). I'm very thorough in applying gel because it's probably the most essential styling product I use. I apply dime- to nickel-sized amounts upside-down, leaning to the left while upside-down, leaning to the right while upside-down, back left while right-side-up, back right while right-side-up, front right, and front left
• Correct part if needed (usually don't, my hair is pretty good about staying parted throughout the washing process)
• Plop for 5-10 min in another flour sack towel
• Diffuse pixie-curl-style until crunchy and mostly dry. I do this very similarly to the way I scrunch in gel. I do four sections while upside down, just to "set" the curls. Then I lean to the left and diffuse in sections - usually top parts, followed by bottom parts. After everything feels mostly dry on that side, I'll flip to the other side in case I missed something
• Flip head right-side-up and shake gently
• Clip roots (though this is probably in vain) using duckbill clips - I use four; two for back, one for each side in the front ($4, NC.com)
• Spray lightly with Garnier Fructis Curl Shaping Spray Gel ($3.49??, Target)

This takes anywhere from 45min to an hour. Most of my time is spent diffusing, but I pass the time reading books or magazines. I mostly shower at night now, so I usually wait an hour before scrunching a little and putting it up in a modified pineapple - of course I usually shower late; if I am proactive and wash earlier, I wouldn't do this until right before I go to bed.

Modifications:

• If I'm washing during the day, I like to use a very small amount (less than a pea-size) of pink boots curl creme (bought on the swapboards) AFTER KCKT and BEFORE scrunching out water

I've had most of my products for a long time. I bought KCCC over a year ago and still have a third of the jar left. I even bought a second jar in May because I thought I'd be running out soon. So I have backup for the next two years and I didn't spend as much as I would now. And it works out to pennies per use!

Here are the rest:

• KCKT - 6 months
• GVP CB - 2 months
• V05 Raspberry - 1 month
• Aussie Instant Freeze gel - 1-2 months
• Pink Boots - NO IDEA! I bought it almost a year ago and it doesn't even look like it's been used. Pretty sure it'll last forever

Deep Treatments:

• Coconut Oil (just got it for $13 for a BIG jar at whole foods, but you can find cheaper)- I've had the best luck with this. It's the only oil my hair seems to like. I apply to either plain damp hair or damp hair covered thoroughly with GVP CB, leave on for an hour or two. Mostly used during the colder months, when my hair dries out more easily
  

Hair towels are essential for me. I can definitely tell the difference between using a t-shirt and using a hair towel, just by looking at the frizz factor.

I know a lot of curlies have to switch up their products. For whatever reason, I haven't had to. In fact, when I try this I end up with poor results. I had a lot of trouble figuring out what products to use. It wasn't until I knew my texture (coarse) and porosity (high) that I figured out what ingredients my hair likes, what products to use, and what methods to use. I had KCCC for six months before realizing it worked best when I squeezed some water out. My hair absorbs water like crazy, so I have to be aware of that when applying products.

I follow this routine because it works for me. I get at least 2nd day hair, usually 3rd. I sometimes experiment with new products on the weekends when I have nowhere to be, but generally stick to this product routine (always the methods!).