Allergic to Suave

Sorry I've been MIA for a while. Between school, visiting family, and an underwhelming birthday, I've been busy. In hair news, the repeated use of BB's Smoothie has finally built up on me. My hair is frizzy when wet and not curling as well as I know it can. It only has a small amount of palm oil in it, so I'm now weary of all oils. I was thinking about taking advantage of the 4th of July sales and getting some of the CJ DT, but I really don't want to spend that much on something that might make my hair look worse. Thankfully I have not used any of the samples I got from KM. That would have been a waste.

I'm so in need of conditioner right now, it's crazy. I'm out of V05, so I used Suave Lavendar for yesterday's co-wash. BAD IDEA. I stopped using Suave conditioners a few weeks ago, thinking it was contributing to my allergic reactions after getting out of the shower. I was right. By the time I had finished co-washing yesterday, some hives and red patches had popped up on my back. I'm not sure what it is about those conditioners (maybe a preservative?) but it's bad.

I'm also out of a rinse-out - well technically I have some of BB's Smoothie left, but I don't feel a great need to finish it. I wish I liked it, but unfortunately I don't. I think that about Jessicurl as well. Sigh. But I've been meaning to pick up some GVP Conditioning Balm for a few weeks now (!) and just haven't gotten around to it. Today or tomorrow for sure!

And of course, I'm thisclose to being done with my first bottle of KCKT. It lasted six months - that's a good thing right?

Off to do some shopping - happy 4th, everyone!

PJ Adventures and an Update

So I thought I would update since it's been a while. I'm still having good hair days with KCCC, so long as I wait at least an hour after diffusing to SOTC and my hair still has some moisture in it when I apply gel. Temperatures have been in the 80s/90s (hot!) with dew points in the 50s. I have great clumps and I'm soo happy I finally figured out how to get KCCC to work for me! I need to take pictures one of these days (or at least get my computer fixed so I have a webcam at school!).

I came by two great PJ deals today that I couldn't pass up. It's been about a month since I bought anything (hair-related at least!), and I've been diligently using up conditioners that I've had for a while (finally got through a bottle of Suave Green Apple I bought last July!).

First, Aziza is having a sale on Ohm Body Crown of Glory Hair Custard. It's usually $18 but currently going for $9. Plus there is a 15% discount for anything you buy - coupon is OOPS. So with shipping, it was still $4 cheaper than the original price! I've never tried it before, but at that price I figured, why not?

Next, someone posted a thread on nc.com about Ricky's giving out coupons in NYC. I had never heard of them, but then someone else posted they have a 25% discount going on at their site right now. The coupon is DAILYRICKY. I figured I'd stock up on KCCC. The discount brings it to around $20, but with shipping it would be the same as the original price. So I guess it's like getting free shipping. They do have a free shipping offer if you spend at least $49.

It's funny, I've bought a few books and makeup stuff the past few weeks (nothing super expensive) and had it sent to the house. So whenever I go home on the weekends, I have at least one package. My dad told me that I must be supporting the economy all by myself! I think he's just jealous of all my packages!

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.

Loving my FSG

So lately I've been avoiding BB's FSG in favor of my own. Yeah, I know. Part of it is because I haven't been overly excited with the results the two times I've used it. And the rest of me is so happy with my own that I don't want to experiment with anything else. Yeah, I KNOW!

Here's today:

And of course, the pictures I took don't reflect what it looks like in person. The bottom one is as close as I got. These are with Suave Ocean Breeze (co-wash), GVP Conditioning Balm (rinse-out) and some Aussie Scultping Gel - as usual! It's a great combo!

I did break out of my FSG shell tonight. I needed to make a new batch, so I decided to add some honey to the first bottle. My other bottle is in the dishwasher, so I'll make the second batch tomorrow. I'm contemplating getting some golden flax seeds tomorrow. I need to go to whole foods anyway (I'm jumping on the Beauty Secrets of the Bible bandwagon to see how that works before ordering some more GOW products).

I'm in desperate need of a haircut. Will hopefully get that scheduled soon.

Temps today were in the mid-fifties with dew point of 44. Which is crazy (but of course, not surprising), because yesterday it reached the NINETIES. Dew point was almost SIXTY!

The Law of Curly Hair - Reversed?

So as you curlies already know, there are a few laws of nature concerning curls.

These include:

• Taking a picture of your hair to document it and realizing it looks much better in person
• Showering at night, only to have it turn out amazing (and you know it won't last to morning!)
• Finally getting the "it" product that EVERYONE has been raving about, only to find your hair HATES it!
• Leaving the house with a good feeling, only to come home that night and realize it looks horrible - and with no way of knowing how long they lasted

These are just a few, and I'm sure you have many more to add to the list.

But today I've experienced one of these laws in reverse - something that rarely happens.

I pretty much left the dorm feeling horrible about my hair. I hadn't had time to wash it last night or this morning, and it was in a gross-looking pony tail. Luckily one of my classes got out early, so I rushed back to wash before my next class. It looked ok as I was leaving, but nothing special. I was acutely aware of it during my last class, feeling it was more wavy than curly.

Then I got back and took this picture:

Are those CURLS? Here's what it currently feels like:

I'm not kidding. I don't understand. I co-washed with Suave Ocean Breeze (whom, by the way, has NOT sent me a coupon for a free bottle!), rinsed with KBB Nectar, applied BB's FSG, my FSG, some Aussie SG, and at the very end BB's butter. There were some ploppings in there somewhere. I clipped a little differently, so the curls around my part are reminiscent of pin curls. Not sure how that happened either.

It got up to 77 today with a dew point of 49.

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.

I got in a fight with my Sedusa...

... and I have the scar to prove it! How ridiculous is that? Here's what happened:

I co-washed and rinsed with Suave Ocean Breeze (which smells awesome! This week was the first time I've used this "flavor"). Then I rinsed with cold water before scrunching in a little FOTE and my newly received Pink Boots. I plopped for about five minutes in a flour sack towel, scrunched in some Aussie Sculpting Gel, then plopped for another five min in my Curl-Ease. When I took it down to diffuse, it was looking really good! I had great clumps and some volume. I haven't had good hair when wet in forever. So this was definitely a good feeling.

I first diffused with my finger diffuser to get the roots dry. This took maybe two minutes. Then I switched to the Sedusa and things went downhill. Here's what I've realized about the Sedusa:

1. I can't plop it all in and dry. All of my hair will fit in it, for the most part, but it dries weird. And I don't know how long to dry it.

2. The Sedusa works better with high heat at a high speed. My hair loved it the other day. My dryer, not so much. I wasn't about to test it and see if it would still shoot sparks out, so I diffused with high heat at low speed. It would have worked out ok, except...

3. The Sedusa pulls out curl when it's not dry enough. I plopped a section in the bowl and turned it on for a bit. Then I decided to switch sections. I turned it off and attempted to remove the bowl. Sometimes curls get stuck in the curly do-dads. Usually my hair is dry enough and will come out easily if I shake the diffuser gently. The problem is that my hair wasn't as dry as the Sedusa wanted it to be. So it wouldn't come out when I shook it, and I had to pull it out. And my curls stuck and transformed from a few beautiful ringlets into frizzy and weird-looking waves. Not cool!!!

4. Overall, the worst thing about the Sedusa is that I can see there's potential. I just have to figure out how to reach it. And that's frustrating.

So then I decided that the Sedusa probably works better after hair has been diffused for a bit. There's less chance of catching hair and I get better curl formation. I attempted to pull the attachment off. Now, the attachment does fit on my dryer. The problem is that it gets super hot and expands. So not only is it super hot, it's hard to get off! I couldn't do it with my hands, so I decided to try with my legs. I put the dryer in between my legs (luckily sweat pants protected me from the searing heat that was the Sedusa)and clamped down, for lack of a better word, on the Sedusa, pulling the dryer out in front of me. The only problem with that is that I was bent over. So when the diffuser finally came off, I hit myself in the chin with the end of the diffuser! It even knocked off the thing on the end of the dryer! There's a patch about an inch long that looks like it's bleeding under the skin.

Sigh. And I knew it was going to be an awesome hair day! I did finish diffusing with my finger diffuser, but I don't think that saved it much. It's clipped and air drying right now. So we'll see how it turns out. I think finger diffusing followed by the Sedusa will work out best for me. I wish it was easier to figure all this stuff out!

So there's my post. The weather is freakin' crazy here, so I'm a little confused as to what to use. I wanted to go simple, and for the most part I have. I think the Suave/FOTE/Boots/Aussie Gel will be the most/only products I'll use. Except we had a lovely warm front for the past few days (80 degrees with a dewpoint of 60!)... and today was in the 40s with a dewpoint of 16! Definitely not making it any easier.

I'll probably update tomorrow with the results of some more investigations. I'm trying to figure out my overall texture and porosity, and then what to do with that.

Oh and shoutout to Amy! Thanks for the lovely compliment!