My Diffuser

This is an entry I've been meaning to do for a while, just because my diffuser situation is unusual (as you can see!).

My diffuser is made up of three parts: a Revlon 1875 Ionic ceramic dryer, a universal adapter for the Devafuser, and the diffuser attachment from a Vidal Sassoon dryer.

Here's the story: When I first went CG, I had an "old" Revlon diffuser that had gone unused for about three years. I started using it and it lasted about four and a half months before it started acting up - it wouldn't start and if it did, it would be really hot. So I bought a new dryer (on a budget) and stupidly threw out my diffuser attachment along with the defective dryer.

The diffuser attachment for my new dryer was not at all like my old one. The old one had longer fingers. These were barely existent. I was not getting the curls I was used to.

At this time, I bought a Devafuser attachment from a member on nc.com. It did not go so well. I need REAL fingers to scrunch my hair up to the root to help set/form my curls. The Devafuser doesn't do this at all for me. So into the cabinet it went.

This summer I bought my mom a new dryer for her birthday. Her's was what I would consider a hazard. We have no idea how long she had it, but it had to have been at least eight years. The label had worn off. It looked primitive and dangerous. So I got her a new one. This one came with a diffuser attachment. She has short hair, so it was donated to me. Luckily it has the long fingers my old attachment has! Unfortunately it did not fit onto my dryer. That's where the Devafuser adapter came in and how my diffuser came to look like this!

Pink Boots + KCCC = True Love

I just want to reiterate my love for this combination. It gives me perfect curls every single time. The ringlets I saw tonight gave me flashbacks to the good old days!

There's nothing like getting done with diffusing and knowing it's going to be a good hair day... or will if it can survive overnight in a modified pineapple! Here's to hoping it lasts and I can use it more often!

Slowly Getting There

Here's a quick update with a picture of today's hair. There are all these hints of ringlets at the bottom - I wish they'd hurry up and grow! But overall my hair is in better condition than last week.

It's funny, I wore my hair down and curly once this week and was asked by at least one person in every class if my hair was naturally curly! This isn't the first time I've been in there! I was there for eight weeks in the fall! But they liked it and I felt special, so it was ok :)

I used my usual routine (Spritz & Condition included) and added in some pink boots (love).

Today's Hair

A wavy day. After two shampoos (yes, you read correctly), I guess that's all I can expect. I do wish it would HURRY UP AND GROW, though.

I also tried a new clipping method (the one used by misfitcurls). There was a little lift on the upper sides/crown area, but overall my hair is pretty flat. I'll chalk that up to shampoo too!

It's in a double-modified pineapple right now. I'd take a picture, but somehow I lost all but two of my mini-jaw clips, so it's not pretty. Seriously, my clips only travel between two places: my room and the bathroom. Not sure how they keep disappearing. I think they're running away!

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).

Shampooing Tonight

So due to circumstances beyond my control, I've come to the point where I am forced to shampoo. I've been trying to clear up my problems with brown sugar scrubs, but I don't think that will work. Which is ok. Even though I'm CG, there are going to be times when I need to shampoo.

The problem is that I can't use a low-poo. The only ones I have are Giovanni low-poos and they have oils in them. So I will be using Suave's Clarifying shampoo.

I haven't shampooed since late June/early July. Usually it takes a few weeks for my curls to bounce back, but I think last time I did a pre-poo treatment with coconut oil and that helped immensely. So I have coconut oil in my hair right now and hopefully that will help!

This is my last week of school. I'm making up four days of classroom observation at the middle school. So no real work, but I do have to be out of the house pretty early. Looking forward to next week when I can wash during the day! I have had some product samples sitting around for a few months that I need to try!