It's My Two-Year CG Anniversary...

...and I didn't even notice until I saw my join date on nc.com like five minutes ago.

I must be getting old.

Here's what my hair looked like last night.

And here's what it looked like two years ago.

Woohoo...

Going Back To Oils

If you read this blog regularly, you probably know that I developed an aversion to oils in hair products last spring. When I use a product that contains an oil that I don't agree with, I have very soft hair on day one, followed by very dry hair each subsequent day until I wash again. The soft hair is very much like overconditioning; my hair doesn't really hold a curl and it feels gross. It takes a sulfate to get my hair back to normal. Needless to say, I don't do oils.

Except for coconut oil, that is. Coconut oil is the one oil I have been able to use regularly. It easily penetrates the cuticle, so it doesn't build up easily. It leaves my hair soft, but that's it. Curl formation is intact and there aren't any subsequent dry days following a coconut oil treatment.

During my most recent hair crisis, I reread some articles and thoughts on different oils. This article from the Curl Chemist does a great job at explaining the structures of various oils and how we can use them successfully.

At that point I knew I needed more moisture. I decided to experiment Jessicurl's Weekly Deep Treatment, which contains avocado oil. Structurally, avocado oil is very different than coconut oil. Coconut oil is comprised primarily of saturated fatty acids. Avocado oil has some saturated fatty acids, but is mostly unsaturated. It even contains polyunsaturated fatty acids, which cannot penetrate the cuticle at all. I'm not sure why this seemed to be ok for me. Perhaps because it is close to the bottom of the ingredients list. Or maybe my hair didn't absorb as much since it was applied to wet hair. I also "sealed" in the WDT with some coconut oil. Maybe that helped? I have no idea.

I don't plan to use much of anything with avocado oil or any other polyunsaturated fatty acids in the future. But I do want to start incorporating products with oils back into my routine. It's been really hard to not use oils, especially when I'm already not using protein (although that isn't true at the moment; I'm really like SalonCare's Honey & Almond Conditioner).

My next experiment with oils will be in the form of Karen's Body Beautiful Super Silky conditioner. In the fall of 2008, KBB was all the rage at nc.com. Of course, I had to try. And at that point I was handling oils and protein just fine. My favorite scent is Jasmine Lily. I just found a bottle that's almost full and it smells sooo good! It does have jojoba oil, but it's farther down the ingredients list. And it contains more coconut oil. I have second-day hair today, courtesy of pink boots and more KCCC than I usually use, but I will try this out tomorrow!

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!

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.

Closing in?

I think (or hope?) I'm closing in on the reason for my hair being un-curly lately. I was home sick all day yesterday and had an opportunity to do a lot of reading on nc.com and through Tiffany's ebook. At first I thought I might need less moisture in this summer heat, but a quick test of that proved me wrong.

Here's what I'm thinking:

1. I need a haircut. It's been nine months. My hair is still relatively healthy (no split or damaged ends), but my layers have all grown too much and it's affecting my volume.

2. I need MORE moisture. I haven't been washing regularly (maybe 2 times a week) for the past month or so, so it makes sense. Plus, I have a history. Read this. And I quote:

Which means my hair isn't getting the extra moisture that it NEEDS because it is porous... I've been burned by this before, so you would think I would know what I'm doing by now...

Seriously? I feel really stupid right now. The entry is even called "lesson learned." Ugh.

I dont' think I've ever been more thankful for my blog. At least this time I have a record of what my hair has done in the past.

3. I need protein. It's been a long time since I used enough of this stuff. My balance is off.

So this is what I will be working on.

Other interesting things I read about:

• Supposedly KCCC doesn't play well with oils?? Someone mentioned it in passing on a post last year and I couldn't really find anything to back this claim up (then again, I was on a different mission so I didn't go looking for it that much), but could this be why I don't handle oils well? I used to be fine with them until last spring, which coincidentally also happened to be when I started using KCCC regularly.
  
  
• I reread (and apparently absorbed the info because I didn't remember this) this article about oils. I do well with coconut oil which is saturated and easily absorbed by hair. So I'm thinking about experimenting with other oils that are similar in structure. It sure would open up my product usage abilities.
  
  
• I gave up Jessicurl's WDT last year because I thought it had a LOT of oils in it. Turns out it doesn't. Huh. Good thing I'm getting back into deep conditioning!
  

Revisiting the Product Graveyard

I started my hair journey almost two years ago, and in that time I have come across a lot of products that haven't worked all that well for me. Some were flat-out duds; others work well for certain times of the year, or during certain hair conditions. Most of these were relegated to The Product Graveyard, only to be brought out once in a blue moon.

Lately, my hair has been (to my standards) kind of blah lately. Look at the last pictures I posted of my hair. Now look at that great picture to the right. Quite a difference, right? That's what my hair looked like when I first started CG. That's what I want to get back to. Heck, I'll even take the curls I had in my 100th entry if it's on a consistent basis!

My first thought this morning was that I needed some protein, and maybe a harder-hold gel. Once upon a time I tried the L.A. Looks Gel and hated it. It was chock full of protein and I'm pretty sure that's why I cast it into The Graveyard. So I went looking for it.

I didn't find it (I think I gave it to my brother, so I'll be digging through his old stash next), but I did find some of the products I used when I first started expanding the collection.

Elucence Moisture Balancing Conditioner & Biotera Curl Creme

(I also found the bag containing my ayurvedic herbs!!
And an almost-full bottle of CK!!)

I did the usual Spritz & Condition with GVP Conditioning Balm. After getting in the shower, I did a vinegar rinse, scrunched in some Elucence, and clipped it up for a few minutes. Rinsed upside-down in cold water. Scrunched out some water, scrunched in KCKT and one pump of Biotera. Scrunched out some more water and scrunched in KCCC. Double-plopped and used Aussie's Instant Freeze gel.

It looked REALLY good coming out of the shower and after I finished diffusing. Curls everywhere and with volume. Then it finished drying and I scrunched the crunch out. Now, not so much.

Not sure what's up. I'm thinking I need to cut the Spritz & Condition and switch to a lighter conditioner. Temps are high 90s to 100s with dews in the high 60s. I ordered the Honey & Almond conditioner and Ecostyler gel from Sally (20% off code from retailmenot), so that should be here soon!

Anyway, here are some pics after scrunching the crunch:



I have not abandoned KCSS or Re:Coil. I just haven't been able to post pictures (missing camera cord and all). I guess I'll continue to post poor-quality webcam pics like the ones above.

KCSS hurts my head to think about. It seems to make everything soft. When used in a shower routine, it simply dissolves any hold my gel gives me. It's not like it gets rid of frizz or anything either. I'm experimenting with smaller amounts since KCCC works better for me in very small amounts. It doesn't work for SOTC or just taming frizz. So I'm not sure what to do with it yet.

I've used Re:coil twice. The first time, I didn't use enough gel or something because hold was minimal and I had ridiculous amounts of frizz that could not be tamed. The second time was better, but I still had surface frizz and not a lot of hold. I know Jessicurl's products do the same to me, so it may just be that I can't use magnesium sulfate at all. Another possible candidate for the graveyard (or curly cousins who read this, we'll see).