Routine Update

I just wanted to post a quick update on my routine. I'm still waiting for my LCLF hair analysis results, but have already changed my routine a bit from what's listed under the "My Routine" page.

My HG co-wash for the past few years has been V05 Moisture Balancing Sun-Ripened Raspberry conditioner. That's changed. Even though it's a light conditioner, it's all moisture and no protein. For the past month I've been using the V05 Moisture Milks Strawberry and Cream conditioner for its protein, but again, it's not working for me. I've finally switched to the V05 Silky Experiences Champagne Kiss and I think I found a good fit. I used it a few years ago because I loved the smell, but the protein at the time was too much. Now it's fine, and I still LOVE the smell!

It smells so good (and the protein doesn't hurt either)!

For the past few washes, I've also been using this as my rinse-out. I think GVP CB may be too heavy for me, although I haven't stopped using it for my Spritz & Condition.

In addition to changing my co-wash, I'm not really following my HG routine. With higher dew points and a need for less moisture, I've ditched my beloved Pink Boots curl creme. I was using KCCC but have recently been rotating a few other styling products I've been testing. I've had mostly good luck with CK - hair looks AWESOME at first, but tends to lose curl as the day goes on - and am currently testing a new batch of homemade FSG with agave nectar, seamollient, and added protein. It's been about half an hour but I have a lot of shrinkage right now.

That's it for now - will update soon (and hopefully with my LCLF results!).

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!

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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.

The Grass Really IS Always Greener...

Coarse. Highly porous. Sounds like every curly's nightmare, right? Hair that is continually dry, with a plethora of ingredients and products available that would just make things worse. Some of these ingredients, like protein, would help in one area (porosity) but hurt in another (straw hair, anyone?). It's like you can't win.

I always thought I had it worse than everyone. I think it was because I was "banned" from using these ingredients and products, and that my "hair idols" at the time all had fine, low-porosity hair (i.e. "All I did was add this product with "banned" ingredients to my routine and my curls are perfect!") Even in the explanations for each texture and porosity, it was always "watch out for this, this, and this. If you have normal hair, congratulations! You can use just about anything!"

It seemed like that would be much easier to deal with. Here I was, unable to get my hair properly moisturized, while so many other people just had to make sure their was protein in their products and they were good to go. I had to lower my standards in the winter months, because moisturized hair (and scalp) wasn't something that was realistic for very long.

Fast forward to now, when my hair has gone into full rebellion. All the rules have changed and I have NO idea what to do anymore. I think I'm still pretty porous. My hair's not really super fine, though sometimes it acts that way. Suddenly none of my product staples are working well, short of KCKT and KCCC. Even my low-poo that worked a few months ago has gone out the window.

Example: I did five protein treatments this week. Yes, you read that right. FIVE. In a WEEK. If you had told me six months ago that this would happen, I would have asked what you were smoking. This is crazy. Nevermind that my hair didn't even get it's protein fill until the fifth one. This whole protein/moisture balance thing is ridiculous.

Right now my hair is responding well to co-washes (albeit one with protein) done more often than I used to. It also likes the KCKT and KCCC combo, both during a routine and for second-day hair. I'm still doing the Spritz & Condition with GVP CB and using it as my rinse-out. I don't know if that's still my HG.

I just don't have the time and money to do this again. It's like starting CG at square one, and I thought I already did that. I almost wish my hair was super coarse again, because at least I'd know how to deal with it.

The grass really is always greener on the other side.

Hopping Off The Bandwagon

Remember a few weeks ago when I told you that I had discovered a new love for sulfate-free shampoo, but would continue to alternate with co-washing?

Yeah, that didn't happen. Oops.

I started a full on love affair with my shampoo. And while it is true love for my scalp and shampoo, my hair is starting to feel like the third wheel.

I went to a job fair yesterday. My hair looked great in the front. Flat and a little scraggily in the back. Not exactly impressive to potential future-employers.

Co-washing will commence immediately!

Curly Updo: The Fishtail Bun

I'm not someone who is accomplished when it comes to braids. I can do your normal three-strand. I know how to do a french braid, but my execution isn't exactly presentable. That's about it.

The fishtail was something that looked really hard when I stumbled upon it in December, but luckily it's somewhat easy to do. I say somewhat because it was a lot easier to do for Christmas when my hair was a lot longer with less layers! Now it's a little more challenging for me, but curls can really pull the messy look off, right?

I made this up as I went along, but here's a video that resembles what I did (though I used a lot more bobby pins!):

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Start with an unintentionally messy fishtail braid.

Wrap into a bun and pin well!

Notes:

• I stole this flower from my sister - I know it doesn't match my dress but I still think it looks pretty.
  
  
• I kept some of the front pieces out of the braid and pinned them back after I had made the bun to give it more of a romantic look.
  
  
• I used what felt like a lot of bobby pins to pin the bun back. That might just be because my hair is thicky and heavy. I actually took the braid picture after the bun fell out the first time! Next time I'll probably try the trick she used in the video.
  
  

Love it? Hate it? Let me know! If you have any updo ideas, please post below. I love trying new looks and am still searching for the perfect one for my sister's graduation in June!

Curly Updo: The Flapper

This is a new feature: the curly updo! I've been wanting to do this for a while, and I've been searching the internets recently for updos since my sister's prom is coming up soon. I found this one today and decided to do it myself so she could see what it looks like in person. It really reminds me of a flapper from the 1920s, so that's what I'm calling it!

The great thing for us curlies is that it literally takes five minutes and maybe ten to fifteen bobby pins to complete this look. That's it. I don't have any bows or flowers for my hair, so I substituted a gift wrap bow.

Here's the how-to:

Here's how mine turned out:

Notes:

• It was really hard to not make it super-short. For some reason my hair really wanted to shrink when I condensed the curl and tried to pin it.
  
  
• This was done on second-day hair at the end of the day, so yeah, there's frizz. I was also in a hurry and didn't spend a lot of time perfecting the back. I'd definitely make it more presentable for an event. I do like the messy look though.
  
  
• [Adding to this a few days later...] I think this would work best on hair that still has styling products and some hold. I slept on a cotton pillowcase with my hair down and lost all the hold my hair had. It was a disaster when I tried to do this again.

What do you think? I think I'm going to re-do this to perfect the back.