Productless

Happy February! I just got my hair cut tonight (a trim - my ends needed it badly!) and as usual, left with wet, productless hair. It was almost dry by the time I got home.

I'm not really in the mood for washing and doing the whole routine. I was going to straighten, but I'm tempted to just leave it like this for tomorrow (minus the frizz). Most people who ask about my hair seem to think it has magical properties because they have "bad" hair that "doesn't cooperate" and "could never look like that." This would show them! Oh the power of a good gel and diffuser...

Behold: The Power of Protein

Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year! I know I haven't been updating as much like I wanted to - things have been unbelievably busy this month. This is the first week I've been able to sit and take a breath!

For the past few months, I've been experimenting with protein treatments. I started making my own after reading the thread by IAgirl on NC during the summer. I love that you can customize it easily. Mine is very basic, but works unbelievably well. I never thought that protein would be a big deal for my hair (what with a sensitivity and all) but now I can't live without it.

There's a point every two or three weeks where it becomes very apparent that my hair needs a stronger shot of protein. This week happened to coincide with a much needed low-poo (while I've dropped the sensitivity to protein, I haven't been as lucky with oils, which are prevalent in SS FHG and Darcy's coiling jelly). So I washed with a low-poo (Organix), toweled off with a few flour sack towels, and applied my treatment.

Here's my recipe:
1 packet of gelatin mixed with about half a cup of boiling water. While it's cooling, I add about a teaspoon of ACV and three or four drops of neutral protein filler from Sally's.

After I apply, I blow-dry it on high with medium heat until it's pretty crunchy. Then I continue the washing routine as normal, except I usually use a heavier rinse-out. This time I used GVP Conditioning Balm (didn't want to use anything with oil in it).

My hair usually doesn't look much different on the day of a PT, even if I use all of my regular styling products. I think I used CJ Pattern Pusha and my old Aussie Instant Freeze. I had some ok curls, but not a lot of volume.

Then I washed again yesterday. I don't have any recent pictures on my phone, but my hair is about four inches below my shoulders when dry and six inches when wet (closer to BSL). I haven't gotten a haircut since early October. I was definitely not expecting this:





This is styled with Spiral Solutions Firm Hold Gel (love love love this!), BRHG, and CJ Curls in a Bottle! I also used V05 Silk Champagne and GVP CB. I know these aren't the best pictures and I should have waited longer, but I was very excited (these are just after SOTC).

I love this! It feels like I got a haircut. I'm definitely going to do protein treatments more regularly! Do you make your own PT?

Curl Junkie Curls in a Bottle!

Price: $18 for 12 oz. I believe I purchased this last spring at aveyou, so I got some sort of a deal with good shipping.

Claim: A lightweight liquid styling gel/serum with a light hold. Adds shine and helps to tame frizz. Also enhances and defines curls.

How I use it: I've tried this a few different ways. In the beginning, I was thrown off by the reference to being a gel. I tried to use it like I do all light-hold gels - as a curl enhancer. This doesn't really enhance. Next I tried this as a 2nd day refresher. It didn't help much; it actually hurt. It made my hair hard and more straight. I've tried using it after diffusing a while to help set gel; all I did was end up SOTC, which made my hold disappear and hair look horrible. Lately I've been using it as a serum after I plop with BRHG and right before diffusing.

Pros:
* Helps cut down on frizz
* Adds a little shine, at least in the beginning of the day
* Smells nice
* A lot goes a long way; like most CJ products, this will last a while
* It's working well in the winter (the season I figured out how to use it!)

Cons:
* No enhancement
* No hold
* I've only found one way to use this, and I'm not sure it's something I need to use

Final Thoughts:
This is good for someone who has problems frizz or dull-looking hair. I wouldn't use this if you're a wavy-curly looking for enhancement, because you won't find any here. The bottom line is: Do you really need a serum? And should you spend $18 on one? I'm not really a serum person - I never was one before I went CG. I think cold water works really well for me to reduce frizz and add shine. I probably didn't need to buy this product as it's just ok for me.

(Blogger is being weird, so hopefully this uploads and looks ok! If so I'll be adding some more posts in the coming days!)

I'm Back!

I know, I know... I've been a bad blogger...

I'll be making it up to you in December with a few reviews....

When Shrinkage Goes Bad

For some reason, I've got kind of a Victoria Beckham thing going on in the front. You can actually see my ear! This is why curly hair should not be cut wet.

This is my first attempt to use Spiral Solutions Firm Hold Gel. I wasn't sure how much to use, so I ended up using very very little amounts and in the same manner I use CJ Aloe Fix Lite (3x on wet hair, 2x blotted, all before gel). I'm doing my research, but suggestions are appreciated. I do love the way my hair smells though.

Co-wash: V05 Champagne Kiss

Rinse-out: GVP Conditioning Balm (still dry from a PT)

Stylers: Spiral Solutions Firm Hold Gel, BRHG

Summer HGs

With the weather beginning to change (finally!), I think it's time to share my HG products of the summer. Yes, I realize that it's officially been fall for a month and that most people have been experiencing cooler weather for longer than that. But we're still having 80+ degree days, so it's more summer than fall here! So these are the products that I could not live without, especially in the 100+ degree weather that we had for months on end.

Favorite Summer Co-wash & Rinse-out:

V05 Champagne Kiss Conditioner - No brainer, I've been raving about this for months! It's moisturizing enough to use as a rinse-out, but light enough to use as a co-wash. It's cheap, so I don't have to worry about how much I use. It smells AMAZING, which is great because of all the products I use, the co-wash is the one that my hair usually smells like at the end of the day. And bonus: it has protein!

Favorite Curl Enhancer:

Curl Junkie Aloe Fix Lite - This is a bit on the expensive side, but I've been using generous amounts of this for months and still haven't finished it yet. It's the first product I've used with what I'd call "flexible hold" - it doesn't have enough hold on it's own to keep frizz at bay, but works great as a curl enhancer because it does have more hold than say, a curl cream. It keeps it shape after scrunching the crunch, but leaves my hair soft and touchable. I love it! I use about five dime-sized amounts every wash. It plays well with pink boots, almost like KCCC used to. Definitely repurchasing.

Favorite Deep Conditioner:

Curl Junkie Curl Rehab in Strawberry - I had an issue with a mild protein overdose in early July that left my hair dry and crunchy. I used this conditioner as a rinse-out and had probably the best hair day I've had all year. So of course I promptly took it on vacation and left it at my grandparents' house. I am contemplating another order from AveYou and will be adding this to my cart! Since my hair is fine now, I won't be using this often and even then not a lot. So barring any trips to the East Coast, this will last me a long time.

Favorite Gel:

None. That's right, not even BRHG. Back when I first used this stuff, I was in love. It didn't take very long for the honeymoon to end. I like the level of hold this gives me, but I really don't like the de-clumpifying and skinny curls. It literally takes away clumps that have already formed. Skinny curls don't work with my hair because they always end up wonky. I'm still using this because I prefer the hold level over the Aussie gel, but I really wish I could find a way to use this and get great clumps without having to use pink boots every time. My hair can't take that much moisture.

That's it for me! I'm excited to try new products now that the weather has changed, but also to see which of these summer HGs continue to work in the cooler weather. What are your summer HGs?

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.