Getting Back to Normal

Just a quick update to say that my hair is pretty much back to normal. I had an AWESOME hair day on Sunday, which was even better because it was my sister's confirmation and all of our friends and family were there. I washed on Saturday night and used only KCKT, KCCC, and Aussie. I was worried because it was still a little wet when I pineappled to go to sleep that night, but it worked out in the end! I'd post a picture, but I don't think I have a good close-up. But I had awesome clumps and spirals, with curl all the way to my root!

I've been washing every-other day for the past two weeks. This is when that whole porous thing does not come in handy - my hair has been very dry every second day. They dew points haven't been as high as they were, so I think that has something to do with it.

I got BB's Smoothie conditioner the other day. I've only used it once, and I'm not sure how I feel about it. I'll use it again today and update later.

* Edit *

I don't usually take pictures with flash because I think it makes my hair look curlier than it really is. I couldn't help it this time though!

Clarifying (Again)

So after discovering the oil build-up problem last week, I clarified with a sulfate shampoo. Things were kind of weird Sunday and yesterday, so I clarified again today. Then I co-washed with Suave Green Apple, conditioned with GVP Conditioning Balm, scrunched in BB's FSG, blotted, and scrunched in some KCCC. I haven't used BB's FSG in a long time, way before the dews went up. I figured it was worth a shot, especially since my hair doesn't look it's best after shampooing.

I was actually really surprised. I had some nice ringlets while diffusing. It didn't last as long as I would have liked, but that could be because it took a long time to dry and I didn't use a super-hard-holding gel (crazy, I know!). So here's how it turned out:


I know it's not my best, but this is really good for hair that was just shampooed! I have tons of clumps and very minimal frizz. My roots are pretty flat - I'm wayyy overdue for a new clipping method. I ordered some of BB's Smoothie conditioner, and if that doesn't come in tomorrow I'm heading to Sally's to get some more GVP Conditioning Balm and new clips.

I'm also making my way into the world of homemade products. I haven't had time to do Jess' routine, and I'll be moving back into a dorm in three weeks (soo not cool!), so I need something that's easy to travel with, meets my skincare needs, but also is non-commercial. I ordered a book that also included haircare recipes, so we'll see how that goes! With the success I had today with FSG (the first since... the end of February?) I'm going to make my own FSG concoction as well. I'm pretty excited. And who knows, maybe I'll be the next BB (hey, I can dream. Especially with the year of student-teaching - and no income - I'm about to embark on!).

Done!

Yeah, I know, it's been forever. But the semester is finally over! It was a rough last three weeks, so it's definitely a relief. And as my brain and sleep suffered, so did my hair. I had so many issues, from regular frizz, to being super soft on day 1 and super dry on day 2, to frizzy when wet. My scalp was dry and itchy. It seemed to take forever to do my hair, and when I did it just sucked. Low-poos, vinegar rinses, and baking soda didn't help. I had no idea what was going on.

So I got some help from the boards and discovered that it was most likely oils building up on me. It makes sense that it would be super soft on the first day and then dry on the second, since moisture couldn't get through. I did a sulfate on Wed night and slept overnight with some Suave in. Didn't get around to washing again until today (checking out of my dorm yesterday was a PAIN). It doesn't look great, but that's to be expected with sulfates.

I don't know what I'm going to do product-wise. I'm pretty much out of AOHR anyway, so nothing will be wasted there. I may go back to what I did last summer, which was just Suave, Aussie gel, and sometimes CK or FOTE. That's what I used in my profile pic at the top. The dews are in the 70s and I honestly don't know what I'm supposed to do. I know CK and FOTE worked great last summer, but all this "don't use humectants in high dew points" or "use anti-humectants" is boggling my brain (which is still in recovery, lol).

So that's that. I'll be updating more often now and I have some experimenting to do, so things will be better!

Lazy Days

I feel bad I haven't been updating this as regularly as I used to. A lot of it is that I'm just not doing my hair as often as I did. The end of the semester is turning into a rush of projects and papers (oh how I wish I could relax like that dog!!). I have six days of class left and then three finals the second week of May.

I've been really tired. Doing my hair everyday takes a lot out of me. It's takes about an hour from the minute I step in the shower to when I finish diffusing, and then at least an hour and a half before it dries all the way. It's been feeling more like a chore lately than something fun to do. And as a consequence of that, my scalp has been acting up. I used Flowermoon's Dairy Whip on Sunday but it didn't help much. I might have to low-poo over the weekend.


And while I was comfortable with KCCC and a new routine, the dews have reached the 60s. I realized that I haven't been using many humectants. My curls don't last and I get frizz. So I'm going to start experimenting with CK again and possibly looking into anti-humectants. CK worked well last summer, but I have no idea what the dews were and I've since become sensitive to many ingredients, so I don't know what to expect.

I got to use Ohm's Avocado Custard on Sunday. I really liked it! I used a very very small amount to SOTC. It wasn't greasy like KBB cream and my hair was soft and defined. I know I need to use it more than once to make a decision, but I'm glad it worked well once and I got it for more than half off!

I do have some KCCC pics on my other computer that I need to upload, so I'll do that this weekend. I've been doing some updos, so I'll try and post pics of those too!

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!

KCCC & Pink Boots

I tried this combo out for the first time on Saturday. I had heard good things about it and wanted to see how well they played together so I could possibly use it for Easter Sunday (more so for impressing my curly cousins than for the whole Easter thing. It sounds bad, but the few times I'd seen them in the past couple months my hair had looked like crap - and they have BEAUTIFUL curls without even being CG!).

After applying a leave-in (Curl Junkie's leave-in), I blotted moisture out and applied a thin layer of pink boots. It was about the amount I would use on its own - barely covering my hands when emulsified. I scrunched this in the usual way (I do everything à la mysteryflavored, including diffusing). Then I scrunched in KCCC the same way. Plopped, scrunched in Aussie Sculpting gel, plopped again, diffused, and clipped.

We actually ended up going over to my aunt's house anyway to do an Easter egg hunt because we were getting bad weather on Sunday. And I had about forty-five minutes in between when I finished diffusing and when we left. So needless to say, I was worried. I usually have at least an hour and a half before I scrunch the crunch. I had diffused on high power a bit, which I don't normally do. I'm having trouble figuring out how much water to blot out of my hair. It's easy to over-do it, but so easy to not get enough out. Saturday I ended up getting just the right amount out.

It ended up looking really good! It had some hold, but the pink boots made it pretty soft. I also do the icequeen method, so I had root curl and spirals everywhere! My cousins really liked it and we did a high-five for curls, lol. So I was very happy with it.

I did the combo again today and did not have as good results. I think most of it is due to the blotting issue. I guess I have more experimenting to do to figure out how much to get out. I took out too much water, and I think pink boots may have soaked up some as well. By the time I got to the point where I needed to scrunch in gel, my hair wasn't squeaking when I scrunched. So dry! I attempted to wet it down with a spray bottle, but that didn't do much. So I ended up with some fluffy curls in the back. And any hold that I had sort of dwindled by the end of the day.

I tried using CJ Curl Fuel Spray at various times to save it. I have learned that if I use too much, even if not at once, this stuff can turn on you. I get a greasy, build-up feeling. Like right now, I'm having the urge to go co-wash. But I'm experimenting with doing my hair in the morning right now, so it'll have to wait. For some reason, and it may be related to dropping an unneeded medication, I get about six to seven hours of sleep now. I wake up automatically at about 8am every morning, where it used to be 9:30am. Now that I have time in the morning, I can actually do my hair. My sleeping methods hadn't been that great with KCCC, so this works out.

So the overall verdict on KCCC + pink boots: Good, but I need to experiment more. If you want soft curls, don't need mega hold all the time, and happen to have both of these products, give it a shot. Otherwise you might find that it's not the best.

I've also heard good things about mixing them, so I may try that at some point. Right now I think I'll play it safe and go back to just KCCC.


Oh, and as for my previous post - I did make it through my wash routine, including diffusing. I was actually surprised! Then I got to make-up time and I literally could not lift my right arm. It was crazy! I'm still not sure why it was the right, since that's my dominant arm. I guess it could be because I haven't used those muscles in a long time. I marched cymbals in high school and left arm is more dominant than right. I woke up Saturday with pain in both that lasted all through Sunday. I'm so excited to play again when I get home though! I like punching for some reason (loved Tae Bo!).

Lesson Learned: Boxing?

Today's lesson:

Don't do 20 minutes of advanced boxing on Wii fit just prior to washing your hair.

I can barely lift my arm. It's a co-wash day AND it takes about 15 to 20 minutes to diffuse. I'm a goner.