Laziness…

Creative title. Yes, I’ve been pretty bad with the updates but there’s a bit of a lull at work now so I thought to update.

Again, there aren’t any pictures and my descriptions are brief but I just haven’t found the time.

Two weeks ago I decided that AOHR was too heavy for the mild temps we’ve been having here in SoCal so I broke open my bottle of devacare one c. The texture is nice and creamy and it smells (to me) like orangesicles. In the shower, I was surprised that small amounts help detangle like a dream and provide the right amount of moisture for me upon rinsing out. That being said, I probably won’t repurchase as I’m none too fond of DevaCurl’s practices as evidenced in Jillipoo’s blog and the NC.com forums nor am I fond of the brushing off  Miss Massey gave. I would think it extremely unprofessional, if not illegal by FDA standards, to mislabel products just to save some cash/trees by printing new ones. Not only that, but if your products and philosophy helped to “revolutionize” the curly hair industry, wouldn’t you think it incumbent upon you to ensure that you aren’t misleading nor alienating your customers?

The past few days I’ve been dealing with less than stellar hair due to a run in with a GOD AWFUL gel by the name of got2b spiked up. Not only does it smell like embalming fluid but its ingredients probably match: Aqua Water , VP/VA Copolymer , Glycerin , PVP , Carbomer , Oleth-20 , Aminomethyl Propanol , Panthenol , Benzophenone-4 , Disodiium EDTA , DMDM Hydantoin , Parfum Fragrance , Butylphenyl Methylpropional , Linalool , Hexyl Cinnamal , CI 42090 Blue 1. Absolutley NOTHING natural in here except for the water and glycerin which, heck, you can find in a ton of other gels. I only used it twice and just had to chuck it; I wouldn’t even let my SO try to use it up it was that horrendous. Since then, my hair has been stringy and frizzy so I’ve been toying with some of my natural product samples from kathymack in hopes of returning my hair to its normal state.

In line with the title of my post, I’m pretty much copying and pasting product combinations and results from my Outlook notes albeit with a little bit of spackle to hide the bare bones of it all.

04/22-vo5/devacare one c/afroveda custard/giovanni+spike it: pretty good definition; amazing ripples (rather than waves!) up to the crown; good hold but there was frizz by COB.

04/23-vo5/devacare one c/afroevda pur whipped gelly+curly custard/spike it+its a curl moisturizer scrunched in: good definition but with a bit of frizz, good ripples but not like yesterday

04/24-alaffia shea buetter and honey nourishing shampoo/devacare/zerran combed in/aussie sun touched+giovanni la: my waves were thin and fell apart my midday; however, there was a decent amount of volume unfortunately coupled with frizz

04/25-cowash/devacare/afroveda custard+gelly/aussie sun touched+giovanni la: not much wave boosting, decent amount of hold, my hair felt rough and a bit coated and greasy at the roots

04/27-honey almond poo bar/acv rinse/kbb milk/komaza custard/garnier fructis curl spray gel: no hold nor clumping, my hair repelled itself; I would never repurchase this gel

04/28- cowash/devacare/afroveda custard+zerran li over/gf spray gel+nexxus phyto creative sculpting putty: definitely do not like gf gel, however, the definition wasn’t too bad and there wasn’t any frizz, good amount of hold and crunch although my hair looked a little weighed down. The creative gel was light and absorbed well

04/29-co poo with alaffia shea & honey shanpoo+vo5/devacare/zerran/komaza/ remainder of giovanni and nexxus phyto creative: good crunch & hold, no frizz, good definition but flat midway up to crown with good waves at the bottom half, the hold diminshed by 2 pm with increased frizz

04/30-shampoo bar/acv/aloeba/afrodetangler li/loma achieve/used sheam to sotc-liked how achieve isn’t sticky, detangler pretty fluid,  good hold and crunch but experienced stringy waves, not much frizz, good definition

05/01-cowash/qhemet ghee/afrodetangler/komaza/got2b spike it: ugly, stringy, no boosting, hair repelled itself, mediocre hold, limp waves.

05/02-cowash/aloeba/afroveda/got2b spike it: frizzy, dry hair with no definition & boosting, bad hair day, god awful gel, dry hair that felt like a wig, gel completely laden w chemicals

05/04-aloe rid/wdt/ohm shp/ohm aloe: stringy, frizzy, not much definition, feel like wdt isn’t working on my hair, not much hold but incredibly soft hair.

 

Taking care of business

I have been pretty remiss with my blog as of late save for the Curls Like Us towel giveaway. After returning from my mini-vacation to San Diego, I had to deal with settling into my program’s new office space and catching up on work. Also, my SO just purchased a PlayStation 3 so he and I have been relaxing after work by kicking some ass on Marvel Ultimate Alliance.

My updates are a bit brief since I’ve just been using my blackberry in the interim to take notes on how my hair reacted to the day’s product combination.

VO5 cowash/oyin handmade honey hemp rinse out and leave in/kccc mixed with a little Sebastian hi contrast gel for hold: I used this combination throughout my stay in San Diego and I was pretty pleased. The honey hemp leave in provided a good base for the kccc and the mixture underneath the hi contrast gel gave me enough moisture but didn’t compromise the extreme hold of the Sebastian gel. I’d have to say that the hi contrast is a suitable substitute for another hard holding gel that’s often discussed on the nc.com forums: BRHG.

When I returned from my vacation, I toyed with KMS cranberry pepper gel by mixing it in with kccc and even using my beloved custard didn’t redeem the KMS gel.

My sample of aubrey organics B5 design gel from kathymack had been calling to me so I paired it with ky jelly after an AOHR rinse out and the result was a a somewhat straightened crown but nice clumping. I tried it another time with a kbb milk rinse out and even more ky jelly and was rewarded with amazing definition, good clumping and even more hold with a relatively easy amount of crunch to it for a natural gel. However, the hold didn’t last for much of the day since it started to loosen by mid-evening. In spite of this, I’m impressed enough to want to purchase a full-sized bottle.

Giovanni L.A natural styling gel on its own is not a winner in my book but the combo of giovanni with ky jelly definitely led to nice clumping, good definition, and no frizz.

I usually don’t have problems with product application on the back of my head since I do everything to ensure coverage by scrunching in upside down, side to side, and upside down again. However, I do still end up with a lock or two that refuses to go along with the rest of my hair and receive its dose of styling product. I decided to try combing in product again and achieved my goal but with skinnier clumps and not much wave boosting tagging along.

I experimented with afroveda pur whipped gelly and sally’s beyond the zone spike it gel and while the gelly helped to soften the massive crunch from this extremely hard holding  gel and aid in giving good clumps to boot, there was a fair amount of frizz to be had and my hair felt pretty dry.

Again, I experimented with combing in product so I used my Mebco detangler to comb in a mix of afroveda gelly with zerrran equalizer leave in upside down and then scrunched in giovanni+ky with a little bit of spike it to up the hold. After combing in the gelly+equalizer mix, I was less than enthused to see stringy waves mixed in with straightened pieces. My hair that day had good volume but skinny clumps.

This past Sunday, I broke out the Komaza coconut pudding sample from kathymack. I cowashed with my new VO5 vita burst revitalizing conditioner cowash in the nectarine orange surge scent and rinsed out KBB milk. I scrunched in the komaza anf followed up with kccc mixed in with spike it gel. After plopping, I scrunched in the remainder of my AOB5 design gel sample. The result was fantastic clumping, amazing wave boosting, yummy smelling hair, good hold, no frizz and softness. 

I gave in to peer pressure and and a 15 page thread (trust me, there are little nuggets of actual info buried within) and purchased an ION conditioning  hard hat dryer from Sally Beauty Supply…as well as the ION hair dryers. The first time I used the hard hat, I diffused for about 3 minutes with my old conair and Sedusa/devafuser set up, clipped, and sat under the dryer for about 20 minutes. I wasn’t much impressed with the results since it was also the day that I tried combing again and my displeasure with that experiment overshadowed anything the hard hat could have contributed.

On Sunday, I broke out the ION hairdryer diffused with the Sedusa and devafuser, clipped, and sat under the hard hat for about 15 min. The result was waves up to my crown with NO FRIZZ! And not only that, but I was able to SOTC about an hour after showering…after showering! That alone pays for the hard hat in and of itself. I’ve never been able to SOTC just one hour after stepping into the shower.

Today I cowashed with VO5 vitaburst, rinsed out kbb milk, and scrunched in komaza and kccc mixed in with aussie sun touched shine gel. After diffusing and drying under the hat, I scrunched out the crunch with a dab of Afroveda hemp seed lock and twist. My hair has some nice clumps going on, but the Afroveda might have been a tad bit too much moisture as there is a bit of frizz.

 

The amazement continues…

My hair 24 hours after cowashing with VO5 calming chamomile + a quarter sized puddle of CON (red), rinsing out NG rose and persimmon and zerran equalizer (my hair felt a tad dry after rinsing out the NG), and scrunching in 3 half dollar puddles of BB’s FSG with honey, mag sulfate, and vanilla scent.

I am really impressed by BotticelliBabe’s flax seed gel concoctions. I definitely did see more curl enhancement with this gel but I think my clumps were more pronounced with the agave version. I’ll have to look into trying honey, agave, AND mag sulfate…I wonder.

I noticed a ton of shine, a good amount of crunch, and great frizz control. Considering the weather was not my friend today – rainy, drizzly, and gloomy overall, the extremely minimal amount of frizz is mind-boggling.

 

Oh no….oh no…

I love SheaM; the scent, the texture, how soft my hair is when I use it. BUT, I’m not liking that it may not mesh well with my new routine (courtesy of zigazaga).

Today I used Freeman for a cowash, yes to carrots rinse out, sheam combed in, and aura gel. Usually, and surprisingly even with the GF Bold It!, whenever I put my hair to side to scrunch in the gel my waves are in pretty sizeable clumps that I can see. Today, however, the clumps were skinnier and straighter. When I scrunch gel into my hair with zerran, the clumps easily accordion and are soft; instead, with sheam, the clumps felt as though there was already some holding action.

My hair is still in clips so I’m hoping I end up wrong about SheaM. If I’m not, I may have another bottle up on the swap board.

ETA: I think I might have jumped the gun. My waves are a bit looser, but not as stringy as it looked when wet. Huzzah! I scrunched out the crunch with Oyin burnt sugar pomade (yummy foodie scent!)

 

The scientific method

So the last two days I’ve been using the scientific method to determine which product or combination of products resulted in the good hair day I had on Tuesday.

Tuesday’s concoction:

•  Freeman sea kelp volume conditioner for cowash
•  Yes to Carrots rinse out
•  Zerran Equalizer leave in
•  Aura Flaxseed Aloe sculpting gel

I loved how my hair felt and looked that day; nice, soft waves, no frizz, and good hold. I purchased the Freeman on discount at Ulta ($1.99) because it has cocamidopropyl betaine (a light cleanser that I don’t find to be harsh on my waves) in the ingredients.

 Wednesday’s concoction:

• Shampoo with my SO’s dud, Dudu Osum
• Yes to Carrots rinse out
• Zerran Equalizer leave in
• Aura Flaxseed Aloe sculpting gel

My hair still had nice hold and definition, but there was the frizz associated shampoo days. Granted, it wasn’t horrible, but it was definitely different from Tuesday’s hair.

 Today the melange consists of:

• Freeman seakelp volume condish
• Yes to Carrots
• Zerran Equalizer
• and yes, the mediocre GF Bold It.

My hair isn’t 100% dry but I already know that GF isn’t going to cut it. The waves look stringier and more weighed down. Yes, there is clumping, but there are also the rogue strands. Also, my hair doesn’t feel as soft.

I clipped and diffused pixiecurl style each day. I alternate between these two dryers: Conair Curl Fusion and an Ion Shine (my model is older so it doesn’t fold in). I like the Curl Fusion when I want something lighter. My only gripe is that the diffusing bowl is short so it can’t hold much hair. I like the bowl on the Ion Shine, but it is heavier.

I’m definitely liking the clipping method I learned from Keyonna at Capella. I notice a difference in volume at the roots. It is a bit “labor intensive” since I have to use a mirror to see the back of my head, but I really like the results. I haven’t counted the exact number of clips I use, but it’s two boxes (total) of these curl clips:

 

Aura flaxseed aloe sculpting gel

I like! I did my usual routine of cowashing and using a rinseout but today I sloppily sectioned off, smoothed in zerran equalizer leave-in and scrunched in 2 quarter blobs of aura. The result was nice definition, hardly any frizz, and great waves.

I fear that it’s practically one of the few bottles left in the world. The BSS I found it in only had two bottles left and both were heavily discounted. Hence, my purchase. I get the feeling that my hair likes the lighter, more liquidy gels versus the heavier, viscous, the blob-stays-put-in-your-hand type of gels – HEBE, GF Bold it!, I’m looking at you….

I’m still liking the fine tooth comb method. Save for that odd area to the left where it looks like I didn’t separate that big honking clump, I think it’s pretty good. Not as wavy as zigazaga’s but I realize my wave pattern is much looser than hers.

 

My first summer CG and I can already tell it’s going to be tough

It’s my first summer modified CG and I’m already getting a bit frustrated. Temps are high (95+) and there is no humidity or dewpoint to even consider. It’s just dry, dry, dry. I decided to phase out cremes because I figured the combo of creme+gel would weigh down my hair. So, I’m just using gels. I spent the weekend at my parents’ so I took my bottle of Biotera gel. With all the rave reviews on NC.com, I thought it would be a no brainer.

Saturday I cowashed, rinsed out yes to carrots, scrunched in two peas of zerran leave in, and topped off with three puddles of biotera. There wasn’t much clumping, but the biotera seemed to have good hold. I scrunched out about 2 hours later (only pro with the heat: shorter air dry time) and my hair was soft and wavy. Two more hours later and my hair was up with the scunci magic grip pins. The almost 97+ degree weather in Eagle Rock was RIDICULOUS!

Today I snuck a puddle from my sisters Johnson’s shampoo: Johnson’s Baby No More Tangles Shampoo+Conditioner, Straight Hair (yeah, I’m not a straightie like my sis but I was in need of a shampoo and the ingredients didn’t look too bad). Ingreds: Water, Cocamidopropyl Betaine, PEG 80 Sorbitan Laurate, Sodium Trideceth Sulfate, PEG 150 Distearate, Decyl Glucoside, Polyquaternium 44, Glycerin, PEG 12 Dimethicone, Fragrance, Tetrasodium EDTA, Quaternium 15, Violet 2 Blue, May Contain:, Citric Acid. I could do without the strong baby fragrance, but it was surprisingly gentle on my hair. I then rinsed out walgreens detangling, and scrunched in three puddles of Biotera. My hair was nice and wavy until I stepped outside. I’d swear my hair just deflates in the heat; I lose volume and the waves loosen up. I don’t know if this is something I just have to accept with the SoCal heat or if I just need to find the right product. Anyhoot, a pooh pooh to you, Mr. Sun.