Sheam + generic KY + La Bella Super Spikes gel = VERY bad hair day

I’m still trying to figure out if a conditioner containing a small amount of cocobetaine really does help produce volume at my roots and provide for an all around better head of hair. With that, I’ve been trying the CWC method (condition, wash with a shampoo, condition) in lieu of purchasing more Freeman conditioners. My SO would have a fit if I bought more cowashes….especially considering I’ve got probably 12+ VO5 conditioners in my stash. My SO does like VO5 as a conditioner, but I’m sure it would take him at least 3 years or more to go through that amount.

On Saturday, at my SO’s house, I washed with activate shampoo, conditioned with loreal nutrigloss for wavy hair, and applied JCRR mixed with easy straight, and biotera gel. The result was less than spectacular. While my hair wasn’t super frizzy, it was also limp, too soft, and looked weighted down.  

Yesterday, I cowashed with Giovanni 3T conditioner, rinsed out back to basics jasmine, sprayed in a generous amount of Oyin Juice and Berries, scrunched out excess water with my curlease, and scrunched in some FOTE AVG. Bad hair day #2. Soft hair, but a marked lack of wave boosting and definition.

Today’s disaster is courtesy of CWC using giovanni 3T conditioner & dudu osum, b2b jasmine rinsed out, sheam & KY jelly combed in, and la bella super spikes scrunched in. Wow. Just…wow. Amazingly bad hair. I think I may not have used enough gel but then again, if that gel is truly supposed to hold anything, 2 cupped palm sized globs should be more than enough. When I took my hair out of the plop, I really couldn’t feel any of the gel. I wasn’t sure if it was a good thing or a bad thing. 5 hours later, I realize it’s a bad thing. My hair looks so bad it’s up in a bun right now. Prior to that, my hair was frizzy with no definition to speak of. There was absolutely no hold because my hair felt just like my hair – it was as if I just applied a leave-in and went sans gel. It was even to the point where I bemoaned my bad hair day before my SO and I even left the house for work today. Luckily, my lovely SO is willing to take the gel offender off my hands. He uses the green la bella gel so it shouldn’t make much of a difference. As long as I never give him a protein-containing gel, he’s set.

 

I truly love you SheaMoisture

Today I shampooed to get rid of all the buildup I’ve been feeling with the biotera gel. I poo’d with Dudu Osum, rinsed out a generous helping of ytc, and combed in a dime’s worth of sheam mixed with ky. Even while scrunching in the mixture, I started to notice increased clumping. Scrunching in some Fuzzy Duck gel mixed with a dollop of spike it increased the clumping. My hair dried pretty quickly in this heat and resulted in boosted, clumpy waves. I’m definitely liking the fuzzy duck gel but I’m LOVING SheaM.

 

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:

 

Finicky hair

I was due for a shampoo today so I used my SO’s rejected shampoo: dudu osum natural shampoo. Ingreds: Pure Honey, Shea Butter, Osun(Camwood), Potassium Palkernelate(derived from Palm Nut), Sodium Palm Kernelate (derived from Palm Nut), Glyceride, Aloe Vera, Lime Juice, Lemon Juice, Neem Oil, Tea Tree Oil, Water and Fragrance. I purchased two bottles of it for him from Honeyfig.com because I was sure it had to appease his finicky hair. I was wrong. I’ve had him try practically everything under the sun, but his hair is just too picky.

First off, some background. My SO was using Head and Shoulders with success, but the sulfates were breaking him out on his back and ironically enough, his shoulders. He used Giovanni’s tea tree triple treat shampoo with promising results: his spots were clearing up and he didn’t have any flakes. We named it a success until one day when he didn’t shampoo; the flakes came back. Strike one.

I then had him try a chagrin valley shampoo bar in rosemary mint. It was touted as alleviating dandruff and being all natural, I thought this had to be the solution, right? WRONG. I received the chagrin valley package the day before so I was all excited to use the shampoo bars, too. We both had flaking like none other, his worse than mine of course. Strike two.

He went back on the giovanni in hopes that the flaking was just a fluke, but his scalp was never the same. I suffer from seborrheic dermatitis at the base of my scalp and after using Nizoral several times on it, it disappeared. Ever since then, I’ve been co-washing with low shampoos every 3 days. Since it worked for me, I figured my SO would benefit from it, too. He tried cowashing one day and we were both thrilled because it seemed to moisturize his scalp well, there weren’t any flakes, and I couldn’t smell his scalp at the end of the day like I usually did. Next day? AWFUL flakes. Strike three.

You’d think after three strikes my SO would have refused to be my guinea pig, but keeper that he is, he agreed to a couple more tries. I’m thinking the results we’ve seen with his skin were the driving force. Trial #4 involved the aforementioned dudu osum. The ingredients looked good so, again, I figured it had to work. He wasn’t too keen on the scent – a tart, almost chemical fragrance which is odd considering the ingredients. The first day of use seemed promising but things just went downhill after that. 0 for 5.

So now he’s using Nizoral with the giovanni on off days. We’ll see what happens but I’m keeping my fingers crossed. If it doesn’t work, it’s back to H&S. At least we found out what does work for his skin: good ol’ benzoyl peroxide.

Now…where was I? I used the dudu osum, walgreens condish, zerran leave-in, and two jawbreaker globs of hebe followed by jessicurl confident coils styling solution. The combo was mediocre at best. The waves didn’t seem as clumpy as the hebe followed by loob combo and the clumps seemed to separate even as I was applying the ccss. When I took it out of the plop, I was underwhelmed. The waves were really pulled out and thin. I diffused and let it air day and once I scrunched the (slight) crunch, it looked a little more promising, but still nothing to write home about. On a side note, I think that jessicurl may be reaching repurchase status now I’m not getting much frizz with it.

The surprise of the day is Scunci magic-grip hair pins. These suckers are amazing! Just two pins and my hair is up in a messy bun but it feels secure. What a steal for $4.99!