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:

 

No hair goodies for 30 days

One NC.com thread posed the question: how many conditioners do you own? My response? A whopping 21 cowashes (Suave, VO5, and Freeman conditioners), 31 rinseout conditioners (stuff from B2B Jasmine to Jessicurl WDT), and 10 leave-ins (I most likely have more but didn’t want to embarass myself even more with the total number). Yeah. So I decided to join the other curlies on this thread and have a self-imposed ban on hair products for the entire month of July. I vow I will not buy anything hair related for the 31 days, 744 hours, 44,640 minutes, and 2,678,400 seconds that make up the month of July.

I have enough conditioners, cowashes, gels, cremes, mousses, and heck, even shampoos to justify not having to purchase products for more than a year. What fuels my decision is the fact that a lot of the other products on my “to try” list are either 1) pretty all natural so having them sit in my cabinet or drawer would be a waste, or 2) something I would have to order online so the shipping cost is something to factor in. I see it as a great opportunity to try each product I’ve been hoarding and finding out what combo works and what doesn’t.

Now on to the new styling method. I’m still liking it. I actually tried a half-assed version of sectioning my hair and it turned out surprisingly well. Still some pulled out waves, but a good amount of definition. The photos that I uploaded onto my Fotki look frizzier than it really is. (Oh the woes of taking photos of dark hair at night).

 

Fine combing it

So yesterday I tried zigazaga’s method. My first attempt was a bust. I did my usual routine but tried to comb in sheam upside down. Yeah….I don’t recommend trying that because after I flipped upright, my hair decided to act like a shelf. I tried to make the best of it but when I took it out of the plop, it was just WAY too stringy.

I hopped back into the shower and did a quick cowash and rinseout. I then combed in ky jelly upright running my fingers in after combing. I scrunched in two dollops of bold it! and re-plopped. I was fully prepared for it to come out hellishly ugly; it was a hot day so putting my hair up wouldn’t cause too much grief. Especially since it’s rare for me to go out with my hair up now.

The SO and I had plans to catch Wall E so I diffused for just 5 min and air-dried the rest of the way. I wasn’t sure how my hair was looking so I high-tailed it to the theatre restroom. I was pleasantly surprised: the combing resulted in even distribution of the KY jelly so there wasn’t one rogue frizzy section sticking out like a sore thumb. The clumps were pretty nice albeit a little skinner than usual. I’m coming to terms with the fact that the new haircut doesn’t result in major clumping like before because it’s all broken up with layers.

I definitely think this is something I’m going to toy with a bit more. I tried it out today and I really think the combing helps break things up a bit to allow like to stick to like i.e., the shorter layers aren’t tangled up within the longer layers. Also, I definitely like the even distribution of product. The only drawback to this method is that my waves are a little more pulled out than usual. I don’t mind that so much if it results in less frizz.

I’m realizing that my hair is definitely meant to be wavy. No amount of scrunching or diffusing can make my hair curlier than it’s meant to be. One thing that lead to my acceptance is this: doing a google search on “how to deal with wavy hair” brought up so many you tube hits of women with straight hair using curling irons to get the waves that come naturally to me.

 

I tried to make it work, I truly did.

I think I’ve given angell a chance. Yes, it’s just the second time but I can already tell this is going to be a very short relationship. I did my usual cowash and rinseout, but today I applied 2 golfballs worth of angell instead of one. As Keyonna from Capella Salon said, “If you think you applied enough, you need to apply more.” Considering the lightweight consistency of angell, I don’t see how you could go wrong with more. I really scrunched in the shower to make sure the gel was well distributed and then plopped. Once I took my hair out of the plop, I was underwhelmed: it looked just like my hair after plopping with no product. Sucks.

I know I said I’d try angell on its own, but with the disappointment I could see in the mirror, I didn’t think adding more angell would miraculously fix things. And so, I unceremoniously scrunched in two 1/2 dimes worth of bold it! I diffused and clipped as usual and could see that the left side of my hair – the side that is usually the most well behaved and wavy, was lifeless. It wasn’t frizzy but it just wasn’t as wavy.

It’s about 3 hours later and my hair is already dry. There isn’t too much frizz, but again, there is no definition. I will give angell one more shot and then it’s back into my cave of products. Maybe I’ll give it another go when I switch conditioners, but I definitely won’t be expecting much.

 

Angell, I wish I could love you

I can’t get over how yummy the scent of this gel is. It’s light, absorbs easily, and isn’t sticky. And did I mention the smell is just to die for? Unfortunately, it’s downfall is in its nature: it’s too light for my hair. I’m starting to get the feeling that my hair responds well with lighter gels. I get more volume and bounce, which is just what I got today with Angell. However, Angell just doesn’t have enough hold.

I cowashed with suave, rinsed with yes to carrots, and scrunched in a golf ball’s worth of angell. My hair seemed to soak it up. I kinda already had the feeling that I might not get the hold I’m looking for, so I scrunched in two dimes worth of the garnier bold it! I was a bit impressed by the clumping I saw after taking my hair out of the plop, but after diffusing and getting ready to clip, I noticed that the waves seemed pulled out.

I didn’t have much time today to check how my hair held up because work is just getting stressful and busier than ever.

My end of the day verdict? Definitely try more angell. I didn’t experience much frizz, it was more a lack of definition. The waves framing my face did seem perkier than usual, but the back of my head was sorely lacking.

 

Thanks 100 degree weather for ruining my experiment

Let me start of by saying IT’S DAMN HOT. It’s about 104 outside right now. I had to go shopping for my sister’s birthday gift and the minute I step outside, I can feel my skin burning. Nice.

Today I cowashed with Suave, rinsed out with yes to carrots, and applied two 1/2 inch ribbons of SheaM. The bold it wasn’t really doing much for clumping, so I figured adding my favorite SheaM would do something. Afterwards, I topped off with about 2 nickels of bold it. After scrunching in the gel, I could tell that there was already some clumpage. I scrunched with my flour sack towel and then plopped for about 10 minutes. I diffused, clipped, diffused some more, and tried to air dry. I was in a bit of a rush because the SO and I made lunch plans and I some other errands to run. Despite the heat outside, it’s relatively cool in my place, so I try not to turn on the ac unless I just can’t take it. That said, it wasn’t that nice trying to air dry my hair. My back was getting damp and the gel was making my hair stick to my back. The result was that the bottoms started to get frizzy as I was air drying. Well, I sucked it up and headed out into the 100 degree weather with my 1/3 dry hair.

Fast forward to 3 hours later and my hair is in a bun. As much as I loved the waves I got, I just couldn’t take the extra heat generated from leaving my hair down. And so, I can’t tell how the SheaM and GF bold it experiment turned out. I’m home now with the ac on and my hair down, but it’s just a mess. My hair is soft, but I can’t tell if the combo was a success or failure. At least there’s tomorrow.

 

Garnier Fructis Style Bold It! Endurance Gel Extreme

I’m not bowled over by this gel. It’s pretty dang thick and sticky so applying it to soaking wet hair is still a bit difficult since my hair sticks to my hands. One plus is that it seems to make my hair dry faster. Today I cowashed with Suave tangerine, rinsed out with yes to carrots, scrunched in aubrey organics mandarin magic jelly (not liking this gel), and then topped off with GF bold it. It’s now about 3 hours post application and there’s definite crunch but still some frizz. I’m not sure if the frizz is from the AOMM, GF, or yes to carrots. I’ll be using the bold it for the rest of the week, so we’ll see if my opinion changes during that time. As of right now, it doesn’t have repurchase potential.

Ah, yes to carrots. The thing that I don’t like about it is that while it does provide good slip and doesn’t have a cloying scent, when I rinse out I can see individual strands. My hair just doesn’t want to clump together with this conditioner.

Thank god for the nc.com swap board! I GOT RID OF MY HEBE BOTTLES!!!!! HUZZAH!!!!! Turns out that they don’t carry herbal essences in Belgium. Anyhoot, all 4 extra bottles are now on their way to Sofie in Belgium for her enjoyment. I’m so glad the hebe is now out of my hands!!!