Wash & Go Trials On Afro Coily Kinky Hair 10: Garnier Fructis Survivor Gel & Castor/AVG/Curl activator mix

I applied this to my wet hair with a LI mix of a dab of curl activator, Aloe vera gel & castor oil. My definition was on point with application. I even saw some grouped coils on my crown region which almost never coils/clumps for anything!
But man! When it dried, I was not ready for the CRUNCH!! My hair was HARD! 
In the mornings I would spray a glycerin/oil/water mix to re-shape my hair and it always suprisingly moulded back into place easily. I easily got 5day hair with this and could have easily kept going. The only thing is that my hair just didn't feel nice to touch initially. It felt hard to touch and would not scrunch out easily with just any oil. (After a few days it naturally relented it's hold). After this trial I resigned this gel for use only with very heavy leave-in conditioners or as a finisher.

Review: Garnier Fructis Style Ultimate Survivor Gel with Cactus Extract

This Garnier survivor gel is not for the faint-hearted it really does have an extreme hold
This gel is serious stuff. If you can't stand hard hold gels, I suggest you stop here.

Garnier Fructis Style Survivor Gel ensures 24-hour hold even in the most extreme conditions. Contains extracts from the cactus plant and a citrus fragrance combined with the non-drying formula keeps hair styled, strong and residue free

Smell: Light citrusy scent. I find it pleasant.


Price: 200ml for £2.50-£3.50 from ASDA/Boots/Tesco/Superdrug. Usually on offer 2 for 1 at Superdrug/ASDA

Texture: pearlescent opaque with a slight grey tone. Not sticky, mucousy or gummy. Almost seems to disappear between my wet palms as I rub them together


Ingredients: Aqua, Polyester-5, Glycerin, Niacinamide, Phenoxyethanol, PEG-40 Hydrogenated castor oil, PEG-70 Mango Glycerides, Triethanolamine, Limonene, Benzyl alcohol, Linalool, Propylene Glycol, Caprylyl Glycol, Acylates/Steareth-20 Methacrylate copolymer, Pyrus Malus Extract/Apple Fruit Extract, Sorbitol, Disodium EDTA, Citral, Citrus medica, Limonum extract/Lemon Fruit Extract, Opuntia Coccinellifera Extract/Opuntia Ficus-Indica Flower Extract,Amyl Cinnamal, Parfum/Fragrance (FIL C47405/1)
(Actual ingredients on my tubes. I have noticed varying ingredients online.)

Application on my hair: it went on quite tame-like, giving me no indication of its powers apart from showing me some serious coiling/clumping upon application.

This gel did not seem to have a lot of reviews online for women's hair not to talk of afro kinky coily natural hair. I reckon that it may not be considered by most ladies, as going by the video ads alone this gel appears to be  marketed and targeted to mainly men, or people wanting to create 'spiked styles'

 
Garnier Fructis Survivor gel is most likely one of the hardest gels I have tried to date. It claims to resist humidity and frizz and holds that promise.  Even after I went to the gym and had a rigorous sweat-fest my hair was still defined. Most gels would render my hair a straight up fro after a session at the gym. To put this into a better perspective for some ladies- this leaves Ecostyler gel -Krystal (hold 10) behind in the dust.

When it dries, the CRUNCH is CRAZY!! My hair gets very HARD! 
So hard that when I lay my head on my pillow at night I would hear my hair rustling ! In the mornings I would spray a glycerin/oil/water mix to re-shape my hair and it always suprisingly moulded back into place easily. I easily got 5day hair with this and could have easily kept going. The only thing is that my hair just didn't feel nice to touch initially. It felt hard to touch and would not scrunch out easily with just any oil. (After a few days it gradually relented it's hold).

Another surprising property of this gel was how it rinsed out extremely easily with just water from hair. My hair did not feel sapped of moisture or parched as I rinsed.If using this alone I'll be recommending that one uses a much heavier leave-in. (Do the combo test on hand for potential white residue)
The Survivor gel has indeed survived and gradually snuck itself into my styling routine as a 'top-upper'/finisher. Basically after I use most gels to style a wash & go. I apply a wee bit of this on the top of my crown to address the harder to define and easy to frizz areas.

I would really recommend this if you are serious about making your wng style last for ages.This gel would guarantee that longevity  If you want your coils/curls/kinks to stay controlled with military obedience then this gel will do exactly that for you..Plus a little will go a long way. Otherwise, If you can't stand the crunch then run!...... Far away as fast as you can. 

My hair with Garnier Fructis Survivor Gel.

REVIEW & COMPARISON ECOSTYLER GELS

I know there are thousands of reviews on the infamous ecostyler gel. But I thought I'd add my two cents on the variant properties of the majority I have tried. So folks curious about the other Eco-varieties will know how they compare...

Ecostyler is popular due to it's price per quantity, availability and efficiency (depending on what you need it to do..)

So here goes..

BLUE (HOLD 5) : Smells like men’s shower gel. You know that smell that companies feel they need to give ‘blue’ coloured sports-themed showergels/shampoos/conditioners. Yah. That one. It isn’t overpowering, so I don’t mind it.  It dries with some firmness and the slightest hint of a crunch with a light leave-in. Not sufficient enough to smooth down my edges for a pulled back style like a bun or updo. Life-span for wash & go styles is not as long as life-span for gels with greater holds of 7 -10.

 

PINK (HOLD 7): smells like tea-tree oil. I guess because it’s supposed to come with an anti-itch formula. Clearly has anti-itching agents in ingredients. So that comes through. Gives good sheen.

 

ARGAN (HOLD 10): my favourite scent of all. Sweet light “flowery-ness”. I love the scent! Gives great sheen to my hair infact gives the best sheen out of all the gels for me. Dries with a crunch for wash & go styles if layered with a light leave in.

 

CLEAR (HOLD 10): Doesn’t smell of anything that I can remember. Keeps edges down. Dries with a crunch for wash & go if used with a light leave-in.

 

OLIVE (HOLD 10): smells like men’s cologne. Gives good sheen. Keeps edges down. Dries with a crunch for wash & go if used with a light leave-in.

I haven’t tried the black version. Simply because I have no interest in it. My favourite gel is the Pink for it’s minimised hold but efficiency in dealing with my slicked back styles and Argan oil, for it’s scent.

The hold of the harder hold gels can easily be scrunched out with some oil/pomade or powder rubbed between the palms. These gels tend to give me fat clumps, which unfortunately frizz up in a couple of days for me.They are easy to rinse out in my opinion, infact I actually like the slimy feel left on my hair as it is rinsed out! Why? Because it aids in finger-detangling. I also think these gels are great for the CG method if you are trying that. They form a great gel-cast around the hair thereby protecting the hair from environmental elements.

What’s your favourite gel?

Review: III Sisters Of Nature - Curling Gelo (Comparable to Kinky Curly Curling Custard!) - Errr

Cost : £9.99
Availability: Ebay & Some Local Hair Beauty Stores.


Product Description

III Sisters of Nature Natural Curling Gelo helps to define and elongate your curls and enhance your hair's natural wave pattern.Formulated with all natural ingredients to give the best conditioning, strengthening, nourishing, softening styling treatment, the Curling Gelo naturally brings out the lustrous shine in your curls and waves.
Curling Gelo is very concentrated to give it that added value. The natural humectants inside the Gelo naturally extracts moisture from the air keeping curls/waves/kinks/knots/twists soft to the touch, moisturized, and healthy.


Directions
Apply the Curling Gelo to wet hair. Make sure to thoroughly shampoo and rinse hair. Use your fingers to apply the Curling Gelo all over your hair. Finger style to achieve knots/knaps/kinky/tight coils.

"Curling Gelo keeps your hair frizz free, leaves no greasy residue, keeps hair moisturized, and allows for long-lasting curls,waves, and twists."

Ingredients

Water (Aqua), Vegetable Glycerin, Polyquaternium 37, Polyquaternium 10 and PEG 14, Polyquaternium 7, Polysorbate 20, Sea Grape Extract (Vitis Vinifera), Argan Oil (Argan Spinosa), Avocado Extract (Persea Gratissma), Oat extract (Avena Sativa), Sage (Salvia Officinalis), Chamomille Extract (Anthemis Noblis), Bay Laurel Extract (Lauris Noblis), Phenoxyethanol (And) Caprylyl Glycol, Fragrance (Parfum).

Smell 
Sweet smell-like cotton candy


Texture

Like 'jellified' sprite/7up. It looks like Ecostyler Krystal - with the transparent jelly look.
It's lighter in texture than the former but more filmy. Infact very filmy.




On my hair
Since it claims to match up against KCCC, lets compare shall we?


Like KCCC
Smoothes onto my hair very nicely and even delivers a little slip. (like KCCC)
Excellent coil clumper. (like KCCC)
Gave my hair alot of shine (like KCCC)
Sweet scent (not comparable in notes to KCCC, but sweet all the same)
Goes white on application with most of my leave-in conditioners. i.e. TIGI cherry almond, Andrew Barton, EO conditioner (like KCCC)
Took a long long time to dry. (Definitely like KCCC!)


Unlike KCCC
Clear transparent look (unlike KCCC)
Filmy not slimy/goopey (unlike KCCC)
Smell is sweet, but does not smell like KCCC
This gives no hold whatsoever. Only one day hair achievable with some clumped coils, after that its all frizz.(not like KCCC, KCCC gives hold for a few days at least)
Not comprised of all natural ingredients, though some included.





To maintain and also because it still wasn't completely dry on day 1, I put my hair in a shower cap overnight. The next morning my hair was very "juicy". So mushy that the coils quickly dispersed into fluffy poofness when I attempted re-shaping. By the end of day 2. My hair was very soft. Problem is, I didn't like the film it left on my fingers every time I played in my hair.
This is nothing but another curl activator in my eyes. It defines like one, looks like one, feels like one and lacks hold like one.
It falls short of KCCC in a major way as it fails to deliver the hold /stiffness that partly renders KCCC one of the top natural styling gels. It also falls short on the ingredients. Packed full of polyquats.
I dunno what it is about the product, but every time I use it I just want to wash my hair immediately after. I think the last test would be to try it with some Eco-styler gel on top.
If you want major hold, then this is not for you. If you want softness, shine and sweet-smelling products  then this maybe the one for you.
You can find pictures of my hair with this product here.

Wash & Go Trials On Coily Hair 8: Komaza Califia Pudding & TIGI

Freshly applied on wet hair. Really pulls down the coils, partially eliminating shrinkage.

Damp, very little clumping.

Still damp.

80% dry. Still with visible brown patches.

Pretty much dry now

                                                                       Fin.
                                                                     

Product Review: Komaza Califia Styling Pudding, 1st Impression.

This pudding promises to define curls and eliminate shrinkage with dryness so I was intrigued, as I noticed that quite a few reviews by type 4 coily-heads only had good things to say about this product.I bagged this through a cross-Atlantic swap on a hair forum at a good price. Yes! :D

Price: £27.95 for 16oz/ £16.50 for 8oz at British Curlies.
Ingredients: Distilled Water, Shea Butter, Aloe Butter, Cocoa Butter, Sunflower Oil Dipalmitoylethyldimonium Chloride (A derivitive of Palm Oil) aloe vera, hydrolyzed collagen, acrylates, alkyl acrylates, Sodium Benzoate,Vegetarian Fragrance, Potassium Sorbate, Polysorbate 20, Cinnamom Cassia, vegetarian fragrance.

Smell: reminds me of Toffee.

Texture: definitely like pudding that one would eat. Or a lighter "nutella" It took a lot of resolve not to take a tiny bit and taste it! Smooth and very creamy.

On my hair: I think this product delivered. I used a light leave -in conditioner (TIGI love, peace etc) initially as I wanted to see what the pudding would mostly do by itself. Application was very smooth. Dafro seemed to gobble it right up. I smoothed it on from the roots onwards sparingly. Taking about an index fingers worth of product each time and applying to 0.5 inch thick sections.I say it absorbed very readily because by the time I applied the product from my roots to about half my length the product was gone. So I would scoop out more product and apply to the remaining half down to my ends. I wasn't too crazy about seeing brown marks on my towel. Where I had wiped my hands during application.

Pros: It elongated my coils and they almost dried looking the same way they did when wet.My "bangs" were not stiff but compliant and fluffy without being too frizzy?  I had a lot of volume on day 1 hair?! Smells really nice and seems to apply sooo smoothly!

Cons:  Towards the end of the day I still noticed, lighter brown patches on my hair. Maybe I hadn't applied it sparingly enough or the product just didn't dissolve as readily as I initially thought. Delivers no manner of shine/sheen/glint/sparkle. Nothing.

Now on day 2, I became really disappointed with this product. One, my hair felt soooo dry!! Two, All manner of little definition I got on day 1 was gone. My hair was a straight up Fro. (I don't have a problem with afros for aesthetic reasons but have a problem with them more for maintenance reasons. Frizzy coils = more tangles.)
                                                                                           



The bottom line for this product on my hair is that it didn't really define my coils, but almost eliminated shrinkage and kept the moisture in for a day only.


I think this is one product I would reserve for days when I want my wash & go to look very controlled but not too obvious. At least I know I would get a consistent result by the end of the day with this. i.e. leave it to dry with the assurance that Dafro would stay mostly controlled through the course of the day.With that said, I would not expect it to last past day 1 on it's own.
I am in the middle of the road with this product and nearly gave it away,but have decided to try it with AVG/castor oil mix and my beloved curl activator at a later date. So stay tuned... 
If you have any tips for making this pudding work, do drop them in the comments box.

Staple Hair Products For My Coily, Kinky Type 4 Hair Easily Bought On The Ground (UK)

I was thinking of following up my initial post March favourites, but thought that maybe redundant because most of the products in my March favourites are also in my April Favourites and will most likely be around for the following months. I have a few new additions, so let me know if you would like a more in-depth review if  there isn’t one already on my blog.

 It’s fun to try new products, but it’s important to have those staples you can fall back on when you can’t be bothered to experiment/just don’t have the time, suffered adverse reactions from past product experiments, are just done with product experimenting (a phase I go through from time to time) or simply broke! Lol.

For new naturals, I understand how expensive it can be to find moderately priced products that are easy to get and effective, I've been there. So for that reason, I would like to share my staples that have been chosen for being: 

1. Effective on my hair. (You know the saying, “What works for me and so on”)
2. Possessing moderate - cheap prices.
3. Easy to pick up on the ground. (Yup no shipping, online transactions. Attainable same day!)

So from L-R; 

Schwarzkopf Gliss Oil Nutritive Shampoo Cleans effectively without stripping. Costs £1 and can be found at Poundshop/99p stores.

Tresseme Naturals Silicone Free Conditioner: Crazy Slip, conditions wonderfully leaves my hair soft during and after rinsing. Between £2.50-£5.00. Lowest during BOGOF sales at Superdrug, Boots, ASDA, Sainburys, Tescos.

Andrew Barton SOS Help Me Twice a Week Conditioning Mask: crazy slip. Effective for Dafro as a co-rinse, leave-in (combined with castor oil) and deep-conditioner. Smells like cookies/gingerbread. Found only at ASDA to my current knowledge and some smaller pharmacies with a much smaller range. Buy mine priced 2 for £6/£8 during ASDA offers

Vatika Egg Protein Hair Mask: Does a good job of strengthening my hair, without giving me hard hair. Ok slip. Suds easily so I use as a co-wash and rinse out. Buy from black hair care shops and even spotted at Superdrug. Costs between £3.50 - £4.99.

Ecostyler Pink Gel: Cheap effective styling gel. Clumps, defines, weighs down & holds my coils in place keeping tangles away during WNG styling. Smells like tea-tree oil. Gives me multiple day hair. Gives firm hold, not too hard hold like Olive/Krystal/Argan versions. Can pull back a decent bun with this unlike the Blue Ecostyler. 946ml massive tub costs £2.99 from my local black hair care shop.

Aloe vera Gel: smooths down my cuticles like no other, especially when they are quite bushy. Gives very light soft hold for WNG. Great base staple leave-in when mixed with castor oil. £4.99 from Holland & Barratt. I bag these and stock up during the BOGOF/ Penny sales.

Hawaiian Silky Curl Activator “Dry Look”: always layered with castor oil, makes my coils clump like crazy and keeps my hair moisturised for at least 2 days. Smells like candy. Costs between £3-4 for a 454g tub. Also available at my local black beauty hair shop.

Castor Oil: All round staple for it's Conditioning/Detangling/Sealing properties. I can buy this stuff from the local shop, but since the dude and myself use this from head to toe, I buy it in litres. Can be found at my local hair product shop in 250ml bottles priced at £2.99. Even spotted at some branches of Tescos in Asian food aisle. (I buy my litres off Ebay/Amazon)

Umberto Giannini Scrunching Jelly:  Lovely styling gel for my WNG. Great effective coil clumper. Gives me multiple day hair. Available from boots just under £5 for 200ml tub. A bit pricey so I stock up during 2for1 offers.

Recent additions not in pic: 1/05/2012
*Sally's Salon Services Herbal Complex Conditioner.
*Taliah Waajid's Mist Bodifier Spray as a refresher.

Wash & Go Trials On Coily Hair 7: Keracare Butter cream & Keracare Defining Custard - FAIL

I suppose a wash & go trial with the Keracare butter cream and defining custard was inevitable. It's usually expected for products along the same line to work together.So here it is!

DRY HAIR!! THE WHITE FLECKS DID NOT DISSIPATE!

                                                Those white specks are dried! Dried! :S

Had to head out to the shops, and didn't have time to wash this mess out, so pulled back it into an emergency bun

                   Looking closely. White flecks still there. This mix was such a FAIL!

I can't get over my hair in the 1st pic! My hair happy looked so good! I could not wait to see how it would dry.  I used Australian Organics conditioner as a light leave- conditioner (I always use a leave-in conditioner. Sorry, I couldn't exclude this.) added the butter cream on top of that to my hair in 4 sections sparingly (even though I know that the defining custard  can be seriously drying). Afterwards went back and applied the defining custard in much smaller sections. Probably 12 overall i.e. each quadrant was divided again into three. I left this to air-dry. I loved the way it dried as the day went by, but the white specks refused to completely disappear. I pressed a towel on the visible white patches, but no change. Diffused on moderate and then cool temperature, I looked about 60 with the white flecks in my hair. I washed it out as soon as I got back home.
Verdict > Keracare defining custard + Keracare Butter Creme = Project Fail!
Click for other past attempts with Keracare defining custard with a only a light leave-in conditioner - TIGI, and then with Hawaiian Silky curl activator .
So far, the best combo with the Keracare Defining custard for me has been to use it with a curl activator.

Wash & Go Trials On Coily Hair 6: Umberto Giannini Flirty Curls Scrunching Jelly & HS Curl activator

The HS curl activator was mixed with some castor oil & Aloe veral gel. This is second day hair. On my way back from Easter Sunday Service.

   

Product Review & Rave: Umberto Giannini Flirty Curls Scrunching Jelly

What? Umberto Giannini Flirty Curls Scrunching Jelly Works on Coily Type 4 Hair?! No way!

Man.. I dunno why I'm even sharing this. As I'm at risk of having entire shelves cleared out completely.  Please ladies, if this works for you as it has for me, do leave some for me. Pretty please.

                                         If those puss in boots eyes don't work. Nothing will!

What brought this to my attention was how revered this jelly was by quite a number of looser curlies. You only had to go on Boots website to see the vast number of reviews to understand that this had cult classic status. Curiosity got the best of me, as I started to notice that I shared a mutual love for certain conditioners with some of these looser curlies on a hair forum I frequent :p. So I felt, why the heck not. This just goes to show that hair type alone is really not a sole indicator of how efficient a product may be on your hair.
When I used to see this jelly on the shelf I would dismiss it for several reasons:
 1.) I didn't think it was thick enough for my hair.
 2.) The puny 200ml pink tube looked like something that would only be enough for half of my head and 3.) Priced at almost £5, for just 200ml, there was no way I was even going to go there.
That was until I meandered into Boots one day, while the 3 for 2 on hair care offer was on. That was it. I had quite a few quid on my advantage card so I was ready for a gamble. That blasted cute bright pink tube had me finally.

Marketing speech
"Long Lasting curl creator for defined sassy smooth curls. Still our favourite look for curls. This long-lasting curl definer will de-frizz, shine and create sexy romantic curls."

Ingredients for Umberto Giannini Flirty Curls  Scrunching Jelly
Aqua, xanthan gum, glycerin, propylene glycol, phenoxyethanol, acylates/palmeth-25 acylate copolymer, polyquaternium-11, peg-40 hydrogenated castor oil, sodium benzoate, dipropylene glycol, aminomethyl propanol, sodium methyparaben, parfum, benzophenone-4, coumarin, butylphenyl methypropional, alpha-isomethyl ionone, linalool, CI 17200

The 1st four ingredients work on my hair.  I must add that Phenoxyethanol the antimicrobial preservative is subject to controversial debates regarding it's toxcity.  I thought I should include this note as it's quite high up in the ingredients list.  (Dastychova, 2008). It was recently followed up on as an alternative to parabens when the parabens scare was at it's peak. So if you prefer natural ingredients, this may not be the one for you. As for me, I am used to debates in scientific circles.  Until evidence is conclusive, then I shall continue to use this. As for polyquaternium build up. I don't experience that with this product. It rinses out quite well & washes out easily for me.


Packaging
Bright pink tube.  I find this quite annoying, I wish it came in a jar or with a pump. Since I tend to apply the product in several sections, I need to return back to the tube each and every time I need some more. This texture is quite slimy so I get it everywhere on the tube each time I reach for it. This bugs me.

Texture
Definitely jelly-like, translucent with a pink overtone. Can be quite sticky, not surprising as xanthum gum & glycerin are two major ingredients so that was expected. Goes on slippery on my hair and gives me enough slip to ensure at least one quick rake before it starts to stiffen my hair. It even foams, but watch out for that. I notice I get foamy bits if I use too much and this may leave a slight grey spot. So use sparingly. You can tell the texture is quite resilient and concentrated, because I really wanted to rinse my hands afterwards because they felt coated. (Though that's how I am with most products.)

Smell
I have a love and hate relationship. On some days, I can't get enough of the scent. On others, I wish they could have gone a bit easy on the scent. It's sweet, maybe like bubble-gum? ( I'll be quick to state that this association could simply be made because of the pink tube. Argh! The power of branding!), then it's slightly reminiscent of vaguely androgynous  musky cologne. Sorry. I tried.

                  Umberto Giannini Scrunching Jelly  Review On my hair

I have been sleeping on this. BIG TIME. Sleep no more I shall!  Why am I crazy about this jelly? Like I said on nc earlier.  To me, It's a posher better marketed curl activator with HOLD. Yes it clumps my coils like a curl activator during application and eventually holds them in place when dried. I love my curl activators, but those babies have virtually no hold alone, So when faced with some shower steam the next morning, it's POOF like that creepy cat from Alice in Wonderland.  Though curl activators go wonderfully with Ecostyler Gel on Type 4 hair especially, I'll save that for another post.
What is the hold like? It's not helmet head mad stiff. But it's stiff and very firm, and has the potential to be crispy if applied too heavy handedly. It definitely leaves some crunch hence the scrunching in the name! Lol! It elongates my coils a lot before drying. I have never tried anything that made my hair  look like this. Ever. It's like it clumps my coils into much smaller groups, more representative of my actual texture. Get it?
Ok, think of what twist out's do. They clump hair into big groups right? Think Chunky Kitkat for twists/twist outs (I dunno why that's the 1st thing that popped into my head, blame Easter Eggs), while this jelly groups my hair into much smaller groups like Twiglets (again blame Easter. And no I do not advocate having chocolate and twiglets together.)
Since it clumps my coils in such smaller groups I know that I need to let this stuff really dry before trying to SOTC, otherwise it's instant coil-orgy = tangles. It gives great shine. I can easily get 3days with this jelly and by the 2nd day any hint of crunch is gone leaving the glycerin to take over resulting in extra soft still defined hair!  Again when it's time to get it out of my hair, I find that it washes out very easily.
Anyways apart from making you peckish or hungry. I hope you get the picture. . It just goes to show again that there are great products on the high street. Not everything has to be brought over from the States or even ordered online! This jelly is joining my Staples Group to be stocked up on during 3 for 2 offers! More pics here 

Reference:
Dastychova et. al. (2008) - Contact hypersensitivity to selected excipients of dermatological topical preparations and cosmetics in patients with chronic eczema. Acta Dermatovenerologica Alpina, Panonica, et Adriatica [17(2):61-8]

Wash & Go Trials On Coily Hair 5:Curl Junkie Curl Assurance Smoothing Lotion & Blue Ecostyler Gel.

I wore this wash and go for 3 days. I applied the smoothing lotion immediately after a co-wash in the shower on soaking wet hair which was sectioned into 4 quadrants. The CJ smoothing lotion is a great coil clumper for me and has great slip. I came out of the shower,sectioned the 4 quadrants into a smaller sections then globbed on the gel.  I started from the roots and then smoothed the gel down to the ends. Lightly raked/separated (not pulling down to ends) My coils were popping everywhere and any visible whiteness left by the smoothing lotion dissipated quickly within an hour on the tips! The crown as usual needed a little bit longer. This is a great combo.

For nightly maintenance, I put some butter/oil on the ends and tied up in 3 scrunchies aligned vertically like a mo-hawk. Then put on my shower-bonnet combo. In the morning I removed scrunchies, shook and fluffed.


                                                               Pictures show second day hair.

How To Wash & Go (Shingle) On Kinky Coily Type 4 Hair - A Simple Guide

Picture is my hair in a 1st day wash & go styled with Ecostyler Argan oil & Original Source Pear  & Avacado conditioner

Tools needed

1. A pair of hands with filed nails. (Chipped, rough nails are as good as a pair of scissors.)

2. Moisturising conditioner

3. Moisturising leave - in conditioner. (Whether or not you choose to use the same conditioner in (2) is up to you.)

4. Holding agent: Hair Gel/Custard/Pudding

5. Sectioning clips.

6. Spray bottle filled with water.


Optional tools

Shampoo and Deep conditioner if this current session includes clarifying.

Diffuser.

Shampoo brush.



Directions for Wash & Go on Type 4 Coily Hair

1. Section hair into four or more sections (depending on the length of your hair).





2. Apply moisturising conditioner generously to all sections, then allow this to sit. (It is at this point that I finger detangle using the shower spray)





3. Rinse conditioner from each section and immediately apply leave in (and oil included) on soaking wet hair. Ensure each section is entirely saturated from root to tip.





4. Step out of shower (or stay in if you prefer) with dripping wet hair and proceed to apply your holding agent to each section.





5. Install your part where you would prefer for your completed style now.





6. Starting with each section at a time. Select one section that you wish to start working on and part a smaller section about half an inch thick from the rest.





7. Take that 0.5inch section and spray it with more water.





8. Starting at the roots smooth on the gel and work your way up to the tips by keeping that section between your palms (for longer hair) or between two adjoining fingers (for shorter hair).





9. Keep doing this smoothing motion, until you start to see natural demarcations between the coils as they clump. Or as you start to notice the hair fall/relax (pun intended!) by itself.





10. For ultra* defined curls - On seeing the demarcations, piece apart each clump of coils from the rest of the smoothed section. (as if you were pulling a string on a guitar), smoothing that smaller section between your thumb and index finger as you do so.  
For just defined coils - Just smooth a section till it relaxes, drop it and move onto the next section.






11. Repeat (10) until all the clumps have been separated. Then proceed to the other sections.





12. When completed, do not touch so as not to disturb the coils and allow to air- dry or diffuse. Another optional step for more volume especially on the crown area would be to shake your head from side to side, and then back and front.

Examples of my wash and go's can be found here here, here and here.





With these directions I use the smoothing method, and not so much the raking method. With the smoothing method, I'm able to work with most heavier gels that stiffen up as I apply. (An additional tip, liquid styling gels applied on top of the heavier gel can add slip and even more definition if you have to rake.) I find that I am not able to rake once the gel starts to stiffen as attempting to rake through my hair leads to snaps & pops i.e. breakage.




I tend to favour heavier/ stronger gels for setting my hair. As they guarantee more longevity with the style and less tangles because they hold my coils in place in a co-ordinated fashion. If the coils are held in place then there is less likely to be tangles as the coils are not able to haphazardly mix up with other coils. It's all about keeping some kind of order. Twists or twist-out styles follows a similar logic, because the coils are kept in an organised clump.


I recommend a very good hydrating leave-in conditioner for wash & go's. Ideally it should be one that is able to coil up the ends of the hair or group the coils into clumps together immediately after applying to soaking wet hair and even better if it’s able to do this on dry hair! So test your leave-in on a small section of hair before proceeding to do the entire head. An additional layer of oil over that leave-in conditioner offers further insurance towards retaining the moisture in the hair, reducing tangles and even single strand knots.

If doing a clarifying wash. Coils may not clump as readily afterwards. I would suggest doing a deep-condition to return the moisture back to the coils and promote clumping once again. I love wash and go's and still do them currently to date.I hope to continue to do them in the foreseeable future.

Wash & Go Trials on Coily Hair 4: Keracare Defining Custard & HSCurlActivator

1ST PART OF REVIEW
Update 2: HAWAIIAN SILKY CURL ACTIVATOR & KERACARE DEFINING CUSTARD

With a heavier leave-in like the curl activator. My hair swelled up by the end of the day, but still had good definition, it was not overly frizzy. The *shine* was AMAZING and the scent of the custard still marginally present by the end of the day. When it came to bed-time my hair was still damp around the roots as I put my hair in my nightly 3 scrunchies.

The next morning my hair still felt quite damp, so I just rubbed a pea-sized amount of castor oil between my palms and used that to fluff my hair back into shape. My hair still had alot of body,definition and control. By control, I mean that my hair stayed where I wanted it to when I fluffed it back into shape by pulling under the roots.

First day hair was very defined, had hold and great shine. The smell lasted with me most of the day, and my partner kept complimenting me on the way my hair smelt.

To conclude: The custard and curl activator combination was successful on my coily hair and I would definitely purchase this again. I wouldn't recommend this with a light leave-in conditioner on Coily type 4ab hair, but with a much heavier moisturising leave-in conditioner, as the custard can be quite drying.

DAMP 1ST DAY

DRY

FIN