Style & Go! - The Start of A Damp/Dry Styling Routine??

So I've been feeling a bit under as I've been having some bad bouts of hayfever and not been to the gym this week. I usually go 2-3 times a week and coincide those days with wash and re-styling. Since I usually want to rinse/wash all the sweat off my scalp.
Today I didn't go to the gym and did not feel like washing my 3rd day hair but my hair was frizzing up all over - I guess "medium- hold" Kiss My Face Upper Management Gel can only last so long (review coming by the way).
I suppose another propeller for this action was Taliah, she had convinced me at the Afro Hair & Beauty Show that styled, defined coils were best achievable on dry Type 4 hair.

So I decided to try a quick re-style on damp hair 1st. Why damp and not dry? I simply like to moisturise my hair with water every day. I used this as an opportunity to lightly hydrate Dafro, but not saturate her .

I also wanted to spot test a couple of curl cremes - Trevor Sorbie's original curl cream and Boots pink curl creme. I used a light gel in this case the Aldi Carino purple gel.  I used a light gel because I was basically refreshing over pre-styled hair that still had some gel left over and did not want to over do the gel situation.

Results of styling on damp nearly dry hair.
To date this method of applying gel onto 2nd/3rd nearly dry hair has been great at producing longer lasting excellent definition.  I'm also the type whom likes twists/twist outs on damp/ semi-dry hair because of better elongation.
So the same principle could be applied here.
A winning method for even more defined coils especially in areas usually hard to define. More elongation on day 1 hair. Basically the kind of elongated and bigger hair you get on day 2 is the type you could get on day 1 with this method.
As for the curl cremes.. they didn't do much for me. The Aldi carino purple gel gave a soft hold.

Have you damp or dry styled? What have been your results?
This method is a Keeper. Currently I've taking to re-styling on 2nd day hair for better definition and elongation which lasts the rest of the week for me.

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: Andrew Barton SOS Help Me! Twice a Week Conditioner

Price: £4 for a 300ml tub or 2 for £6 during ASDA sales.

Availability: Mainly at ASDA! I can pick it up with some soya milk anytime.

Ingredients: Aqua (Water) , Cetearyl Alcohol , Behentrimonium Chloride , Cetyl Esters , Glycerin , Boswellia Serrata (Olibanum) Extract , Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea Butter) , Panthenol , Parfum (Fragrance) , Glycereth-26 , Tetrasodium EDTA , Cetrimonium Chloride , Dipropylene Glycol , Isopropyl Alcohol , Citric Acid , Magnesium Nitrate , Magnesium Chloride , Benzyl Alcohol , Methylchloroisothiazolinone , Methylisothiazolinone .

Packaging: Simple black and red jar. With the product name written in bold capital white letters. I actually love the simplicity of the packaging. Plus with red being one of my favourite colours, I can’t help but feel this way.

Smell: Is the only thing I’m a little bit unsure about. I only like it in small doses. For short periods. Any longer and it’s sickening. Notes of gingerbread, vanilla, cookies come to mind when I sniff this from the jar. Though according to the site, it’s supposed to smell like Brazil nuts. (I eat brazil nuts everyday, it’s nothing close to this! lol)

Texture:  Creamy light texture.You see this stuff is so light that I feel they could easily have re-packaged this in a bottle. But I suppose they wanted to go with the ‘mask in jar’ theme so jar it was. Though don’t let the texture deceive you. This stuff is very effective.

On my hair: If your hair tends to get dry, knotty and tangled easily.Then I recommend this conditioner to you  My kinky hair is prone to dryness so I always go for the heavy-duty conditioners. I'm so glad I didn't pass this one up. As a deep-conditioner, this product delivers. It leaves my hair very supple and soft. I couldn’t resist trying this as a leave-in conditioner as well. I knew this stuff was going to be my staple after it delivered over a day’s moisture on my wash & go fro. Even after Dafro dried, she was still so soft, right up till the next morning! (This is no easy feat. Many products have failed at this step.)

I fell in love with SOS conditioner for so many reasons

- It’s so easy to acquire.

-  Really smoothes down the hair cuticles.

-  Has crazy slip which helps me finger-detangle with no hassle at all. When Dafro is tripping I just layer the SOS conditioner on her and she immediately conforms. Like seriously. She just calms down. Immediately.

- It delivers lasting moisture as a leave-in conditioner when layered with castor oil. Unlike my recently upstaged EO conditioners it does not irritate my scalp as a leave-in. Yes!

- Serves different purposes effectively for me. Leave-in, co-rinse, deep-conditioner.

HG/Staple worthy. The end.

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.

   

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.

Five Ways To Deal With The Oily Grease Stained Pillow Situation

                       

Do you notice a grease spot on your pillow where your head lays? Do you have to frequently wash your pillow cases sometimes up to 2-3 times a week to get rid of grease stains? Then you have an oily pillow ‘situation’

The oily pillow can be a common occurrence amongst ladies just trying to keep their hair moist. For naturals the frequent use of butters, pomades, oils, creams and similar emollients in order to keep the hair moist is usually the culprit.

As a kinky, coily headed natural I NEED my emollients 24/7 because my hair gets ridiculously drier than sand. As a result the issue of stopping the use of my trusty combinations of castor oil and curl activators can’t even be considered. Applying this mix at a certain time, wouldn’t make a difference for me because that combination is the business and lasts on my hair for at least two – three days before I need to re-apply again. I also have acne-prone skin that does not share the same love for castor oil as my hair does.  So dark coloured pillow cases would not be enough, because that would only solve the appearances factor. Here are some useful measures to take against the O.G.S.P.S! (It’s patented baby! ;))

How To Manage The Oily Pillow Situation (Temporary basis)

1. Put an old t-shirt or towel on top of your pillow.

2. Put more than one head covering on your head to absorb any excess oils.

3. Do both 1.) + 2.)   *_*

How To Stop The Oily Pillow Situation (Permanent basis)

4. Apply your pomade’s with a lighter hand! If you have a routine of applying your emollients just before bed, try to apply your emollient sparingly and even a couple of hours before bed. (This maybe helpful to those that prefer to use lighter emollients or oils with shorter life spans)

5. Sleep with a plastic cap on your head, and put your bonnet or scarf over that. (This is my favourite method, because it keeps Dafro very happy too).

                        

Now if you can’t stand the crinkling of the shower-cap. Which like myself I couldn’t handle, then consider purchasing shower caps made with a thicker more substantial durable material.

                        

 I love this particular brand because it not only comes with a thicker material but also comes in larger sizes for the big-haired ladies amongst us. Saving us the need to have to use  more than one typical shower cap at a time.These particular shower-caps do not crinkle half as much as the typical disposable caps and last twice as long for me. Or if you want to preserve the sexy and stylish self all the way to bed for the beau. How about this one by soap and glory I found at Boots for about £6?

6. A waterproof pillow cover may also help to increase the longevity of your pillow.

And for the stained pillowcase…

Getting out oil stains can be difficult. So here is what you can do.

You could wash the pillow cases with:

-       Bleach

-       Lemon juice

-       Vinegar

-       Or even just wash and lay the pillowcase directly under the sun. (For the sun to bleach naturally).

So... How do you deal with your O.G.S.P.S?

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.

Natural Hair Bloggers/Vloggers With Kinky Coily Type 4 Hair That Wash and Go.

Last updated 28th of May 2012 - Coilybella, VeePeeJay & JustSynetta added

1. Africanexport -Youtube Vlogger 
2. AliciaJames - Youtube Vlogger
3.  Blkchynadoll7 - Youtube Vlogger
4. Coilybella.com - Blogger 
5. Coilychi. - Coilyas123.blogspot.com - Author of this Blog!
6. Chicbeauty - Vet Youtube Blogger
7. Cynthiarf - Youtube Vlogger (one of my favourites)
8. Davierap
9. Enjoyingthejourneys
10. Glorycurls67 - Youtube Vlogger
11. JustSynetta - Youtube Vlogger
12. Naptural85 - Youtube Vlogger
13. NaturallyGlamTV -  Youtube Vlogger.
14. Naturalselectionblog - Youtube Vlogger & Blogger.
15. oooop95 - Youtube Vlogger
16. Prettydimples01 - Youtube Vlogger
17. Shidanatural - Youtube Vlogger & Blogger
18. SimpYounique - Youtube Vlogger

15.) Rubyebonycurls - Youtube Vlogger using my fave combo! Curl activator & Gel !
          

16.)Tonidaley - Vet Youtube Blogger

          

17.) VeePeeJay- Blogger & Vlogger (thehodgepodgefiles.blogspot.com)
         

If you have anymore please do share them.. :)
Check back often. I shall be updating this as I come across more bloggers/vloggers.

Cheers!

Review: Beautiful Textures Curl Control Defining Pudding

Price: £3.99 at Local BSS

Availability: Online and local shops including Paks.

Packaging: happy bright orange psychedelic looking design which is definitely attention grabbing and Funky! Kudos to the design team!

Marketing speech: For mixed textures, curly wavy, kinky-coily, Frizzy. 
The kinky coily & frizzy part definitely sounded like it was for me.
Ingredients:Aqua, Glycine Soja Oil/Soybean Oil, Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil, Argania Spinosa Nut Oil/Argan Oil, Cocos Nucifera Oil/Coconut Oil, Olea Europaea Fruit Oil/Olive Oil, Butyrospermum Parkii Fruit/Shea Butter, Mangifera Indica Seed Butter/Mango Butter, Rosmarinus Officinalis Leaf Extract/Rosemary Extract, Dimethicone, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Extract/Aloe Vera, Phenyl Trimethicone, Panax Ginseng Root Extract/Ginseng Extract, Glycerin, Polyquaternium 11, Steareth 2, Steareth 20, DMDM Hydantoin, Imidazolidinyl Urea, Sodium Carbomer, PEG 150 Distearate, PEG 12 Dimethicone, CI 15985/Yellow 6, Parfum/Fragrance, Benzyl Benzoate, Benzyl Salicylate, Coumarin, d-Limonene, Hexyl Cinnamal, Lyral, Methyl Ionone Gamma.


Scent: this smells amazing! I don't mind smelling like this all day. That mango, tropical scent just makes me happy. It's for this reason that I have tried to make this work.
Texture: creamy, deceptively seems quite heavy.
On my hair: With all those ingredients, you would wonder how this could possibly go wrong? But it did!As a definer for my Coily hair? This stuff is deficient. It didn't make my coils pop. Infact it was more like a coil wrecker! Because I tried this on wet hair straight after a co-wash when my coils were still popping and BAM Beautiful Textures came and bamboozled them out of the way as soon I smoothed it on. For a wash n go on Coily hair. I wouldn't recommend this. Maybe I will re-visit this in the future for twist or twist-outs. I really really wanted to love this product, but it just wouldn't work for me. Has it worked for you?