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.

HOW TO FINGER DETANGLE: FINGER DETANGLING 101 FOR AFRO COILY KINKY HAIR

I've been finger-detangling my hair almost exclusively for almost 2 years now. Matted roots? No. Time-consuming, I think not.  I do it regularly and love it.

How I finger detangle:

1.) I part my hair into 4/6 sections.

2.) Dampen or wet my hair with water and soak it in conditioner/oil/both. (Recently I've also taken to adding a tblspn of ACV to approximately 250ml of conditioner to calm down frayed cuticles)

3.) Then I position my head under the shower stream. The shower does a wonderful job of helping me push/flush most of the shed hair out. I don’t have a problem with matting, because I work my way upwards from ends to roots. Below is a pictorial of what I simply do. 

                                                      FINGER DETANGLING 101.

The Clap: Self-explanatory. This is a great smoothing method and also a quick means of gently pulling out shed hairs freely hanging within the other strands. I gently pull on the ends between my palms and work my way up. During lazy mid-week co-rinses I simply use this method, working with the gravitational push of the shower stream

The Separate: I believe is more popular and common. Better on dry/damp hair hair than wet hair. Here you piece apart the hair strands until you come across knots in between. When a knot is spotted you focus on the gently untangling that knot with some extra oil/detangler/slippy conditioner. Personally I don't do this too often as it really does take the longest time for me.

Here is another Type 4 Coily head finger-detangling with a virtually identical method and very similar hair texture to mine. - Earthy Delight.
                             


The Half-Rake: termed half by myself because I don't rake entirely through a section. I use my other hand to provide some tensile strength to my fragile strands and use the other to gently rake through starting from the bottom and working my way up, then switch to work on the other unraked side (Does that make sense). Obviously the other hand proves to be redundant as soon as I get closer to my scalp.

The Claw: I use this to gently pull out shed hair from the ends. Holding onto a section with my other hand for additional tensile strength and less strain on my fragile hair strands. I also use a similar method to fluff out my hair, with the exception of the other gripping hand when re-shaping 2nd day hair.

                     

After all that. Below is the end-result. 

.

'Minging' looking shed hair.

The benefits for me and finger-detangling have been:

• A reduction in frayed ends, my ends looked thicker.
• A reduction in the number of  broken shorter strands I would see after each detangling session. 
• A much  better realization and understanding of her fragility and reactions to products. (
I can easily 'feel' how Dafro reacts to certain products as I use them). 
• General ease and simplicity in this method. It’s tremendously much easier to handle my hair, I don’t dread washing it - infact I look forward to it. It's another major reason why I am able to rock the wng style with ease.

So I guess finger-detangling/finger-combing works for me ; /

If you finger-detangle what technique works for you?

The Drying Series 1: How To Diffuse Afro Coily Kinky Hair.

Or rather, How I diffuse my hair.
One of the most common complaints of ladies trying to wash, style and go is how long the hair takes to dry. With popular products such as KCCC, Ecostyler gel drying times can take a day and a half to dry.
That need not be the case, unless you prefer to stay away from heat entirely.
I tend to diffuse if I need to be somewhere ASAP or sometimes if I just don't want to be stuck with a damp/wet heat for the most part of the day. In this pic tutorial I was using Queen Helen Curl Shaping Creme, a product heavily composed with humectants. For this reason, I decided to diffuse because I just didn't want to be stuck with a wet-head for most of the day, as experienced with humectant heavy stylers in the past.
I use a simple blow-dryer. The particular brand is Kokou. I picked this up from the local hair shop priced around £20 or so.

It's a hair-dryer, it's supposed to have grease marks!

The diffuser attachment I got from a local Sally's. Priced around £10.
I got a large cup, because I liked the idea of covering a larger surface area, as I felt that would take less time.

Attachment orifice

Separate components

Combined components

There really isn't an exact science but more of a strategy in how I choose to dry.
I dry on the warm setting in each section for about 20 seconds. I start with the crown area and work my way round in a spiral fashion around my head leaving my extremities last.

Warm setting control. Black = Cool, Red = Hot

I start and focus mainly at the crown because that usually takes the longest to dry. I don't linger so much around the extremities/edges, because they usually air-dry the quickest.

Diffuser cup further away on warm

Head bent upside down to show starting area.

Direction I diffuse around my head

Why tip your head upside-down? To create more volume on the top and prevent the flat-head-helmet head look. (No offense if that is what you go for.)
Then I use the cool setting to help close the cuticles and encourage better definition. I bring the cup much closer to my hair mimicking a scrunching method.

Diffuser much closer to 'scrunch' on cool.

               

                                                       Results...

Before diffusing (flash)

        Immediately after diffusing (flash)

  In sunlight afterwards (no flash)

                                              

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?