Fall/Winter Wash n go challenge

YvetteWithJoy

On break
I went to my wonderfully expert hair stylist on Tuesday to get a wash and go.

She told me my first time visiting that I could bring in whatever products I desire and she'll use them on my hair to help me assess products. So fun!

Tuesday I brought in 4 gels. She ended up washing my hair with InnerPeace shampoo, conditioning and detangling with DevaCurl Decadence One Condition, and applying gel and sitting me under the dryer.

She applied SM hipo gel to 1/3 of my hair, she applied CRN Curl Maker to another 1/3, and on the remaining 1/3 she layered SM hipo gel on top of CRN Curl Maker.

Results: The hipo gel alone was dry, crunchy, not shiny, yet elongated. The CRN Curl Maker alone was moisturized and shiny but not elongated, and definitely not crunchy. The layering of the two was shiny, elongated, better defined, and crunchy.

Overall my hair just looks better when she styles it. It was way more elongated and light looking. When I do my wash-and-go's, my hair looks way more compacted, even though I try to replicate her technique. :smile: Oh, well. I'll keep trying.
 

Sharpened

A fleck on His Sword
I tried to make a spray gel by watering down Eco Styling Gel w/ Olive Oil, LOL. It took 3.5 oz of distilled water to get 1.5 tsp of gel to spray properly. I added five drops of jojoba oil and 20 drops of AVJ to cut through the glycerin and olive oil... fail, my hair was greasy. Oddly enough it dried soft and the polymers (I presume) stopped the drippies within 30 minutes.

Today, I poured straight AVJ in the bottle and used it on dry hair. Much better... no greasies, feels normal except for that slight, plastic coating gels give. I forgot how much I hate that slickness. Maybe I should throw Eco in the trash and try the other gel I bought.
 

faithVA

Well-Known Member
@faithVA Your hair looks very similar to mine. I think with clumping tiny coils, it is accumulative effect, meaning you have to do wng over a longer period of time to train the strands where they need to go. Or, rather, where they want to go naturally and style around that.

Even if I had perfect definition, the nature of my hair will still have my coils stacked upon one another like cords of wood. I'm cool with that and shrinkage does not bother me.

Don't mind me; I am laissez-faire and a bit out there...

Technique update: hard shaking makes more tangles, especially if not using a styling product. Now, I add more oil and gently agitate from the roots under running hot water, finishing with a cold rinse. I still shake a little, but only to remove drips.

Using a moisturizing clay wash (Tessentials Left Coast Lemon) after a major detangling session will help coax the coils to return sooner.

I saw your pic in the Everyday Hair thread. And you are right my hair does look similar to yours. It's just a mass of curls piled on top of each other. You have the benefit of length which I am waiting for. I know I will always have shrinkage but at this length, it leaves me with this super crazy look in the front. Fortunately I won't be really trying to wear it out until the spring which gives me 6 months to get a few more inches.

I have a feeling you are normal porosity thus the cold rinse and the oil. I am low porosity. I can't do either of those. But I have been trying the castor oil after my hair starts to dry a bit. I also tried the Terresentials Left Coast Lemon which I loved but it dries my hair out if I use it more than once a month. I do plan to get another bottle just to have on hand to use it monthly.

How long is your hair? What stylers/gels do you use?
 

Sharpened

A fleck on His Sword
How long is your hair? What stylers/gels do you use?
My longest layers are hitting CBL. I tried watered-down Eco Styler, fail. Oddly enough, I don't need gel to style, but I want it to freeze my hair in place to reduce knots and tangles. I have some sugar-based gel to try; I will give a review after a couple applications.

You are correct; my porosity is normal. The only reason I do WO w/ castor oil and EOs is allergies. Jojoba and hemp seed oils also have that conditioning quality as well.
 

faithVA

Well-Known Member
My longest layers are hitting CBL. I tried watered-down Eco Styler, fail. Oddly enough, I don't need gel to style, but I want it to freeze my hair in place to reduce knots and tangles. I have some sugar-based gel to try; I will give a review after a couple applications.

You are correct; my porosity is normal. The only reason I do WO w/ castor oil and EOs is allergies. Jojoba and hemp seed oils also have that conditioning quality as well.

Interesting. We have similar curl patterns but I must have a lot more shrinkage than you. My longest layers are also CBL but it doesn't have anywhere near the same hang as yours. But it's good to know. I definitely need gel or something to style. Being low porosity I don't get enough water in my strands no matter what I do, so the gel helps to lock it in.

Thanks for the info.
 

Sharpened

A fleck on His Sword
I want to figure out how to use gel. After watching a couple of videos, I realize I need to practice techniques with cheap gel before I use my more expensive stuff.

Here are a couple of videos discussing the gel rinse method:
A half-cup of gel...
Where she talks about rubbing the gel in the hands and patting it on before rinsing is far more reasonable to me.

I guess I will suffer through greasiness from Eco Styler for a while...
 

YvetteWithJoy

On break
I did a washngo / twist-out. :lol:

I created 8 chunky twists, having saturated each section with LI conditioner and UFD Curly Magic. I pinned the twists for stretch, then dried as long as I could under the dryer.

Super positive note: When I started out, hair was hardly tangled this morning . . . due to yesterday's saturation with moisture, I think! :woot:
 

YvetteWithJoy

On break
I want to figure out how to use gel. After watching a couple of videos, I realize I need to practice techniques with cheap gel before I use my more expensive stuff.

Here are a couple of videos discussing the gel rinse method:
A half-cup of gel...
Where she talks about rubbing the gel in the hands and patting it on before rinsing is far more reasonable to me.

I guess I will suffer through greasiness from Eco Styler for a while...

Thanks for these videos! Interesting!

I am CONVINCED that if I could find some kind of way to capture my elongated, untangled hair with a gel that partners well with water, my regimen would go to a new level.

This gives me ideas! I will try this with CRN Curl Maker, UFD Curly Magic, and the Soultanicals gel once I get it.
 

faithVA

Well-Known Member
I want to figure out how to use gel. After watching a couple of videos, I realize I need to practice techniques with cheap gel before I use my more expensive stuff.

Here are a couple of videos discussing the gel rinse method:
A half-cup of gel...
Where she talks about rubbing the gel in the hands and patting it on before rinsing is far more reasonable to me.

I guess I will suffer through greasiness from Eco Styler for a while...
That was interesting. 1/2 cup is a lot of gel especially as short as her hair is.

I'm not sure how much gel I use. I think next wash I will measure out 1/4 cup and see how much I use.

I'm not sure if I will try this or not. Anyone trying this?
 

Sharpened

A fleck on His Sword
That was interesting. 1/2 cup is a lot of gel especially as short as her hair is.

I'm not sure how much gel I use. I think next wash I will measure out 1/4 cup and see how much I use.

I'm not sure if I will try this or not. Anyone trying this?
I just did. After my hot water rinse to coax the coils, I slathered on about a 1/3-cup of Eco Styler and rinsed most of it off under cold water. Drip drying as I type. Not going to bother blotting with t-shirts; if there is enough gel still left in my hair the drips will stop soon.
 

YvetteWithJoy

On break
Today's wash and go product combination:
(Annabelle's) PerfectBlends Blue Agave Nectar Cleansing Condition, Kinky Curly Knot Today, and Kinky Curly Curling Custard

Maybe it was my application or the recent protein treatment, but today's wng is shiny, soft, hydrated, moisturized, defined, not stringy, and not crunchy. :clap:
 

Sharpened

A fleck on His Sword
It elongated my hair a centimeter and some areas still had too much gel, yuk. I ran errands with the windows down and the heat blasting to try to dry this stuff. Yeah, I will need a blowdryer and diffuser if I were to attempt this in the winter. Maybe I will try again, but it feels like it is going to take all day to dry.
 

YvetteWithJoy

On break
It elongated my hair a centimeter and some areas still had too much gel, yuk. I ran errands with the windows down and the heat blasting to try to dry this stuff. Yeah, I will need a blowdryer and diffuser if I were to attempt this in the winter. Maybe I will try again, but it feels like it is going to take all day to dry.

Mmm. Thanks for the feedback!
 

faithVA

Well-Known Member
:yep:

Feels like a technique that will prove pretty expensive over time, too.
:yep:

Feels like a technique that will prove pretty expensive over time, too.

Especially if you are using a different type of gel. I guess you can get eco styler pretty inexpensively.

It elongated my hair a centimeter and some areas still had too much gel, yuk. I ran errands with the windows down and the heat blasting to try to dry this stuff. Yeah, I will need a blowdryer and diffuser if I were to attempt this in the winter. Maybe I will try again, but it feels like it is going to take all day to dry.

I'm interested in hearing how your 2nd day hair is. I think she wets it every day.
 
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