➿ Fantastic Haircare: Making Sense and Science of the Curly Girl Method (thread 2)

[botemp]

Offshoot thread from the Fantastic Skincare threads to document the trials and tribulations in order to make sense and science of the curly girl method. We don't necessarily follow it to the letter and are even critical of it in places. Nor are we especially knowledgeable at this point but we're learning as we go. Feel free to join in as we attempt to approach this with an interest in ingredients and try to not buy everything that promises us magical things…

Useful blogs:

Curly Cailín on the golden triangle of healthy hair
Science-y Hair Blog
The Mestiza Muse
The Beauty Brains (podcast/blog)

Understanding ingredients:

Commonly found ingredients in haircare

Useful information about cosmetic chemistry

Porosity:

(video)

Removing build up:

Shampoos which remove product build up

Cationic compounds (of interest to those with buildup prone and/or fine hair):

Cationic compounds found in cosmetics

Polyquats (of interest to those with buildup prone and/or fine hair):

Polyquat buildup

To polyquats or not

Silicones, polyquats and soap

Another cosmetic ingredient to be afraid of?

Protein/Moisture balance:

(video)

Extract and proteins in CGM, a biochemist explains

(video)

Hygral Fatigue

SPF protection of your hair:

UV protectant ingredients

UV damage of hair (pubmed)

Summers sun and your hair

Rice water rinses:

Rice Water Rinse

Elasticity:

Is it too late to improve your elasticity

Managing elasticity and porosity in hair

Hard and soft water:

(video)

Hard water and your hair

Olaplex:

How does Olaplex hair treatment work

Frizz:

Hair frizz science

What's your frizz type

How to tame your hair based on frizz type

Flash Drying:

Flash Drying

Next level nerdery:

Chemical and Physical Behavior of Human Hair (cosmetic chemists' textbook)

PickAChew, I feel your pain. Dd2 has ds and we are waiting a dual diagnosis of autism. I had meant to reply to you earlier, but she had a massive meltdown this afternoon.

Not great scalp here, either. I think it's the cheapy Malibu sunblock/scalp protector, as it was really dry mostly along the parting at the front. I've clarified and it feels much better, the change in weather means no sunscreen is not really an issue anyway.

Tried the new stuff!
Salicylic acid stuff - TBH I think it's a bit useless. You're meant to apply drops (2-3 it says) to a dry scalp then massage in and leave. But if you imagine applying 2-3 drops of a watery liquid.. it does about an inch of scalp!
Chia seed - I liked this, used it as a leave in then finished with flaxseed gel and orange marmalade. Seemed to be smoothing without being too heavy

Lovely, shiny curls and adorable pussycats, @queenCT

Fingers crossed, mine seem to be through the uncontrollable meltdowns, @quirkychick. It's awful when you can't do anything for them. Ds2 spent most of the afternoon following me around, talking at me. Poor lad is bored stiff and can't wait to be back to school. I'd normally take him out for a walk but we had some torrential rain, this afternoon.

PickAChew, she's mostly really tired and had a few bad nights. She so needs to be back in school again.

Good, bouncy curls Queen. Glad at least the chia seed worked.

I'm in vent mode.You have been warned...

Urgh, I'm such a self-sabotager 🤦 scrunched out when it wasn't fully dry (thought it was) abandoned partway through but I don't think there's anything saving it and I used too much creamy products so it feels yuck and weighed down. My Bounce Curl clump cream sample ran out and I figured I should use up what I still have first but in that finish up enthusiasm I was probably too liberal with product (have forgotten how much I used to use and never prepood before).

I also have new hair growth in front of my hairline that looks like a widow's peak but I think is just a cowlick as the rest isn't receding and it's not playing nicely with my natural parting but I have no idea where the cowlick is when it's wet, so no idea where to part to make them play nice .

I probably should see my hair dresser about it, get him to adjust the front layers a bit to make the parting sit alongside the cowlick and I really do need some layers at the back now with this length but the covid cases have been rising pretty rapidly so my plan to go in early September doesn't feel as sensible anymore. Argh.

On a positive note, the Denman brush is bringing endless experimentation and I'm definitely getting good clump action without the BC clump cream. I even managed a bit of volume on top this time.

Outside of vent mode, everyone's hair is looking enviably good

I eat Chia pudding sometimes as a mid afternoon snack, now wondering how similar in consistency that is to the chia gel as the pudding is very gel like.

I ordered the curlsmith hydra mask (travel size) and rahua hydration shampoo (also travel size) as that had a lot of interesting ingredients, looks like it will cleanse well with several non sulphate surfactants (including some gentle chelating ones) but the thing that sold it to me was that it contains clay, my favourite shampoos from Christophe Robin have always had clay as that gives some body and grip in my hair. Also got the conditioner, more out of curiosity. I've use the original rahua a long time ago but never really got on with it, here's hoping this is different. User reviews were very mixed but the ones with curly/wavy hair were the ones who absolutely adored it 🤞

Also, have been using curlsbot for checking ingredients but recently discovered isitcg.com and it's so much nicer to use. It gives really good explanation of ingredients and doesn't divide them into yes CGM or no CGM, it will give warning about proteins if you're sensitive, polyquats, etc.

Sorry to hear about the meltdowns and difficulties with the special needs children in lockdown. It must be extra tough, hoping for you all that a return to school soon will bring some calm back for everyone

It is quite gel like actually! Similar to orange marmalade but a bit more runny

Bo what do you use to add the text to your images please?

Snapseed Pupsie

Thanks Bo.

Interesting reading about your brush experimentation. Do you always style with a brush now? Does it take long?

I've done it twice now, I think. First time took a while, around 20mins, I think, but I was twisting individual strands and it was a bit too clumpy tbh. Now I just brush in sections (the sectioning takes the most time as I just have one claw clip, need to buy some sectioning ones, are those alligator ones any good with curly hair, anyone?) and form with the brush by turning it at the ends when pulling through and then apply foam with prayer hands and scrunch up (I do the scrunching part upside down). The sectioning allows me to get the foam closer to the roots than normal so that's helped with volume.

Took me 10-15 minutes I think but with clips in place (rather than carefully pulling out from a wett hair mass) it probably would take half that time.

Mmm, chia pudding .

Thanks for your good wishes, dd2 has had good sleep and had some respite yesterday, so all is calm atm.

Good to hear she's doing better, quirky

Tbh I can't really get excited about chia seed pudding all that much. I'm usually more excited about whatever is on top 🤷

Chocolate chia seed pudding, though...

I think I have some kind of flaxseed gel recipe (not the science-y blog one) which you mix with aloe vera somewhere.

So you use foam in place of gel Bo?

No, Pupsie, I apply gel throughout hair upside down and brush it through with the Denman (I did do it section by section before but it weighed it down too much at the roots) then flip right side over and section with foam.

Do you add actual chocolate to yours Quirky, I just do a really nice cacao but since I don't use a sweetener it's an acquired taste, sometimes I add cocao nibs which makes it even more of an acquired taste. I do blitz the whole thing when it's chocolate so it vaguely resembles chocolate mousse, dollop of Greek yoghurt or similar on top with some thick almond slivers or pistachios and berries or pomegranate seeds or passion fruit 😙

I see Bo. I haven't been brushing gel with my Denham. I have thought about it but I didn't want to wreck the brush as the gel is so sticky. I will give it a go as it definitely helps coat my hair better re LIC. It might help solve my naff gel issue.

Also, I have come back from a very damp and windy Devon with a slightly altered protein/moisture balance: a bug fell out of my hair when I washed it . It was small, and I didn't have my glasses on so couldn't idenfity it. Some sort of tiny fly. I'm not surprised. We hiked the highest hill in Somerset yesterday in poor weather. My hair was up but was a bit of a birds nest and I imagine resembled a venus fly trap.

We've had a good break. Hardly the Greek fly and flop we'd booked, but it was lovely to all reconnect.

I have a bowl of Greek yoghurt in the evenings, with frozen raspberries, chia seeds and dessicated coconut.

I added cacao powder, greek yoghurt and a little maple syrup. Cocoa nibs sounds good too.

I brushed through the LIC, a tiny bit of clump cream and the Innersense Gel last night. The clump cream was a mistake. My hair feels horrid today. Limp and lifeless. I don't usually take any product to the root. I can see some promise re the clumps but I need to try it again sans clump cream and only brushing from 2/3 of the way down. Not going to be able to get through the day without washing such is the feel of it. Leg day today so I'll train then wash.

I had an awesome wash day!
Got a wet detangle brush which is really good
Washed with as I am cleansing pudding
Conditioned with shea moisture fruit fusion
Detangled and brushed through the chia seed stuff
Brushed through curly and kind gel
Smoothed and scrunched with orange marmalade then diffused

I did a repeat of my last wash day styling bit (clarified before that) but used a lot less product and I'm pretty happy (happy enough to finish it up before contemplating buying the bounce curl clump cream anyhow). Took forever to dry again so crap picture from the late evening. I really need to buy a blow dryer/diffuser. I've figured out the BD, more or less, but I'm a bit lost in diffuser land currently.

I wanted the xtava black orchid but have to order it from the US, price has gone up and I'd have to pay vat/import taxes on top of high delivery charges with no guarantee it'll fit on my BD of choice so may have to get a nozzle converter thingy that naturalistic carries but that really makes the whole diffuser more expensive than the BD

The Gama diffuser recced elsewhere doesn't seem to be made anymore and the diva XXL looks massive. Then there's t3 meant to be good for wavy hair but it's pricey because I'd need to get a t3 hairdryer as it only fits on that. Same for the Dyson (not really interested in supporting that company) and that new Gama hairdryer (which I am drawn to, but the high pitch noise puts me off).

Anyone know of any other options I can consider? I mainly want time saving and good for wavy hair (so nothing that encourages shrinkage). I've also looked at the devafuser as all Devacurl is massively discounted on feelunique but apparently it encourages quite a lot of frizz.

I've tried to go down the diffuser rabbit hole but not come out of it convinced by anything. I do have a fairly basic dryer with diffuser - just the old version of this www.johnlewis.com/babyliss-5552cu-salon-pro-2200-hair-dryer-black/p3655314
Originally bought it for Ds2 because it's quite gentle and lightweight, which I need for my dodgy neck and shoulders. I never diffuse dry all the way, anyhow, just use it to take the weight off. The diffuser is quite a good size for my hair.

I'd love to try a more high end dryer but a lot of the reviews suggest they're fairly hefty.

Agree on not wanting to support Dyson.

Had another jessicurl try out, this evening. This time with the aloe a rather than the too shea conditioner. I like it much better, even though my hair is far from fine. My cast has very little frizz and some very curly bits but unfortunately the bits that will only curl convincingly with protein are stubbornly un-curly! Next project is inject some protein in there, I guess.

My scalp flared up again after last week's innersense try out. There's something in there that it doesn't like. This is why I like travel sizes!

The XXL diffuser is huge but I love it.

Hair looks better than the last washday Bo.

I too had a good washday. The best in quite a while.

Sunday chelating shampoo
Amino acid treatment conditioner for 15 minutes'
For the first time ever, no LIC
Curl clump cream
Innersense.lotion
Diffused for 10 minutes
Lots of lovely springy waves

I get a curlee box every so often and I skipped a few months. Turns out I paid in July for this one! Arrived today

So, I'm compiling a wishlist for future experimentation. I'm almost definitely going to treat myself to some more of the jessicurl - love that it's unscented, if you want and it does a very good job of the mostly protein free portion of my hair care.

I still need to find the bit of protein it sometimes needs, nw that it's longer, in a form that agrees with it. Maybe in a shampoo so that the protein primes my hair for the moisture that it enjoys, rather than in a styler, but I still have plenty of the orange marmalade left to play with.

I shall probably knock innersense on the head. It's too expensive to be just OK, even if it is lovely to use. I need to find out what I'm reacting to in it. It might just simply be too oily - I went for the hydrate line because I didn't want so much protein.

Still looking for a competent glycerine free alternative to my perfect for 9 months of the year aussie instant freeze, though - partly because I'm so reliant on amazon for it.

I shall order some jessicurl spiralicious gel, when I decide which of the other products I'm ordering - either of the conditioners plus the confident coils, most likely. No glycerine but does have panthenol further down the ingredients list - might be a good middle ground and stop it from turning my hair to cardboard in winter. I was glad of a drawer full of lovely knitted hats, last winter!

Giovanni LA hold is also on my list but doesn't seem to come in a sample size. I did a bit of googling for other ideas and came across a Swavy curly Courtney video and she recommends it, too, so probably worth risking. Her hair likes protein far more than mine, but we have a similar curl pattern and mine definitely does the Monica poof out!

She does remind me of Paige in Atypical!