➿ 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)

Yeah, SophieLion flapping their hose . You gotta love autocorrect.

Ninny, light makes a massive difference, I really notice it now I have silver/white hair as it just reflects whatever's around it.

That is not what I imagined when you said triangle hair Sophie, it looks sort of blocky in my eyes 🤷 I see what you mean, in none of those pictures does she hold her head straight. Does she mention which hairdresser she goes to in NL by any chance? There's one sort of famous one I may contemplate going to (as it specialises in curly and wavy hair and that separation gives some confidence) but it seems a bit overhyped on their own website and in some fashion magazines, but I'd like to see some people outside of it iykwim.

Is anyone else being thrown by the seasonal change? I thought I had it all sorted with my hydration focus and was about to pay up for the Rahua but now it seems I need a little bit more as it's coming up dry. Also losing loads of hair which I hope is seasonal 😬 I'll try my LIC next time, that's pretty rich and a usual staple in A/W although I rarely grab for it this early on. May also order another Curlsmith mask, which did you get Ninny, if it was you, I could have sworn Quirky had put in an order with them but now I think you mentioned them one of you who actually got it will hopefully answer 🙏

Hi Bo at the risk of being called a sheep, I got the same Curlsmith mask as you .

The weather has turned much cooler here, and now rain for several days in a row. Not noticed any major change yet hair wise.

Oh I just came on to ask you a question Bo so nice to see you posted anyway.

I seem to recall (but could be wrong) that you mentioned hair loss and a connection with the Mirena coil (which I had put in in May to help some other medical issues I have) - did you ever mention this? I seem to have a lot of hair loss the past couple of months and wondering if the time of year, or whether because I'm not brushing between washes to it all Collects..... my hormones are ok but due to these medical issues I had intensive doses of hormones a couple of times around March/April and a longer term Hormone Every day until end of August but the effects should have worn off by now. I see you're losing hair too ...... It's not pleasant.

If I see where Charlotte has her haircut then I will tell you. She may have posted that she had a deva cut. I like her hair - from what I can see of the one side of it. It's kind of hard to tell. Certainly I can't be walking around all day with all my hair flipped over to one side of my head (a bit 80s too....) I don't think she has blocky or triangular hair but some of the others do. Got my cut today so we will see.

My BC clarifying shampoo and mahogany naturals mask arrived yesterday but not used either. If I make it to the uk ever then I will try to get my haircut cut by tope who is a curly
Specialist and owns the mahogany brand.

My halo seems to be getting frizzy too - before it was the crown area and sorted that do the frizz moved elsewhere. Confused so going to research frizz today.

Our weather is still summer so not noticed any changes due to that Bo.

Sophie, my hair loss isn't Mirena related but it's definitely a known issue (I think I may have discussed it with someone else on the Skincare threads?) when it's nearing the end of its lifecycle. With hormones it's an androgen issue so unless they were prescribing you testosterone at which point I'm sure they would have warned you to expect hair loss and excess facial hair.

Mahogany is new to me, what's so special about the brand that you'd seek out their salons? Incidentally I came across another salon that carries Innersense (among a few others) but also offers a service where they give you a wash day with products they think would work best for you. It's kind of expensive and it's in another city (but where most of my family lives so usually would be there semi regularly) but I do really appreciate the concept of that even if it is just a pricey sales session. Not that I'll be seeing a hairdresser anytime soon at the moment, too much risk at the moment due to climbing numbers so I'll be trimming myself again, probably tomorrow.

And thanks Ninny for answering although I was hoping you hadn't been a sheep and ordered the other one so I'd know what that was like. I do hope you also like the hydro one.

I really like it Bo. All my other conditioners are heavier. And I ordered the travel size but will probably RP the full size.

Oh no Bo, mahogany naturals isn't a chain of salons. It's a one woman show! A lady called Tope who works out of her house. She specialises in curly and textured hair. She lives near my cousin and my cousin (curly also) goes to her for cuts. The only other curly hairdresser I know works in the centre of London and her prices were 😱😱

And no I wasn't on testosterone. My hairdresser today said she didn't notice any particular hair loss (and I washed yesterday) and she said perhaps it just seems a lot because I don't brush and don't wash every day.

The innersense salon sounds interesting but I guess on how much you pay for the service...

That's interesting about the Mirena, SophieLion, as my gp keeps trying to push it on me.

bo, I had the Curlsmith Weightless Air Dry Cream.

Given that my salon is in the centre of Newcastle, where the numbers are astronomical, I don't think I'll be having mine cut again, this side of Christmas.

Mine is feeling the change in seasons. I had actual knots in it, today, when I washed it. Needed a lot more conditioner as it just kept soaking in and wasn't slippery enough. It's approaching the point when I can use up my gels with glycerine in.

I get more knots in winter underneath my hair, particularly with higher necklines and scarves. I need to investigate the glycerine and dew points a bit more.

I've just ordered the Gallinee scalp mask to help ward off my usual dry winter scalp. I definitely don't have the same build up issues but I can feel the dryness starting. I think central heating (ours has kicked in a few times already), hoods and hats all make it worse. I also find I've been needing to wash three times a week.

Has anyone tried an apple cider vinegar rinse?

Morning, Bo and anyone else who is interested in the topic, Manes By smell just posted a very interesting and informative video about hair loss and hair fall.

Thanks Sophie, I'll watch it later. After my most recent wash day the shedding seems to have stopped though 🤷

I used to finish off my shampooing with an acv rinse, it works fine if you're in a hard water area but it's easy to overdo. I'm not sure if it's the same thing you're asking about though?

Also, manes by smell 😂🤣🙊

(I'm sure she smells lovely)

Oh dear that was an unfortunate typo Poor Mel. She looks like she is very clean and wouldn't smell (nasty)

Glad to hear you are shedding less Bo. I was at dermatologist yesterday and she said all my hair loss is due to the hormones I had to take due to this health problem and that timing wise it all makes sense too. She said my roots look healthy and that she can see lots of new growth - which are the little hairs that dry quickly and keep sticking up. I told her that generally my hair is dry now and she said it's also due to the hormones but it will pass. But it does mean that I have lost a lot of the progress I was making with my hair

Yes I meant the ACV rinse. I tried it yesterday as trying to focus on hydration now and I read it closed cuticles and also balances the pH of the hair. I read you can do it quite often and it doesn't damage hair or colour. What did you learn about it being easy to overdo it Bo?

I think it was just down to washing hair in the shower, using a large jug and sort of guestimating how much ACV to use. I also used a tincture of infused herbs and ACV as a pretreatment on my scalp. At some point it just made my hair feel a bit straw like and wiry so I had to leave it alone for a bit. I also found it made my hair lighten in the sun quicker than normal. I may try it again though as my hair is definitely acting out with all the rain at the moment, it might just do the trick. I also remember doing an ACV and clay mask, can't really remember what for or if it was any good, I just remember it being really messy

Annoying that they didn't warn you about the possibility of hair loss. The baby hairs are really annoying, there's not much you can do about it, and it lasts for a really long time (I think it was about a year and a half before they were not as noticeable). I used a little pommade on finger tips and sort of smoothed them down, being careful not to get it on the longer hairs but it meant having to wash my hair more often but since you seek to be able to handle heavier products that may not be an issue with you.

I must catch up on that Manes by smell video .

It's good that your hair is growing well, but very annoying about the hormone issue. Hormones massively impact my hair, especially the dryness and curl pattern.

I need some help myself, as although my usual scalp dryness is fine, but I ended up at the doctor's yesterday with a small, scaly patch on one side of my head, which has lost some hair. My usual doctor confirmed about my eczema prone skin but thinks it might be scalp psoriasis . I think it's probably stress induced, dd2 is sleeping appallingly atm, probably compounded with hormones. I have some stronger steroid lotion and a medicated shampoo. I'm wondering what I can do to counter the harsher than I normally use shampoo. Lots of conditioning, scalp friendly treatments, I think. I'm trying to improve my scalp without trashing my hair.

My hair first curled properly in my first pregnancy.

I've gone back away from the glycerine and, eith my jug of water, I'm getting utterly bonkers ringlets, every single wash.

I read the mestiza muse blog and she gave exact amounts of ACV to use in a measured amount of water according the the pH you want Bo. I will definitely try it again as been researching how to hydrate my hair and it always seems to be included in the list of things that help.

And yes annoying I wasn't warned about hair losses. Doctor only warned me about hot flashes and those were not pleasant at all.

How is your scalp quirky? I'm not sure if you are on Instagram but BrittCurls recently posted about a scalp irritation issue she had due to a product and she wrote what she did to sort it out. I can have a look for you.

Those are big ringlets pickachew! What do you mean by the water jug? Instead of the shower?

I did a deep condition which seemed to help my hair, think I had overloaded on protein
Styling is Giovanni leave in, mielle ginger gel and jessicurl spiralicious

Thanks, SophieLion, I am on Instagram, I will check that out. My scalp's getting there, no more flare ups just trying to get it to heal. I had some advice on a fb forum to just use the medicated shampoo on the affected areas, which has certainly helped. I've also been using the Gallinee scalp and hair mask after, which is helping.

I was reading about pH in hair on a fb group, referencing the Science-y blog. Saying that higher porosity hair is better with ACV and lower porosity with bicarbonate of soda in affecting the cuticle. Though, I imagine the dilution affects the pH of ACV in relation to different hair types.

Nice curls PickAChew and Queen.

Nice curls Queen!

I think my hair is more high porosity now quirky so I'm hoping the ACV rinse will help with the frizz.

Today I did a gelatine treatment for the first time as my hair was going back into the over-moisturised zone and I realised I hadn't done a protein treatment for ages. Also used BC clump cream and innersense foam together (used the clump cream instead of a LIC). I used the innersense gel after wet plopping but have decided I'm not that keen on it. It's very sticky and I find it hard to apply evenly - and I need to emulsify it in my hands with water before applying. Don't think will re-purchase. My jessicurl spiralicious is almost out and will definitely get that again at some point.

This thread seems to have gone a bit quiet - perhaps less to talk about with hair than skincare?!

I've just revisited Spiralicious Sophie. Had a really good wash day with it. I've ordered the Bounce Curl Clarifying Shampoo and the Innersense Hydrating Conditioner (travel size).

3 weeks until I go to the curly hair salon in Bristol. I was looking at their website and I like all their pre cut advice. Makes sense to me. I've also messaged with a couple of the people who have had their hair cut there.

Fully expecting to feel compelled to buy some of the products they'll use and they will all be Aveda. So I'll need to stay strong! And at least come home and do my research.

Looking forward to talking to a professional about my hair and how to get the most out of it. But also dubious as to long lasting results as they will only see my hair on that one day and it'll still be prone to ongoing fluctuations re protein/moisture balance, dew points etc. But at least it will be a proper curly cut.

Not yet told my hairdresser about it. Seeing her for a root touch up in 2 weeks. Will talk to her then. Hoping she will understand and still be willing to do my colour every 6 weeks as I'm not driving 2 hours each way that often.