Curly Girls - Page 5

[Spastica]

Yay, something worked!

Your hair, my dear, is exactly like my hair.

It likes lots of baking soda to clean, but it likes lots of acids to keep it from falling flat.

Yeah, the apple cider vinegar can repair split ends to a degree, but it's still good to get a trim.

Shoot, I just get trims from cheapo places. I always have a gay African American man cutting my hair, he's great. If he's not around, I check for people who have curly or thick hair, or have ethnic hair themselves. Just ask for somebody who knows curly hair, and you will have a volunteer!

PrincessC:

I would like to think that were some sort of process to the no-poo mayhem. I actually added baking soda to my regular shampoo to get rid of buildup and kept using more and more baking soda until I weaned myself off the shampoo. Don't forget the apple cider vinegar, which will further clarify your hair and get rid of scalp and hair problems. Just using baking soda with your current shampoo will get some residues out and you will LOVE your hair that day. Condition well, avoiding the roots.

It takes a lot of patience, trial, and error, because natural stuff isn't a 1-size fits all packaged commercial solution. If you keep that in mind, and start learning about your hair and body, it's not quite as frustrating.

And of course, we're all here to troubleshoot and help you along the way

[maxwill129]

Originally Posted by Spastica

And of course, we're all here to troubleshoot and help you along the way

Yeah. I've had to use everyone more than a few times while I figured out my hair!

[NinaBruja]

oh im loving this thread...
from the naturally curly hair types chart im a 2a and dd 1 is a 2b on dry days and a 3a when its humid.
im new to curls. ive only been wavy since i got pregnant with dd1.
so basically im butchering our hair treating it like straight hair and seriously need a step by step manual to know what the heck i should be doing...
i look like a poodle...dds hair looks tangled we needed this thread desperately

eta: actually im a 2c, i have extrememly thick and coarse hair.

[PrincessCass]

Well I tried the Co wash yesterday and I added a bit of baking soda because my hair was kinda oily. Then I rinsed with ACV but I don't think I rinsed the Co out well enough because after my hair dried it was sticky and felt a bit heavier than usual. My curls looked great though.

So this morning I woke up and my hair was really greasy/waxy and kinda stringy not pretty at all. I hoped in the shower to see if I could rinse it but it just wasn't helping so I ended up using a lil bit of shampoo on my scalp and them I condtioned really good. It feels better now but I think it just might frizz out. Now I think I am going to follow your advice and slowly wean off the poo LOL.

[Spastica]

Yeah do the no-poo thing gradually. Here's the reason why:

It'll help you get the hang of scalp and hair scrubbing. If you don't scrub well and rinse well with conditioner only washing, then you'll get greasy looking hair.

More importantly, if you've been using conditioners with silicones in it (Pantene, Garnier Fructis, and most other conditioners), your hair will actually be gummy for a while until you get the baking soda and apple cider vinegar to get rid of all the silicones. The baking soda tries to strip the silicones and it's pretty much like melted plastic on your hair. So it gets gummy and tacky until it all comes out.

Do conditioner only washing ONLY after the whole detox period. If you do conditioner plus baking soda, put at least a tablespoon's worth in. Be sure your new conditioner is lightweight and silicone free.

[PrincessCass]

Ahhhh oh wise one. That is exactley what happend. I have learned my lesson. I will go gradual now LOL.

[lmkirche]

Hugs and kisses to you all!

My hair has never looked and felt better! My dh was sceptical at first (no washing) but he is now a believer.

One question. I went swimming today. Should I do anything different to my hair to prevent the clorine from damaging it??

[Spastica]

Sure you can.

Best possible thing to do is wear a swimcap, but since *I* don't even wear those here's another option.

Wet and drench your hair thoroughly with clean water first, add silicone free conditioner to wet hair. Or you can put olive oil in wet hair. After swimming, no-poo clean your hair as usual, condition well with ACV, conditioner or both. You can put your hair up or braid it loosely with a snag free ponytail holder (don't make it too tight).

If you wet your hair prior to swimming, it 'waterlogs' the hair cuticles a bit so that extra water and chlorinated nastiness can't penetrate well. The conditioner helps be a barrier to a degree and keeps the chlorine from drying it out.

[KathleenB]

OK, I've read the book and scoured all your excellent posts. I'm ready to begin. Actually, I began today with a conditioner nopoo. Big curls on the underlayer, but a flat canopy, even with plopping and clipping and lifting. I guess my top layer is way more dried out. Anyway, I think I'll take the advice here for the gradual method: conditioner and BS no poo followed by ACV and conditioner on the ends. I have to get to the store for some cheap cone free conditioner. The experimenting required has me a little confused, so I'll need to tune in here for encouragement.

[KathleenB]

I just read some of the links again at the beginning of the thread. After the BS nopoo, is it best to condition, then follow with the ACV last? I'm getting so confused:

[PrincessCass]

LOL I'm right there with ya Kathleen : I think the hair gods are smiling on me today my curls look fantastic. I would say just try on thing at a time and try it for a week at least. That way you don't spend alot of money. Oh and Spatica really knows curly hair she will give awesome advice LOL.

[terrordactyl]

i have corkscrew curls and i straighten them

[rootabagamom]

Yay! Curly Girl!

I've been shampoo free for almost 2 years now and I've never loved my hair more.

I have botticelli curls and had no clue how to care for them and was always hating my poufy hair. Going no 'poo has helped my scalp too, as it was always problematic before.

I wash with conditioner, and use a little vinegar if my scalp is acting up at all and put in just the right amount of Lekair hair cholesterol. I use a small amount of gel to control poufiness.

It's so pleasant to have an easy routine that works with my hair instead of fighting against it all the time. I was seriously thinking about straightening my hair in the months before finding this method.

And I found the method just in time since my oldest son is a curly boy!

My encouragement to people just starting out with this is that it does take some time to learn and get good at and have your hair look its very best. But it is worth the effort.

[cfiddlinmama]

Ok so I have been doing the BS/ACV wash for a couple of weeks now. (I wasn't diluting it - just using it straight - oops!) and I've loved how soft my hair has been. I was still brushing it though. It's been poof and frizz like crazy. So, I reread this thread today and did my first condition only wash (Avalon Cond - Lavender) and plopped when I got out. (No brushing, just finger detangling) I just took my tshirt off my head I have have THE MOST GORGEOUS CURLS EVER!!!!!!!!!!!! I am so psyched! THANK YOU!!! I've so frustrated with my hair. Wow! You curly girls rock! : : : :


WoooooHOOOOO! (ya I'm excited!)

[KathleenB]

I'm so glad this site is back up and running; I sure need the support as a curlnewb. I'm finishing my first week and have come to several conclusions... I think! I probably will forego BC washes as I don't want to jeopardize my $$$$$ hair color. I have some Avalon shampoo to use, and I'm in the weaning stage. Since I've been an everyday pooer, I'll try once every 3 days, then gradually move it out to once a week as recommended in CG for wavy girls (me). Also, I think I was using too much product. Yesterday I left off the gel, and my hair felt less "greasy and stringy". So far my best results have been with a condish or Avalon "wash" followed by squeezing out the H20 w/ my head hanging over, then a leave in condish I've been using all along - Potion 9 by Sebastian. Interestingly, it has fabulous ingredients, also amodimethicone (sp?) which is the same ingredient in DevaCurls products. I can't quite get the hang of the plopping, maybe a tshirt is easier to manage? Best of all, the wave is really coming back into my hair. The pieces around my hairline are kind of straight and stringy, so a few pincurls helped that. Any suggestions from you wavy girls out there? Our curls need a little more coaxing and get weighed down more easily, I'm thinking

[maxwill129]

Originally Posted by KathleenB

Any suggestions from you wavy girls out there? Our curls need a little more coaxing and get weighed down more easily, I'm thinking

I'm a wavy, and yes, I believe our hair does get weighted down a lot easier. I read on the naturallycurly website this great paragraph on wavy hair, but of course now I can't find it. It basically said that wavy hair is not straight hair. Wavy hair is not curly hair. Wavy hair is an entity of it's own. It's unruly and has it's own ideas of what it wants to do. You can do the same routine every day and have your hair looking great and then all of a sudden the routine doesn't work for a day or two, without you changing a thing. You need to be a little more patient with wavy hair and go with the flow (no pun intended).

I've been trying to get a good routine for quite some time. Right now because it's summer and hot, I pull my hair up, so I don't use any styling products in my hair. As far as what I do:

Sunday: 1 heaping Tablespoon BS, 1 teaspoon brown sugar, 1 teaspoon Nature's Gate conditioner. Make a paste. Massage it into my roots/scalp. Pull threw the rest of hair. Let sit for a couple of minutes. Rinse well.
Take a mix of 50/50 ACV and water and 1 teaspoon of conditioner, pour over hair, pull through, let sit for a couple of mintues. Rinse upside down. Scrunch curls with hands while squeezing water out. Use a microfiber towel if hair is too wet, but for most part I skip the towel (I have really fine hair, so any kind of towel can REALLY dry my hair fast).

Monday/Wednesday/Friday: Have 2nd day hair.

Tuesday/Thursday: Do Sunday routine, omitting the brown sugar.

Saturday: Deep conditioner by adding honey to both "shampoo" and "conditioner" mixtures.

My hair looks really clean, healthy, and is really soft. Like I said, I haven't actually left my hair down for an extended period of time since it's super hot here, so I don't have a gel or any styling products that I use yet (open to good suggestions!). I did try Jessicurl products and they were good, just too expensive for me to use.

Anyway, hope that helps.

Shannon

[Just_Isabel]

Originally Posted by Spastica

Yeah do the no-poo thing gradually. Here's the reason why:

It'll help you get the hang of scalp and hair scrubbing. If you don't scrub well and rinse well with conditioner only washing, then you'll get greasy looking hair.

More importantly, if you've been using conditioners with silicones in it (Pantene, Garnier Fructis, and most other conditioners), your hair will actually be gummy for a while until you get the baking soda and apple cider vinegar to get rid of all the silicones. The baking soda tries to strip the silicones and it's pretty much like melted plastic on your hair. So it gets gummy and tacky until it all comes out.

Do conditioner only washing ONLY after the whole detox period. If you do conditioner plus baking soda, put at least a tablespoon's worth in. Be sure your new conditioner is lightweight and silicone free.

Ehm... why is shampoo bad for your hair? And wouldn't a clarifying shampoo help get rid of the cones?
(I just don't think I have a problem with shampoos.)



Something else unrelated to shampoo...
This may be weird, but my hair actually looks good (nice,well defined curls) when it dries with sea water, when I go to the beach. Does anyone else have this experience?
(This is actually why I stopped brushing/combing my hair after I get out of the shower, because I just leave it alone when I'm at the beach and it looks good when it dries.)

[KathleenB]

I'm really on the fence about BS. I tried it last week, I think day 3, with an ACV rinse, and ended up with a gummy, sticky mess. The "melted cones" explain that. I'm wondering if I should try BS again, to truly get rid of the cones, but do you think the Avalon sampoo every 3rd or 4th day will do it eventually? I'm so scared of messing up my hair color. My hair seems really stringy the second day; lots of wave, but not all that attractive. I've got to say, my scalp was itchy the second and third day, but haven't been since.

[maxwill129]

Originally Posted by KathleenB

I'm really on the fence about BS. I tried it last week, I think day 3, with an ACV rinse, and ended up with a gummy, sticky mess. The "melted cones" explain that. I'm wondering if I should try BS again, to truly get rid of the cones, but do you think the Avalon sampoo every 3rd or 4th day will do it eventually? I'm so scared of messing up my hair color. My hair seems really stringy the second day; lots of wave, but not all that attractive. I've got to say, my scalp was itchy the second and third day, but haven't been since.

Gina can answer this better than me, but I truly had to experiment with how much BS/ACV in order to get not stringy hair. Also, I understand about you being scared because of the hair coloring. I'm considering coloring my hair after this babe is born (4 and 1/2 weeks!) and am really concerned that the BS/ACV will mess up the coloring...

Shannon

[KathleenB]

Has anyone tried the Tresemme conditioners listed at the beginning of this thread? I did look at them, noticed dimethicone as one of the last ingreKdients, then reluctantly left it on the shelf.....many other excellent ingredients were on the list.