Best of the Best (so far)

At this point in my CG journey, these are my favorite products:

Shampoo:
Curly Hair Solutions Treatment Shampoo (has sulfates, but also has magnesium sulfate, which makes my hair very curly)
Jessicurl's Gentle Lather Shampoo
Shea Moisture Raw Shea Shampoo

Conditioner:
Sally's Generic Value Product Conditioning Balm (very thick)
Sally's Cure Care (much thinner, also contains protein)

Gel:
Aloe vera gel (mixed with mag sulfate)
Curl Junkie's Pattern Pusha
Spiral Solutions Curl Enhancing Jelly
Spiral Solutions Firm Hold Gel

Protein Treatments:
Spiral Solutions Protein Treatment

Hair Today

I'm having a great hair day today. I hope I get a picture later on, but in the meantime, here's what I did:

Washed with Curly Hair Solutions Treatment Shampoo. (Yes, it has sulfates, but it also has mag sulfate, and it just makes my hair curl up and thrive!)

Conditioner was a mix of Shea Moisture Repairing Conditioner, Kinky Curly Knot Today, and a little bit of Sally's Generic Value Product Conditioning Balm. Rinsed it out very thoroughly and squeezed excess water from my hair (gently).

I mixed about a 1/4 cup (a little less) of aloe vera gel with about 2 or 3 teaspoons of mag sulfate. {I use a ton of mag sulfate. Not everyone (anyone?) likes it as much as I do.}

Lastly, I applied a big palmful of Curl Junkie Pattern Pusha to my hair, and then diffused for about 10 minutes.

After that, I clipped my crown and let it air dry while I drove to work.

I've gotten a lot better at clipping. When I first tried it, I didn't feel like it did anything for my hair. Then I tried doing it with a little gel on the clips. That worked great. Now I don't even need the gel. Remember, curly hair is about 20% product and 80% technique! :)

And here's the picture! Except, it's too dark, I think, to see my hair. Oh well :) Trust me, it looks better in person! I've got curls, whirls, sexy tendrils, and some wonderful spirals! I'm loving it!

When Your Hair Acts Up

I have a kind of "if...then" flow chart in my head for basic curly care. It goes something like this (but I'm looking for advice on tweaking it!)

If my hair is limp, then I check for over conditioning. 
If my hair is limp and it is not overconditioned, then I do a protein treatment.
If my hair is frizzy, then I add conditioning and/or remove drying ingredients. 
If my hair is frizzy, and I feel well moisturized, then I check the length of the frizzy hairs. Maybe it's just new growth showing up? 
If all else fails, then I do a sulfate shampoo and reboot.
If it's still not working, then I look at when I got my last hair cut :)
If it has been a reasonable time since a haircut, and I'm trying to grow out my hair, then I look for new techniques, because maybe the old ones aren't working with my longer hair anymore.

What I Did Tonight

Tonight I washed and towel dried my hair. (Micro fiber towel, of course. I've been using those for years before I'd ever heard them being recommended for curlies.) Once it was towel dry, I used one of my recent product junkie purchases, Neutral Protein Filler (NPF) (from Sally's) on my hair. I worked it through my hair roots to ends, and left it on per the instructions.

Only to discover, a few minutes later, that NPF gives me a mild asthma attack. So, whether it works well or not, I won't be repurchasing :) I'm willing to do a lot of things for curls, but regular asthma attacks is not on the list :)

Two Month check in

So, I've been using the Curly Girl (CG) method (no sulfates, no 'cones) for about two months now, and I decided it's time for a photo check in!

Here I am pre CG. At the time I was washing my hair with a no sulfate shampoo, but I wasn't using any conditioner. I would comb all the "tangles" (and, though I didn't know it, all the curl) out of my hair when it was wet, and then I would brush my hair when it was dry. I wouldn't look at it again for the rest of the day. As you can imagine, I hated having my picture taken, so it was hard finding any pictures of my hair from those days. Oh, and just to be clear, I'm not in my own house in this picture. I'm at a party. Yup, the hair you see in this picture is my fancy "party hair".

Here I am today. Still using sulfate free shampoo, but now I've added conditioner, aloe vera gel, and Spiral Solutions (SS) Curl Enhancing Gel and SS Firm Hold to the mix. Air dried, and then scrunched out the crunch with my hands. (Gently, since my curls disappear with a harsh word.) Herman, who you'll meet in the next picture, is on the other side of my head.

Here's a picture of my favorite curl. I've decided to name him "Herman". I used to not play favorites with my curls, but now I hope the other curls get jealous and try to earn names of their own :)

Today's Hair

Here's today's hair. Rocking Ringlets, Spiral Solutions (SS) Curl Enhancing Jelly, and SS Firm Hold, let air dry. I scrunched out the crunch, and then added Biosilk Rock Hard Gelee, just to prevent things from drooping later in the day. Normally, I do the root fluffing thing, but I didn't do that today. I wanted to see what my hair looked like w/o it.

I also got my eyelashes done today. (I'll post about that later.) The place where I get them done is in a hair salon. On my way out, the owner of the salon loved my hair so much, she asked me what products I used to make it so fun and cute. Maybe I'll turn her into a curly hair stylist :)

Anyway, results? Lots of spiral curls, which I love. Lots of scalp, which I don't love. Still trying to find that middle ground between curl and volume :)

Lessons Learned

I've only been doing this for a little while, but I've already learned a few things.

1. Your hair never looks as bad as you think it does in the reflection of the car window.
2. Your hair never looks as good as you think it does in the reflection of the car window.
3. You can't tell what your hair looks like in the car's rear view mirror. No, not even if you have a huge one that spans the width of the window.
4. No matter how little curl you have, no matter how bad a hair day you're having, there is someone you know that envies your hair. It's true, even if they never tell you.
5. Putting product in your hair to make it curlier is not cheating.
6. If my hair did what Meg Ryan's hair is doing in this picture, I would say I have stringy hair. Meg Ryan does not have stringy hair (or if she does, so what? the hair still looks cute). I need to lighten up on myself.