Category Archives: products

CQA Interview: Shawn

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Courtesy: Shawn

Over the weekend at a friend’s pool party I ran into a guy with some seriously awesome hair (and style). I have to say, on a side note, that I am a huge supporter of men with curly hair who grow it out. It looks so fun, free, and different. It evokes a certain je ne sais quoi, love for life I guess, which is hugely enticing to be around.

A guy with grown-out curly hair was actually part of my inspiration for starting this blog, since he was a wedding photographer at my friend’s wedding and had literally 5 minutes to get the full rundown of my haircare process. That just would not do, so I created a quick and easy blog to share with my fellow curly heads.

That being said, I sort of “accosted” my new friend for information as to his haircare regimen. He was more than happy to oblige, so I am sharing it below.

Shampoo: Argan Oil shampoo
Conditioner: Argan Oil conditioner
Product: Post-shower, he applies Neutrogena Triple Moisture (but he switches it up all the time, as he should)
Cut: Roughly once a year, and he gets it cut wet
Salon: DnA Salon in Philly

If any guys are reading this, please “like” or comment below. I really want to help out all my brothas and sistas as much as I can!

DIY Spray Gel

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In addition to my most recent post on proper conditioning at the beach and the pool, I wanted to share an easy DIY way to benefit from the wonders of hair-taming gel on the go. We all know that moment where we wonder to ourselves: Is it really worth letting loose and diving head-first into the pool, or frolicking with my summer love during high tide, at the risk of my beautiful curls turning into a poodle-y mess? Well, fret no more.

After applying your leave-in conditioner (again, be sure that you have experimented with the right amount of moisturizers so that your hair won’t look super greasy after application), spritz on some homemade spray-gel to keep strands in line.

Take 1/2 cup of your favorite gel and 1 cup of boiling water, stir them together, let it cool, then add it to a spray bottle. Easy-peasy! Experiment with amounts of gel vs. water over time to see what works best for you. Then just lie back on the beach towel and let your beachy-cool locks unveil themselves!

Spray gel recipe by Curly Girl

That’s a Wrap!

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Click image to enlarge. That guy sticking up in the middle is the Freedom Tower, lit up with some patriotic red white and blue!

Last night I had the pleasure of attending a swanky hair blogger party hosted by Ojon in the penthouse of The Standard in New York City’s East Village. In addition to some excellent cocktails and a stellar view (at right), I learned so much more about curl textures very different than my own — my new-found knowledge will soon be cultivated into some interesting posts — and I immediately had to share an awesome product that I will be trying as soon as it arrives in the mail.

While speaking to a lovely woman from Essence.com about the perils of properly deep-conditioning at home, I mentioned how sad I am that I can’t fit my portable hood dryer into my Brooklyn apartment. She told me about the Hair Therapy Wrap, which essentially does the same thing as hooded dryers:

Courtesy amazon.com

You apply the deep conditioner or oil treatment, her favorite was Curl Junkie’s Curl Rehab, and microwave this thick towel-like cap until it’s nice and steamy. Then you put it on over your greased-up hair and leave it as long as you want. The thickness and something about the material retains heat really well, which is why it’s better than a regular old towel. Also, it won’t slip off as easily.

I’ll write another update once I’ve tried it myself, but I have high hopes! What a great solution to an often-messy problem.

Full Disclosure: Product Substitutions

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I’d love to tell you that I just stick to buying these 8 products, but the truth is that I still have some of that experimental energy that I had long before I started my curly transformation. In other words, I don’t try every product I see on the shelves that promises sleek, shiny, frizz-free hair, although I am tempted. No, my better-educated self turns every product right around to look at ingredients before even considering trying something new.

As I’ve mentioned on the Products page, hair likes to shake up the routine. If you use the exact same things the same way every day, your hair will start to lose some of its luster and it will get very monotonous and boring. Using varying amounts of a product, or experimenting with different application techniques can help, but if you take a total break from those products for about a month, you’ll notice that your hair is happier when you return to using them. That’s why I usually have at least one alternative to every product I use regularly. Below is a list of some of those substitutions, and how I like to keep things interesting.

1) Conditioner: This work horse may contribute the most crucial element to your hair’s health and appearance. Too much and it may look greasy, too little and it looks and feels dry and becomes more prone to breakage. When I want to take a break from Devachan’s One Condition, I use Ouidad’s Balancing Rinse conditioner. I’ll use it for maybe a week before switching back to One Condition, because it does eventually leave my hair feeling a bit less moisturized than I’d like. It’s a thinner formula so that may contribute to it. I also like Argan Oil conditioner, but wouldn’t use it more often than once a month or so.

2) Styling Gel: There are so many ways to take a break from gel. You can use only one gel for slightly less hold and control, instead of using one in the shower pre-towel-drying and one as a finishing gel immediately after towel-drying. You can use different finishing gels, although I always like to keep Devachan’s Angell as my base. I love Ouidad’s Climate Control, but surprisingly I couldn’t stand Curl Quencher on my hair. I’d suggest going to their site, they have it set up a lot like naturallycurly.com now and you can shop by curl type. I also like Devachan’s Volumizing Foam when I want a much less contained look, and I substitute this for finishing gel, while still using the Angell base.

I never use any creams, however. I’ve tried so many, and recently tried Carol’s Daughter’s Hair Milk (which had great moisturizing ingredients, by the way, so it probably left my hair better off in the end) but it didn’t hold my curl at all, which meant that day 2 I already needed to wash and re-style. I like when I can go at least 3 days between washes, which means the perfect balance between not-too-dry and not-too-greasy product application.

3) Hair Treatment: I recommend using some form of hair treatment, be it oil or deep conditioner, at least once a week. You can use those little bottles of essential oils on your ends, you can use a great deep conditioner like DevaCurl’s Heaven in Hair, you can use any of the homemade treatments in Curly Girl, including a slight variation on the amazing Oil Treatment featured on my site, or you can try some great conditioning treatment that you find on your own, as long as it has the key moisturizing ingredients high on the list, and not too many that you can’t pronounce toward the bottom. As always, look for any types of oils, glycerin and glycol derivatives, aloe, and words that you understand first. If there are any ingredients you don’t understand, Google them. You’ll be surprised at how quickly you can recognize them once you’ve looked them up.

4) Refreshers: Lastly, I want to be sure that I hammer home how much I love Cold Spring Apothecary’s Citrus Ginger Sea Salt Spray to revive second- and third-day hair. There are a lot of these on the market now, but you have to be sure that they have moisturizers to counteract the drying effect of sea salt. When I use only four pumps distributed throughout my hair by tossing it back and forth, it re-awakens my hair and re-defines lost curls. I only use this when I really feel that I need it, and always use it sparingly. Don’t add this to your hair if it feels like there’s already too much product in your ‘do.

Extensions: Do or Don’t?

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As a curly girl, I’ve often considered the merits of extensions to add volume and length to my hair. I’ve never understood how curly extensions would work, though, especially in a weave (which stays in for roughly three months full-time, sans clips) when you get sweaty, knotty, or wash it. I know that curly weaves have been around for quite some time, but the logistics were lost on me. Plus, is it worth getting them? Does it damage your hair?

Courtesy: Lugo's Hair Center

I pondered these musings with my hairdresser recently and was told that she opted for weave extensions when she had her hair tragically shorn by an un-knowledgable stylist. She was sick of waiting for her hair to grow out, so she went full-steam-ahead and had real human hair incorporated into her own. I asked whether this was damaging, and she grimaced and suggested getting the clip-in kind if I was worried about damage.

Also, it’s important to consider that there are different hair types. While ethnic hair is actually more brittle than caucasian hair, there is also a lot more of it to begin with. If I were to get a weave and have to thin out some of the frayed or damaged pieces once I removed them, I’d look half bald. Not a good look for anyone.

The stylist direct me to Lugo’s Hair Center, which is a weave and extension online shop that specializes in curly human hair. It’s permed so the curl will stay intact when you wash. You purchase the hair and have it attached to clips, or bring it to your salon to have it weaved in with your natural locks. There is a broad color palette and they pride themselves on their deft color-matching service.

I personally opted out of the weave, but I may still try the clip-in extensions at some point. They’d probably look amazing with fancier do’s (think weddings, prom, cocktail parties, special events, etc…).

 

The Skinny: DIY Deep Conditioning

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We’ve all seen the little tubes of hot oil treatments in the hair product aisles of our favorite supply stores, but I’m sure that you’ve also noticed the squat tubs of deep conditioners that have become ever-so-popular among most hair brands over the past decade or so. They promise to add shine, restore thickness to thinning locks, tame frizz and more. Some say to leave the treatments in for 5-10 minutes, others only 3. What’s the difference and what does it all mean?!?

Last night I treated myself to a deep conditioning treatment at Devachan Salon in Soho, and I took the opportunity to grill my stylist. First of all, why is this treatment any better than my purchasing their deep conditioner and doing it at home? Here are some tips she had that will offer you the first-class treatment from your couch.

1) The deep conditioner has to get into every nook and cranny on your head, including your scalp. After thoroughly wetting hair down with warm water and then squeezing it mostly dry, the stylist recommended separating hair into sections, like you see when women are getting their hair braided, except larger sections are fine. You work it into each section thoroughly, and run a dab of it along your scalp line between sections. It helps if someone else can help you with this since you can’t see your own scalp, but you can feel it out and maybe do this in front of a mirror to help.

2) As with the oil treatment, you should then cover your head with a plastic shower cap. This holds in moisture like a mini-ecosystem, allowing any lost moisture to be re-absorbed. Put a long piece of cotton, or rolled up paper towels along the edges to hold a tight seal, and prevent any conditioner from leaking down your neck.

Revlon hooded dryer: $33

3) If you have room, and this is very important, buy a mini (haha) hooded dryer. They aren’t as expensive and ridiculous as you think, although there is a range, it’s just hard to find a place to keep it in a tiny chock-full apartment. If you want to save moolah on expensive conditioning treatments, though, I highly recommend it.

4) Lastly, it’s recommended to leave the treatment in, sitting under the dryer, for at least half an hour. It’s pretty loud so watching TV may be a challenge, but you can read magazines and just pretend you’re in some fancy salon!

When it comes to the difference between an oil treatment and a deep conditioning treatment, I think it’s one of those things where two is better than one. Both have their purpose. I’ve read that olive oil particles are too large for hair to absorb, but I know that they have a great, lasting effect on my hair when I use them. I’d say that both treatments have their place.

As for which deep conditioner brands to buy, just make sure that they have lots of moisturizing elements, such as glycerin, aloe, any kind of oils and butters; and as always these ingredients should be high up on the list. My favorite brand, of course, is Devachan’s Heaven in Hair. Most others will be comparable, though, just make sure that they don’t have alcohol (drying) or harmful sulfate and chloride ingredients. The oil treatment can be made at home. Happy conditioning!

Start Curly

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One minor thing I’d like to address is that every hair styling tip I read about in magazines instructs you to blow-dry curly hair straight first. The tousled look, for example, involves blow-drying your hair in all different directions, then curling the ends, and texturizing it with pomade. Straighten my curly hair only to curl it again? Wha…? What these articles do is convince us to buy a ton of pricey products that aren’t all that great for our hair, make our ‘do’s high-maintenance, and promise shiny frizz-free results that we all know just aren’t going to happen. Especially as the warm and humid spring and summer months approach.

Back-combing can be done with a small black comb to create height near the roots of hair. Do not comb your hair to the ends with this!

My theory is work with what you’ve got: You have curly hair and you want it tousled? Fine, tousle it. Tousle ’til your heart’s content! I picked up a new trick over the weekend that I love. I’ve already recommended using a wide-tooth comb if you absolutely need to comb your hair while it’s wet in the shower, but I was recently given an olive-oil infused wide-tooth comb that I LOVE. I haven’t combed or brushed my hair (except when straight) in almost a decade, so this is kind of a big deal. I already knew you could use a small comb (like the flimsy black ones they gave you before school pictures) to add body at the roots of your hair. It works like back-combing, you brush against the direction of the hair at the very roots and get some upward movement.

Olive oil comb--great for combing through shorter layers to loosen curls and create a more "tousled" look.

The olive-oil comb, however, is so silky-smooth and non-invasive that I find I can use it with my shorter layers, like bangs, and also use it to back-comb for body on the crown of my head. It loosens up my curls, making them look a bit more fun and frisky instead of orderly and controlled. If you want to add texture try spritzing with some spray gel or the Coldstone Apothecary salt-water spray I mention on the products page once you’ve achieved your desired look.

If you do choose to gently comb through your hair to the ends with the wide-tooth comb, wrap unruly curls around your finger to eliminate frizz.

Also, once you’re done combing and before you use product, try finger-curling the rowdier pieces to make the hair come together in harmony again instead of being too frizzy. The amount of combing you do depends completely on how much of a statement you want to make, and over time you may find yourself doing it more and more. It’s also a great way to add height to hair that has dried somewhat flat on top.

Good Guide

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Good morning fine friends! I’m going to take a rare foray away from hair-specific talk to inform you about one of my favorite sites that will help you with organifying and cleansifying your lives in more ways than are detailed in this blog. It’s a site called GoodGuide, and if you haven’t heard of it you should definitely take a look.

Basically it’s a place where you can search for the products in your home, or products you’re thinking about buying, that you use regularly, and you’ll get the health and environmental low-down. Toothpaste, conditioner, hand soap, baby shampoo, the works. Each is rated on a 1-10 scale based on Health factors, Environmental impact, and Society–whether the company gives back to its community.

The products I recommend on my site are healthy and hair-friendly, but if you want to try to find something a little less expensive that won’t be damaging, this is the place to start your search. I hope that sites like this one start to influence big company’s business practices so that these important keystones of corporate responsibility will become the norm one day. Have fun, and here’s to your health!

Coloring!

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I’ve had a few people ask me whether it’s safe to color curly hair. Here’s how I feel on the subject: I spent my entire young adult life (from about 15-24) coloring my hair all different colors. I’ve been a firey redhead, a blazing blonde, a dashing dark-haired diva (ok, enough alliterations, sorry) and it was grand. But my hair also sucked. This was before my shampoo-free revolution, so I didn’t think too much about what I was putting into my hair, or at least not as much as I do now.

Henna hair color dyes, courtesy: alibaba.com

When I went poo-less, I stopped coloring and wanted to grow my hair out. I figured that the best way was to keep my hair healthy all-around. That being said, I think if your hair is a hot mess and you need serious recovery time to regain luscious well-moisturized curls, don’t mess with color. Give the whole routine a couple of years to work its magic, then go back to semi- or demi-permanent colors. Good salons will offer these. Pick a low-maintenance color close to your own so you don’t have to go too often. Keep in mind, though, that bleach will never be good for your hair. Also, any time you do something drastic like get any color or a hair cut, your hair will take up to 2-3 weeks to feel like itself again. Be patient, use your weekly oil treatments and plenty of condish, and the beauty will return! A large part of having curly hair is having a saint’s aptitude for patience.

Also, I’m sorry, but I do not believe that blondes have more fun. Curly-haired people have more fun. 🙂

Now, of course, if you are hell-bent covering grays or want an even more natural approach to hair color, this advice doesn’t apply to you. I’d say that if you’re regularly coloring your hair, you should look into henna color. I know that sounds hippy-dippy (what doesn’t on this blog?) but they’ve come a long way and have a variety of colors and strengths. I hear that they work well on grays, so definitely try it. And comment to let me know how it goes! This also applies to those who are pregnant; according to what I’ve been told, henna color will not harm your baby. Definitely speak to your doctor before trying this, however.

Part of accepting your curly hair is accepting who you really are, and loving that beautiful person! Try to stay as natural as possible and your curls will thank you.

Switch it up!

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Every once in a while, even after you’ve perfected your hair care routine, things will get a little stale and you’ll notice that your strands are getting frizzed out more easily, or greasier, or more weighted down than usual. Aside from the usual remedies to this, you can also try switching up the routine. I’ve always kept a few different conditioners (all high-quality, of course) and gels on hand for this purpose.

Lately, for example, my hair hasn’t been itself and I’ve been getting annoyed with it. I noticed that I didn’t have my AnGell in the shower with me, so I went without and just put the Devachan Tress Effects gel on when I got out of the shower and after blotting my hair dry. I noticed that it felt bouncier, cleaner, and happier, so I’ve been doing that for the past couple of weeks now. When I notice things getting stale again, I may switch my conditioner for a few weeks, the way I style it, when I style it (morning vs. night before bed), etc. Hair seems to like a break from routine as much as we do!