Wash And Go, To Grow And To Dazzle 2020 Challenge

[LavenderMint]

My last two sets taught me that using same brand products keeps me from that weird pilling I tend to get in the front of my head. I used the Kinky Curly duo & then next set I used Trepadora Leave-In, Papaya Slip & the Bamboo Glaze. Neither brand gave me any trouble. (Not counting the fact that in spite of using the leave-in my hair felt super parched & lost definition in the back of my head very quickly. By today, the back of my head looked like a cotton ball.) Except now that I think about it, both of those sets were done on EXTREMELY clean hair, as in my hair was washed more than twice and with clarifying shampoo. Things to consider.

Tonight’s set, I used UFD & ICH for the first time.
I wonder how that pair will turn out on that section of my hair since I didn’t use a clarifying shampoo this go round.

 

[sunshinebeautiful]

I feel silly, but I just had a realization after having 2 back to back WNGs that looked much better than my "usual" over the past few months.

I made a major move in July of last year to my hometown, right? I stayed with my sister for several months until I purchased a home of my own (which came to fruition exactly one month ago). I was using her tabletop dryer because my own tabletop dryer was sitting in storage. Both are ancient, bought during the old relaxer and wrap days of the early 2000s, by the way but we do what we can with what we got

Anyway, now that I'm all moved in, I started back using my own dryer, and lo and behold, this thing gets *much more* noticeably hotter than the one I was using at my sister's house. Even though I was sitting underneath for roughly the same length of time, my hair has been getting *much dryer* before going about my day, resulting in a better set.

Seems so simple, but I had a 'duh, why didn't you realize this before' moment. I was blaming the fuzzies on the ultra humid summery Florida weather, which may still be a factor It's a tad bit cooler weather now, so we'll see. I hope the 'better looking sets' trend continues. I'll be a very happy woman.

 

[GettingKinky]

@sunshinebeautiful don’t you love having a-ha moments? I keep a list of mine so I don’t forget them.
getting ready to hop in the shower as soon as my 10 minutes with olaplex 3 are up.

 

[GettingKinky]

@toaster I’m jealous that you can put you wash n go up in a bun and then wear it down again. I know mine would be a disaster after I wore a bun.

 

[faithVA]

I haven't done a wng since October. I will have to wait until Tuesday to see if Lou's Hydration challenge helped. My hair always acts differently after color so today isn't a good measure. My hair definitely acted better today. It held more water and was smoother after the conditioner.

Hopefully, the stylist will help me figure out if I'm using too much or too little product. I definitely need some shaping.

Colored, shampooed and conditioned with Madison Reed
Sectioned my hair into 4 sections
Used 1 pump of UFD on each section
Used about 1 tsp of Jello Shot on each section.
Added a little water and let it sit


I diffused for 20 minutes. I think a dryer does a better job, but I won't buy a dryer until I'm sure I'm going to stick with the wng life.

 

[faithVA]

Here is a comparison with the last time I visited my stylist.

July/2021 January/2022

 

[toaster]

Look at that growth @faithVA !!! Loving the color too. Can’t wait for your trim update.

 

[oneastrocurlie]

Here is a comparison with the last time I visited my stylist.

July/2021 January/2022
View attachment 478317View attachment 478315

I love when pics show all our efforts aren't in vain lol. Great progress!

 

[GettingKinky]

That’s great progress @faithVA your hair looks thicker/denser - yay for shrinkage!

I spent much longer rinsing my hair before I shampoo’d yesterday. My hair felt wetter and smoother, but the end result looked the same as always.
as much as I like jello shot, nothing beats the smoothing power of ICH.

 

[faithVA]

Thanks everyone. There is definitely progress. I'm not in love yet. Hopefully, 2022 will bring some love

 

[GettingKinky]

Clarifying is magic. My hair looks so good when I clarify. I wish I could do it every week.

 

[sunshinebeautiful]

Clarifying is magic. My hair looks so good when I clarify. I wish I could do it every week.

I haven't clarified in awhile. This is a reminder to do so.

 

[faithVA]

Set my hair today for my appointment Thursday. Today I shingled then I smoothed. Shingling gives me more definition but I'm hoping smoothing helps it stay stretched out a bit longer.

 

[Napp]

Your hair looks good @faithVA

 

[faithVA]

Your hair looks good @faithVA

Thank you Napp. That's kind of you.

 

[GettingKinky]

are you getting a dry cut @faithVA

 

[faithVA]

are you getting a dry cut @faithVA

No, because this is a new stylist. I'm going through the new curlfriend experience on Thursday.

 

[faithVA]

My hair is pretty much dry. I know most like to lick in their curls with a dryer to avoid shrinkage and frizz, but I don't notice more shrinkage or frizz when I air dry. Maybe when its longer it will be more noticeable.

I like the way my curls dried, so maybe smoothing and shaking is the thing

Sorry if my pictures are big. Was trying to do it from my phone

 

[faithVA]

Looking at my curls up close, they sort of clump, but within a clump I have strands going in different directions. Maybe more smoothing helps with that.

 

[GGsKin]

Looking at my curls up close, they sort of clump, but within a clump I have strands going in different directions. Maybe more smoothing helps with that.

Smile, your hair looks good . My hair does the same thing especially on top, but yes, the smoothing and stretching does help create more 'order', if you could call it that lol.

 

[faithVA]

Smile, your hair looks good . My hair does the same thing especially on top, but yes, the smoothing and stretching does help create more 'order', if you could call it that lol.

Thank You. I hope my hair can look more like yours when she grows up. But she may just be a super big fro

Thanks for letting me know about the smoothing. I hadn't really noticed it until I took the close up. I'm not sure if I care, unless it helps me maintain a style longer.

 

[LavenderMint]

I’m going to start incorporating a mid-week ccs again. Now that I have a standing dryer & a dedicated place to keep it I find myself wanting to use it.
The UFD & ICH worked very nicely together to define. I did notice a change in definition since I smoothed instead of raked as usual. The only thing is that smoothing seems to give me a lot more frizz from roots to mid-shaft. I don’t know if it’s removing product near my roots or if it’s just that my hair is dehydrated. Either way, I can probably stand to continue refining my smoothing technique. Also, I’m loving the Carol’s Daughter wash day delight detangling conditioner in the jar. I wish more conditioners had that level of slip.

 

[Napp]

I’m going to start incorporating a mid-week ccs again. Now that I have a standing dryer & a dedicated place to keep it I find myself wanting to use it.
The UFD & ICH worked very nicely together to define. I did notice a change in definition since I smoothed instead of raked as usual. The only thing is that smoothing seems to give me a lot more frizz from roots to mid-shaft. I don’t know if it’s removing product near my roots or if it’s just that my hair is dehydrated. Either way, I can probably stand to continue refining my smoothing technique. Also, I’m loving the Carol’s Daughter wash day delight detangling conditioner in the jar. I wish more conditioners had that level of slip.

Which conditioner? The blue or the pink label?

 

[GettingKinky]

I’m going to start incorporating a mid-week ccs again. Now that I have a standing dryer & a dedicated place to keep it I find myself wanting to use it.
The UFD & ICH worked very nicely together to define. I did notice a change in definition since I smoothed instead of raked as usual. The only thing is that smoothing seems to give me a lot more frizz from roots to mid-shaft. I don’t know if it’s removing product near my roots or if it’s just that my hair is dehydrated. Either way, I can probably stand to continue refining my smoothing technique. Also, I’m loving the Carol’s Daughter wash day delight detangling conditioner in the jar. I wish more conditioners had that level of slip.

I noticed that my set isn’t as good as usual this week and I put more effort into smoothing.
I never thought smoothing could increase my frizz, but maybe you’re on to something.

Luckily have an appointment to dye my grays today so I have to redo my hair and I don’t have to live with this frizzy set for the rest of the week.

 

[toaster]

Under the dryer, finally setting my first wash and go since before Christmas!

I missed my hair and won’t be taking a long break from wash and go’s like this again for a while. My hair thrives when I go from one set to the next. Roller set to roller set, twist out to twist out, or wash and go to wash and go. The curl memory and parts and staying detangled when I just repeat styles makes wash day so much easier.

Also, I need a trim. Maybe next week when I detangle my hair I’ll trim 1/2 inch in the shower.

 

[GettingKinky]

I’m thinking of taking a break and doing buns for awhile. But I also want to do a wash n go this weekend because I don’t know why the one I did last Saturday came out so poorly.

I guess I’ll see how I feel Saturday morning.

 

[kimpaur]

Camille Rose Curl Maker + ICH got me sitting here with the Pikachu face

LOVE!
It looked so perfect wet- but after sitting under the dryer it still came out frizzier than I would have liked. I really think it's because I did a lot of raking, instead of smoothing. I almost want to wash my hair and do it all over again but I'll give it a few days.

My hair has really grown so much, but honestly I'm just not feeling the shape
I keep going back and forth about booking this curly cut but I think it's time!

 

[faithVA]

Had my New Curlfriend Experience with my new stylist and it is a win. First, she is less than 20 minutes from me.

She has great communication skills. I mentioned the email last month answering my questions. And this morning she sent me a text before I left home telling me she was running late. I love the courtesy.

We had our initial conversation and we went through all of the history, questions, problems, etc. I explained to her that I need my hair to fit my lifestyle and my first priority is not perfect hair. I need to ride my bike and be able to come home and put it in a puff and call it a day. And I really felt she understood what I was saying. I could tell that she developed a strategy around that versus trying to do a specific shape. I told her since it is just going to turn into a fro anyway lets just make it a fro from day 1. Let's not even bother trying to do parts or bangs or whatever because they are non-existent by day 2.

We finished our conversation and she brought out the scissors What are those for? She said, well if you want a fro and you want your hair to look wearable by day 3 and you are the one to style it, then I need to start shaping it now based on how you have styled it. It made sense. I just wasn't ready for the scissors.

I was facing the mirror and what she was cutting made sense and it wasn't a lot.

She does all curl types so lots of different products but she has UFD, Innersense, The Doux, AG and some other stuff. She has all the Innersense stuff. I need to see if she can stock up on some Trepadora stuff when it becomes available. Anyway!

At the bowl, I got a clarifying cleanse with Undo The Goo or something like that. She did a hard water cleanse with something else. She used Innersense Color Radiance shampoo and conditioner. She was super gentle so I asked that she give me one of those black mama washes. Put some pressure in there She used the Innersense conditioner. Then I got a steam mist treatment with so tea tree oil which was very nice.

She used UFD and ICH. We talked about the amounts but she isn't exact. I'm sure I use more than she does because salons like that fluffy look versus the super defined. But she didn't have any issues with what I was using. I'm going to stick with my 4 pumps of UFD.

She showed me the amount of water she used and she did it after the ICH. Just enough to smooth the product through the hair. She did a lot of smoothing from shampoo through styling. And she used the Felicia Leatherwood brush with the conditioner in. She put a little The Doux on the front of my hair.

She had me shake left/right & front/back and then she pinned up the front because it falls. I probably sat under the dryer 35 minutes. It was short.

She took a blow dryer on cool and fluffed the hair because it was a bit flat looking. Then she took a towel and flattened my hair down until it looked like it does when I wake up in the morning I didn't even know you could do that. Then she used the blow dryer again and fluffed it out and it looked so much better. Then I fluffed it a bit like I would do in the morning.

Then we discussed the shape. I wanted to keep the fro rounded with soft sides and no harsh tapering. She gave me some options and then she snipped and shaped.

The appointment was a little bit over 3 hours. And I'm satisfied with the service and the styling. I made my next appointment for March. I will just get a hydrate and a style because I miss the pampering of a salon. At that appointment we will determine when I need another cut.

This is my day 3 hair before the visit.


This is after my visit. Not sure why the selfie camera shot looks different from the other camera shot

 

[faithVA]

I learned a few things from the stylist today.

After I came from under the dryer she said, I'm going to let you sit for a few minutes. She said UFD feels dry but after a few minutes it can feel wet and sticky. I had that same experience when I sat under the dryer so it was good to hear her say that because now I know it is a thing.

I sometimes don't feel like being bothered with diffusing and I just blow dry at the end of the day. It was good to see her use the blow dryer to fluff and arrange the hair. And she used it on cool so I will keep that noted.

Using the towel to flatten the hair and then using the blow dryer to fluff it was not something I had any clue about. Of course I have to dry the hair first but, it is something I can definitely do if I want my 1st day hair to look fuller.

She also had me tilt my head back and pinned the front so it would dry in position.

The last thing I remember, is watching her shingle the hair. She smoothed and smoothed and then shingled, but she shingled really slowly and didn't let the hair spring back. I will need to try that when I want to have more length.

I will just keep note of these things. I doubt that I would do most of these on a regular basis.

 

[faithVA]

Camille Rose Curl Maker + ICH got me sitting here with the Pikachu face
View attachment 478455
LOVE!
It looked so perfect wet- but after sitting under the dryer it still came out frizzier than I would have liked. I really think it's because I did a lot of raking, instead of smoothing. I almost want to wash my hair and do it all over again but I'll give it a few days.

My hair has really grown so much, but honestly I'm just not feeling the shape
I keep going back and forth about booking this curly cut but I think it's time!

Did you take any pictures?