is water the secret to styling natural hair and avoiding product flaking?

[FineChyna]

in my quest to find a leave in product that reduces shrinkage and holds my hair i have tried miss jessies, kinky curly curling custard and honey fig's blended beauty products.

i notice ALL these products insist you use them on wet/damp hair. i am not a daily rinser/conditioner mainly because of time constraints and the fact that my hair shrinks badly when it is wet and air dries. my hair is APL stretch and will shrink to my chin. and that just doesn't work with my face shape. usually 24-48hours after my hair gets wet it starts hanging down to my shoulders (past my shoulders in the back) which is more tolerable for me.

so i used all these products on dry hair. and all of them flaked in my hair. sometimes it looked like i had very bad dandruff. erplexed

with miss jessies pudding i tried it on wet and dry hair and it flaked no matter what. it wasn't until i used it with carol's daughter HHB that i didn't see flakes anymore. while its great i found out to get the hair stuff to work, the price makes not not want this as a staple.

my hair is thick, long and craves moisture so a 16oz jar was gone within 5 weeks since i was using it daily

so i moved on to the curly custard, which seems more like hair gel to me. anyway i followed the directions and that flaked in my hair too. i tried using it with a heavier moisturizer and without and still got flakes.

then comes the issue of how little of an amount to use. i was using a quarter size amount for the right side of my head and got mucho crunchiness in some sections.

the only time i didn't really get flakes is when i used the stuff and used some sort of oil after using the custard. but by the end of the day my hair didn't really feel moisturized and my ends felt dry.

so i moved on to honeyfigs blended beauty happy to be nappy creme. my hair liked the moisturizng properties of this stuff but it didn't really hold my natural curls like i wanted it too because it is a heavy product and it flaked sometimes

i tried using it with water, tried it with the curly custard blush:BAD IDEA it looked like it snowed on my head), tried it on dry hair and none of these solutions worked.

right now i am waiting for the blended beaty curl styling butter to see if that can style and moisturize without flaking.

anyway being that all these products have flaked in my hair even after i clarified my hair what am i missing?

is it because i don't use the products with a clean, sopping wet head?

what can be mixed with an aloe based product compared to a shea butter based one? can the 2 be mixed together (seems like it can't)

perhaps my regular shampoo/conditioner is not working with the leave ins? (i use joico's moisture recovery line)

 

[TwistNMx]

My hair loves water.
As far as Miss Jessies is concerned, it's all hype.
About 8 months ago I received free samples of about 4 different products of theirs.
The stuff did nothing more make my hair come out. I had to stop using it immediately. Needless to say, I did not purchase the product.

 

[choconillaprincess]

your hair sounds pretty do you have any pics?

well as far as leave-in right now i'm in love with sunsilk hydra tlc (in the pink) i don't get any flakes with it at all

to get 2nd day hair with it i VERY LOOSELY braid my hair in about 10-12 braids all over... DO NOT BRUSH OR COMB with ur fingers or otherwise... the key is to maintain the natural clumps so don't part it either just seperate with ur fingers... i sometimes cross wrap or just let them hang/stick out all over and sleep on a satin pillowcase... in the a.m. i take the braids down and any rough spots i either douse a little with water and do a coil or shingle(see miss jessie's site) my hair looks even better than the first day with this technique.... and the moisture from the sunsilk usually lasts

you could also try to do a conditioner/water mix in a spray bottle... it works for a lot of ppl but not for me... i'm a daily washer usually

what is ur 2nd day hair technique?

 

[FineChyna]

your hair sounds pretty do you have any pics?

well as far as leave-in right now i'm in love with sunsilk hydra tlc (in the pink) i don't get any flakes with it at all

to get 2nd day hair with it i VERY LOOSELY braid my hair in about 10-12 braids all over... DO NOT BRUSH OR COMB with ur fingers or otherwise... the key is to maintain the natural clumps so don't part it either just seperate with ur fingers... i sometimes cross wrap or just let them hang/stick out all over and sleep on a satin pillowcase... in the a.m. i take the braids down and any rough spots i either douse a little with water and do a coil or shingle(see miss jessie's site) my hair looks even better than the first day with this technique.... and the moisture from the sunsilk usually lasts

you could also try to do a conditioner/water mix in a spray bottle... it works for a lot of ppl but not for me... i'm a daily washer usually

what is ur 2nd day hair technique?

thanks

on the section day i section off my hair and make sure to get the product in my hair really good and the ends. then i divide in in 2 pig tails and braid the hair very tight. when i take it down to style i just fluff the hair big and use a hair pin to reposition some hair so the middle part in the back isn't obvious. thats if everything goes well (like no noticible flaking, etc) i try to keep it very simple, which is why i can't understand why i keep getting flakes

 

[shocol]

your hair sounds pretty do you have any pics?

well as far as leave-in right now i'm in love with sunsilk hydra tlc (in the pink) i don't get any flakes with it at all

to get 2nd day hair with it i VERY LOOSELY braid my hair in about 10-12 braids all over... DO NOT BRUSH OR COMB with ur fingers or otherwise... the key is to maintain the natural clumps so don't part it either just seperate with ur fingers... i sometimes cross wrap or just let them hang/stick out all over and sleep on a satin pillowcase... in the a.m. i take the braids down and any rough spots i either douse a little with water and do a coil or shingle(see miss jessie's site) my hair looks even better than the first day with this technique.... and the moisture from the sunsilk usually lasts

you could also try to do a conditioner/water mix in a spray bottle... it works for a lot of ppl but not for me... i'm a daily washer usually

what is ur 2nd day hair technique?

This worked on my relaxed hair. I'm hoping it works on my natural hair.

 

[DDTexlaxed]

I just found out from someone's fotki a good styling gel recipe. After you wash your hair use a good leave in conditioner and a moisturizer. After that, apply aloe vera gel mixed with jojoba oil and glycerin. I had none of those products, just vitamin E gel. That worked great alone! I think I got my regimen almost down pat. I tried using vitamin E without water and it didn't work so great. My hair has to be wet or damp before I use any products or my hair won't be happy.