Leave Ins...Any Suggestions? :)

[spellinto]

You might need to address your porosity issues first, that could be the reason you are having a hard time finding a good moisturizer.

Protein will fill in the holes of your hair shaft and then you need some acidity to close the cuticle. Protein also helps the hair receive moisture better. HTH

Thank you frizzy, I am working on my porosity issues these days. I usually deep condition with ORS Replenishing DC, a light protein treatment, once a week. I'm a little wary about moving on to a stronger protein treatment because my hair appears to be protein sensitive (I used a leave in w/protein once and it was breakage city!). Maybe I can start DCing 2x a week with it and see if anything improves.

 

[spellinto]

Lacio Lacio leave in is a godsend for my 4b/c porous relaxed hair. Fyi - The texture is milky/creamy

nymane: Thank you for mentioning that you are 4b/c & porous like I am. I feel a little more compelled to test out this product! Where could I find Lacio Lacio?

 

[Nonie]

Nonie: Thank you so much for the suggestion! I've tried SCurl in the past with bad results, but I'm willing to give it another go since I can't exactly remember what went wrong with it. I remember the formula leaving my hair a bit greasy, but I'm reading around here that they've changed the ingredients a bit so I'll keep an eye out for a bottle! How exactly do you use it on your hair? Do you use it daily? Is it safe to use in the winter (I live in the Northeast and the winters here can be deadly!)? I don't want to be left searching for another leave-in when the seasons change...

spellinto, if you clicked on the link in the post you quoted, you would've seen where I explain how I use it in the first pages of the thread.

I have never ever moisturized my hair daily. IMO that is wasteful. Unless you are washing your hair every day, your moisturizer should keep hair from drying. If it isn't and you don't have porous hair, you need another moisturizer.

I only use S Curl when my hair is loose. If in twists as it has been since 2010, I use nothing. I have never had my hair loose in winter so I have never needed to use S Curl then. But why not use whatever you have been using before now in winter if S Curl doesn't work? In that thread I linked to, I explain how I use it so it softens hair. It can harden hair too but I get around that. Also I apply it relaxer style using fingers on narrow sections at a time. This way every strand is coated and I don't use more than I need. I do not reapply again after the two applications on wash day until I wash my hair again.

ETA: I have no idea where that link I posted came from. Here is the correct link spellinto:
http://www.longhaircareforum.com/showthread.php?t=526649 (I had accidentally deleted the last number )
KaramelDiva1978 pre_medicalrulz I had made an error in the link address in my post so this is the correct one. Sorry for the confusion.

 

[nymane]

nymane: Thank you for mentioning that you are 4b/c & porous like I am. I feel a little more compelled to test out this product! Where could I find Lacio Lacio?

I buy mine on amazon (you can also read reviews here)

http://www.amazon.com/Lacio-Shine-C...F8&qid=1371166033&sr=8-1&keywords=lacio+lacio

Here's another site that sells it (formally sickbay.biz):

http://www.elennox.com/Star-Lacio-Lacio-Leave-in-Conditioner-7-oz-STARLAC7.htm

If you try it let me know how it works out for you

 

[GeorginaSparks]

I just bought the new s-curl cant wait to try it.

 

[spellinto]

spellinto, if you clicked on the link in the post you quoted, you would've seen where I explain how I use it in the first pages of the thread.

I have never ever moisturized my hair daily. IMO that is wasteful. Unless you are washing your hair every day, your moisturizer should keep hair from drying. If it isn't and you don't have porous hair, you need another moisturizer.

I only use S Curl when my hair is loose. If in twists as it has been since 2010, I use nothing. I have never had my hair loose in winter so I have never needed to use S Curl then. But why not use whatever you have been using before now in winter if S Curl doesn't work? In that thread I linked to, I explain how I use it so it softens hair. It can harden hair too but I get around that. Also I apply it relaxer style using fingers on narrow sections at a time. This way every strand is coated and I don't use more than I need. I do not reapply again after the two applications on wash day until I wash my hair again.

ETA: I have no idea where that link I posted came from. Here is the correct link spellinto:
http://www.longhaircareforum.com/showthread.php?t=526649 (I had accidentally deleted the last number )
KaramelDiva1978 pre_medicalrulz I had made an error in the link address in my post so this is the correct one. Sorry for the confusion.

Thanks Nonie, I checked out the link shortly after my reply...my apologies for making you repeat yourself! (I will also check out that thread on Dry Hair in a bit.) The fact that it makes your hair hard--that kind of "it gets worse before it gets better" effect-- does not sit well with me...taking that into consideration, as well as my own negative experience w/it in the past, I may save S Curl as a last resort. Thank you so much for your quick & detailed responses though, you have been a great help in this thread!

Oh, and the reason I won't switch to another leave in in the winter... I embrace a minimalist approach towards hair care (and most of my possessions) and I really don't agree with owning more than one product that both/all aim to do the same thing...I try to keep my stash small with tools that do the job 24/7!

 

[Nonie]

Thanks @Nonie, I checked out the link shortly after my reply...my apologies for making you repeat yourself! (I will also check out that thread on Dry Hair in a bit.) The fact that it makes your hair hard--that kind of "it gets worse before it gets better" effect-- does not sit well with me...taking that into consideration, as well as my own negative experience w/it in the past, I may save S Curl as a last resort. Thank you so much for your quick & detailed responses though, you have been a great help in this thread!

@spellinto OK, you totally misunderstood what the getting hard part is all about. If you don't want it to get hard, you can airdry bare in braids then apply it to your dry hair. It only gets hard IF it is applied to damp hair.

When I wash my hair, I usually have somewhere to go. So I apply S Curl to my towel dried hair because I need slip to be able to comb my hair. It feels soft and easy to comb. I style and head out the door. My hair gets hard when it dries, but I only know of this when I get home. All day my hair stays cute and looks soft. When I get home and get ready to put it to bed, that's the only time I find out it's hard (but hardness is a sign of dryness). But isn't that the reason y'all slather on products all day every day as if tryna be juice dripping coz your hair feels dry? The hardness you feel is just dryness; a need for moisture. So unlike the redundant remoisturizing most people do on hair that is already swimming in moisture, you actually have a reason to moisturize before bed.

I usually work on small sections: pull out a bit of the hair, apply S Curl and it becomes like butter, comb through then braid it up before I move on to another part. So this hardness (read: dryness) only occurs after the water from the wash evaporates. If I had not needed to go anywhere, I coulda waited to apply S Curl to my hair as soon as it dried. And so I'd leave home with soft hair and never need to remoisturize.

Right now you're looking for a moisturizer coz your hair is not feeling moisturized. Not just for an hour or two but I'm sure it's been longer. Yet you are worried about the moment when water moisture in hair prior to S Curl application evaporates coz that is the ONLY time your hair will feel hard. I know folks who spend all day touching up moisture in their hair. Why not then take the S Curl with you and as soon as your hair dries, reapply? See how simple this is?

Anyway, it's up to you. But worse before it gets better is not exactly the story. I can tell you that when I use Shea butter or creams, my hair feels good ONLY after application then I have steel wool a short while later. If I reapply, now I have build up and stickiness and while I get that momentary softness again, it isn't as good as before...and once again I end up with a stiff bristle brush for hair. And hair feels dry to the touch. And the slip to run the comb through my hair from base to ends (a FINE TOOTH COMB BTW) is no minor feat with those products. Compare that with S Curl where the need to reapply happens ONLY ONCE and that is only if you apply it to damp hair initially and the slip makes combing one of kinkiest and fine hair there is so easy. If you apply it to hair that isn't wet, hair stays soft from that point on till the day you wash it again--ie if you baggy every night so as not to lose the moisture. What's more, hair stays moist and cool to touch yet not sticky. People who have used other juices say they were surprised that S Curl was more watery than sticky. (I dunno abut this new oily mess they created. I am just picturing a greasy neck and ears. ) Former S Curl never gave that weird feeling that makes 4B hair look like it can scratch you. It was soft like a baby's coils.

So yeah, IMO S Curl only makes hair hard the moment the water from previously damp hair dries up. In my case that moment lasts a whole day coz I don't bother my hair till bed time once I style it so that's when I re-moisturize. But you don't have to wait that long. If you can get your hair dry first, then apply, you will have soft hair all day.



This is how my hair looked all day when I applied S Curl to damp hair. It was soft enough for me to comb and style while damp and it airdried in the style:

That night I reapplied S Curl and braided it for the night. Here's a close up of my hair the next day.

And it stayed butter soft every day WITHOUT ANY RE-APPLICATION OF ANYTHING until I washed it. IMO not many moisturizers can boast of being that effective.

Most people give up on S Curl because they use it on damp hair coz someone told them that you need moisture. It's as if they don't trust the product they use whose first ingredient is usually water, to suffice.

Oh and if you're concerned about airdrying w/o products, IMO it's the best way to get fully stretched hair. This is my hair after a wash:

This is my hair airdried in Celie braids with nothing on it--a step I do before I put in twists (which I also do on bare hair):

So if you want to skip the drying up that requires reapplication, the dry your hair first.

ETA: No apology necessary. I had given the wrong link in my post so I did need to repost.

 

[Nonie]

@spellinto, to put things in perspective, here's a magnified section of a few strands of my hair wet:

Here is the same section fully dry and unmanipulated:

Here is the same section S Curled after it dried with little manipulation:

What I want you to notice is just looking at the hair, you cannot tell how it feels. But I can tell you the first pic feels soft (wet). Second pic feels dry (hard). Third pic feels like butter or a cloud of cotton (moisturized).

And the thing is that last section will stay like butter unless I remove the S Curl which is why I baggy to keep it on.

ETA: Before anyone doubts I've got kinky hair, here's the same section seen from a distance that shows my noggin so you can see how tiny my coils really are:

 

[divachyk]

Nonie, I've searched everywhere I can think of and no old SCurl formula to be found.

 

[Nonie]

@Nonie, I've searched everywhere I can think of and no old SCurl formula to be found.

@divachyk, when I complained to Luster's via Amazon that they sent me the no-frizz bottles when that is not what is displayed on the Amazon website, they told me to return them for a replacement.

So maybe you can contact seller and let them know you don't want the new bottle that has "no-frizz" on it but you want the original S Curl shown on the order page.

 

[Beamodel]

Nonie, I've searched everywhere I can think of and no old SCurl formula to be found.

divachyk
They have some at my local Sally's

 

[divachyk]

Thanks @Nonie. @Beamodel, my Sally's have updated their entire inventory to the new formula.

 

[spellinto]

Nonie, OK, thanks for the explanation! I will give SCurl a try then. I never apply leaves in to my hair unless its fully dried (applying anything on wet porous hair is futile for me because it just gets evaporated as quickly as I put it in), so SCurl sounds convenient. (Also, I don't need to worry about stretching my hair during the air drying process because my hair is relaxed...but I appreciate the extra photos.)

This is the original S Curl right? I believe my local Walmart sells it so I will pick some up if it is!

 

[Nonie]

Nonie, OK, thanks for the explanation! I will give SCurl a try then. I never apply leaves in to my hair unless its fully dried (applying anything on wet porous hair is futile for me because it just gets evaporated as quickly as I put it in), so SCurl sounds convenient. (Also, I don't need to worry about stretching my hair during the air drying process because my hair is relaxed...but I appreciate the extra photos.)

This is the original S Curl right? I believe my local Walmart sells it so I will pick some up if it is!

spellinto, sounds like your experience with other products is exactly what happens with S Curl so I didn't need to tell you about the moisture evaporation bit. But you'll be surprised so many people haven't figured that out hence my redundant info.

Yes that is the bottle of the original. The bottle of the new one doesn't have those diagonal blue stripes and has the words "Anti-Frizz" on it. It may not be immediately obvious:

 

[NefertariBlu]

I bought s curl last week and that is the old product l have been using since then. I have the new formula with argan oil.

Since l have no previous experience with the old formula l can't comment on that, but l do like this anti drip formula.

I tried it today after l washed my hair to really test it. I always have super dry hair after washing. I let my hair air dry then applied it, sealed with a cream and then oil. My hair doesn't feel greasy, it actually feels soft after it has dried.

This is a keeper alongside my taliah waajid protective mist bodifiyer spray which gives me similar results.

 

[leona2025]

I like the AS I Am leave in too.

i have fine hair and i like it


Ive had my eye on this and the AG recoil but the price!!

shockolate
It's pricey, but I tried the small sample bottle at Ulta first and that small tube lasted several months. I'm heavy handed, but a little really goes a long way. A quarter size amount to cover all my hair and focus on the end. I also only buy when Ulta sends me my 20% off or 5$ off coupon. I have the large tube and it has lasted me at least 8 months already.

 

[Froreal3]

You can get the old Scurl at Family Dollar...so far.

Sent from my Snow White Frost Galaxy S4

 

[spellinto]

nymane: Thank you for mentioning that you are 4b/c & porous like I am. I feel a little more compelled to test out this product! Where could I find Lacio Lacio?

nymane: Just updating this to say that I found it at my local Dominican BSS for $8.99. So far I really like it! I tried it on clean, air dried hair (fully dried). I like that I didn't have to add water underneath it to activate/enhance the benefits (like with most leave ins). I noticed a decrease in frizz and roughness right away. I have my hair in a bun so I can't say whether my hair still feels soft, but I am very pleased with the first impression. Thank you again for the recommendation

 

[nymane]

nymane: Just updating this to say that I found it at my local Dominican BSS for $8.99. So far I really like it! I tried it on clean, air dried hair (fully dried). I like that I didn't have to add water underneath it to activate/enhance the benefits (like with most leave ins). I noticed a decrease in frizz and roughness right away. I have my hair in a bun so I can't say whether my hair still feels soft, but I am very pleased with the first impression. Thank you again for the recommendation

That's good it's normally cheaper at the BSS. I always use it on wet/damp hair with great results, but I'm glad it's working out for you on dry hair. Lacio lacio makes stretching relaxers a breeze for me...enjoy.