Texture Definition for Natural Hair

[SVT]

Okay I just read where Pookeylou uses Pantene Curl Defining Spray to define her coily texture. Pookeylou, if you're out there can you tell me some more about this spray regarding crunchiness, rinsibility, best way to apply, comparison to other products, etc.?

Anyone else who has used this product, please chime in.

I want to know of any other products that define natural texture without the familiar crunchiness and buildup.

I've been on a gel kick (PJ-itis) since late December after testing out Salon Selectives Firm Hold gel and their Molding Putty. The Putty had been on my to-try list since 2002 when CurlyPuddin mentioned it on nc. What made me try the gel was the bad hair nite I went through at a club.

My hair was full of defined fluffy waves upon arriving at the club, but each time I checked myself in the ladies' room, my hair would get bigger and bigger. I dared not rearrange my hair clip for fear that I would not be able to clip it back in.

When I looked in the mirror at IHOP.....WHOA! Suave Tropical Coconut conditioner and my butterfly clip were no match for my hair that evening! I'm glad a friend let me use her scrunchie.

That's when I decided to test out gels and I was lucky enough to pick a decent gel the first time.

I would apply the Firm Hold gel on wet hair then apply the Putty to mostly the ends for a crisper look.

Eventually, I ended up applying just the gel because I'm lazy. I was still pleased with the results - fluffy yet defined waves and a small amount of frizzy halo. My only complaint is how much the gel lets my hair shrink. But that doesn't bother me enough to stop buying it.

Then I tried Fantasia IC with Sparkle Lites after viewing Potterville's album. It was okay. My complaint with it was that it made some parts of my hair look stringy and stiff. I prefer a fluffier look. It also does not rinse out as well as the Firm Hold does. I still use it now and then if I want a less fluffy look. I still have that same jar. I think it will be a while before I use it all up.

After the Sparkle Lites, I moved on to Fantasia's Frizz Buster. I was hoping it would alleviate the frizzy halo I usually have. I like the way the Frizz Buster feels when I apply it. Very smooth and light. The resulting look is slightly fluffier than the Firm Hold and the frizzy halo is the same. It rinses out as good as the Firm Hold does. I will be buying another jar soon.

So, does anyone have advice about the best texture defining products?

 

[ms_kenesha]

I have nothing to add, but I'm glad you brought this up because I've been wondering the same thing. I was thinking about buying Elasta QP's Feels Like Silk...any reviews on this product?

TIA

 

[nbcgurl22]

Try mixing your gel with a leave-in conditioner

 

[Scasey]

Have you tried ShortLooks? It gave me the same results as Elasta QP Feels like Silk minus the smell. I use it on my edges. I think it will work well with you hair but with all of the hair you have you may run out pretty quickly.

I should have brought some to the meeting for you to try.

 

[Netta1]

If you want your natural curls to pop pop pop their is a oilve oil and honey pre conditioning treatment you could try. If your interested let me know, I'll gladly give it to ya.

BTW: As far as gels are concerned I like Fantasia IC. A little dab will do ya. Some people like aloe vera gel, it works too but its a little watery (to me). Then again some people take it back to the old days with the protein gel or the big tub of pink styling gel.

 

[14got]

lol I take it back sometimes. My hair eats gel.

 

[alibi]

SVT,

Glad you asked this question, b/c I've been wondering what to use to define my texture more. I'm now in my 8th month of transitioning, and I'm honestly considering doing the big chop in July when I make a year, but I need to know what to use to define my curls.

Anyways, I was fooling around online and found this site. Has anyone tried these products? At first I was a little put off b/c the site says it's for multiethnic women, but the product descriptions seem to be for kinky, coarse, or just plain natural hair too.

I gonna order some b/c I like the way the ingredients sound, so if anyone's used any of them, please let me know.

curly product link

Also, has anyone used Curly Pudding or Curly Meringue products from Curve salon in Brooklyn? They sound yummy...

Curve

 

[syoulee1]

When I want defined curls I use a product by physique. It is called frizz control curl cream and a little bit of gel. This combo works great for me.

 

[Armyqt]

I'm currently testing Tigi catwalk Curls Rock on my daughter's hair. I have used it on her freshly washed hair yet. But I did try it on her hair that already had some Sta Sof fro and HHB in it. When It applied to one section I could not believe my eyes

. Her hari waved up like I've never seen before. I was shocked. This product looks very promising. But we shall see.

 

[SVT]

[ QUOTE ]
ms_kenesha said:
I have nothing to add, but I'm glad you brought this up because I've been wondering the same thing. I was thinking about buying Elasta QP's Feels Like Silk...any reviews on this product?

TIA

[/ QUOTE ]

I tried that a while back but I wasn't wearing my hair loose at the time so I didn't give the product a fair try at holding or defining. I don't remember anything bad about it. I did like that it had a thin consistency. I'm making a mental note to put it on my to-buy list.

 

[SVT]

[ QUOTE ]
nbcgurl22 said:
Try mixing your gel with a leave-in conditioner

[/ QUOTE ]

I always leave in some amount of conditioner and occassionally I'll jazz it up with olive or avocado oil and lately I've been using honey.

Leave-ins are a must for me.

 

[SVT]

[ QUOTE ]
Scasey said:
Have you tried ShortLooks? It gave me the same results as Elasta QP Feels like Silk minus the smell. I use it on my edges. I think it will work well with you hair but with all of the hair you have you may run out pretty quickly.

I should have brought some to the meeting for you to try.

[/ QUOTE ]

ShortLooks? Never heard of that. Who makes it? And yep you're right. My hair eats product.

I'll remind you before the next meeting to bring some if you have any left.

 

[SVT]

[ QUOTE ]
Netta1 said:
If you want your natural curls to pop pop pop their is a oilve oil and honey pre conditioning treatment you could try. If your interested let me know, I'll gladly give it to ya.

BTW: As far as gels are concerned I like Fantasia IC. A little dab will do ya. Some people like aloe vera gel, it works too but its a little watery (to me). Then again some people take it back to the old days with the protein gel or the big tub of pink styling gel.

[/ QUOTE ]

Now see, I've been testing out the honey mixed with my conditioner then applying olive or avocado oil on top of all of that. I'm still debating the honey because I think it's tangling my hair. I'm probably using too much though.

Using it as a preconditioning treatment with heat sounds like it would work better because the honey will be thinned out and all of its hair health goodies can be distributed better. Hmmm...

 

[SVT]

[ QUOTE ]
ayanapooh said:
SVT,

Glad you asked this question, b/c I've been wondering what to use to define my texture more. I'm now in my 8th month of transitioning, and I'm honestly considering doing the big chop in July when I make a year, but I need to know what to use to define my curls.

Anyways, I was fooling around online and found this site. Has anyone tried these products? At first I was a little put off b/c the site says it's for multiethnic women, but the product descriptions seem to be for kinky, coarse, or just plain natural hair too.

I gonna order some b/c I like the way the ingredients sound, so if anyone's used any of them, please let me know.

curly product link

Also, has anyone used Curly Pudding or Curly Meringue products from Curve salon in Brooklyn? They sound yummy...

Curve

[/ QUOTE ]

I tried ordering Curls' avocado oil but they were out of stock at the time. A short time later, I found out about a better albeit more expensive brand of avocado oil and I'm happy with it.

I haven't tried any of Curve's products.

 

[ms_kenesha]

[ QUOTE ]
ayanapooh said:
SVT,

Glad you asked this question, b/c I've been wondering what to use to define my texture more. I'm now in my 8th month of transitioning, and I'm honestly considering doing the big chop in July when I make a year, but I need to know what to use to define my curls.

Anyways, I was fooling around online and found this site. Has anyone tried these products? At first I was a little put off b/c the site says it's for multiethnic women, but the product descriptions seem to be for kinky, coarse, or just plain natural hair too.

I gonna order some b/c I like the way the ingredients sound, so if anyone's used any of them, please let me know.

curly product link

[/ QUOTE ]
I've really thought about ordering from them. At one time they were a LHCF sponsor.
[ QUOTE ]

Also, has anyone used Curly Pudding or Curly Meringue products from Curve salon in Brooklyn? They sound yummy...

Curve

[/ QUOTE ]
I heard that this is a pretty good product, but the best thing about it was that with it they send you a sample (a large one) of a new product that is not on the site yet, that is a moisturizer.

 

[SVT]

[ QUOTE ]
syoulee1 said:
When I want defined curls I use a product by physique. It is called frizz control curl cream and a little bit of gel. This combo works great for me.

[/ QUOTE ]

Do you get any crunch with it?

 

[SVT]

[ QUOTE ]
Armyqt said:
I'm currently testing Tigi catwalk Curls Rock on my daughter's hair. I have used it on her freshly washed hair yet. But I did try it on her hair that already had some Sta Sof fro and HHB in it. When It applied to one section I could not believe my eyes

. Her hari waved up like I've never seen before. I was shocked. This product looks very promising. But we shall see.

[/ QUOTE ]

Tigi Catwalk had a big following on nc a few months back I believe. I think some of the negative reviews may have been about the crunchiness. I'm going to read the ingredients next time I'm in Ulta or Trade Secret.

Thanks!

 

[deeshortesthair]

I use the woogie cream with a little bit of vo 5 conditioner ..somtimes i may spray surge and add kemyoyl shea butter pomade ...it goes on white but once your hair dries ...it stays pretty nice and shiny AND soft...check out my pic ..you'll see what i mean..the only thing is that when my hair gets longer I do not know if it this will still work ?

 

[SVT]

[ QUOTE ]
deeshortesthair said:
I use the woogie cream with a little bit of vo 5 conditioner ..somtimes i may spray surge and add kemyoyl shea butter pomade ...it goes on white but once your hair dries ...it stays pretty nice and shiny AND soft...check out my pic ..you'll see what i mean..the only thing is that when my hair gets longer I do not know if it this will still work ?

[/ QUOTE ]

Thanks for linking your album! Definition galore! Very coily and soft!

I wasn't sure which photo had the pomade, though or do all of them have it?

I've read the great reviews for the Kemy pomade over at np. I was real close to buying it when I bought the Oyl a few weeks ago. It's still on my to-try list because shine is also something I'm interested in.

As your hair gets longer, you'll need to figure out a different way of applying the product so that it touches all of your strand. I think some sort of method of twisting the length of hair around a couple of fingers that have product on them might do the trick for long coily hair. I'm just thinking out loud here.

 

[deeshortesthair]

that day i left in a little of the vo 5 conditioner and sprayed surge and woogie cream...no kemy oil this time ...when i use the kemyoyl my curls are a little "sticker" tighter so even if i pick my hair out it springs back into little soft curls.I am anxious to have long hair.
thanks for the compliment.

 

[Ayeshia]

mango butter for me SVT.You can check outmy album to see how it helped my definition if you'd like

 

[NGC]

Sometimes the method helps in defining natural curls.

When I want my curls more defined I start with using the Denman brush in the shower.

Here's a pic of me (ummm I won't leave it up long

) when I CW with PM The Detangler, brushed the conditioner through my hair, rinsed the hair out, added ABBA Nourishing Leave-In and used a diffuser to dry. My hair is dry in this pic.

Edited to add : I took the pic down, too much frontal exposure

(The face, nothing else).

 

[Armyqt]

Very beautiful curls NGC. What's your hairtype? And which denman brush do you use? TIA

 

[NGC]

[ QUOTE ]
Armyqt said:
Very beautiful curls NGC. What's your hairtype? And which denman brush do you use? TIA

[/ QUOTE ]

Thanks

I'm 4a/4b for the most part. I might have what is considered 3b at the top front( I don't know cause the hair typing system confuses me). Believe me, if I didn't do the condition, brush with conditioner, and leave-in my hair would look totally different. I also think length affects the way my hair looks. If it's cut short to a certain length it begins to defy gravity

I have two denman brushes (and two counterfeits

), one has 7 rows and one has 9 rows (I can't remember the numbers) The counterfeits I have are the Conair version (I forgot to take it with me on a business trip and a girl had to do what a girl had to do) and b4 I ordered the Denman brushes on-line I bought the one at Sally's (there is a number on the handle #595xx).

Thanks Again!

 

[miss_brown]

Your hair looks GREAT, NGC!!!

I'm going to try that technique and see what I come up with.

SVT - last summer, I was doing conditioner washes and then using Aveda Be Curly, followed up by any light oil. It seemed to work out ok, but now that my hair's gotten longer and I've discovered the K-Cutter, I'm working on perfecting the technique too.

 

[NGC]

[ QUOTE ]
miss_brown said:
Your hair looks GREAT, NGC!!!

I'm going to try that technique and see what I come up with.

SVT - last summer, I was doing conditioner washes and then using Aveda Be Curly, followed up by any light oil. It seemed to work out ok, but now that my hair's gotten longer and I've discovered the K-Cutter, I'm working on perfecting the technique too.

[/ QUOTE ]

Thanks! I think the K-Cutter will do the same thing the Denman brush does.

Time for the pic to come down Ladies.....have a great night.

 

[SVT]

[ QUOTE ]
NGC said:
Sometimes the method helps in defining natural curls.

When I want my curls more defined I start with using the Denman brush in the shower.

Here's a pic of me (ummm I won't leave it up long

) when I CW with PM The Detangler, brushed the conditioner through my hair, rinsed the hair out, added ABBA Nourishing Leave-In abd used a diffuser to dry. My hair is dry in this pic.

[/ QUOTE ]

Cute hairstyle, NCG!

Ahhh, the famous Denman brush. I have the one with 7 rows but I don't use it that often because of my shedding problems. I was disappointed when I started using it because I didn't get much more definition with it than my shower comb or seamless comb. It does a good job of distributing product through my hair so I keep it for that reason.

Conditioner washes have definitely been a major factor in the improved health of my hair and have helped me to get more texture definition.

I keep reading about how wonderful diffusers are but I think you're the first person I've read with type 4ish hair that uses them and looking at your pic, you seem to have the frizz under control. I think frizzless drying was the purpose of using diffuser attachments.

Now I have to decide between a new tool or a new product. I love decisions like this!

 

[Ayeshia]

I need to look into a diffuser when I get sum length cuz I hate frizzies

 

[honey_jammz82]

I like Abba nourishing leave-in, qp feels like silk, and rusk wired. There is a girl on NC that sells a pretty popular product called jessicurls rockin ringlets, I have heard A LOT of good reviews about this product! I also like world of curls activator gel....it really moisturizes too, a little goes a long way. HTH

 

[SVT]

[ QUOTE ]
ayeshia said:
mango butter for me SVT.You can check outmy album to see how it helped my definition if you'd like

[/ QUOTE ]

Your hair is very pretty!

I gave my Elasta QP Mango Butter away to Cocoacure at one of our meetings. Ever since that day, people have been recommending that butter for every hair ailment under the sun. Figures!

I had been using the Mango Butter on wet hair then straightening my hair after it air dried. It was okay for flatironing. I'd never used it for grooming totally natural hair.