Wash And Go, To Grow And To Dazzle 2020 Challenge

oneastrocurlie said:
A. I style my hair soaking wet so I diffuse so I'm not walking around with wet hair and my hair needs to be 95% dry before I go to bed. I wash after work most times.

B. Immediately
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Which diffuser do you use? And how long does it take? Do you t-shirt dry before you diffuse?

I’m going to try diffusing again, but I’m dreading the learning curve. And dreading the time it takes.
 
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I washed with TreSemme Lux Moist Shampoo, then used Garnier Whole Blends Ginger Recovery as my detangler and r/o.
I sectioned my hair into 6s.

I skipped a leave-in. I smoothed Xtreme Wetline Clear Gel onto each section. I use a little of the Eco Style Olive Oil all-over to help with some excess frizz. I'm currently air-drying my hair.
 
GettingKinky said:
Which diffuser do you use? And how long does it take? Do you t-shirt dry before you diffuse?

I’m going to try diffusing again, but I’m dreading the learning curve. And dreading the time it takes.
Click to expand...

On a regular wash day and it's at least a few hours before bed, I'll diffuse for about 10-15 minutes initially. Chill for a few hours and then if still damp before I lay down I'll do another 10 minutes. I blow dry on low(speed) - medium (heat). High speed if I'm in a rush and want it dry right now.

No t-shirt drying. By the time I'm done adding my styler my hair isn't dripping anymore so I go straight from styling to diffusing. I only squeeze water out of my hair in between cleansing and adding my DC. I like to leave as much water in my hair as possible after rinsing my DC (learned that from the salon).

I have this blow dryer: https://www.target.com/p/infinitipro-by-conair-orange-professional-hair-dryer/-/A-14921184
 
oneastrocurlie said:
On a regular wash day and it's at least a few hours before bed, I'll diffuse for about 10-15 minutes initially. Chill for a few hours and then if still damp before I lay down I'll do another 10 minutes. I blow dry on low(speed) - medium (heat). High speed if I'm in a rush and want it dry right now.

No t-shirt drying. By the time I'm done adding my styler my hair isn't dripping anymore so I go straight from styling to diffusing. I only squeeze water out of my hair in between cleansing and adding my DC. I like to leave as much water in my hair as possible after rinsing my DC (learned that from the salon).

I have this blow dryer: https://www.target.com/p/infinitipro-by-conair-orange-professional-hair-dryer/-/A-14921184
Click to expand...

I have that Conair dryer and the Babylis nano dryer with the xtava diffuser. I should try diffusing again before I ask for a $400 dyson dryer for Xmas.

Last time I tried it, it took forever, and I didn’t like the result. But that was back in February and my stylist says that my hair is in much better shape now than it was then.

I can handle 10-15 minutes. 30 would drive me crazy and I’ll need to do it in the morning before work. But I do a trial run this weekend.
 
GettingKinky said:
I have that Conair dryer and the Babylis nano dryer with the xtava diffuser. I should try diffusing again before I ask for a $400 dyson dryer for Xmas.

Last time I tried it, it took forever, and I didn’t like the result. But that was back in February and my stylist says that my hair is in much better shape now than it was then.

I can handle 10-15 minutes. 30 would drive me crazy and I’ll need to do it in the morning before work. But I do a trial run this weekend.
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That Dyson is on my wish list. Don't be afraid to start on warm and then finish on high.
 
oneastrocurlie said:
A. I style my hair soaking wet so I diffuse so I'm not walking around with wet hair and my hair needs to be 95% dry before I go to bed. I wash after work most times.

B. Immediately
Click to expand...
Thank you for the answers!

How do you avoid frizz/loosing definition when diffusing? And what heat setting do you general use?
 
Today I did my wash routine as normal, but then I blotted my hair with a t-shirt and diffused for 10 minutes on low heat high speed.

My hair is maybe 70% dry. I’m hoping this is enough to fix my crispy/ Jheri curl looking day 1 hair. If all it takes is 10 more minutes I will do this every time, but I’m worried about frizz. If it’s frizzy I’ll skip the t-shirt next time.

ETA- t-shirt + diffusing worked well. No I just need to figure out how to scrunch out the crunch. It normally happens by itself overnight while I’m asleep.
 
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I’m loving my hair today. I’m not sure if it’s because I shampoo’d twice or because I diffused.
I usually only shampoo once, but my hair wasn’t lathering so I shampoo’d a second time with a moisture poo.

My hair is so light and has so much movement now. I don’t want to over shampoo, but if washing twice gives me this result I’ll have to make it a standard part of wash day.

Diffusing definitely gave me better day 1 hair. I’m going to start getting up 10 minutes early so that I can diffuse every time I wash.
 
FINALLY, FOUND a stylist trained by Black Girl Curls that is only 1 hour away that I can call my forever stylist, Earnestlynatural (Angel) in Cary, NC.

This was my first visit to her (yes on a Sunday) and I elected to get an express cut done on a day 3 curlset so no shampooing, conditioning or styling by her this time but definitely in 3-4 months.

Styling products: Uncle Funkys Daughter Curly Magic + Innersense I Create Volume and AG Hair's Cloud foam to help with quicker drying.

Sorry, had to use IG, can't upload pics here for some reason.
 
GettingKinky said:
I’m loving my hair today. I’m not sure if it’s because I shampoo’d twice or because I diffused.
I usually only shampoo once, but my hair wasn’t lathering so I shampoo’d a second time with a moisture poo.

My hair is so light and has so much movement now. I don’t want to over shampoo, but if washing twice gives me this result I’ll have to make it a standard part of wash day.

Diffusing definitely gave me better day 1 hair. I’m going to start getting up 10 minutes early so that I can diffuse every time I wash.
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Yay!
 
I'm trying see if I can revert back to cheaper products like I used at the start of my WNG journey instead of the Deva products I've been using. My hair is not trying to have it. I don't know if it was any single product - I used some Jane Carter Curls to Go Products - but my hair is respectfully declining. Huge dry frizzy patches and nothing seems to work to help provide moisture.

My hair may be boujee.
 
LynnieB said:
FINALLY, FOUND a stylist trained by Black Girl Curls that is only 1 hour away that I can call my forever stylist, Earnestlynatural (Angel) in Cary, NC.

This was my first visit to her (yes on a Sunday) and I elected to get an express cut done on a day 3 curlset so no shampooing, conditioning or styling by her this time but definitely in 3-4 months.

Styling products: Uncle Funkys Daughter Curly Magic + Innersense I Create Volume and AG Hair's Cloud foam to help with quicker drying.

Sorry, had to use IG, can't upload pics here for some reason.
Click to expand...


How do you like the AG cloud? Have you ever used it by itself without gel?
 
OhTall1 said:
I'm trying see if I can revert back to cheaper products like I used at the start of my WNG journey instead of the Deva products I've been using. My hair is not trying to have it. I don't know if it was any single product - I used some Jane Carter Curls to Go Products - but my hair is respectfully declining. Huge dry frizzy patches and nothing seems to work to help provide moisture.

My hair may be boujee.
Click to expand...

Which Deva products do you use? I’m so tempted to buy the B’leave-in.
 
GettingKinky said:
How do you like the AG cloud? Have you ever used it by itself without gel?
Click to expand...

No. It has hardly any hold and a fro and go isn't my desired look. Besides, at $30 a teeny can, there are better alternatives for a lightweight and more effective hold. I got mine on sale when Ulta had their 50% sale! Won't repurchase unless on sale, if ever.

The foam does offer a bit faster drying time tho.
 
I food prepped for the first time in forever
- I made Caesar dressing and grated Parmesan cheese for salmon Caesar salad
- I chopped bell peppers and cut up chicken and started it marinating for jerk chicken stir fry
- I washed and cut greens for a side with the stir fry
- the only thing I didn’t do was prep the ingredients for the curry lentil soup I’m having on Thursday

I feel so ready for the week

oops wrong thread!
 
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I washed with TreSemme Lux Moist Shampoo, used Silicon Mix Bambu as my detangler & d/c. I sectioned into 6s.

I skipped the leave-in. I smoothed Xtreme Wetline Clear Gel onto each section. To top it all off, I added a little bit of Eco Style Olive Oil Gel. I'm currently air-drying my hair.

I'm starting to like this small addition to the Wetline gel. I don't know if I'll go back to regularly using Eco Style. I did notice that Eco Style Gold retains more moisture during high humidity.
 
I just ordered a Deva towel. And then to get free shipping I threw in the high shine oil.

I can’t wait to try the towel. I’m hoping it causes even less frizz than a t-shirt.
 
LynnieB said:
No. It has hardly any hold and a fro and go isn't my desired look. Besides, at $30 a teeny can, there are better alternatives for a lightweight and more effective hold. I got mine on sale when Ulta had their 50% sale! Won't repurchase unless on sale, if ever.

The foam does offer a bit faster drying time tho.
Click to expand...

The price has kept me from buying it even though I’m very curious about the results I would get.
 
Even though I said I was going to practice with the Denman brush this week, I actually didn’t because I was noticing some things happening with my hair.

To preface: As I mentioned in a previous reflection, I've realized that my hair likes to have conditioner applied on damp hair, and then introduce more water after the fact. So in the shower, I started squishing to condish while cowashing and doing my rinse out/leave in. I also started applying conditioner directly/closer to my scalp first before I apply it to the length or ends of my hair. These two differences have aided in my hair becoming so much softer in just a week of almost daily cowashing (but I’ve always been a daily cowasher, so the frequency wasn’t necessarily a contributing factor). I've also been losing way less hair, which I also attribute to better use of gel (because my hair doesn't tangle up, which it does when I don't apply some sort of styling product after cowashing even though I use leave in).

  • Because of that success, I started applying other products in similar fashion (by other, so far I've tried gel, cream, and clay mask [which by the way worked FANTASTIC]. So one day, after I had applied gel (Wetline Extreme gel - green), and my hair was nice and stiff and caked with gel, I took water in my hands and started squishing and scrunching, and the effect??? clumps and deep waves and curls and hair with movement (while wet). Even while drying it still maintains a lot of the clumping. As a result, my hair has been looking better, acting better, and feeling better these past few days.

So, I'm putting the Denman on hold just because I want to play around with this technique more. I'm hoping the added moisture that S2C provides will help increase my hair's elasticity (which is marked by things like curl formation/curl retention).

  • Even though I do have shrinkage, I think my hair has very low elasticity which manifests itself in the form of my hair not being curly/coily/wavy even when it's wet; it's just frizzy. While it could be argued that this just means my hair isn't moisturized enough, what it also means is that my hair doesn't have the strength/capability of curling on its own (if we think about how like....babies and small children with curly hair can often go about without product in their hair or just like one dab of cream or something like that, I think it's because their hair has a high elasticity [disregarding curl size, shape, or texture] and will curl basically no matter what, assuming it's been detangled or whatever).
  • There's a YouTuber with 3B curls who styles her hair with a Denman brush. One day, I was watching one of her videos and after she runs the brush through her hair, she can shake the section and the curls just start to appear. She seems to have high elasticity because she has optimal curl formation/retention. I tried doing her method, and it didn't work fully, but I could see my curls trying to curl back up; but, that low elasticity wouldn't let them be great. So, I don't see myself being successful with the Denman brush until my elasticity improves. This is also why I'm putting the Denman brush on hold.
  • Also in that same vein, I feel like if I had high elasticity, I would have better success with curl creams. Curl creams don't cause my hair to clump up or create much definition, and since my hair won't do these things on their own, the curl cream is ultimately useless on its own.
To summarize: My hair is low elasticity which is making the Denman brush ineffective. But Squish to Condish has been improving the overall state of my hair, so I'm thinking it will improve the elasticity of my hair. In the mean time, Squishing to Condish in gel has been creating better hair days.
 
My hair isn’t nearly as bouncy today as it was on Saturday/Sunday. I guess the 2x shampoo is important. I’m going to do it again next wash. It may become my standard procedure.
 
@oneastrocurlie I can’t remember if you are the one who said that you’ve used the Briogeo coil custard.

I’ve tried it twice and didn’t like it, but I want to try it again. Do you pair it with anything or just use it on bare hair? Does it have any hold/how many days does your hair last?
 
GettingKinky said:
@oneastrocurlie I can’t remember if you are the one who said that you’ve used the Briogeo coil custard.

I’ve tried it twice and didn’t like it, but I want to try it again. Do you pair it with anything or just use it on bare hair? Does it have any hold/how many days does your hair last?
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I do. I use it alone on soaking wet hair but always use nyc curls as my leave in beforehand. I get a 3 day hold at the most.

My favorite way to use it is actually as a refresher/moisturizer. I mix it with water in my hand and scrunch throughout my hair.
 
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