conditioner Archives - Curly in Colorado

Keeping My Hair Moisturized While Protective Styling

Posted on by Michelle

curlyincolorado.com keeping hair moisturized protective styling

It’s a wig!
protective styling with
this full cap wig by Freetress

Last week I started a personal protective style challenge. A protective style is one that protects the ends of your hair by tucking them away. My personal challenge is to style my hair this way for a few months. This will be challenging because I prefer to wear my hair down more often than not. Hopefully this will lead to the length retention I need in order to gain a few more inches this year. I plan to do this by wearing my hair in up dos and
under wigs.

Right now, I only have two wigs and plan to purchase a couple more. I’ll also be styling my hair in buns, braids and flat twists when I’m not wearing a wig. I’m doing all of this to keep myself from manipulating my hair. I suspect that the constant styling
I’m used to has led to my hair length plateau. For me, more styling
tends to lead to more trimming.

The moisturizer that saved the day!

Before braiding my hair up last week, I cleansed my hair and scalp with a sulfate free shampoo. I towel dried my hair and applied leave-in conditioner and grapeseed oil to seal in the moisture. I assumed that this would be enough to keep my hair moisturized for at least a couple of days. I also used Eco Styler hair gel to smooth my edges down. Lastly, I braided my hair into two dutch braids like the ones in my braiding video. Then I wore my wig during the day and wrapped my hair up at night for about two days.

I thought that the products and the fact that my hair was braided meant that my hair would stay moisturized under my wig. Boy was I wrong! A couple of days later I took my hair down and my hair was so dry. I quickly applied some moisturizer and then sealed with the grapeseed oil again. I braided it back up and hoped for the best. The next day, I could tell that my hair was feeling softer but I still wanted to give it more moisture. I ended up cleansing my hair again and conditioning. I decided to do a wash and go style using a heavy conditioner as my leave-in, moisturizer, oil and then gel. My hair had so much life! The moisturizer I think was the key. My leave-in conditioner was not enough on its own.

My current combination of products
to keep my hair moisturized while protective styling

After wearing my hair curly for a few days, I decided to try again. This time, after my cleansing routine, I applied a heavy conditioner as my leave-in, moisturizer and grapeseed oil. Then I brushed my hair back into a simple bun.

I can tell a huge difference in how my hair feels. If this combination of products works for me, I will continue to do this throughout my protective style challenge.

Back to The Curly Girl Method & Switching to Wetline Xtreme Gel

Posted on by Michelle

curlyincolorado.com curly girl method wetline xtreme hair gel

My new wash and go product line-up

I recently decided to make some major changes in my hair routine as far as my products go. After using chemical hair dye to semi permanently cover my gray hair, I switched to a sulphate free shampoo. When I did this, I noticed that my beloved Aussie Moist conditioner was causing a lot more build-up. This was because it contains a silicone and sulphate free shampoo isn’t capable of removing heavy silicones.

This change in my cleansing routine meant that I needed to go back to silicone free conditioners or at least lighter silicone versions that were easier to cleanse out. I decided to go with my old favorites Tresemme Naturals Conditioner for detangling/conditioning and Paul Mitchell’s The Conditioner as a leave-in. This basically put me right back at Curly Girl status which is fine but what about the gel?

I really like to use a heavy gel after I apply my leave-ins for
extra curl definition and hold. It also guarantees me a wash and go style that will last a few days. Normally, my gel of choice is Eco Styler gel. However, my hair was not liking the product very much lately. It was like it kept zapping the moisture from my hair no matter what products I paired with it. The other day I went to reach for it to do my hair, but realized I was completely out. I usually stay stocked on this product so that was surprising. Then I remembered that I still had some Wetline Xtreme gel leftover from a trial I did this summer. It was all I had so I had no other choice but to use it.

My wash and go still has lots of definition
after using Wetline Xtreme gel

I used it three times the first week and I still can’t believe the difference! My hair feels way better than when I use Eco gel and all I have to use is my leave-in conditioner and grapeseed oil underneath. With Eco I had to also use a third, moisturizing product. I think it has something to do with how Wetline gel is protein and glycerin free. I have often suspected that I might need a glycerin free product but it’s possible the protein was causing problems as well. The other plus is that I still get the same curl definition as before. I am so glad that I stumbled upon this discovery. I’m pretty sure that my hair is too!

Olive Oil Pre-Poo for Dry Hair

Posted on by Michelle

Just thought I would share that my hair is making a turn around thanks to my new bestie Extra
Virgin Olive Oil. This stuff is amazing! I’m so glad because I was really beginning to worry about where my tresses would end up without some major TLC. One of the ways I have incorporated the oil is demonstrated in my video below. I’m learning how important a good pre-poo treatment is if I’m going to continue using shampoo.

I have used mild shampoos and sulfate free versions in the past. I noticed though that they didn’t always remove all of the product from my hair. Last summer, I was using shampoo all of the time because we were doing lots more swimming. It all caught up with me and resulted in dryness that my natural hair is not accustomed to. Also, the dryness that comes with the Colorado winter weather doesn’t exactly help either. So, I’m super excited that the olive oil is working for me.

WATCH HOW I DO A PRE-POO WITH OLIVE OIL

Also, my braid outs have been looking a lot better since I’ve started using the olive oil. I first apply leave-in conditioner, which lately is Cantu Shea Butter Leave-in, and then put a little oil on the section. Then I braid it up and finger coil the ends. My hair is turning out a lot softer using this method because I’m moisturizing the hair from root to tip. So it’s olive oil for the win! I’ll be using this in my regimen for the next few months and post an update on how my hair is doing.

Changing My Hair Routine for the Winter Months

Posted on by Michelle

Making changes to my Wash n’ Go routine
for the winter months

This is the time of year where we start to make changes in a lot of ways. Sometimes the drier weather may call for heavier products for the hair and skin. This has been the case for me lately as I have had to make adjustments to my hair routine to make up for the lack of moisture. Normally I’m able to do my wash n’ go style with just two products. I like to use my favorite leave-in, Paul Mitchell’s The Conditioner with Eco Styler gel (the Argan oil one). Right around early October I could tell that my usual combo was not working like it did over the summer. I decided to add a little Castor oil to seal in moisture before applying the gel. This helped some, but still wasn’t quite what my hair needed.

I started leaving conditioner in my hair that I would normally rinse out. The Tresseme Naturals conditioners worked great for this but sometimes I used the Aussi Moist conditioner. Both products were thick, rich and gave lots of slip. The Aussi Moist even worked as a styler on it’s own and gave me lots of curl definition. The only thing though with using conditioner only was that I didn’t get as much wear out of the style. With Eco gel added I could go 4 to 5 days before having to re-do my hair. With conditioner as my styler, I’m lookin’ at two days tops.

I finally settled on applying a little of the Tresseme conditioner to my hair for a moisture boost. Then I’ll apply a little bit of the Paul Mitchell leave-in to each section I’m working on. I seal in the moisture with a quarter size amount of castor oil for each section. Finally, I re-wet my hair by spritzing water on the sections before applying the gel for hold. It’s taken me a few weeks to figure this new method out but it seems to be working a lot better for me. The added moisture makes my hair shrink up more but that’s a good thing so I welcome it.

My Staple Hair Products

Posted on by Michelle

As a follow-up to my No Heat Challenge video, I decided to let everyone know what hair products I’ll be using over the next few months. It turns out that I feel the most comfortable sticking with what I know. That brings us to what I would consider my “Staple” products. These are the things that I keep coming back to after trying other products. Sure, sometimes I like to change things up a bit, but right now I have this desire to just keep it simple.

MY YOUTUBE VIDEO ABOUT THE HAIR PRODUCTS

I’LL BE USING FOR THE

4 MONTH NO HEAT CHALLENGE

One thing I want to mention, that is not shown in the video, are my moisturizers. I’m still in love with the Hollywood Beauty Olive Creme but I’m also using the Elasta QP Mango and Olive moisturizer. Otherwise, everything else is in the video. You can also take a look at what’s listed in the tab above named “Hair Regimen” to see some of the things I do on a weekly basis.