Figured it was time for me to start a journal, so I can keep track of what I have tried, what works, and what doesn't.

Starting with a little history of my hair - I've always had fairly long hair, ever since I've been a little girl. It might have been a little cultural, since all the women on my mother's side have long hair!

Through my life, I've never taken any special care of it. I guess I always kind of took it for granted - that it would always be there. Used whatever shampoo Mom bought that was on sale, and conditioner was only reserved for times when my hair was so tangly that I couldn't brush it out. Mom blowdryed my hair, combed it out while still wet to ensure no tangles, that was it.

I've pretty much followed that routine for my whole life - shampoo only, blowdrying, and brushing when wet, until coming across these boards, of course! I'd been getting frustrated with my hair, which is wavy, since I expected it to behave like the 1a hair that I so admire. ;) Needless to say, all the extra frizzies / wavies were getting me a little riled.

Since joining this board at the beginning of March, however, I'd made changes in my routine:

- wash scalp only with gentle shampoo
- condition scalp lightly and length heavily with conditioner
- apply aloe from scalp to ends liberally
- misting with a rosewater, castor oil, and glycerin mixture
- ceasing blowdrying and brushing when wet
[/list:u]
Despite these changes, however, I've still got fairly rough ends. The last six inches of my hair seems to be more coarse and rough than the rest of my hair. I've received several helpful suggestions from the rest of the members of this board, though, and will work on implementing them!

The first suggestion I implemented to get rid of my rough ends was to stop misting and oiling, since the oils could be causing the problems. So, for the time being, I have abandoned my rosewater, castor oil and glycerin mister, as well as my macadamia nut oil. I haven't noticed a marked difference, but it could take time to show.

Next suggestion was to try the Aussie 3 Minute Miracle on my hair. I tried it, and absolutely loved it! My hair has never been so soft, silky, and smooth in my life - I've always had less than silky hair, and it was positively thrilling to have hair that felt so nice. Still, although it felt great while my hair was damp and still drying, I noticed that as it dried, a little of the silkiness went away. The last six inches of my hair, which is notoriously rough and coarse, seemed improved in texture and feel, but not entirely resolved.

After using the 3 Minute Miracle for two wash days in a row, I discovered that this would have to be a product with limited use, for my hair at least! My hair became so smooth and silky that it wouldn't stay up in any updos whatsoever - my hairsticks, pins, and elastics were entirely useful. I can see where this would be a fabulous product for a person who wears their hair down all the time, but I prefer to keep mine up, to protect it a little more.

Next on my list to try - Kenra's Intensive Emollient. I requested samples from the company around a week ago, and haven't heard back from them. I don't know if my products are on their way, or if I'm being ignored... or perhaps they don't ship to Canada, I don't know. Still, I'm waiting and hoping that I'll get something in the mail! I will probably email them again, since I did request information about where their products can be obtained in BC.

I'm also on the lookout for L'Oreal's Mega Moisture conditioner, after hearing it highly recommended. Of course, I'm going to finish up the conditioner that I have now, but figure that since quite a few people seem to be satisfied with it, I'll give it a whirl.

A few suggestions that I haven't incorporated yet - treating my ends with vitamin e, using Tresses' preconditioning treatment, clarifying, or trimming my ends.

The vitamin e treatment, Tresses' treatment, and clarifying with baking soda should all be easy - I mean, I've got the ingredients all sitting here, it's just a matter of my remembering to actually use them once I get into the shower. :rolleyes: I'm thinking of trimming my ends, too, perhaps at the end of the month - but I'd like to wait, since I want to see how much I grow, on average - last month was only 1/4 inch.

I've researched Feye's method, and that's the way I'll go! Other members of the board said it works fine with a side part, so I'll give it a shot. Hopefully I don't butcher my ends in some frightful manner... :shock:

Yesterday, I clarified my hair with baking soda. I figured that if I had buildup, there wasn't any point in just adding more and more products / mixtures to my routine, unless I got rid of the buildup that might be causing these rough ends of mine.

Anyways, I mixed about 1 tablespoon of baking soda in with 2 cups of hot water - I believe those are the amounts Dulci told me to use! Gently poured it over my hair, starting at the scalp and going to the ends. Thinking back, I should have probably concentrated it the most on the ends, since that's where I'm dissatisfied with my hair, but whatever!

After I poured it on my hair and had it drizzle down my face and into my mouth - yuck, I hate baking soda! :rolleyes: I let it sit there a while, then rinsed it out. Shampooed my entire hair from scalp to ends, and then conditioned with my White Rain Passionflower conditioner, from scalp to ends, as well. Got out some of the 3 Minute Miracle, and put a tiny bit on the last six inches of my hair. I had some residue left on my hands from it, so I sort of smoothed it across all my hair.

Let that sit for a while, and then rinsed it all out. Applied aloe liberally to all my hair afterwards, let my hair dry a bit down, and then damp bunned it.

After it dried (seven hours after damp bunning... darn, I wish it would dry faster!) I inspected my hair. It was definitely shiny, soft and smooth - but it's kind of hard to tell if that was from the baking soda treatment, or just because I've been taking care of it better, recently. I do believe, though, that the ends were a tiny bit softer and more smooth - still rough, but hey, that could have been from the extra 3 Minute Miracle.

Anyways, it looks like the conditioners and clarifying aren't doing much for my ends, so trimming might be an issue. This sort of sounds like I'm obsessing about those rough ends of mine, but I'm not, really! :DD

Washed my hair last night again! This time, I tried a sort of leave in, by not rinsing my White Rain conditioner out entirely. I mean, I washed it out mostly, but left just enough so I could *feel* it while it was wet.

Results - felt nice! So far, I haven't notice anything feeling limp or weighed down, yet. My hair along my scalp and length was really soft and smooth, and strangely, felt kind of "bouncy". Don't really know how to explain this feeling - kind of a neat swingy type of feel, whenever I move my head around. I like it!

I did something sort of stupid, though. Usually, I aloe my hair while it's still quite wet - found that works great for adding shine and smoothing out the frizzies. This time, however, I forgot to do that - and added it to my hair when it was almost dry.

That did something sort of weird - the best explanation I can think of is that feeling that hair gel gives when it's dry! That took away the soft feel from the conditioner, but didn't take away the bounce. I'll have to remember to do it while my hair is wet, next time!

Was reading through Jonobie's thread about that battle hairstyle, and decided to give it a try for myself. It totally flopped and looked dumb, but I was doing it with an elastic. Since I was heading out to Walmart anyways, I decided to pick up something that might work - one of those clasps with the stick - what are those things called, anyways? and a regular clip that looked like it would hold a lot of hair.

Tried it when I came home, and the clip wasn't big enough for the hair bundled up like that, and the metal clasp with the stick wasn't big enough, either. :mad: I guess I need to get more perception when picking out hair toys, so I don't waste my money on ones too small for the do's.

On the bright side, they'll both work for holding up ponytails! I still like those once in a while, so I'll obviously keep them and see if I can figure out any more do's with them.

I've been practicing my inside out french braids, as well! I can do it well as long as it's a single braid down the back, but as soon as I try to do two braids, things get twisted up and it turns out half french, half dutch. Which is an interesting look, to say the least, but not what I'm looking for!

I'm tempted to wash my hair again, since it doesn't feel all that great after the dry aloe act, but I'll wait until my usual 3rd day is here.

One other change I'm going to be trying during the next month or so - I'm going to stick with a non cone conditioner, at least on my scalp. During the last two weeks or so, I had a few breakouts along my hair line. I read in one of the threads here that someone (was it Steph?) continuously broke out after using cones, so I'll give it a try, and see if that's the culprit.

Not sure if it will be, though! I can recall having those breakouts along my hair line for several years now, and since I've never used conditioner before LHC, I don't know what it could be. Of course, there could be cones in the shampoos I used - I have no idea. I didn't use any one brand regularly, and didn't keep track of when these break outs came and when they went.

Even if I do find out it's related to cones, I don't think I'll give them up! I still love that 3 Minute Miracle stuff and the way it makes my length feel. Of course, I could do a non-cone conditioner on the scalp, and a cone conditioner on the length, and have the best of both worlds - IF that's the culprit!

If, after a month or so, it's not going away, then I'll have to point a finger at some other ingredient. I'll have to look through my list of ingredients, and see which ones might be comeodogenic - although I know the tests done for that aren't reliable at all. :(

Then again, it could be my wacky cycle...

Finally got my Kenra samples! I tried the IE today, after my regular shampoo. I know, I said I wasn't going to use cones for a while, to see if they were causing the hairline breakouts - but hey, do you think I could wait for a month to try these samples? Of course not! ;)

While in the shower, my hair felt really slick from the IE - a nice feeling I also got from the 3 Minute Miracle. My hair is drying right now, so I can't give a final review of how the product works on my ends, but here's what I've noticed so far:

- hair on crown and scalp is nice and soft. This isn't anything new, really, since just about any conditioner will do that for me.
- hair is vary smooth and slick, untangles great. I find that all cone conditioners do this for me.

Like I said, I'm waiting for my ends to dry before I make the final consensus - either my ends are not conditioned and are dry, OR, they're damaged and need to be trimmed. It won't really bother me if they need to be trimmed - I've got enough splits to need a trim, right about now! Still, it would be nice if it was just a matter of conditioning.

Yesterday, I did an updo that used to be a favourite of mine, before LHC and french twists! I was so thrilled and excited with my french twists, that I sort of forgot about this updo. Anyways, here's a pic of it - a little messy with flyaway hairs, since that's after I cleaned the house and made bread ;) , but you get the idea!

http://www.natural-choice.ca/pictures/updo.jpg

Well, other than that excitement from the Kenra samples, that's all that's new with my hair! I still haven't managed any french twists, lately - my hair just seems to slide out of them like it did right after the 3 Minute Miracle. Goodness, I wonder how long it takes for the effects of that stuff to wear off? :shock: I won't be able to practice any updos at this rate!

Oh, and on the bright side - if I can't practice them on myself, I can at least practice them on my little cousin! :D I was visiting her last weekend, and actually did a crown braid on her! Took me two attempts, but I did it. It looked quite nice on her - and then her older brother decided that if she was going to be a princess, then he had to be a king, and went and made himself a crown out of paper. :D Still, I haven't mastered the art of doing it tight enough, since after she was running around a bit, it started getting loose and a little floppy. :(

My hair's finished drying completely now, so I can better evaluate the Kenra Intensive Emollient. And I have to say, that while it's a nice conditioner, I'm not all that thrilled with it - it didn't make my hair any softer, smoother, or less tangly than any of the cheaper shampoos I have tried from the grocery store / Walmart. :(

My ends feel the same - no moisturizing benefit there, and actually, now that the hair on my scalp is completely dry, I noticed it's a little more flyaway than usual - I didn't put the aloe on like I normally do, since I wanted to see what the IE was like on its own.

What I DID really like about it, though, was what it did to my length. Normally, the hair from my crown to my shoulders (actually, a little lower) will lie nice and flat and smooth, and then, the rest of the length will be quite bushy and always look messy. This stuff, for some unknown reason, tamed it - now all my hair is lying flat and smooth and pretty.

So the Kenra IE is probably not something I'll be buying consistently, unfortunately. But still, there's the regular conditioner and the leave-in to try yet! I might have better results with those. :D

One thing I forgot to mention in my last entry - the good thing about this conditoner is, that it doesn't make my hair so slippery that I can't do anything with it. Because while I liked the way the 3 Minute Miracle made my hair feel, it was totally impractical.

A full 24 hours have passed since using the Kenra IE. And the really good thing is, my hair still hasn't fluffed and bushed out at the bottom like it normally does. And if it stays that way, this IE is going to be getting better marks than I gave it at first... because I can't stand my hair doing that!

One sort of weird thing - I noticed that with this, my hair falls back into it's natural state a lot faster. Normally, I brush all the waviness out of my hair. With the IE, however, I noticed that I could have brushed my hair 8 times a day, and it would still go back to being wavy quite quickly. I've never had this happen before. Was it the conditioner? The way I dried it? It's a little strange!

Another thing I've noticed - while I can do updos really well without the IE causing it to slide out, it seems like it sort of makes my hair "stick" together. Normally, if I'm twisting my hair for a bun, and then let it go, it'll kind of swirl down, and then go back to normal - fairly straight with a bit of wave.

Now, however, if I twist my hair and then let go, the bottom will STAY twisted - almost entirely. It's weird! :what:

Anyways, being bored out of my mind last night with nothing else to do, I decided to experiment with some more updos. And lo and behold, that good-for-nothing silver hairslide I bought, that was too small for anything... can actually hold a french twist! Yeah, it kind of squishes the french twist a bit, but I think it looks kind of neat. I can use that and 2 or 3 hairpins, and it will hold it much more securely than the hairsticks have been doing lately. Anyways, I'll upload some pics of my work in a while - still have to edit them so they don't take up the entire screen!

Ok, I adjusted the size so they won't take forever to load, and then uploaded them to one of my websites.

The first one is the french twist. It's the first time I did it with the slide, so it was loose. And as I spun my head around so that the digital camera on the self timer could take a pic of the back of my head, it started sliding to the side and falling over.... as you can see for yourself!

http://www.natural-choice.ca/pictures/messyfrenchtwist.jpg


The next one is a neat style in which I twisted a french twist, but instead of doubling it over and rolling it (I have to double it two times, actually, because of my length) I made a bun with the rest.

http://www.natural-choice.ca/pictures/frenchtwist-bun.jpg

I really like that bottom one! I have to work on the bun, making it a bit more loose so that it will look good from the left side, and not only on the right, but still - that's not too hard. It's a nice secure hairstyle, too - I always test mine by shaking my head back and forth a lot. There's nothing worse than working on a nice updo and thinking, "Ok, I *think* that's secure..." and then finding as soon as you step out of the house away from the pins, clips, brush and mirror, that it falls apart around your head. Yes, I have had that happen, so I always do the "shake test" first, now!

I got my hair trimmed! I asked my mom to give me a good trim, taking off a lot of the damage on my ends. I've decided that it's damage, since it seems like the conditioners and stuff I'm using aren't really making a difference to the roughness and dryness of my ends.

Anyways, in a few minutes, she cut about 3 inches off my length. It's basically a blunt cut with a tiny, tiny bit of a curve - hardly noticeable. My ends are now thick and I like them sooooo much! No more agonizing about how to fix 'em - they're gone. I still probably have a bit of damage on my ends, since I was complaining about the last 6 inches of my hair, but I wasn't going to lop of a whole 1/2 foot! If I notice the damage getting bad or at least, worse than it is (not very noticeable, right now) then I can always trim again later.

Anyway, it's sort of like I'm "starting over" with my hair. I'm going to see if I can take better care of it so that I don't get hundreds of splits and those explosion thingies happening to my hair again. I've already made the change of washing my hair in cooler water - ok, it's still quite warm, but at least its a lot cooler than what I shower in. Baby steps, ok? I'm never gonna do cold showers, even for the sake of my hair.

And I used the Kenra IE again, after my bad ends were gone. And you know what? I like it soooo much more than I did at first. My hair isn't sticking together in the same shape like it did that first time I used it - the IE must have somehow had a sticky, glueing effect on my damaged ends or something. Anyways, I don't have that anymore! It's just soft, smooth shiny hair. :D

I tried Kenra's light leave-in conditioner as well, as was rather impressed with it. It's made my hair a lot softer and shinier than ever before, although I still can't get my length to look as terrific as the hair from my crown to the base of my ears. Keep in mind that I've never tried any other brands of leave-ins, before, though - I have no idea how another brand would compare to Kenra's leave-in.

After testing the leave-in, I think that's a type of product I'd consider investing in!

I decided that it would be nice to post some pics of my hair - sort of a before and after thing. While looking through my pics, I saw that in the short time I've been looking after my hair, it even looks different - and that's something good! So here are the pics:

http://www.natural-choice.ca/pictures/brushed-hair-small.jpg

This was one of the original hair pics I took. My hair's about 30 inches in that picture, give or take a few 1/4 inches. It's also taken with the flash.

This is a picture of my hair as it is now - trimmed, and with the Kenra. Crazy, but I think it looks softer in this picture! It definitely feels softer.

http://www.natural-choice.ca/pictures/currenthair.jpg

Comparing the two, my current hair looks a lot nicer and thicker. Again, I'm really glad I got the trim! It made all the difference in the world. Sure, it's going to take me longer to get to my classic goal, but still, I'd rather get to classic looking like the "after" picture than looking like the "before" picture, even though my hair isn't all that bad in the "before" picture.

So... now I know, that if I'm ever getting "down" about my ends or thickness, a trim and some Kenra IE and leave-in is involved!

Wow - like a whole week since I haven't written in my journal. I've been busy around here! Looking back at that last entry... I can't believe that's my hair. Really. I just love the way that my hair looks, since the trim! Sometimes, I have turn around and look at my hair in the mirror, to make sure it still looks like that. And while there are definitely better hair days than others, it still has that nice thickness, smoothness, and colour. Yay! :D

Ok, off that topic now. :oops: I've finished up my tube of Kenra IET completely now. About five uses for the entire tube - not bad for a sample. It gave me a good "feel" for what the conditioner was like, and how it worked with my hair. Kenra IET is definitely something that I would consider buying .... although I don't like the idea of shipping it from the US every time. Kenra still hasn't gotten back to me with where I can get it in Canada, if at all. Maybe if I write them and tell them how much I enjoyed their products, they would... ;)

One thing I noticed after using the Kenra IE and the leave in - I'm j-u-s-t starting to get those hairline breakouts again. Two spots, nothing much, but that makes me think again of what ingredient could be causing it. However, I'm not ruling out things like diet, cycles, etc, so who knows.

I guess I'll just have to be more careful when using products, not to get them too close to my hairline or let them touch my skin.

I've been having updo difficulty lately. Can't do french twists very well anymore - and I don't know why. Maybe I don't know how to handle my hair after the trim? Can't do the hair knots, either, and lately I haven't been motivated enough to do my other favourite updo. So, it's been nothing but buns and ponytails, lately!

I meant to type more in my last entry, but got interrupted. :D Anyways, here are my hair goals for the next little while... subject to change without notice!

[list]
use my bbb more often.
handle wet hair more gently
avoid blow-drying completely
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About using my bbb more often - sometimes, I feel like my regular brush, which I love soooo much, is a little too hard on my hair. I can occasionally hear hair ripping a bit, especially if I'm working through some tangles. So, I'm going to try to give that vent brush a rest, and start with the bbb more often. It's definitely more gentle on my hair, and I certainly hope I'll start liking the feel of it, soon! Right now, though, I'm not all that thrilled with it since it feels like it doesn't get through my hair properly.

About handling my wet hair more gently - although I try to be extremely gentle when handling my wet hair, I admit to occasionally towel drying it :oops: or brushing it a little too much.

About avoiding blowdrying completely - I know, I know, blowdrying is damaging to the hair. I like the way it blows my hair straight... and how handy it is, I don't have to plan showers around how long it's going to take my hair to dry. Since joining LHC, I've been very good - probably only blowdried 5 times, but still, I'm going to try to make that 5 a 0!

Well, that's about all for my hair goals right now. I don't want to get too obsessive about my hair! I mean, I enjoy taking care of it, learning new things, and participating with this wonderful community, but I don't want my hair to take over my life, if you know what I mean... I still want to enjoy it! Off to work some more, now! I believe that if I keep my hair routine fairly simple, I'll have more luck sticking with it.

Darn... something changed on LHC, and now it doesn't do html, only BB code. So, I had to go and edit my entries so that my pics would show up, since I regularly do everything in html - BB code's harder to remember, for me! Hopefully that will get changed back, soon.

Onto hair issues, now! My wash day was yesterday. I used a cone free conditioner, and ugh! I didn't like it one bit. None of that smooth, sleek, softness... I mean, it was probably conditioned, and I probably won't get any buildup with it, but what's the point if it doesn't feel silky? :D So, I'll slowly use up that conditioner in between washings with a regular cone conditioner - or maybe I'll try CO washing with it.

Yeah, that's what I might do... I've been meaning to try CO for some time (well, since I heard about it) but procrastinated because I couldn't find the right kind of White Rain. If it doesn't work with this one, then hey, at least I used some of it up. (I can try the rest on my dog, lol!) If it does work well with my hair, then that's great, too.

Still having difficulties with updos! It seems like all my french twists are sliding out... can't do that hair knot, either, since I trimmed my ends. :( I've done that french roll and bun combo, but even the bobby pins aren't holding well! What on earth is going on here? I'm thinking I have to get used to handling my hair all over again. Either I'm not used to it being conditioned or I'm not used to the shorter length - or, there's some faulty connections in the updo section of my brain. :shock:

Today I managed my "favourite updo"... the one that's pictured above about 8 posts or so. That at least is staying up all day today, and it didn't even fall out like it usually does when I went to my massage appointment today!

Aha! That's something I wanted to figure out. I'm having difficulties with my hair when I go for my massage. I've been going for six months now, since the accident, and do you think I can figure out what to do with my hair? No. :rolleyes:

I need a style that is up, high off my neck with no loose hair hanging around. Yet, it has to be soft and flat enough that I can still lie on my back comfortably, as well. Buns don't work; they're too poky when I'm on my back. My MT tends to "catch" the small hairs that fall out of my braids... ouch! That's the reason I canned the braid option the first time.

Ponytails still have that lump on the back of my head... and my "favourite updo" often emerges in such a state of disrepair that it looks awful as I walk out of the office. Which isn't all that bad, but I don't want to have to re-fix my hair again several times a day if I went to all that bother. French twists have a lump at the back... and the hair knots have the hairsticks.

I really need to solve this dilemma!

I'm still having a rotten time with those french twists. Really, I can't do anything with my hair now, except a bun or a braid, and my "favourite updo" if I've got the time. It's getting really frustrating! Like today, I did a french twist in the morning. Within 10 minutes, it was sliding out like no tomorrow. So, I sulkily twisted it into a bun, and started my day. After a while, I thought... "Hey, maybe I was in a rush or something the first time I tried... I bet I can do it again!" No such luck. This time, within five minutes, it completely slid out.

My mom tells me, "It's because you're using conditioner - it's completely coated your hair with waxes and stuff and that's why your hair is so slippery". (We were previously a "no-conditioner" family, remember? ;) ) . So yes, that could figure into why I'm having updo challenges. My hair does seem to be really silky and slippery. Feels great while it's down, of course, but I can't wear it down all the time since I'm trying to protect it from further damage so I don't have to do huge trims or anything.

So, is it just conditioner that's doing it, or the type of conditioner? Or is this how healthy, fine hair is supposed to be? I regularly use conditioners with cones, and haven't clarified in a while - my hair looks and feels so great I haven't felt a need to. And, if I do find out it's my conditioner, do I really want to try another conditioner that isn't going to make my hair as soft, smooth and silky? Do I sacrifice my updos, or do I sacrifice my sleek hair? Decisions, decisions! :(

Regardless of what I eventually decide, I need some new hair ideas now! I'm thinking they're going to have to rotate around braids and buns, as well - and those are my least favourite hairstyles on myself. Buns make me look, well, I don't know what. Strict, like Kati says? I don't know what I'd call it.

I like two french braids on other people... most of the time, that is. Maybe a do with two inside-out french braids would suit me, since I'm not a big fan of single french braids on myself. I can't do heidi braids or crown braids on myself very well, and don't know if that's something I'd wear in public, or not. :confused: Goodness, I'm probably obsessing about the braids vs. buns issue too much!

I was pm'ing with Madeleine a while back... and she suggested that my updo problems are due to the conditioned state my hair is in. Basically, I learned that rough hair (or hair like Velco, like she said ;) ) works great in updos, but doesn't look very nice when it's down... and that slick, conditioned hair looks good down, but doesn't do well in updos. So it is a "one or the other" type decision like I thought!

So... I've made a decision. I'm not giving up conditioning my hair - I know that much. But I will try to condition it much less. Basically, I'm only going to use one conditioner that has cones low in the ingredient list, and not do any extras - no intensive emollients, no rich conditioners, no Kenra leave-in spray... just one plain conditioner.

That way, my hair will still be conditioned... but hopefully not to the point where it's so silky that nothing stays in. I want to keep this up for one month to see how it works, and I'll continue experimenting with updos and french twists throughout this time. If, by the end of June, I still can't manage french twists without them sliding out, then I'll either switch to a less conditioning product, or forget french twists and condition my hair until it's liquid silk! :twisted:

I started a thread on the Mane board, asking how others do their braids. There was quite a lot of interesting feedback, and hopefully I'll be able to attempt some of the ideas and suggestions! I want to try the "headband" braid, and a few others. I also saw some instructions for a roped bun, and I'll give that another try, since all my attempts so far haven't worked well. For some reason, I can't get the rope tight at the top, so the majority of the bun just looks like regular hair, but the sides (made up of the ends of the rope) look nice and, for lack of a better word, "ropey"!

I was at the West Edmonton Mall with my family a few days ago, and picked up some more hairsticks and some of the Kenra leave in. Don't ask me why I bought more hairsticks when I can't do a french twist... it's probably just wishful thinking! And it's probably going to be difficult for me to resist using that big bottle of the Kenra leave-in, but I'll try...

I might be getting a Denman brush and some Mega Moisture, soon, so that's kind of exciting! Although I'll probably have to restrain myself from trying the L'Oreal until the end of June... :shock: How am I going to do this?? Anyways, I will try to stick with this idea of mine, and practice unique and interesting braids and buns in the meantime, with the occasional french twist just to see if my hair is behaving.

It's been three wash days since I used a high cone conditioner or leave in. (I had started that before my last entry). So, just for the fun of it, I tried a french twist yesterday. I had my new hairsticks unpackaged, just sitting there, looking lonely... and felt I had to use them. ;) So, I sat down on the edge of my bed, brushed my hair out briefly, and started twisting. Twisted all the hair, doubled it, and started rolling and...

And...

It worked! It really, finally, wonderfully worked. I stuck those new hairsticks in, and took a look in the mirror. Wow, a perfect french twist, and was hardly even trying because I was so sure it would just slide out. But would it slide out? I shook my head from side to side, up and down, and even bounced on the edge of the bed a little. Nope, that twist was in solid. It wasn't even thinking of sliding out! So, I guess that was my problem, after all! Which makes me wonder what I'm going to do with that big bottle I bought of the Kenra. Save it for days I want my hair down, I guess. Or, use it on days I'm planning on braiding... and then clarify or something when I want to do a french twist. Anyways, that was my excitement for the day!

Oh, no, actually it wasn't. Last night, when I was looking at my hair, I noticed something. Normally, when I leave my hair down, it starts seperating into strands and looking messy. I had my hair down yesterday, and I looked at it. Yup, seperated into strands... but, each and every strand is a spiral! So, when I leave my hair alone and do nothing to it, it starts forming spirals... yet the top is still straight. I'm trying to think of whose hair it seems similar to - maybe Karen's? Anyways, that was an interesting find for me.

And finally, some more exciting news - JennaPea, after hearing how I had seen that Denman brush for $32 :rolleyes: , offered to pick one up for me at a much more reasonable price. So, she shipped out the brush and a bottle of L'Oreal Mega Moisture to me this morning! I'm excited about that... but am wondering if I should hold off on using the Mega Moisture until the end of June, since I want to see how my low cone experiment goes. Really, though, would I be able to resist that temptation? Having a new conditioner shipped to me, and waiting a whole month to use it? :twisted:

I have continued to resist my desires for a high cone conditioner, and am still washing with a low cone one, lol! I had to hide my bottle of Kenra leave in, though, because I wanted to try it so badly... if I don't see it, maybe I'll forget about it until the end of June, right? :rolleyes:

Well, my excitement about the french twist staying (as mentioned in my last entry) was unfounded... it seems like it was only behaving that one evening just to get my hopes up. Now, anything I do still slides out! It's getting frustrating, but at least I get to practice buns more. Not that I need to do that, since it's a style I've done most of my life. Argh, I want new updos! I'm going to have to retry that roped bun again, to placate my updo desires.

If, after this month goes by (or I have used up my St Ives) and my hair is still to slippery for updos, I'll make a request for the most favourite (and reasonably priced) non-cone conditioners. If those either make my hair not as silky as it is now, or still won't let me do updos, then I'm tossing the whole updo idea out the window, and will condition as much as I feel is good, clarifying too, though!

Can't wait to get that Denman brush!

Still no updos... on a side note though, last time I washed my hair, I thought I'd wash the whole length, just to see what it felt like. It turned out so rough and frizzy afterwards, even though I used conditioner! I wonder how I used to be able to wash my entire length with shampoo and NO conditioner, before. :shock:

You know, after comparing that, I figure I can say that I don't have frizzy hair anymore. I bet it was all due to my over-shampooing, eh?

Wow, look how long it's been since my last entry! :shock: Things are still continuing as usual, though. I've been still using the low cone conditioner, and have finally come to the conclusion that I can't pin my overconditioned hair on cones... it's just got to be pinned on conditioners, period! It seems like no matter what I try, my hair is still too slick, soft, and smooth to stay in updos for any amount of time. Anyways, I'm sticking with my low-cone conditioner until the end of June, like I resolved, and then I'm gonna break out that Mega Moisture tub that JennaP so kindly shipped me! I'll do a full clarifying before beginning a new product, so I can see how it reacts on my hair. Hopefully, it'll still make my hair conditioned, yet not to such an extent that I can't do any updos with it.

I've been practicing figure eight buns... and practicing, and practicing. I must not have enough hair or something, because I can't get it looking right at all. It doesn't seem to matter if I do it the traditional way, or if I do it sideways - it's a no go. Anyways, I'll keep working on that, and on different braids and buns (since those are the only things I can do with my hair at this point) and see if I can eventually acheive it! Even with braids, though, my hair just seems to fray soooo quickly out of them. Within 1 hour, my braid is starting to look very frayed and worn, and like it wants to slide out. Buns tend to stay much neater for a much longer time.

I've been trying to do more research into conditioners, lately, but haven't had the time to completely research all the answers I was given, when I posted a request for the ingredients of everyone's favourite no-cone shampoos. I keep meaning to do that... and then another, more pressing task comes, so I shove it to the back burner. :rolleyes: One of these days, however, I'll find the right conditioner... or design my own! :D

Woohoo! I've finally tried the L'Oreal Mega Moisture. Ok, I confess - I tried it a couple days before the end of the month. ;) But I figured one month was enough to figure out if it was just conditioner in general that made my hair so slippery and soft.

Anyways, here's what I did: I thoroughly clarified my hair using a combination of 50% shampoo and 50% baking soda. I washed my entire length and crown with this - I wanted to remove all of the previous conditioner, to see how the new one reacted with my hair. Looking back, now, I think that I may have clarified a little too much - my hair felt darn stripped and dry as I was rinsing the shampoo off. :( After rinsing well, I applied the Mega Moisture from hair line to ends. Normally, I just use most of the conditioner from the ears down, and put a thin little layer on my crown. This time, though, I slathered all my hair with conditioner, because it felt so squeaky clean and stripped from the clarifying.

I let the conditioner sit there while I finished the rest of my shower, and then rinsed out thoroughly. As I was rinsing, I noticed that my hair wasn't as soft or as smooth as it is with the regular, low cone St Ives stuff I was using all last month - which caused me a bit of disappointment, I must say! Then, I figured that since I clarified so much, I couldn't expect a conditioner to fix it all in once use, and that my hair would get more conditioned the next time I used the Mega Moisture.

Got out of the shower, let my hair dry down. After it was dry, I decided, "Now's the time to try a french twist". And guess what. It worked! Needless to say, that totally thrilled me. But, keeping in mind the last time I thought my hair was french twist friendly again, when it was just a one time occurence, I didn't get my hopes up too much. But then, the next morning, I tried another updo - the hair knot from Dressy Tresses. And that one worked, too! :D

Next day, I did another french twist, with no problems. Yeah! This Mega Moisture stuff was better than I had expected! My hair still wasn't as soft and smooth as when I used the St Ives, but hey, I can take that if it'll give me my updos back. :D

Anyways, Day Four rolled around, so off I went to wash again, using the Mega Moisture. This time, my hair came out of the shower much more soft and smooth... but not updo friendly, again. It's still drying, as we speak (not 100% dry yet) but when I attempted a french twist, my hair seemed reluctant to comply. I'll make the final assessment once it's completely dry, but it doesn't look promising. :(

I thought I'd post my routine, as it's been during the last little while. It's changed a bit from when I first started - I tend to drop things, to simplify it, or deal with my updo dilemma - but here it is:
[list]
wash scalp only with sles based shampoo
condition scalp lightly, and length heavily
wash and rinse in warm / cool water
smooth / detangle with bbb once in a while
brush / detangle with Denman brush
snip split ends about every 2 weeks[/list:u]
I've stopped using the aloe gel, simply because I have no need of it - I haven't had frizzies for a while, now! I've discontinued using the Kenra leave -in conditioner, too, because of my wretched updos sliding out. I figure I don't need more conditioner, even though I love using it! :rolleyes: I'm not misting right now, either - stopped that when told that the oil could be the cause of my dry ends (this was before my 3+ inch trim) and somehow, just never got back into it. My hair's at a stage where I definitely love the feel of it - the only thing I need to change about it, is to somehow find a conditioner that's right for me - one that doesn't over condition my hair, to the point of all updos sliding out. :x

So, that's my new hair goal... to find a conditioner that's right for my hair! I really don't feel like I need to change anything in my routine at this point, because my hair's been feeling great lately. :D

I haven't had frizzies for a while, now!

Ohhhhhh, right. No sooner do I let my hair dry after typing that, then I had the most major attack of the frizzies ever. Seriously, I haven't had my hair act up like that for a long time. I tried taming it with the Kenra leave in... that took it down a bit, but it was still wild. Couldn't do the aloe, because my hair was dry, so I bunned it and tried to forget about it. Evening came, and it was still fuzzy as anything, so I hopped in the shower and just wet it down a bit. Luckily, that worked!

I'm still using the Mega Moisture, and I'm thrilled to report that so far, my hair is still liking updos! I've worn a hair knot for several days, and french twists, too - and they're not sliding out at all! Yay for good conditioners... I hope this lasts! My hair's still not as smooth as it was with the St Ives, but it's nice. I still want to see if I can find another conditioner that will act on my hair the same way the L'Oreal does, though. I don't want to pay $8 US and shipping on top of that, to get it to me! Why don't they sell it in Canada? :evil:

I was browsing through the Hair Boutique site a few days ago, when I had lots of spare time on my hands. I found a lot of nice updos I'll be trying... can't wait to see how they turn out! If any of them work properly, I'll be posting pictures here. I seriously need to learn more ways to do my hair. So far, I can do the following styles:
[list] ponytail
bun
rope braid
regular braid
fishtail braid
french braid
dutch braid
french twist
hair knot
messy bun updo
crown braid, on others[/list:u]


So - it would seem like the Mega Moisture is meeting my needs as a conditioner, now, so I don't have to look for a new perfect conditioner, yet. That would make my new goal... To acheive 5 new updo styles! No time limits, ok? ;)

Just noticed that I think it's been 2 months since I changed my sig pic to reflect my growth. I measured last month, and had 1/2 inch growth, so that put me at 27.5 - but I forgot to measure this month, what with going to the Okanagan to do 16 flats of strawberries for jam, so I don't know what my current length is - 28 at the most, I'm sure.

I printed off some of my favourite styles from Hair Boutique, and began trying them. Well... let's just say that it may take me a bit longer than I thought to reach my 5 new updos goal! I started out with three hairstyles, but ended up just focussing on the most simple one - on Hair Boutique, I believe they refer to it as a nape knot, but I think it's also called a chignon. How such an elegant, seemingly simply hairstyle can be so darn difficult for me to do is really weird! I mean, I can get the first step (putting the hair into a low ponytail) right, but after that, it just goes down hill. The results would be funny, if I wasn't feeling so frustrated! ;)

So, it's going to take me some time to get this chignon / nape knot figured out. Still, my hair's been behaving beautifully with french twists and braids, so I don't have any excuses not to practice updos! I'll need to go and get some more hair stuff before I can do some of the ones I picked out, though - nothing major, just some of those little clear "ouchless" elastics. I don't know if they're big enough or strong enough to hold my hair, but I'll give 'em a try.

I've worn my hair in a french braid for the last few days. I like my french braids worn lower on my head - I start at about the same height as the tops of my ears. I've had french braids that start a lot higher - like at the top of my head - and I don't like them like that on myself one bit. I think the lower french braid is more relaxed, or something, yet still nice.

I saw from Kelli's journal, that she's figured out the chignon style that I wanted to do, so I pm'ed her for her version of instructions. They sound much easier than what was posted at Hair Boutique, so I'm going to try it soon! I know, I said that a few days ago, but I've been busy writing for my website and haven't really had the spare minutes to play with my hair.

Today, I washed with some Aussie shampoo (can you believe, it's the *only* one in Walmart that doesn't have SLS in it?? ) and conditioned with the Mega Moisture. My hair is still behaving nicely with the conditioner, which makes me soooo happy and relieved. The thing is, I've got a large bottle of St Ives here (a little over half full) and a large bottle of White Rain (7/8 full) that needs to be used up. The St Ives seems to be too much for my hair, and causes the sliding out, while the White Rain doesn't seem to have enough conditioning power.

Maybe I can dilute the St Ives with water... or mix the two conditioners together. :rolleyes: I know it doesn't work that way, but I'm the kind of person who likes to use up what they have, before going and buying more. I can't see myself buying more conditioner after I use the Mega Moisture up, when I still have three bottles that are over 1/2 full sitting in the shower!

Well, I've been practicing that chignon, and with Kelli's method, I'm a heck of a lot closer... but it's still not looking "just right" in my opinion. Of course, I like everything to look "just right". ;)

I think it'll work better with those ouchless elastics that are transparent, so I'm going to pick up some of those next time I'm at the mall. We'll see if that makes a difference, or not. Basically, the trouble I'm still having is, that I can't get the loop part symetrical - either the left side will be way pulled out, and sagging, and the right part will be tight and close to the ponytail holder, or it'll be the other way around. Other than that, though, I'm getting the hang of it!

After I get this chignon down pat, then I'll move on to the hair knots. I've heard they're a fairly easy style, depsite looking intricate, so that's what I'm looking for! Oh, and by hair knot, I'm not referring to the kind mentioned on Dressy Tresses, that you hold with hair sticks - I mean the kind where you twist the hair, until it twists and turns back onto itself. And during all this updo experimentation, I'm still practicing my braids. They're getting better and better each time - really, there's nothing wrong with the way they look, I'm just getting them to feel more secure - I have a tendency to braid too loosely at first, so by the end of the day, it's completely falling out and unravelling.

Hair's still doing nicely with the S & C I'm using right now - may it stay that way forever! :D Nothing like having the products down pat, imo. The thing is, I'm already starting to worry about what's going to happen when I finish the Mega Moisture *gasp*. I love it, but I don't want to have to ship a product in, and pay for it in US dollars. Hopefully, I can find a product locally that works the same. I'm hoping against hope for that! I don't want to have to go through the search for the perfect conditioner (for my hair) again.

Review time! I thought it would be helpful to review the products I'm using / have been using during the past little while, and my experiences with them.

St Ives Spa Extra Body Conditioner :Star: :Star: :Star:
I've used this conditioner quite a lot, and it definitely conditions well. Not expensive, either. Doesn't seem to leave any buildup, but I found it over conditioned my hair - it was so slippery it kept sliding out of all updos, everything. I'm docking a star for that and a star for the smell, which I do not like. I think this would be a great conditioner for someone with really dry hair, or someone who wears their hair down a lot. 3/5

Ingredients: water, cetyl alcohol, quaternium-18, plant extracts, vitamin e, vitamin c, vitamin a, panthenol, hydroxyethyl cellulose, stearyl alcohol, glyceryl stearate, quaternium-80, steareth-21, propylene glycol, dimethicone, disodium dimethicone copolyol sulfosuccinate, oleamine oxide, stearamidopropyl dimethylamine, glycerin, citric acid, pvp, dmdm hydantoin, fragrance, colour.



Kenra Moisturizing Conditioner :Star: :Star: :Star:

I've only used this product a few times, but didn't really think the results were spectacular. Yes, my hair was conditioned, but not superbly so, and not any better than a less expensive / locally available conditioner. 1 mark docked because it wasn't all that great, and another docked because of price / availability. This would probably be a better conditioner for someone who prefers lighter conditioners. 3/5.

Ingredients: water, hexadecanol, stearakonium cholride, cetrimonium bromide, hydrolyzed wheat protein, protein, panthenol, benzophenone-4, imidazolidinyl urea, fragrance, fd&c colours.



Aussie 3 Minute Miracle Reconstructor :Star: :Star: :Star:

I've used this conditioner 5 times max. I loved it - made my hair softer and smoother than nothing else I've tried... but again, the slippery updo thing occured. I'm not too keen on the smell, either. I'd really recommend this product for someone who wears their hair down all the time, or a lot of the time - I bet they'd love it! 3/5

Ingredients: water, cetyl alcohol, glyceryl stearate, pet-12 distearate, cetrimonium chloride, plant extracts, hydrolyzed casein, oat flour, plant extracts, yeast extract, sunflower oil, aloe, safflower oil, simethicone, stearyl alcohol, lecithin, sorbitol, glycerin, glycol stearate, acetamide mea, cetrimonium bromide, sodium lauriminodipropionate, fragrance, dicetyldimonium chloride, stearalkonium chloride, phosphoric acid, propylene glycol, preservative.



Kenra Daily Provision Leave In Conditioner :Star: :Star: :Star: :Star: :Star:

A spray on, leave in conditioner that works incredibly for taking away frizzies and leaving hair soft and smooth. This stuff works wonders on bad hair days, or just when my hair isn't looking how I like it. Adds a bit of shine, too. If used too much on the scalp, I found it caused my hair to appear a little oilier... so I'd have to wash one day sooner. I haven't noticed any buildup from this product, and it hasn't really effected updos sliding out at all, after a little experimentation. The smell isn't too bad, either. 5/5!

Ingredients: plant extracts, amodimethicone, polyquaternium-11, cetrimonium chloride, silk protein, nonoxynol-10, octocxynol-13,benzophenone-4, preservative, ph adjuster, fragrance.


L'Oreal Nature's Therapy Mega Moisture :Star: :Star: :Star: :Star:

I love this conditioner. Leaves my hair soft, sleek, and smooth, and nicely conditioned... yet nothing slides out! It's wonderful. Really wonderful. Doesn't build up on my hair (yet) and still does the job... I think this is the perfect conditioner for my hair, so far! I gave this 4 points, though, because of two reasons: one, it's a little pricey and not available in Canada, and two, because of the scent - I find it a little sickly. 4/5

Ingredients: FII Code D11121, water, cetearyl alcohol, behentrimonium chloride, glycerin, amodimethicone, cetyl esters, sodium pca, fragrance, preservatives, trideceth-12, sunflower oil, chlorhexidine dihydrochloride, cetrimonium chloride, and fd&c colour.


Unfortunately, I've already thrown out my tube of Kenra Intensive Emollient Treatment, so I don't have the ingredient list for that. I did like it, though, and would have given it a 5/5.

I measured my hair, finally... and you'll never guess. 28.5 inches! Like, how did it get there? I must have had 1 inch growth or something, or I measured drastically wrong last time. I didn't really *feel* like it was growing fast, or anything, either. Neat how that works... I'll have to ignore my hair more often. :D

And... I am 1/5th of the way to reaching my new goal - learning 5 new updos! Ok, so I just learned it last night and it's not looking perfect yet. But still, I have made a darn good figure eight bun... just have to learn to tuck the ends a bit more so they don't stick out, and it'll be perfect. :D It's soooo nice to learn a new updo. Right now, I have it secured with 1 hairstick, and 2 good days hair pins. It stays fine with 2 hairsticks, but somehow, that's more of an "antennae" look than I like, so I experimented with 1 hairstick. And then, with 1 hairstick, I couldn't get the ends to stay nice... so that's what the hair pins are for.

It doesn't feel much different than a bun, really - although it does feel slightly less secure. I've found that after 5 hours or so, it tends to loosen up and get messy, so I'll see how I can combat that. So, you can look forward to some new pics in my journal of my brand new figure eight bun! :D

1 updo down, 4 more to go. I'm getting close to having Kelli's chignon down pat, and I haven't tried the hair knots yet - but hopefully I'll be successful soon!

Posting some pics, this time! I received my hairsticks from Ketylo of Treasures of the Tree, so naturally, I had to do some updos and take some pics... :D I found that in RL, the cardinal stick is more of a reddish wood colour than it appears in the pic. At least, in the pic it looks more pinkish to me. And the purple heart is a beautiful colour, although with more pink and less grey tones than the photo shows. Am I makin' any sense?

These are the pics of the cardinal hairsticks:

http://www.natural-choice.ca/pictures/cardinalsticks.jpg

And these are the purpleheart hairsticks:

http://www.natural-choice.ca/pictures/purpleheartsticks.jpg

And here is my long awaited figure eight bun! I have tried and tried and tried and tried to do this bun for the longest time... but for some reason, never could. Then, Katz let us know her hair site was up for a short time, and I went there and saved the figure eight instructions. And guess what: on the second time, I got it right!

http://www.natural-choice.ca/pictures/figure8.jpg

It's a little more lumpy than I would like it... other pictures I've seen don't lookg quite like that, so I still need to practice more. But still, it's the best I've ever done! I've got the cardinal stick in in that picture.

Next pic: a french twist using Ketylo's hairsticks. I found that these sticks were probably a teensy bit too short for french twists - I mean, you can't seem much of the pretty wood and corkscrew shape.

http://www.natural-choice.ca/pictures/frenchtwist.jpg

That pic looks a little funny, like my french twist is crooked, but I think it's the angle of the pic - it was definitely a very good french twists, cause I checked in the mirror before taking the picture. ;) But the great thing about the corkscrew style of the sticks is that it holds a french twist like no tomorrow. I felt that I could do the "test" by shaking my head all I wanted, and it would never slide out!

Well, I finally figured out how to "scrunch" hair! So of course, I had to try it. After my last shower, I scrunched my hair for a while... while not letting any brush / comb touch it. I let it dry that way, and continued scrunching it while it was drying - didn't damp bun it or anything, just pulled it back with a clip, so it wouldn't be in my face.

And then, after it was dry, I decided to take a pic! Here's the results - I think that scrunching definitely makes my hair wavier, but it's a messy kind of wavy... which I'm not thrilled about. It looked really neat while it was damp, but once it dried, I didn't like it much.

http://www.natural-choice.ca/pictures/scrunch.jpg

It does look messy, doesn't it? :evil: I wish there was some way of getting it to look neater while having more waves like that... but as soon as I brush it, all the waves disappear, just like TBear said! I think this method of drying might work nicely for someone who has curly hair, but for my slightly wavy hair, it doesn't seem to look all that great.

Whoa, that is one messy lookin' hair pic in that last entry. :shock: I don't like scrunched hair at all on myself!

Anyways... on to today's topic. I've been washing my hair with an SLES based shampoo for the last little while, and you know what? I find my hair seems to be getting dirtier / oilier more quickly with the SLES, than with the SLS / SLES combination I was using before. Usually, I go a full 3 days without washing my hair - and sometimes, I can even go 4. However, with this SLES based shampoo, I'm finding that going 3 days is a stretch... my hair is already looking bad by the beginning of the third day, and not by the end of the third / beginning of the fourth, like it would with an SLS / SLES combination.

I wonder which is better - washing with a potentially more stripping shampoo, but doing so less frequently, or washing with a less stripping shampoo, but having to do it more frequently? Or is there really no difference, since the issue is only one day that I'm experiencing? It's hard to tell! :rolleyes:

Another negative note in this journal... I think that my nasty rough ends may be coming back. I was massaging conditioner into my ends while showering, and thought, "Hey - that doesn't feel as soft as normal!" I'd really hate to have to cut off more damage. Yes, I like my hair after it's been trimmed, but I already had a 3 inch trim, or so... and my ends are still fairly nice, so I don't really need to cut off more, for aesthetic reasons. I'll try clarifying my ends with baking soda, to see if that helps at all.

Still keeping my eyes open for conditioners I can resort to after I use up my Mega Moisture... I think I'm gonna be a basket case when I use it up, because I really would rather not have to go to the trouble of shipping it from the US! :shock:

I still think my hair seems to be getting oily / greasy / dirty, faster, with this new SLES shampoo. Humph. What's better for the hair, washing more frequently with something gentle, or washing less frequently with something that may be more harsh? I really wish I knew...

Anyways, I thought I'd post a new hair pic of a bun done with Ketylo's hairsticks!

http://www.natural-choice.ca/pictures/purpleheart-bun.jpg

The pic is a little blurry, but other than that, I think it's ok. Not much new going on the hair scene lately... although I've been having a few really frizzy days lately!

Well, I may be closer to getting that chignon figured out! Everytime I'd make the third loop and pull the hair through, it would be fine - I could at least get the chignon loop looking fairly symmetrical, and not too floppy, or anything. But then, when I'd start wrapping the hair around the elastic, the chignon would twist up and turn sideways. Which was interesting, but not the effect I was hoping for! :rolleyes:

Anyways, I figured something out. It was obvious, and I should have figured it out sooner, but I didn't, of course. Anyways, since taking the remainder of the hair and wrapping it around the elastic turned the chignon loop sideways... I tried seperating the remainder of hair in two, and wrapped one half clockwise, and the other half counter-clockwise. And it turned out half decent! Seriously... the chignon loop still wasn't what I'd like it to be, but it was fairly close to the picture at Hair Boutique:

http://www.hairboutique.com/images/PatrickCamchignon250a.jpg

(I am linking to this picture at Hair Boutique - picture is the property of Hair Boutique)

I think my loop is bigger than the pic, and the hair wrapping around is smaller, but I can experiment! It would be neat to have some accessories to make it fancier, as well. Anyways, I'm working on it, and hopefully it will soon be good enough to post here! :D Oh, some other news - going on vacation very soon, and while in Vancouver, I might have time to drop into Holt Renfrew and pic up some Kiehl's... if it's not horrendously expensive. I'm really, really, really trying to pick products that will be easy on my bank account, lol - don't want to get hooked on something that will bankrupt me! And from Sheba, Gabi, and Steph's raves and reviews, I'm worrying that's just what might happen.

Few weeks since I've posted... I bought the Kiehl's uh, why can't I remember the name of it? Extra strength conditioner, or something? The one with coconut, anyways. I've used it once after doing a good clarifying, and since I don't usually like any conditioner the first time I try it (except Kenra's leave in) I'll wait until I've used it some more to review it.

I've used the Kiehl's conditioner 2 times, now. Both times, I'm using a very generous amount (more than I'd use for any other conditioner) and each time, I still get out of the shower feeling like I didn't use enough, or something. When my hair dries, it's flyaway and um, puffy. Doesn't lie smooth, or "look" nice. Yes, it's soft, but for some reason, I expect more than just "soft" - is it lacking smoothness, or something? I could care less about soft hair if it's gonna look as poofy as it does. :evil: I'll keep trying it for a few more washes, and then post and ask if others have had the same problem with this particular one.

On a more positive note, though, I have learned how to do a chignon. I can't get it quite as nice looking as the above pic from Hair Boutique, but it's a fairly quick hairstyle to do! I find it comes undone when I move around a lot, though. Anyways, with the way I'm doing it right now, I think it's more suited as an everyday style, and not the elegant style it seems to be on the Hair Boutique site. After a little more work, maybe I'll get it looking "just right"! :D

So... 3 new updos to go to reach my 5 updo goal. What'll I do next?

*yawn*... losing steam on this Hair Journal thing. I'm still trying that Kiehl's conditioner - I totally love the smell, but it doesn't do much for me. I posted about it, and both Gabi and Heather agreed that it wasn't one of the best - Heather had the same problems I did, ie, extra tangling, etc.

Anyways - Gabi suggested that I try it as a leave in, after I'd already used a conditioner. So I tried that, and it was a bit better (fewer tangles) but lots of frizz and flyaway hairs. Hmph.

Then I tried using it with a leave in on top of it - using the Kiehl's leave in sample I got when I purchased it. That was *much* better. No flyaways (yet) and no major frizz. I'll see how it goes with the tangles, but it hasn't been too bad for that, so far.

So... I won't be buying that one again. I'm not sure that I'd consider buying the leave in, either... I'm not able to afford $20 for a (small!!!) bottle of conditioner very often, especially since I use a lot of it. Mind you, I only used a tiny amount of the leave in, so maybe that will be cost effective.

I've slowed down on my updos, too - haven't experimented with any new ones, lately. Maybe later...

Used the Kiehl's extra strength again today, with the leave in on top of that... again, worked nicely. Not quite as tangle free as with the L'Oreal Mega Moisture, but still fairly nice. I wonder what it would be like on its own, without using the extra strength first - I'll try that next time I wash.

No new updos on the scene - I tried doing a roped bun, but can't seem to get the rope tight enough on myself. I can do it on others, but can't manage the twisting with my own hair.