Curly hair? What's your favorite gel, mousse, or lotion?
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free skin care · Fri Jun 15, 2007 4:56 am

I have long, curly (greying) hair and an arsenal of hair gels, mousse's, etc in my bathroom cabinet. Now that my hair has turned grey, it's less curly and I have to work harder to get it curly without weighing it down. In the winter I tend to use gels and lotions and in the summer, I use mousse's. What products are you "curly-girls" using that you love and do you switch with the weather/season?

free skin care · Fri Jun 15, 2007 5:28 am

I don't switch products on a seasonal basis, as I find Bumble & Bumble's Curl Creme works best for me. You can buy versions for either fine or thick hair.

free skin care · Fri Jun 15, 2007 5:47 am

Yeah - finally a post I have "some" knowledge about Laughing

As a curly girl myself (think type 3b botticelli curls), I've been trying lots and lots of products to get the right look.

My absolute favorite combo is Garnier "Curl & Shine" leave in (got it at Walgreens) and then Aussie "Sydney Smooth Tizz No Frizz" styling gel (Walgreens also). This combo gives me shine, GREAT clumping, bouncy curls, and flexible hold. My DH always tells me how beautiful my hair looks when I use these 2 products! Both curly girl friendly! HTH Smile

free skin care · Fri Jun 15, 2007 6:20 am

Curly girl here too but confess to spending two hours a couple times a week drying it out straight. On rainy and foggy days I save myself the effort and us Joico ice whip. It is the only product that tames my thick super curly hair. It is a heavy mousse that keeps it looking wet and doesnt let my hair become bigger than my rear.

Hugs

free skin care · Fri Jun 15, 2007 7:16 am

I second the Bumble & Bumble curl conscious creme, although I'm about to order the Joico Curl Definer for a change. I have heard good reports about Aveda Be Curly but haven't (yet) tried it myself.

free skin care · Fri Jun 15, 2007 8:07 am

Try label.m Souffle. Ideal for volume or loose sexy curls. I got it from TONI&GUY. Smile

free skin care · Fri Jun 15, 2007 8:44 am

When i want to wear my hair curly (I usually straighten it everyday) I use a curling lotion. They help form the curls better than just a gel or mouse for general purposes.

free skin care · Fri Jun 15, 2007 10:17 am

From another curly gal --- I have the spirals so I like to keep them defined. To prevent frizz, I have to put a lot of junk on my hair after shower. Shampoo only everyother day. After shampoo, I apply 8 pumps of camellia oil, a quarter size of jojoba oil, and finally top it off with SudzzFX conditioner and KMS curl tamer.

Whew! Sounds like a lot, but my hair absorbs all of this stuff like a sponge, doesn't get weighed down or look oil but curls are nice and springy and hair is soft to the touch.

free skin care · Fri Jun 15, 2007 10:43 am

I have Aveda Be Curly, and I use it sometimes, but it honestly doesn't give as much definition and frizz control as I'd like. I have coarse, thick, wavy hair, but it goes straight or straight-ish if I touch it or play with it so I have to be careful to be hands-off on curly days. I use Kiehl's Silk Groom on it, and hand-define the curls. I've tried Bumble and Bumble but their curl cream didn't work well for me. But everyone's different! Leave-in conditioners often spring up my curl too. I find the main thing for me is just not touching it, touch is a surefire way to ruin my curls.

free skin care · Fri Jun 15, 2007 4:19 pm

I use Aveda Be Curly and have had good results with it, and recently used Toni & Guy Curl Cream and was surprised by how good it was. Joico do some spray type leave in conditioners which are great too. They add mositure without weighing your hair down and I find when I use a curl cream afterwards I have more definition and less frizz.

free skin care · Fri Jun 15, 2007 11:43 pm

ISO Bouncy Creme, really the best I've tried, lightweight, doesn't dry my hair out and doesn't weight my fine hair down. The only thing I use whenever I get a perm.

free skin care · Sat Jun 16, 2007 5:23 pm

John Masters Citrus & Neroli Detangler is a great leave-in. My HG gel for several years (used every day, no build-up, conditioner only washing, etc.) is Aura Hypo-Allergenic gel available at Sally Beauty Supply. Not sure where else it can be purchased.

free skin care · Sat Jun 16, 2007 6:52 pm

I use the La Coupe Perfect Curls curl boosting spray. I usually spray on my hair when its still damp. It really helps to curl up.

free skin care · Sat Jun 16, 2007 9:04 pm

marci65 wrote:

John Masters Citrus & Neroli Detangler is a great leave-in. My HG gel for several years (used every day, no build-up, conditioner only washing, etc.) is Aura Hypo-Allergenic gel available at Sally Beauty Supply. Not sure where else it can be purchased.

Aura is an Aveda knockoff generic brand, so in addition to Sally Hansen you can sometimes find it at grocery and drug stores (I used to buy it at Safeway when I was growing up, their version of Aveda's Rosemary Mint conditioner is actually nicer in my opinion than the original Aveda formula!). I used to really love their stuff, they do a great job imitating Aveda fragrances and even if the formulas are a little different, I'm finding more and more that Aveda's formulas are far from natural, so it's not that big of a difference in the end. I'll have to try this gel, I bet it's great! Another good Aura one to try is the Cherry Almond Bark conditioner, it's VERY similar to the Aveda one and smells great.

Okay, back to topic! I will have to try leaving in the Citrus and Neroli JM conditioner; when I just ordered JM for the first time I got a heavier conditioner because I was worried about the Citrus and Neroli not being moisturizing enough, but I didn't think about leaving it in. Great, now I have to make ANOTHER EDS order! Ah well, we know it wouldn't have been that long anyway... Wink

free skin care · Sun Jun 17, 2007 6:18 am

I have a head full of "S waves" and I wear my hair curly every day. I get compliments nearly every day from strangers on my hair! People are usually surprised that my shoulder length curls aren't the result of a perm. My hair is naturally curlier in the back than it is on the sides, so I have to work with the sides a bit to encourage the curl there.

I wash my hair each morning and have a simple routine:

I brush conditioner through my hair in the shower, and when I do, I brush the hair up and forward (so that it is hanging down in front on my face). I leave it in this position while I rinse it, and then I don't brush it again.

I squeeze the excess moisture from my hair and wrap my hair in a special towel for curly hair:
http://www.curlease.com/. The towel manufacturers suggest letting the hair dry in the towel, but I never do that. Using the towel seems to encourage my curls and make them prettier, but if I leave the towel on for more than 20 minutes, I'm pretty much guaranteed a bad hair day. I usually leave it on for around 10 minutes.

I then use Kerastase Elasto-Curl and Bumble and Bumble DeFrizz. (I love the Elasto-Curl and the DeFrizz works well but probably any silicone type defrizz product would work.) I use my fingers to distribute the products throughout my hair, concentrating at the bottom.

Using a diffuser, I dry my hair, alternating between drying it upside down, and lifting it gently while holding my head upright.

When my hair is about half way dry, I usually leave it for five minutes while I go get dressed.

I then dry it the rest of the way and finish with got2b Dazzling Shine Spray and then a little Sebastian Shaper Plus Hair Spray (to further set curls and control and frizzies).

I like this routine as the curls are defined but soft -- I don't like to use mousse because I don't want the curls to be crunchy, nor do I want to have the "wet look".

If you try my routine, I'd love to hear how it works for you!

free skin care · Sun Jun 17, 2007 6:35 am

ginnielizz , I tried Aura's Cherry Almond Bark conditioner -- I liked neither the smell nor found it moistrurizing for my hair. However, I love the Aveda CAB conditioner -- whatever the few ingredient differences are, Aveda works better on my hair, but at the much higher price point, it's a splurge item that I rarely buy.

I heard that Aveda's gel (that Aura is the knock-off of) is discontinued. I would have tried the Aveda gel if it's still available, just to compare.

free skin care · Sun Jun 17, 2007 8:37 am

I use Enjoy's Shaping Lotion (orange bottle) and Joico's Curl Activator. Those work great for me.

free skin care · Tue Jun 19, 2007 9:18 am

Hm, that's funny, maybe it's been too long since I really compared the Aura/Aveda CAB! I totally agree that the Aveda one would be more moisturizing, I'm sure Aura has a much higher concentration of cetyl alcohol and other slip-but-not-true-moisture ingredients. I guess I shoulda mentioned, they say the Aura one is for deep conditioning but I'd use it as a daily, myself.

It's weird, I hadn't heard about that gel getting discontinued, but I'm not surprised - they're discontinuing a lot of their older products, and getting what I think they hope is a bit more "salon-forward" stuff.

Honestly, ever since Aveda got sold out to Estee Lauder, I've found a pretty dramatic decrease in their product quality. They used to be pioneers in natural personal care, but they use more and more sketchy ingredients and their whole marketing philosophy has changed (they never used to believe in sales or promos, saying that discouraged the whole concept of ethical marketing for quality products, etc. - similar to the original ideas behind the organic food movement - but now they have all sorts of "deals" and combo packages and everything). But this is another thread entirely, sorry. Smile

I've never tried their flax gel, but I wasn't that excited about it. The gel I'm jazzed to try next is John Masters Organics, I just tried out some of his shampoo/conditioner and so far I really like it. It may be my new HG brand for haircare! Bye bye, Aveda!

Oh, and by the way - have you ever tried their new Smoothing duo? They worked okay, but the smell made both me and my boyfriend gag! I had to return it!

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