British Curlies Forum

Shea Moisture

2013-06-19T18:08:10+00:00

I’ve just been on the paks website and sometimes when im on it i look up shea moisture, well today was one of those days. I expected it to telk me that my search had returned no results like it normally does but products came up. They actually had products from all 3 lines (green,orange,black). Im not sure if theyre available in store aswell which woukd be convenient because i live 5 mins away from a paks. But anyway i was really suprised when i saw it and thought i would share.

Nightmare Experience at Toni and Guy Brent Cross, London

2013-06-19T15:46:32+00:00

A warning to curlies out there with 3c/4a hair. Be careful with this salon. A while ago I noticed a sign in the window saying:

“We are now pleased to offer our clients an afro hair service” or similar.

A woman called Naudia works there part time and will do blow dries and cutting (after blowing it straight) on this type of hair. Fairly limited options, but fine if you want an occasional blow dry or trim.

I tried to book and she wasn’t available. I was offered a replacement who said she could do afro/mixed race hair (they have no idea that it’s all about curl not ethnic types these days…). Anyway, I rocked up, asked whether she would blow my hair out with a pick attachment before flat ironing it and was told: “I don’t work that way”. I should have walked out there and then but as she seemed confident and really chatty and friendly so I went ahead. Big mistake.

As well as revealing her ignorance and bull****ing skills (she told me afro hair has no cortex, that’s why it gets damaged - what about us mixed chicks? ), she used a round brush to blow out my hair, didn’t use enough protective product, burnt my scalp and (I later discovered when I got home) caused serious breakage. I phoned and spoke to the manager who offered me a complimentary blow dry. When I rang to book they said they would call me back but forgot. I chased it up but with such short notice Naudia wasn’t available. I told them to forget it and would expect a refund and would come in the following week. When I rang the following week to say I was coming to collect my refund I was told the manager was off that day; that she would have to authorise it so they couldn’t do it that day. Unfortunately I then had to put on my furious “don’t mess me around more than you have already or there’ll be trouble” routine. I got the refund. I will never go there again. I am sorry that Naudia has lost an occasional client but their handling of matters was so poor I cannot give a single penny into that salon again.

You have been warned!

3thirty salon - best salon ever!

2011-10-16T07:47:38+00:00

I really wanted to have a straightened style for graduation because I haven’t seen my hair straight in many years and I wanted to see the length. I read a great review in black hair magazine, so I phoned them up.

On the phone they said they generally specialise in natural hair, so I was even more intrigued. The don’t just do afro hair, they do all hair types, which is very unique for a salon - european curly / straight, afro mixed etc. The do men and women as well. The art director was the only person who was free on the day I wanted, so I decided to do it.

I went there and had a free consulatation and she showed me some easy to do natural styles with my hair before the straightening. It was very relaxed and I liked the fact that they did not make me feel that I should get a relaxer or that my hair was more difficult in its natural straight.

I had the Mizani thermasmooth straigthening done and the overall experience was amazing. Best service I have ever had in a salon. The director was gentle, (very gentle). When she was blowdrying my hair, she took little sections of hair, (rather than just raking the blowdryer through like other stylists have done in the past). She was so gentle, it was like I forgot I was having my hair done. She really took her time to achieve a great style, within minimal fuss. The thermasmooth was good and has lasted longer than any other normal straightening. Its not permanent, which I like.

She also didn’t use a ton of heat. They don’t use tongs or the oven, just blow dryer and ceramics, so you don’t get the super sleek look you get from tongs. I didn’t want that because that means to much heat. It was more like a really amazing blow out.

She was talking about methods for cutting curly (non-afro) hair and they seem to really know their stuff. It was the 1st time I have been in a salon and I’ve been the only black customer! lol I was really amazed at how great all the styles were on the male and female clients. I would reccomend the salon for everyone with all types of hair. You could always try the free consultation and see if you like it.

Also what I liked is that they don’t make you feel like you have to buy their products and they won’t do hair styles which don’t suit you. My mum wanted finger waves and after showing her what it would look like on her face, she realised it wouldn’t work. Most hair stylists would just do it and take your money.

Definately reccomend it for all curlies and kinky headed people male and female.

Hair and Make Up Department -SOHO

2012-07-27T07:37:43+00:00

Hi curlies!

I just wanted to create a new post to say that I’ve made the big decision: after reading tons of posts about what stylists to go to, I’ve decided to give the “Hair and Make Up Department” (run by Michael Price, formerly “Unruly” in Notting Hill) a go.

I’m new to CG (2 months!) and also to London so I’ve never been to Unruly but I’m sure a lot of curly Londoners know about him.

Anyway, I have a consultation with Charlotte on Tuesday and a pre-booked appointment for Friday in case I decide to go for it. I want my hair to be coloured. That’s the easy part : it’s already highlighted and I’m relatively happy about it so it’s just a matter or touching up the roots.

The big thing is the cut. Up until 2 months ago I was straightening my hair after each (sulfate!) shampoo. It’s layered with not too short layers. The problem is, you can really see that there are 2 distinct layers: the top one and the bottom one. And of course the top one tends to go sideways now that there is no flat iron to force it down. I’m going to try to ask for a cut where a layers are less… clear-cut and the transition is more natural.

Any advice welcome!

I will report on results

Hello

2013-06-18T20:17:01+00:00

Hello All

Headmasters range

2013-06-19T08:22:48+00:00

Morning curlies! Just doing my Tesco shop online and they have a range called Headmasters, which I think must be new. There is a better than half price answer on at the moment, and the conditioner, hair mousse and curl cream are CG as far as I can tell I would post ingredients but there are quite a few different products. Might be worth a try I am well stocked up on hair stuff at the moment, but if I try any I will post feedback

Dandy’s curl diary.. 2c/3a

2010-03-31T19:24:03+00:00

I’m going to track my progress here my aim, having just turned cg (curly girl as in no shampoos or silicones) properly 6 days ago, is to get slightly more curly curls , not much but back to my former my curly curls that i had before -while getting rid of frizz.. which i don’t mind a huge amount, but would be nice if it did go away

I’ve done some experimenting already and find I can quite easily make my hair too oily, by applying certain products too much etc.. I might go back to catalogue those days too. Yeah I think I will later on today and edit it into this post..

Yesterdays hair was ok until the end of the day where it felt nice and soft but looked oily and was def overconditioned, esp noticeable on the temples. It felt nice though, all smooth and conditioned, but just a bit too heavy or something.
DT, CO wash:
co washed hair at night having put a DT of AOHSR on for about 30 mins prior. Co-washed it out with suave ocean breeze

What I did for stylin/leavin:
I put a bit of KCKT on the ends, not too much, then loaded up my hair with lock and twist gel (too much!) and then a pea size amount of BRHG.
It was curly, and less frizzy but was too oily and heavy.. having looked at the ingredients for the lock twist gel it is no wonder if is filled with oils for the first few ingredients and i had piled it on! oops, well good to know.

I plopped and everything but took it out before sleeping on wet/damp hair.

lesson learned= dont overload on Organic lock and twist gel, it is VERY rich, or was it the DT or the KCKT? must figure out through a scientific process of elimination lol! Sleeping on damp hair gives big loopy C curls albiet a tad on the scruffy side but kinda cool. pic is the closeup showing OC’d

But here is my hair today.
What i did:

To get rid of yesterdays OC, oily feeling/looking hair, I had to do another co-wash today, so no 2nd day hair :(
I cowashed with suave ocean breeze (this bottle is nearly finished and seemed fine at its job, though smell could be nicer, it is a protein free one) a few times making sure i got my temples where the hair is fine and where it looks oily the most.
The I attempted the super soaker again, but prob did it wrong..
tipped my head upside down and rinsed out hair in shower, it got tangled when i did this, just like last time( i hate doing this and wont do it again!) so i reached for my KCKT and got them out with a comb, most of that rinsed out prob.
Got out of shower head dripping all over.. to sink where i took handfuls of water to my head and encouraged clumping via the super soaker method. it clumped fine.. but was so wet, duh.. so added some [color=green]Curl Keeper and then some LAsports gel and then plopped. Worried that my hair was soo wet that the product was diluted. Plopped again with a new towel. then short diffuse to get rid of drips.. then let air dry.
Result- hair is ok.. curls are fine.. but there is a bunch of frizz and the plopping made my cows lick worse. At least i didnt OC or OP (over product) prob should have added gel differently or more of it since it was so wet.. forgot how she did it on that super soaker vid. [/color]

Why does my hair seem to prefer sulfates?

2013-05-30T21:22:32+00:00

Hello, those of you who have followed my other posts, will know I’m still at the early stages of my curl journey. But i have learned LOADS from you already so thanks😊

I’ve been experimenting and slowly getting more cg approved products into my routine. But what i don’t get is why my hair seems to react better to me washing with a sulfate shampoo than a sulfate-free one? I noticed this last week as my hair got lanker throughout the week and then made absolutely sure all my leave ins were suitable.

I tried again this week. Yesterday i used some of my old tresseme luxurious moisture, the used all the products that i have listed in my signature. I plopped then pixi curl dried and got lovely soft bouncy waves, almost at 3a level. Today i did everything the same except that i washed with the bodyshop rainforest instead. The curls were not as bouncy, less defined, slightly frizzier and didn’t last as well.

I would really like to take good care of my hair and ideally id like to be able to co wash occasionally, but it just seems like my hair isn’t reacting well to it.

Is there something that i am missing? Can anyone give any suggestions or ideas?

Thanks loads

E xx

co washing when using jbco

2013-06-18T15:06:55+00:00

so, does a low poo’ remove oils such as coconut oil and jmbo. i am not that worried about coconut oil staying in my hair, but the jbco is brilliant at keeping moisture in, but not cg-“approved” because it can also block moisture from getting in. so, is co-washing enough to remove the product, or a shampoo with coco betaine or do i have to use regular shampoo?

Poof pow giant hair can you help

2012-04-04T19:10:41+00:00

I coloured my hair last week and it seemed to like it. All good. This morning I did a treatment a CJ repair me treatment followed by AO honeysuckle rose.

Styled:
KKNT
Mop top gel

My hair dried and was quite large to say the least, plus quite frizzy.

Now at the end of the day it’s like a monster it just gotten bigger and bigger and bigger! Over the day I’ve applied loads of Anita grant butter some coconut oil and finally komaza moisturiser. Now of course it feels sticky, no surprise BUT it’s still giant and yip has a huge halo of frizzzzz.

Can anyone recommend, what to do?

Thanks