I agree, thanks for the post your hair looks gorgeous!

mama mags - 19 April 2010 01:01 PM

thanks for your post, you certainly got good results and your hair looks incredible.  Once i can get myself back into the “hair zone” (am very lazy at moment and hair has been tied up for days!!) I will try your method.  Thanks

I know what you mean about not being in the hair zone - some days I can’t be bothered and it gets tied back out of my way lol. I hope the squeezing method works for you

BTW, for anyone who is interested, here is the AVG spritz I use. I got the recipe from Kinky by Nature website - I use their AVG a lot and I think it’s really good. I don’t bother with adding conditioner to the spritz cos I use a leave-in but I might try adding it for a 2nd day hair spritz:

Aloe Vera spritz

Add the Aloe Vera Gel, water and essential oil to the spray bottle and shake. Spray onto your hair as and when it feels a little dry. Each batch lasts 48 hours. Feel free to use it as much as you wish within this time.

I find this spritz is really good for spraying on clumped hair to help the clumps stay together and set, if you know what I mean. It can feel a little crunchy when it dries but I just squeeze out the crunch out and I find the crunch goes quite easily in comparison to some hair gels I’ve tried in the past.

I use a more diluted version for 2nd day hair and I’m getting quite good results. Good and easy to achieve 2nd day hair is a major goal in my life at the mo - I need to get out more LOL

Thanks, could you also give us the recipe for your Homemade Sea Salt Spray.  I have lost mostof the day browsing the net looking at hair sites - maybe I’m getting back in the zone!!

mama mags - 19 April 2010 04:11 PM

Thanks, could you also give us the recipe for your Homemade Sea Salt Spray.  I have lost mostof the day browsing the net looking at hair sites - maybe I’m getting back in the zone!!

No probs - I use 2 teaspoons of Maldon Sea Salt (from Tesco) stirred into 100mls of water and then poured into a spray bottle. I don’t add anything else, although I have heard you can add a few drops of Jojoba oil. I’ve been using the spray for a number of weeks and haven’t found it drying, but I think that’s because I use a leave-in conditioner and then the AVG on top of the salt spray - the moisture in them should counteract any tendency to drying.

PS I have scared myself lately with how much time I can lose to researching haircare and browsing hair sites!!

CloClo - 18 April 2010 04:57 PM

Your hair is gorgeous!!

I can’t believe I hadn’t found and read this thread!!

I find scrunching is the best way to get my waves going; raking (with careful blow drying) does get me straight hair without GHDs now so useful to know for (the very rare) occasions when I feel like straight hair.

I do find I have to use a leave in (but only GFR&S has worked for me so far), I follow this with a light gel, plop, then add curl creme and a harder gel..this seems to pull my hair into spirals.

I also get good results with FSG, although am still experimenting with that (and hoping that is not the cause of what is a very nasty case of spots on my neck).

Pineappling also helps my hair overnight, when I remember…but I use either a pop sock or a cut up pair of tights (whatever I had happened to ladder most recently really).

Thank you very much. I’m very insecure about my hair, so it took me a lot of dithering to feel brave enough to post pictures on this website. The positive response I’m receiving is really encouraging. Everyone on my Uni course has poker straight, blonde hair and they’d never think my natural hair was ‘trendy’ enough for them, so I’ve been getting a few odd looks since I started wearing my hair wavy. Hearing positive things here on BC has really cheered me up :D

The pop socks tips is a great one - thanks for that!

I must give FSG a go. It sounds like it takes some concentration and free time to get it right, so I’ll wait till after my finals before I try it. It’ll be a treat to look forward to LOL.

I find witch-hazel with some neem or tea tree oil very good for spots (5 drops essential oil in 100ml witch-hazel). I also spray it on my scalp when it feels itchy. I have thick hair so my scalp tends to play up in the summer.

I have two more styling tips for type 2 hair that have worked for me this week.

I’ve managed much tidier and frizz-free 2nd day hair by putting my hair in a pineapple overnight, then, in the morning, I section it into top, middle and bottom layers and spray each layer with water to dampen it, then a couple of squirts of salt spray followed by a couple of squirts of AVG spray. After spraying I squeeze the hair into clumps and distribute the product by pulling large sections of the hair through loosely closed fists. I plop for the length of time it takes to get dressed and then I dry my damp hair with the diffuser held horizontally up against the clumps of waves. When my hair’s dry, I section it into layers again and squeeze the crunch out with very small amounts of pomade.

Basically, it’s a modified version of the routine I use when I’ve had a shower. Squeezing seems to work much better for my hair, it keeps the waves intact, encourages nice thick clumps of waves, and lessens volume and frizz - which are the two things I hate on my hair. I’ve attached a photo to show how it worked out.

2nd day hair has been rare for me, up until now, and if this technique gives me stress-free mornings I will be very happy. Although, I will have to accept that, excepting weekends, I will always have 2nd day hair because I hate getting up early to wash my hair

The second thing I’ve tried that worked was born of desperation (not to be dramatic or anything lol). I had put too much pomade on my hair, once again thanks to being sleepy in the mornings, and about 2 hours after leaving the house my hair had that producty look that I don’t like. So, I took some tissue paper and wiped it down the outside of my hair, it took some of the extra pomade off and made my hair look much more natural. It didn’t disturb the set of the waves or make my hair frizz, so I’m really chuffed with that. It gives me an extra option for those days when I get my styling a bit wrong. I’ve attached two pics to give you an idea of how the hair looked after wiping it.

I wonder if you needed moisture in your hair could you run a Kleenex Balsam tissue along the hair to give it some moisture? I might try that on day when I’m not going out, so that if it doesn’t work then I can fix the consequences :D

Sounds a great way of getting second day hair, but at the moment I simply don’t have the time. Will maybe have to try something similar once I’m on study leave (3 weeks to go!! lol)

Normally I get quite decent ‘second day’ hair (I wash at night anyway, so first day has already been slept on, second day slept on twice). On days where it needs something I normally spray with a curl refreshed spray by Umberto Giannini. It is CG, but full of drying alcohols so curlies tend to avoid it…but my hair doesn’t seem too dried out with using it (its not worth buying the big bottle though, as the travel sized lasts ages and I can carry it around with me).

CloClo - 23 April 2010 04:23 PM

Sounds a great way of getting second day hair, but at the moment I simply don’t have the time. Will maybe have to try something similar once I’m on study leave (3 weeks to go!! lol)

Normally I get quite decent ‘second day’ hair (I wash at night anyway, so first day has already been slept on, second day slept on twice). On days where it needs something I normally spray with a curl refreshed spray by Umberto Giannini. It is CG, but full of drying alcohols so curlies tend to avoid it…but my hair doesn’t seem too dried out with using it (its not worth buying the big bottle though, as the travel sized lasts ages and I can carry it around with me).

I know what you mean, my technique does sound a bit of a faff when I write it down, but I’ve managed to get it down to 15-20 mins now (including getting dressed) so I think that’s okay for me - it means I can persuade myself to wake up 20 mins earlier lol. I am dreadful in the mornings, I lie on in bed until the very last minute.

I’m like you, I wash my hair in the evenings, I do it because it means I can sleep longer in the mornings

Thanks for tip on curl refresher spray :D

I really like the idea of the salt spray, does it give more bulk to your hair? Mine likes being a bit icky if that makes sense and it might help it not be over conditioned again [tsk]

I have some product and styling tips for my fellow type 2 curlies

First product that I’ve been trying lately is Aubrey Organics Mandarin Moisturising Jelly - I’ve been using it instead of leave-in conditioner and my hair feels soft, is less frizzy, and seems to hold waves better. Curl creams and leave-in conditioners seem to be too heavy for my hair which seems to prefer things at the consistency of gel or liquid. I use a couple of blobs of the Jelly and then use a couple of blobs of Aubrey Organics B5 Design Gel (which is a conditioner and a styling gel in one product, and something else I’m recommending). I find that I get good results - I’m very happy with it. It leaves little or no residue and helps to keep my hair moisturised all day.

I’m also recommending wearing a Pretty Wrap for sleeping. Even if I use a scrunchy to pineapple my hair overnight I can’t get good second day hair. My canopy doesn’t seem to like being pineappled and it goes straight and frizzy; no matter what I do the next day I can’t rescue it. I tried using a Pretty Wrap silk scarf/bonnet combo for the last few nights and it’s really made a difference. I pile my hair on top of my head and put on the Pretty Wrap, when I wake in the morning all I have to do is sprays warm water on my hair and let it air dry. This is a first for me, I’ve never managed what I consider acceptable second-day hair before, I’ve never got tidy waves or acceptable frizz-levels. I’m going to experiment with wearing the Pretty Wrap without SOTC my hair before putting it on and seeing what my hair looks like in the morning. It’s very comfy to wear and my head doesn’t overheat either - I’m glad I bought it. Admittedly I can’t wear it as stylishly as the lady in the pictures on the company’s website, but it looks better than my pineappled hair, and so far my husband hasn’t run giggling from the room lol.

I’m recommending muslin cloths for blotting wet hair and plopping - I bought some muslin nappies on eBay and I’ve been using them instead of microfibre towels lately, I notice my hair is much less frizzy.

My final recommendation is a strange one - I’m recommending Yes Organic Lube for hair I have been reading a lot of curly hair blogs and message boards this week and saw mention of people using KY Jelly for Type 2 hair. I had a couple of wee sample bottles of Yes lube that had passed their use-by date, so I decided to try them on my second day hair today to see if they did anything. I think they defined my hair and moisturised it well. In my longest layer the lube seemed to encourage the start of corkscrewing - which is rare for my hair.

Of course when my fellow curlies look at the ingredients list they’ll see why this lube is good for curly hair LOL

Water-based lube:
Aqua (water), Aloe barbadensis (Aloe vera)*, Cyamopsis tetragonolobus (Guar Gum)*, Ceratonia siliqua (Locust Bean Gum)*, Linum usitatissimum (Flax extract)*, Phenoxyethanol, Potassium sorbate, Xanthan Gum, Citric acid. 

Oil-based lube:
Prunus dulcis (Sweet almond) oil*, Butyrospermum parkii (Shea butter)*, Helianthus annuus (Sunflower) seed oil*, Theobroma cacao (Cocoa) seed butter*, Cera alba (Bees wax)*, Natural Tocopherols (Vitamin E).

I haven’t tried the oil-based sample bottle on my hair as my hair doesn’t seem to like oils very much - it just about tolerates a little jojoba or Anita Grant pomade for SOTC . The only drawback to my wee discovery is that Yes lube is expensive so I doubt even I, product junky that I can be, will be buying it for my hair on a regular basis :( I think that I’ll just have a go at making some homemade FSG with AVG and I can use the wee sample bottles for carrying a supply of my homemade gel around in my handbag - must remember not to let anyone look through my bag

Just to give you an idea about the products I’ve mentioned, I’m attaching some piccies of the best second day hair I’ve managed since I started CG in March - it was styled with AO Mandarin Jelly and B5 Design Gel yesterday, I slept with Pretty Wrap on, sprayed some warm water in it this morning, and then put some Yes water-based lube in it when the hair had dried, just as a pick me up and an experiment.

Styling my hair is still a work in progress for me, and tidy second day hair is my holy grail, but I’m feeling happier about my hair this week than I have been in a while.

Your hair is looking good!  Thanks for all the tips!

Hiya

I agree your hair looks great

Particularly liked the great recommendations, very detailed.

Been feeling rather flat about my hair of late, you’ve rejuvinated me!

curlyhairmich - 23 June 2010 03:56 PM

Your hair is looking good!  Thanks for all the tips!

You’re welcome

Hi, could I ask you about the Pretty Wrap please? Is it something you buy (if so where from) or can you do it with any scarf? I’m also trying to find ways of keeping my hair overnight. Thanks!