Wednesday, June 24, 2015

My Experience With... Suave® Professionals Flexible Control Curl Mousse




I am major-league into my curls, and yes, I do like definition. I think my Mother and I were on a product hunt when we came across this. It looked promising, and it looked like it had a decent hold, so we decided to try it. I'd read recently (I think on naturallycurly.com) that it's useful for curly girls.

Upon first using it, I had no idea what to do with it. Turns out, you shake, hold it upside-down, and pull the trigger. Once I heard what sounded like Cool Whip shooting out, followed by a snap, crackle and pop, I realized that I had encountered mousse before. It was at Bath and Body Works YEARS ago, and it was in some kind of fragrance that I wanted to smell. I saw that it said “mousse,” but I thought it was a term for a fancy lotion. Hey, gimme a break, I'd never used that stuff before! So I squirted some out, and started applying it to my hand/arm... as soon as I saw fizzing, I realized something was not right. I read the package again, and found out that it was indeed for hair. I dismissed it as a straight-haired thing, washed the stuff off my arm, and moved on.

Anyway, I applied it to my hair and... I dunno what happened, exactly. I hadn't even touched the stuff until weeks later. I was kinda desperate, and had my hair wet. I applied it, and... WOAH. It was almost like magic! Unfortunately, about 10 minutes later, that “carriage” turned back into a “pumpkin.” Boy, was my hair dry and stiff! I left it alone again.

I read the ingredients and found there was some kind of alcohol compound in it. I don't necessarily write off alcohols as horrible ingredients, especially since some are really fats or oils. No, for real. I think Cetyl or Cetereal Alcohol is an oil.... weird. In any case, I figured that next time, I would use it as a styling agent, rather than a moisturizing and styling agent.

Weeks later, I tried once again, this time as a styling agent over my favorite lotion. Yes, it still dried out, but my hair still looked touchable! To this day, I still use it as just a styling agent. Here's my formula:
   
Rinse + Gold + Mousse = Fabulous-looking curls!


It works like a charm!

What's your formula to fabulous-looking hair?

My Experience With... Infusium 23 (Old School)

Last time I wrote to you, I wrote about Wen® Hair Care Sweet Almond Mint, and how it pretty much jacked up my tresses.

Sorry, just speaking the truth here. My edges are still in slow-growth mode.

Anyway, my mother and I tried so many things in desperation to revive my hair. Finally, my mother recalled Infusium 23, a product she used in the 80s.




Yes. This exact bottle.

At first I was leery because it LOOKED like it was from 1983. Never judge a book by it's cover. Words cannot express how my hair felt after ONE use!

Because of the damage, I had to get my hair texturized and set STRAIGHT. Don't get me wrong, I do wear my hair straight from time to time for a change of pace, and I don't mind how it looks straight (even though I prefer it curly), but...

I.

HATE.

THE HARSH CHEMICALS.

Plus, I can't stand having it permed straight, because a) when the new growth comes in, it comes in curly, which means b) I gotta perm it back curly, anyway.

I know what some of you are thinking. Suck it up. It's part of being a Black woman. Yeah, well so is a flat iron. And it gives temporary styling results. And it STILL loosens my hair a bit! Also, have you been living under a rock? There are natural alternatives to get similar, if not identical hairstyles.

Anyways, rant aside, Infusium 23 definitely helped with heat protection, and it works great after a good moisturizing conditioner.

The Infusium 23 Bottle is long gone, but one of those old school bottles will last you MONTHS. Just make sure it's not rank or rachet, and you're set to style.


But that's just on my hair. How about you? What type of hair do you have? Have you used Old-School (OS) or New-School (NS) Infusium 23?

My Experience With... Going to a Salon (Natural Hair Journey part 2)

Over 5 years ago, I decided to start a blog when I had a terrible situation regarding Wen hair products. It isn't my first hair horror ...