Curly Girl questions

Ooooo that's good going,

This link should provide you with a good list of products, plus don't forget the mousse u used will need removing before you officially start CG so try one of the shampoos on the sulfate list ( always handy to have one in anyway as there are going to be occasions when you need to use a non CG product)

http://www.britishcurlies.co.uk/curl_forum/viewthread/215/

Hope this helps x

I don't use CG, but I have to say I'm really jealous of your natural curl!

Thankyou ladies!

Babe(!), I used a mousse I managed to find in the pharmacy down town (I live in the ar$e end of nowhere) and it's not on the list.  I don't suppose you know what it is in styling products that's a no-no for the CG regime?  There doesn't seem to be anything coney in it, I wondered if some of the alcohols are the drying variety -- I'd post the ingredients but I'm already 2 ciders to the better and can't find my glasses so... nah 😛  I am super duper skint at the moment but will be in Birmingham tomorrow, I may just pick some of the Boots cheapo gel and curl cream and give them a go -- next to nothing ventured, nothing gained.

And Intempestivity, I can honestly say that I had no idea there was so much potential curl in there!  I always thought I just had difficult hair which was neither straight nor wavy nor curly, just unkempt, frizzy and kinky, curling under at one side, out at the other and generally ugh unless I straightened the bejesus out of it.  It's far from perfect but it's given me enough impetus to try and embrace the curl.

I'm also really happy with the colour now, my top layers which are most damaged had shed my red dye quite a lot and I looked two toned; with the wave and more of the true red peeking out from the underside, I'd like to think it almost looks as though it was meant to be that way(!).

No CG tips from me either, I'm afraid; just had to say that your hair is *stunning*. If mine looks anything close to yours when I get it red I'll be one happy bunny

I would avoid the boots pink curl creme as I found it heavy and useless, I have a full tub of it here, honestly I always used to use mousse as it gave my curls lift and structure but I was in the same 'unsure' boat so opted for the fructis camouflage gel (£1 at asda) but it is a very firm hold gel and does go crispy if I use too much, I find with the gels the trick is to apply to my hair upside down as soon as I get out the bath..... However your curls look waaaaaaay better than mine so my input seems a bit useless lol! I'v been doing CG since feb and the biggest changes I noticed are.... Growth ( my hair is growing at a mad rate) ........ Moisture ( my hair is not dry, frizzy and untameable ) .....memory ( every time I co wash, my hair remembers how curly it was before it got wet and adds to it slightly)..... Money ( CG is the cheapest thing I'v ever done with my hair, I spend no more than £5 a month on products, tesco coconut conditioner+ fructis sleek and shine conditioner + fructis camouflage gel)

I would say it is more than likely the alcohol that would have a drying effect on the hair in the mousse but my CG gel has alcohol in it I think so I'm stumped, maybe have a look on the ingredients of a CG friendly mousse and  check against some others? Sorry I'm not much help on that front

Babe, you have been fantastically helpful! I went shopping today but with five children in tow, avid product label reading was out of the question. I plumped for superdrug naturals raspberry and macadamia condish and superdrug's own gel as I knew they were both on 'the list'. 99p each and I used a pound off my beauty card so 98p spent; a win for frugality!

I'll continue to do my moussey research and if I turn anything up I'll be sure to let you know.

And thankyou Lucia! My fiancé saw it for the first time today, he was amazed. He claims it makes me look younger but as he's already 14 years older than me, he's worried he'll look like a cradle snatcher! I must have looked rough as before!

EDIT: Another couple of quick questions;
How much gel? I realise that's probably a bit of a "how long is a piece of string" query and clearly, I have a lot less length than a lot of CGs. I would probably mousse with a tennis ball sized amount, but gel is uncharted territory. Is there a way to tell when there's 'enough' in my hair?

And, how often do you CO wash? I washed Friday night, took the pic below on Sat morning and didn't wash today either. Considering I've slept on it twice, I think it's getting curlier rather than dropping. Asking from noseyness and nothing else!

My hair is just longer than shoulder length and stupidly thick and I use a blob about the diameter of a 10p piece and about the depth of a 5ml medicine spoon, sooooo I would guess try not quite the size of the 2.5ml side of a medicine spoon. I squeeze it into my left hand, put tube down, smear some over onto my right hand and very lightly run it over / through my hair if it's dry and I'm touching up any wind frizz, if my hair is wet I'm a little more heavy handed and tip my head upside down and scrunch it up with the gel on my hands, I don't think gel is the best product but I just got lost trying to find a mousse,

I only wash my hair ( shame) once a week as it just doesnt get greasy any more. When I used to use shampoo I would get 2 days (3 max).

That really is a rather diddy amount of gel, I was expecting to have to use FAR more. I dampened down my hair this morning as it had frizzed a wee bit and thought I'd scrunch in a tiny amount of the Superdrug gel while it was damp -- it was SO sticky, my hair stuck all over my hands and I could feel it pulling :S It dried ok and feels fine now but I'm not overly impressed for my first attempt.

Having looked and looked, there doesn't seem to be anything in the banned list in the Pantene mousse I mentioned below. There is centrimonium chloride but that seems to be ok as long as there's no amodimethicone in there too. As far as I can tell, I haven't used anything coney since my last sls wash so I am going to give CO washing a try tonight.

Once a week sounds brill, not to mention liberating! Thanks again for holding my hand as I take a leap of faith 🙂 x

I would avoid the boots pink curl creme as I found it heavy and useless, I have a full tub of it here

Oh god, why can't I find it anymore!!! I always used to use it as gel and mousse hate my hair and make it all dry. It seems to have totally disappeared in London 🙁

I would avoid the boots pink curl creme as I found it heavy and useless, I have a full tub of it here

Oh god, why can't I find it anymore!!! I always used to use it as gel and mousse hate my hair and make it all dry. It seems to have totally disappeared in London 🙁

Sorry I couldn't quite grasp whether you like it or not?! Have you tried boots online? If you were saying you like it and can't get it I'm happy to send mine to you for postage cost?

Yeah, I like it! I'll have a look online and see. I thought it had been withdrawn totally in the end, because once they ran out when they had an issue with quality of one batch. I found it a little while after, but then moved to London and couldn't find it again.

Mousse and gel just don't hold in my hair and I just end up with dandruff, itchy scalp (even though I keep it off my scalp) and dry hair. It's pants lol

ETA, yes, they have it!! I can't believe I didn't think of looking on Boots online. I order there a lot because the amount a London bus or train costs to get to the nearest decent one is about the same or more than the postage.

Your hair looks gorgeous curly ,love it !! Also love the colour what shade is it?,I want to try a similar colour soon. 😀
I have curly/wavy hair too and its pretty blah at the moment,more kinky and wavy.It was lovely and curly when I was younger.I need to take the curly girl plunge myself,and give my poor hair some TLC.
Thanks for the link too curly girl forum babe H gonna have a good old read now and off to shops tomorrow to buy CG supplies  *cheers*

Bless you Moonfairy, thankyou! The dye is a mix of Crazy Colors; about 50/50 fire and vermillion red. It fades SUPER fast in my hair though, mainly down to my hairdresser having over bleached my top, shorter layers. The colour there faded back to mid-ginger within 2 washes. I quite like the mix of darker red underneath and the orange on the top but reactions have been mixed :/ I was made to feel so uncomfortable at the last board meeting (I'm a retail manager) I think I'm going to have to go back to black. No great shakes, I like my hair black and the redyeing of the red every week was doing my swede in but nonetheless, I want to jump back into dark hair when I'm ready, not be pushed! Y'know?!

In less whingey news(!) my first CO wash was ace! I'd read various techniques but in the end I just soaked my hair, squeezed a small blob of condish into my hand, added roughly the same amount of water to liquefy then rubbed that onto a section of my scalp until it felt slightly lathery. I probably did my head in 5 sections and as my hair is so short, I then rubbed the leftover lather into my lengths. Quick rinse and my hair felt clean and soft.

Boots cheapo gel is SO much nicer than Superdrug's! No stickiness, I like it.