Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Products I Love

Curly Nikki just posted about her Holy Grail products, and that prompted me to disclose mine here. What's interesting is how few I really have. I've been CG for more than two years now and this list -- a finely honed assortment that doesn't reveal any inkling of how many products I went through to find them -- is all I've got. Maybe some of yours are on this list, too?

Shampoo(s): never touch the stuff (well, okay, sometimes I reach for Jessicurl's Hair Cleansing Cream, but normally I just scrub with a palmful of Suave Naturals Coconut Conditioner)

Conditioner(s): I'm on my last bottle of Activate Hydrating Conditioner (pictured here among some companion products as a kind of memorial), which has yet to be replaced by anything else as my No. 1 favorite. The company no longer makes the stuff (or maybe the company is out of business; I don't know) and I will have to turn instead to any of these very nice conditioners: Mop Top Daily Conditioner, Aloeba, Aubrey Organics Island Naturals as well as GPB Conditioner, Karen's Body Beautiful Hair Nectar and the old version of EO's Rose and Chamomile (of which I have only two more bottles left).

Leave-in/Styler (s):I always use my regular conditioners as leave-ins and you already know what those are, so I'll just list stylers: Kinky-Curly Curling Custard is my absolute Holy Grail product, and yet I cannot use it by itself. In rainy weather, I mix it with Biosilk Rock Hard Gelee and for nice, normal dew points (35 to 55), I mix the KCCC with Max Green Alchemy Sculpting Gel. Sometimes Aubrey's B5 Design Gel alone or mixed with Mandarin Magic is nice. I've also been discovering Joico JoiWhip mousse lately -- it's not consistently great but when it's good, it's very very good.

Deep Conditioner (s): Several months ago, I decided that these are just silly. For me, anyway. My hair (3a, fine) doesn't need deep conditioning as much as it needs protein, so I combine the two in my daily conditioners and my hair is much happier.

4 comments:

Elena said...

Cool post! I like seeing what the go-to's seem to be for everyone. They seem so very different.

Shampoo: Aloe Rid/GVP version--every two weeks pre-DT, only because of hard water issues.

Conditioner: V05 silk effects for co-wash; they give my fine hair its protein boost. Aquelle Restore, BioInfusion Conditioning Balm, and GVP version of Biolage Hydrating conditioning balm are my regulars for detangling and moisturizing.

DT: Nexxus Emergencee every two weeks. If hair is dry, let some bioinfusion sit on it for an hour or so.

Stylers: not sure it's HG status yet, but the one thing I consistently re-buy is HETT mousse. It's not perfect, but it's the one my hair likes the best out of all the things I've tried in my 1 year of being CG (and that's been enough to exhaust me on experimentation!).

Erin said...

I just started a blog about my day to day adventures with the curly girl no shampoo method. Your site has really helped me connect, thanks. :)

shampooless.blogspot.com

Unknown said...

Could you explain what you mean by skipping deep treatments and combining protein with your daily conditioner? Do you add a separate product to your conditioner?

Sage Vivant said...

To a_albertson: Most deep treatments are all about moisture and/or oil. My hair craves moisture but it seems to thrive as much on protein as moisture, so I no longer waste time on deep treatments that concentrate on moisture.

I don't add protein to my daily conditioner -- sorry if I was unclear about that. I choose daily conditioners that contain a good amount of protein so that my hair gets a steady diet of it. Now and then I might do a protein treatment by using Nexxus Emergencee, which is a enormous jolt of protein.

Feel free to write me at sagevivant@yahoo.com if you have additional questions!