Weird Product Wednesday: SilkShake

What comes in a poorly designed bottle, smells like cake batter, and might make your curly hair look better? Blended Beauty's SilkShake.

I confess that I bought this product solely because somebody at NaturallyCurly.com said it smelled like cake batter. I think I had just started my diet and probably figured that if I couldn't eat cake, I'd be just as happy to wear the aroma on my head.

And it really does smell like she promised. Imagine vanilla cake batter with some cinnamon and nutmeg. Quite yummy.

But then comes the application process. Quite annoying.

This is one of those products that separates a little when stored, so shaking it is absolutely necessary before use. Okay, I can handle that. But it's also rather thick, which means you have to shake it a lot and with gusto.

Now, I ask you: does it make any sense to put thick product in a spray bottle? No, of course it doesn't. When SilkShake emerges from the bottle, it all speeds to one point on your head. So unless you like the Something-About-Mary look, you should avoid the spray nozzle on this product. In keeping with our cake batter theme, I will demonstrate the effect like so:



In the above image, the cake batter is your hair and the thin stream of liquid would be SilkShake. I don't know you, but I know you would not enjoy this particular application process.

Usage tip: Take the nozzle off and pour the product into your palm. Or, alternatively, spray a bunch of it into your palm. From there, emulsify it a little in your hands and then rake or scrunch it into your hair. I've only used it on dry hair and I will say that it gave me immediate moisture, rejuvenated curls, and an unrelenting desire for baked goods.

I don't know what the Blended Beauty people were thinking when they decided a spray bottle was the best way to dispense SilkShake, but I think they might want to reconsider. Meanwhile, sidestep their faulty wisdom and apply this Canadian creation by alternative means. It's decent stuff, just packaged badly.

Anybody ever use this on wet hair? I'm curious, but not curious enough to give up a day of good hair if it fails. Plus, do I want to smell like cake batter all day? No, really -- I'm asking. Do I?

Weird Product Wednesday

I'm going to start a new feature on this blog called "Weird Product Wednesdays." I made this decision earlier today when I got the idea to blog about all the strange products that exist for curly hair. And when I realized that I could also take advantage of some excellent alliteration by doing such reviews on a Wednesday, that clinched it.

So today, ladies and gentlemen, we will be talking about Kinky-Curly Curling Custard, which is its own alliterative marvel. With the aroma of coconut and the consistency of snot, this stuff seems to flummox even the most experienced of curl mavens.

First, the enormous jar. You don't know whether to think, "Wow, what a deal! I'm set for life!" or "I guess I'm supposed to use a lot of this every time I apply it." Imagine your surprise when you learn that neither is true.

(Well, I fib here. For 3a hair like mine, not much is needed. But from what I understand, type 4 hair requires gobs of it.)

The jar costs about $25 and you will probably have to get it online either at Kinky-Curly's site or CurlMart. (Some hair boutique and beauty supply stores carry it, but odds are, you don't live near one of them.) This seems a little pricey, but when I look at the range of products already in my bathroom, I see that this product is pretty standard, price-wise.

Next, we have the aesthetic appeal of the product itself. Yuck. It is just simply gross. If you've got little boys under the age of 12 in your house, keep it away from them or it will end up as fodder for a good old fashioned slime party.

But the aroma goes a long way toward offsetting the visual impact. It smells like a cool coconut drink or a yummy coconut dessert. So, you really don't mind dipping your fingers into its gloppiness.

Once you dip into the jar, you realize you have no clue how much to use because the consistency of Curling Custard is unlike anything you've ever used before. Mysteryflavored at naturallycurly.com did a nice little video showing how much she uses and how she applies it, but prior to that, most of us were really struggling with exactly what to do with this concoction. Big thanks to mysteryflavored (who is adorable and has good hair even without product).

Another bizarre feature (some might even call it a problem) of this product is that it can be awkward to distribute. And so, you might need to call upon your Denman brush to accomplish the task. I tried this once and it worked okay -- some people swear by the brush method so I would be remiss if I did not mention it here.

To add insult to injury -- or oddity to strangeness, in this case -- your hair will kind of suck this stuff up, which is why the company strongly recommends that you use a healthy dose of its leave-in, Knot Today. The idea here is that if you can get your hair reasonably saturated with emollients and moisture before the Curling Custard goes on, you hair won't absorb as much of it. And believe me, you want to avoid too much absorption. Why? Because your hair will take forever to dry otherwise. (But you definitely can use any leave-in of your choice. Using Knot Today is not a requirement. In fact, today I used EO Rose and Chamomille Conditioner and it worked like a dream.)

Kinky-Curly Curling Custard (KCCC) goes on gooey and wants to keep your hair very hydrated for many hours afterwards. Mostly, that's what curly hair craves, but your challenge in this case is to control how much hydration actually happens. Left unchecked, KCCC will stay "wet" for hours.

Tips:

* Apply to hair that's less wet than you'd normally want to apply products to. This tactic will help minimize the amount of water that gets locked into your hair via KCCC's moisturizing qualities.
* Use a little more leave-in or conditioner than you normally would. You want a slicker surface on which to apply KCCC.
* Use the towel of your choice to absorb water from your hair after you apply KCCC (and gel, if you've opted to use it)
* If you're prone to frizz, you might want to apply gel after KCCC and before you dry your hair.

My verdict: Once you figure out how to use this product, it is likely to give you gorgeous hair. Patience is key -- you will undoubtedly experience some really god-awful hair days as you experiment. Or maybe you'll get lucky and get it right the first time. My advice is to keep trying, though. I took me probably 7 or 8 tries to get today's fantabulous results!

(A related fun curly tale: After months of sporadically trying to get KCCC to work for me, today I finally had success! My hair looked wonderful today -- and I couldn't get a decent photo of it! And at lunchtime, a woman who works on another floor got into the elevator with me, complimented my hair, and we proceeded to talk about curly hair for the next five minutes. Hers is curly, too, and although pretty, would very obviously be curlier and healthier with the right products and care. So, I have KCCC for not only giving me a good hair day but also for being a catalyst in hooking me up with a fellow curly, who I think will become a friend! Yay, curls!)

Added on April 20, 2009:
I have discovered that absorbing some water *before* applying KCCC yields even better results than applying it to wet hair. Add your leave-in as described above, and then mop up excess moisture (but not too much -- you do want your hair wet, just not really wet). You can plop or squeeze or whatever you like to do.

I have also found that mixing KCCC with a little gel is terrific! For strong hold, I use a bit of BRHG. For lesser but still good hold, I use Max Green Alchemy Styling gel.

Super secret hair drying tips

If you follow the CG (Curly Girl) routine, as I do, you know these facts about drying your hair:

1. Don't use a blow-dryer without a diffuser
2. Avoid terrycloth towels -- they rough up the cuticle
3. Air-drying is kinder to your hair than blow-drying


Maybe you know some other stuff, too, but that's basically what you learn from the Curly Girl book. Well, shazaaam! I have stumbled upon a few other interesting tidbits, but they come to me via that old nasty teacher named Experience. Some of these may not work for you, but they worked for me and what the heck, I can't be that different from you, can I?

INVALUABLE TIP NO. 1
Give your hair a few minutes to relocate its curl after you apply leave-in and/or curl creme.

Lots of people apply styling products to soaking wet hair, but that doesn't work as well for me as applying them to hair that has had a lot of the water scrunched out first. My hair is more porous than most, I think, so if I let it drink drink drink, it expands and pays me for my trouble with frizzies. So, what I've been doing for the past few months is squeezing out as much water as I can, then raking through my curl creme (I use either Loma Imply or Pink Boots but that doesn't mean you have to), scrunching again, and then waiting a couple of minutes. My curls get a chance to assert themselves better when I do this, which is what you want before applying gel because gel will tend to set your hair in whatever curl formation its in when it meets the gel.

So, wait for some curl to set it, then scrunch in your gel (or use your Denman brush to distribute it if your curl pattern can take it). This tip is likely more applicable to those of us with 3a curls, by the way.

INVALUABLE TIP NO. 2
When you squeeze "families" of curls in the towel of your choice (I use a Curl-Ease), concentrate as much on the scalp as the hair.

For about a year, I wasn't doing this. And I kept wondering why my hair tended to be flat on top, had more frizz, and took forever to dry. I'm a slow learner, what can I tell you?

When you squeeze fistfuls of hair into your curl-friendly towel, press your towel-covered hand against your scalp to make sure that the towel is absorbing moisture from there, too. Hold your hand at each place on your head for a good 10 seconds -- really let the towel suck up that water.

My hair takes half as long to dry now as it used to. And it isn't trying to take in more water than it needs. Score!

INVALUABLE TIP NO. 3
Shorten the air-drying phase of your routine by lengthening the blow-drying phase.

Yes, yes, I know this is contradictory to what you think you know about using a blow-dryer. And obviously, this trick won't work for everyone -- everybody's hair is different. But I used to slavishly follow the advice in the Jessicurl videos, which says blow-dry to 80 percent dry. Well, I think I was afraid of overdrying so I probably stopped at 70 percent most of the time. And then I'd wait about 2 to 3 hours for my hair to finish drying. Who's got that kind of time?

I now blow-dry to 90 percent dry. And in about an hour, my hair is completely ready for crunch out.

INVALUABLE TIP NO. 4
Using the "cool shot" on your dryer may help stave off frizz.

I am still testing this theory, but so far, I think it might be true. I know that I'm supposed to do a final rinse of my conditioner with cold water, but I am not woman enough to withstand a barrage of cold water in the shower, so I don't do that. I am hoping that the cool shot helps to close the cuticle in much the same way as a cold rinse might. If anybody has thoughts on this, I welcome your comments.

In any event, it does help your hair keep from "cooking" too long. I liken it to blanching green beans -- you boil for 2 minutes and then throw the beans into ice water to stop the cooking. (Hopefully you are not boiling your hair, but I think you get my analogy.)

I hope these tips help you. If you have others, by all means, share them in the comments.

This blog meets curl fame!

The nice curlies over at NaturallyCurly.com have put my blog in their Top Ten Beauty Bloggers list! This is rather shocking to me, as I have been a little lazy about posting lately, but I'm jazzed nonetheless! Thank you, Naturally Curly!

I'm in pretty cool company, too, which makes it all the nicer. You'll find the other nine in my link list at right. Pretty nifty.

Ficcare sale!

Hey, with regard to my previous post, I just learned that Ficcare is giving 15% off everything (except shipping) from November 21 through December 14 if you use the promo code: FALL2008

And if your order is more than $80, shipping is free!

Beyond the bobbie pin

Not every day is a good hair day. So on the days when frizz hits, curls droop, or stringiness invades, it's good to know that you've got fabulous hair accessories.

Today was one of those days for me. I've been experimenting with Karen's Body Beautiful hair products, and although I love the conditioners, the hair cream seems to disagree with my hair. I'm not ready to rule it out of my rotation yet, though, because I probably just need to find the right way to use it. Until I figure the stuff out, though, I suspect I will fall victim to a few more yucko hair days.

I bought several truly striking hair accessories (I would call them clips or barrettes but they are so much more substantial than either of those words implies) from a place called Ficcare. If you haven't been there, check it out. You might at first recoil from the prices but trust me when I say that these accessories are of exceptional quality and they are killer stylish. People will comment on them when you wear them. Trust me.

Anyway, even though you can see how bad my hair looks, doesn't my "Innovation Clip" look stunning? I also have a couple of the Maximus clips, which serve a similar purpose but are curved to allow you to hold a lot of hair if necessary. Brilliant design, really. Here's a photo of one of the Maximus collections so you can see what I mean. These are serious hair accessories, which I love because I've always been pretty unimpressed with the tortoise-shell claw-clip doo-dads in the drug store. We spend time selecting our jewelry and making sure it's just right, why not also give the same attention to our hair accessories?

Give your hair some muscle

Curlies are always trying to get as much moisture into their hair as possible. But sometimes in the frenzied search for oils, emollients, and moisture, we forget that our hair (at least 3a hair like mine) needs protein, too.

About three weeks ago, I noticed the top of my hair was looking a little flat, no matter how I would clip and dry it every day. So, last weekend, I gave myself a three-minute protein jolt with Nexxus Emergencee and BAM! What a difference! It's been a week since that treatment and my hair is still looking healthy and full.

I've also been using cassia obovata since March. At first I was using it once a month. In August, I started using it every three weeks. I still am unconvinced that it's truly doing anything. But I'm too afraid to stop! I had hoped that protein treatments wouldn't be necessary if I used cassia regularly but it looks like I need to abandon that hope. And yet, there's a little voice inside me that wonders if my hair would be even more limp if I discontinued the cassia... I'll keep using it through the end of the year, and then I will stop. We'll see if there are any effects. At least cassia is not expensive. By the way, if you're interested in trying it, you can read about it and buy it here.

But back to the glory that is protein! Don't be fooled by all the homemade treatments that recommend using raw eggs. Egg molecules are too big to penetrate hair, so applying it topically is not going to do much good. Better you should eat the egg than smear it on your head.

Using Nexxus Emergencee could not be easier. I get in the shower, get my hair wet, apply as much Emergencee as I would if I were using regular conditioner and I let it sit on my head for three minutes. I rinse it out thoroughly, and then I do a conditioner-wash. After I rinse that out, I condition my hair as normal. So, really, this routine adds about five minutes to your normal co-wash regimen. And it's totally worth it.

(By the way, the thinner your hair is, the more protein you need. Curlies with thick hair frequently find they need little to none. Why is that? I will explain in my next post!)