So, am I going about this the right way?

[ladycaladium]

Thanks anniemae. Living in Jersey feels like living in the land of blowouts, bleaching, streaking and funky cuts. No one seemed to know what I was talking about when I mentioned I started using coconut oil. One of my friends was like "but you don't tan". Since you're instate, any ideas on where to pick up some hair toys? I'm getting tempted looking at them online.
__________________

[anniemae]

Thanks anniemae. Living in Jersey feels like living in the land of blowouts, bleaching, streaking and funky cuts. No one seemed to know what I was talking about when I mentioned I started using coconut oil. One of my friends was like "but you don't tan". Since you're instate, any ideas on where to pick up some hair toys? I'm getting tempted looking at them online.
__________________

Hello!!

I know what you mean. I don't reallly talk about my hair to any of my friends. They all have really straight hair, and they'd probably think I was insane and hair-obsessed (which I am ).

I think you are on the right track. I use just plain old Suave Tropical Coconut conditioner (it's cheap and it makes my hair smooth). I also really like Garnier Fructis Triple Nutrition Conditioner - really creamy. I low-poo and wash every day - I know it's a bad habit). Do you want to shampoo/low-poo/ or just condition-wash?) Some low-poos I like are DevaCurl Low-Poo or Nature's Gate Mandarin Orange. I like a lot of the DevaCurl products. I'm also in love with Garnier Fructis Wonder Waves Spray - this helps to give beachy-waves and enhance curls.

I have a list of the products I use in my profile ("about me" section).

Are you trying to stop using heat all together? Are you trying to go wavy/curly? How do you currently dry your hair - air-dry/diffuse/scrunch/blow-dry/flat-iron/other?

I'm not sure where you live. There is a Harmon's in Somerset County that has lots of hair products (in the Somerville Circle). Also, near the Rockaway Mall there is a Sally's Beauty Supply (also online at http://www.sallybeauty.com/ ). There is also an Ulta near the Rockaway Mall and in Watchung (I've never been there, but I've heard it's good).

A lot of health food stores carry the organic brands (Burt's Bees, Aubrey Organics). Oh, and King's supermarkets sell some good brands, too (in the natural food section). Trader Joe's is another good store (Millburn and Florham Park).

I've always blow-dried and flat-ironed my hair for years. But, currently, for the summer at least, I'm trying to let it go more curly by not using heat products. I am trying to experiment with different methods - air-drying, diffusing, scrunching. But, with the Jersey humidity, it's hard. Ugh....

Good luck.

[ladycaladium]

I'm in the process of using up the last of the Aveda shampoo that I have, washing once, sometimes twice a week, depending on what I've been doing. I started putting conditioner on the ends first, then shampooing, then conditioning. I do rinse my hair real well a few days a week (just water) as well since I don't like the sweaty feeling (no ac at my house) and since I swim around three days a week. I also put coconut oil in my hair two to three times a week, mainly on the ends.

I'm up over in Bergen. I know we have Harmon, so I'll check them out. I think there is a Sally nearby as well. Oh, and they just opened an Ulta a few towns over.

I've never been much of a heat user. I own a hairdryer and two different straighteners but they sit gathering dusk. The few times I've tried to straighten or my friends have done it for me, within an hour I'm all frizzy again. I also never really have time since I sleep in!

My hair goes wavy/curly all on it's own and I've decided it looks fuller and better this way. The pic in my signature doesn't show it well, since I had put my hair up in a cinnamon bun damp that morning. It kind of dried funny.

Good luck dealing with the humidity (I hate muggy-ness) and the lack of heat styling. I find that the more humidity/moisture is in the air, the curlier my hair gets.

[anniemae]

I'm in the process of using up the last of the Aveda shampoo that I have, washing once, sometimes twice a week, depending on what I've been doing. I started putting conditioner on the ends first, then shampooing, then conditioning. I do rinse my hair real well a few days a week (just water) as well since I don't like the sweaty feeling (no ac at my house) and since I swim around three days a week. I also put coconut oil in my hair two to three times a week, mainly on the ends.

I'm up over in Bergen. I know we have Harmon, so I'll check them out. I think there is a Sally nearby as well. Oh, and they just opened an Ulta a few towns over.

I've never been much of a heat user. I own a hairdryer and two different straighteners but they sit gathering dusk. The few times I've tried to straighten or my friends have done it for me, within an hour I'm all frizzy again. I also never really have time since I sleep in!

My hair goes wavy/curly all on it's own and I've decided it looks fuller and better this way. The pic in my signature doesn't show it well, since I had put my hair up in a cinnamon bun damp that morning. It kind of dried funny.

Good luck dealing with the humidity (I hate muggy-ness) and the lack of heat styling. I find that the more humidity/moisture is in the air, the curlier my hair gets.

Hi ladycaladium,

Your hair is very pretty, and has a great wave pattern. It's great that you don't use heat on your hair. It's a really bad habit for me. It will be interesting to see how long my hair takes to dry in the winter months without heat. I usually use some form of heat in the winter (either blow-drying or diffusing). During the warm weather, mine air-dries pretty fast - about 1 hour - 1 1/4 hours. Does yours take long to dry?

I agree with you - my hair gets much curlier and frizzier with humidity. I find that the light-weight gels and de-frizz sprays seem to help me with that.

Btw, I live in Somerset County - Bedminster/Chester area.

[ladycaladium]

Hey Anniemae,

I'm right by Paramus, land of the malls...actually I think it means wild turkey or something like that, but with the number of malls it has...

I've never really timed how long it takes for my hair to dry. I'll put that on my to-do list. I made it to Ulta up here but wasn't too impressed. They seemed to be out of a lot of stuff in their hair accessory department, except for clip in hair. Perhaps I caught them right before a shipment? I was at Nordstrom the other day and they had ficcares there so I picked one up.

When I lived in upstate NY it could get quite chilly in the winter. I either washed my hair at night so it would be dry by morning or I would bun it up and wear a nice wool hat.

When I was in Wales it was frizz city for me. I used to run my hands through my hair after putting on moisturizer to try and keep some of the frizz down. Whatever residue was left on my hands would coat my hair. I don't know how good that actually was for my hair. It did seem to work a bit though.

[mizk5110]

I used to run my hands through my hair after putting on moisturizer to try and keep some of the frizz down. Whatever residue was left on my hands would coat my hair. I don't know how good that actually was for my hair. It did seem to work a bit though.

If you poke around a bit more, you will find that a lot of us do this!! Aslong as your hair likes it, go for it! I work in a hospital so my hands get really dried out from washing all the time (especially in the winter), so I make a balm with beeswax and a couple oils, If I'm having a bad frizz day, I'll run my hands through my hair after using it.

[ladycaladium]

Excellent, I'm not the only one. My housemates all thought it was weird when I did this. Of course every couple of weeks I mashed up an avocado and put it in my hair since I felt the chlorine might be drying my hair out. This may have contributed to them thinking I was "weird" about my hair. Despite the dyeing, I think I cared for my hair better over there. When I returned to the US I fell back into my old hair and nutrition habits and also chopped my hair real short a few times since I started to become frustrated with the way it looked.

I'm working on poking around, there's just so much to go through! I don't think I could ever read it all. Reading some of the treads did turn me on to coconut oil though, which I absolutely love.

As I am wearing my hair up, I am trying to use "hair friendly" things to hold it up. I have metal-free elastics, bobby pins, plastic combs from the drugstore, a hair stick, assorted shiny kiosk buys and a ficcare I picked up the other day. I don't use the bobby pins much and am trying to avoid the kiosk items since they seem to be a bit rough and I don't want to snag my hair. I was considering buying a fork and found one that I like. The working length is 3.5". Looking at my sig picture is that too long, too short, or okay?