Re: Calling all who are growing shoulder to APL!
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Wildcat Diva
Tangirl, I also would highly recommend the SMT. PM me or search for the thread if you need more info on that.
I'd think it worth a try at least before resorting to trimming or spending a lot on treatments or whatever. I know my hair was recently feeling very wiry with crunchy/hard ends that were wanting to stick together and tangle badly. I washed it well with clarifying shampoo and conditioner (VO5 Kiwi & Lime) and then did an ACV rinse afterward and it greatly improved the way it feels. I did work small amounts of coconut oil into it as well yesterday to moisture a bit and help tame the frizzies some, and it feels softer than it has in a long while.
I've tried the SMT a few times, with mediocre to poor results. My hair actually felt frizzier/drier afterwards than before. I think maybe it was the Suave Tropical Coconut conditioner I used in it though. I've come to the conclusion after using it on it's own as well that my hair just doesn't like it. I intend to try the SMT again with a different conditioner as the base before giving up on it entirely.
Re: Calling all who are growing shoulder to APL!
If you go the baking soda route for clarifying, as I do (it's so easy), you may want to leave the baking soda mixture on for about two or so minutes before rinsing with water and vinegar. I usually use a tall gatorade type sports bottle of water and use one tablespoon baking soda in my mix. You can adjust this if needed, can make it weaker if needed, and many folks don't know how find the right ratio for them with trial and error. I used baking soda and water to clean my hair 2 times a week for a couple of months before I found LHC and discovered that most people find it damaging to use that often. It didn't hurt my hair at all, though. Clarifying with it once every couple of months seems for work great for some. Please don't leave it on longer than three minutes or so because it will easily dry out your hair if left on a long time.
A lot of folks that experience dry, crunchy ends find that their situation is improved after clarifying.
Re: Calling all who are growing shoulder to APL!
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Ndayeni
I'd think it worth a try at least before resorting to trimming or spending a lot on treatments or whatever. I know my hair was recently feeling very wiry with crunchy/hard ends that were wanting to stick together and tangle badly. I washed it well with clarifying shampoo and conditioner (VO5 Kiwi & Lime) and then did an ACV rinse afterward and it greatly improved the way it feels. I did work small amounts of coconut oil into it as well yesterday to moisture a bit and help tame the frizzies some, and it feels softer than it has in a long while.
I've tried the SMT a few times, with mediocre to poor results. My hair actually felt frizzier/drier afterwards than before. I think maybe it was the Suave Tropical Coconut conditioner I used in it though. I've come to the conclusion after using it on it's own as well that my hair just doesn't like it. I intend to try the SMT again with a different conditioner as the base before giving up on it entirely.
There are a few ways to modify the SMT to meet your needs, you could experiment and tinker before giving up if you want to give it a fair shot. I use honey, aloe vera juice instead of the gel, VO5 SKR, and add vegetable glygerin. One member, Vanilla, recently posted that adding the glycerin was the thing that made SMT finally work for her.
It seems a lot of us struggle with frizz. I read Ktani's article on mineral oil, about how it is an anti-static, and that ONLY two drops or so finger combed through damp hair worked wonders. I had success with that but now I am on a kick with using a tiny tiny bit of Nightblooming Panacea for a leave in on damp, and it helps me with frizz. Mineral oil seems to be a love it or hate it on here, though, from what I have seen.
Re: Calling all who are growing shoulder to APL!
Thank You Wildcat and Ndayeni! I feel so better now that I know I have options other than just cutting them off. I think I'll try these later this week!
Thanks so much
Re: Calling all who are growing shoulder to APL!
You are welcome. I cut my dry crunchy ends off in March before I knew to try any of this, so I probably lost a couple of inches needlessly.
Hope you don't need to do that and can find a solution without snipping more. You already had a trim recently, so that just doesn't seem right to cut more without making sure.
Re: Calling all who are growing shoulder to APL!
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Wildcat Diva
There are a few ways to modify the SMT to meet your needs, you could experiment and tinker before giving up if you want to give it a fair shot. I use honey, aloe vera juice instead of the gel, VO5 SKR, and add vegetable glygerin. One member, Vanilla, recently posted that adding the glycerin was the thing that made SMT finally work for her.
Yes, in intend to play around with it some more before writing it off entirely. I've tried with both commercial aloe gel and with the stuff fresh from the plant. Not sure if there was much difference just from that. The last SMT I'd also added a small amount of cassia & henna mud for a gloss of sorts, and that could have skewed the results as well. Going to try it with the basic recipe using Mane & Tail conditioner instead of the Suave coconut next. I know my hair likes the M&T stuff (and I have a ton of it from getting it on sale at Sally's awhile back), so should let me evaluate the other ingredients better.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Wildcat Diva
It seems a lot of us struggle with frizz. I read Ktani's article on mineral oil, about how it is an anti-static, and that ONLY two drops or so finger combed through damp hair worked wonders. I had success with that but now I am on a kick with using a tiny tiny bit of Nightblooming Panacea for a leave in on damp, and it helps me with frizz. Mineral oil seems to be a love it or hate it on here, though, from what I have seen.
I've tried mineral oil as well, and had good results with taming the frizz. My problem is I have it as baby oil, and I dislike the smell of it. And since we have a huge bottle of the baby oil I can't really justify spending on an unscented version. I'll likely keep using it now and again because it does work well.
Re: Calling all who are growing shoulder to APL!
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Ndayeni
Yes, in intend to play around with it some more before writing it off entirely. I've tried with both commercial aloe gel and with the stuff fresh from the plant. Not sure if there was much difference just from that. The last SMT I'd also added a small amount of cassia & henna mud for a gloss of sorts, and that could have skewed the results as well. Going to try it with the basic recipe using Mane & Tail conditioner instead of the Suave coconut next. I know my hair likes the M&T stuff (and I have a ton of it from getting it on sale at Sally's awhile back), so should let me evaluate the other ingredients better.
I've tried mineral oil as well, and had good results with taming the frizz. My problem is I have it as baby oil, and I dislike the smell of it. And since we have a huge bottle of the baby oil I can't really justify spending on an unscented version. I'll likely keep using it now and again because it does work well.
There is a list of contioners that seemed for most people to have worked well, and those that seemed to fail on the SMT thread right at the beginning. Of course you could just use what you think might work to experiment with it. I noticed that a lot of people used the VO5 sun kissed raspberry successfully, and it was under one dollar for the bottle (really).
Also, when I tried mineral oil, I didn't note that there were heavy and light kinds. I bought the heavy kind that is in the health section (as a laxitave) and it was like $2.86 at Walmart for I think a 16oz bottle. I didn't notice any problems by using the heavier one, so I don't know if that might be a reasonable option for you. Hope that info might be helpful.
Re: Calling all who are growing shoulder to APL!
I still haven't gotten around to doing an SMT. :o
I managed to do a proper LWB today! And it's holding! I got the PM sticks I got off the swap board (my moon came too, but so far I've only been able to hold it over my lip as a moustache :rolleyes:) and I got the bun to stay, first try! I'm so excited, my hair has stopped being so ridiculously hard to style!
Re: Calling all who are growing shoulder to APL!
Wanna straighten my hair so badly today UGH! Another bun.. anyone else struggle with this? :mad:
Re: Calling all who are growing shoulder to APL!
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Bunnysaur
(my moon came too, but so far I've only been able to hold it over my lip as a moustache :rolleyes:)
:laugh: This made me start giggling really hard, picturing you with a green mustache. Very attractive. :eyebrows:
I'm sure that would have been the first thing I'd do, as well.
