Newbie To Site And Needs Help

Suzybgirl

Hi everyone. I'm new to the naturallycurly site and I find it fantastic. I've been curly since I was 14 (I'm now 45) and have discovered (from your site) that I've been using the wrong products all my life. I'm Irish, of mixed culture (Irish/Jamaican) and live in Greece. Living in Greece (actually the Island of Zante) poses a big problem, there are no products for my hair here so I was ordering on line from the UK. I'm currently (2 wks now) experimenting with the Shea line products (curl & shine shampoo, restorative conditioner, deep treatment masque, curl enhancing smoothie & curling gel souffle) and I'm not really liking them. The shampoo is gorgeous, the conditioner is ok, the deep treatment masque is ok, the curling gel souffle is horrible and the curl enhancing smoothie is I think, to thick for my hair. I did a co-wash with the conditioner but this left my hair heavy and with a lot of build up. I used Soft-n-free curl activator (as a styler) all my life and loved the way it made my curls full & bouncy, not sticky and kept them separated/loose and shiny. I'm currently looking for a similar styler (with less harsh ingredients) to have the same effect. I know the best way to find the best products is by trial and error however, because I have to order them on line and have them delivered, this can prove very costly. I've seen hundreds of products on line and I'm a bit overwhelmed as I just don't know what's best for my hair. I would really really appreciate some advice with any products from washing/co-washing, conditioning to the finishing styler. Thanks in advance and it's a pleasure to be part of the naturallycurly community.ps. I'm currently growing out a Kinetics-a perm. I think I'm a 3a x.

kathymack

Welcome. The best way to understand and choose ingredients/products is by hair properties. Here's a link to help you with yours Curly Hair Basics | Live Curly Live Free The e-book on that website is great. Nothing you can't learn on nc.com; however, all of the information is in one place.

My fine/low porosity hair couldn't use the SM products, especially the Coconut & Hibiscus line. They just sat on my hair. In the past, I've used minute amounts of really rich products (SM are heavy, if you understand the difference) and my hair absorbed them. Took a long time. Frequently, my hair was dry before the products were absorbed.

You may want to think about some of the DIY gels--flax seed and/or okra. They are pretty easy to do (okra being easier then flax seed because of the straining.) You can buy ingredients and experiment with them. There are lots of recipes on nc.com.

Good luck with your curly journey.

Suzybgirl

Hi Kathymack. Nice to meet you and thank you so much for your reply. I will check out those websites and see where they take me.:angel1:

Suzybgirl

Hi Kathymack. I checked out that website (live curly live free) and discovered I have high porosity hair so I seem to have the correct hair products (except for the curling souffle still I think). Last Saturday, I clarified my hair with baking soda then rinsed with apple cider vinegar, applied the leave in conditioner with hair soaking wet then the smoothie. Let it air dry then slept with my satin bonnet. The results the next day were amazing. Even today (5 days later) my curls are still defined because I spritz my hair with a mixture purified water, leave-conditioner and lavender essential oil every night before I put my satin bonnet on and go to bed. I shall do a protein treatment (home made) followed by a deep conditioner treatment this Saturday. Fingers crossed all goes well. I just want to thank you again for putting me onto that website. I've been on numerous websites but that one was an excellent lesson. Have a good day.:happy7:

kathymack

Glad to hear that you're finding things that work for you. Tiffany wrote an e-book years ago--all the information in one place. I just checked to see if it's available. It was a bargain at the original price ($9.95, I think.) Now, it's $3.99! The e-Book | Live Curly Live Free