Curly Hair Challenge Wrap-Up and a Winner

It has been a long six weeks for me and my curly hair.  My sister Kathy and I started out completely on a whim and have changed our lives forever.  Here are the updates...

Kathy, in her own words:

Was the Curly Hair Challenge worth it?  Yes!  There are definite drawbacks.  The main one being that it really requires me to wash my hair every day, which does not always work for this SAHM.  The advantages far outweigh the inconvenience, however.  I cannot remember another time in my life when my hair has been so predictable.  I know that there is going to be little frizz and the curls are going to lay nicely.  From this point forward, I plan to continue using only conditioner until the time comes when it stops working.  

Kathy's hair has always been more dry than mine, but also always had a tighter curl.  The challenge seemed to be working for her right from the beginning and the extremes (oiliness, itchiness, etc) never seemed quite as extreme on her head as they did on mine.  Her results have been great and I know she's hoping the results are as good next summer when the curly-hair nightmare, humidity, returns.

And now me:

For me, the proof is in the pudding-look at the difference in those photos! (Okay, obviously the lighting was completely different, I'd love to have the second hair color!) I've mentioned in previous posts that my hair is so much softer than it's ever been before and I get caught off guard sometimes because the curls literally bounce while I'm walking.  The greasiness in the beginning was pretty disgusting and the itchiness after that almost drove me crazy, but the last three weeks have been a constant improvement and I'm so glad I stuck with it.

Kathy's definitely sticking with the new routine in it's true form.  I think I'll be striking out to find a great modified balance.  

• I am going back to a shampoo, but have 100% switched to an all-natural product.  My scalp is definitely in need of a good deep cleansing.  However, I'm not going to shampoo all the time.  Only occasionally to let my scalp breathe.
• Originally I thought I'd cut the deep conditioning back to only on occasion, but Kathy tried it and noticed a HUGE difference in dryness after just the first time.  That's all I needed to hear-I'm sticking with the deep conditioning.
• I haven't fallen in love with the gel yet.  I have it and will keep using it until it's gone, but the next step for me is to try a couple different styling products and see if I can get the same results I get with gel.

Is the 6-week Curly Hair Challenge worth a try?  ABSOLUTELY!!  Kathy and I both have the curliest, most defined, least frizzy hair we've had since we were kids.  The last thing I'll rave about is the volume at my roots!  The hair framing my forehead has been lifeless and thin for years.  Now, my roots are just as curly and full of life as the rest of my locks.  I'M LOVING IT!!!

And now, for the winner, of the Hair Challenge Giveaway...

Congratulations, JoAnn!

Winner has been notified and responded.

Winner chosen by Random.org

Hair Challenge Giveaway Winner...Almost

The good news is, we have a winner!  

The suspense is that I'm going to make you wait to find out who it is.

  Watch for the post with the winner coming along tomorrow with the Hair Challenge wrap-up.  

So you don't feel like I gave you nothing today, take a look at this great Hair Challenge summary you all wrote for me...

• By FAR, the most talked about idea was Plopping!  I'm telling you, drying with a t-shirt is definitely the answer!
• Baking soda can be used as a hair wash with varying degrees of success.
• My hair really is bouncier and softer.
• Most obvious, how could you have missed it point: Sulfates and silicones are terrible on your hair!
• Terrycloth towels make frizzy hair worse (again, switch to a t-shirt)
• It takes courage, but it's worth it (That's for you, Jeanette)
• After the t-shirt, air drying is definitely best on curly hair.
• Aubrey Organics has only natural ingredients

I look forward to hearing from anyone that tries these things out!

The Final Stretch (Hair Challenge Update) & Giveaway

*Giveaway now closed*

Bet you thought I'd forgotten, didn't you?  Nope, just held off a couple days to include the giveaway with my next to last hair challenge update...Not sure what I'm talking about?  Catch up on my 6-week Curly Hair Challenge.

As I enter the last week of my 6-week curly hair challenge, my mind is shifting to the reintroduction of my hair and shampoo.  If the idea is to eliminate shampoos containing harsh sulfates and silicones, here is the list of ingredients to avoid (Be warned, it's going to look like a scary chemistry exam):

Sulfates (in shampoos)

 Alkylbenzene Sulfonate, Ammonium laureth or lauryl sulfate, Ammonium or Sodium Xlenesulfonate Sodium, C14-16 Olefin Sulfonate, Sodium cocoyl sarcosinate, Sodium laureth, myreth or lauryl sulfate,  Sodium lauryl sulfoacetate, TEA dodecylbenaensulfonate,  Ethyl PEG 15 cocamine sulfate, Dioctyl  sodium sulfosuccinate

Silicones (in conditioners)

     Cetearyl methicone, Cetyl Dimethicone, Cyclomethicone,  Cyclopentasiloxane, Dimethicone, Dimethiconol, Stearyl Dimethicone, Amodimethicone (in combination with Trideceth-12 & Cetrimonium Chloride), Trimethylsilylamodimethicone

I know, that list looks completely overwhelming.  And when you start looking at the ingredients list on your shampoo bottle, it'll set your mind spinning.  But it's worth it!  Let me give you a much shorter list of ingredients that are safe (or at least safer) to use on your curly hair...

Shampoos

Cocamidopropyl Betaine, Cocobetaine, Cocoamphoacetate, Cocamphodipropionate, Disodium cocoamphodiacetate, cocoamphodipropionate, Lauroamphoacetate, Sodium Cocoyl Isethionate

Conditioners

Dimethicone Copolyol, Hydrolyzed Wheat Protein, Hydroxypropyl Polysiloxane, Lauryl Methicone copolyol

So what am I going to use next week when I go back to shampoo?  Well, I'm definitely not going back to my old stand-by, VO5.  It's got nearly every no-no ingredient on the list.  I've had good luck with Biolage
in the past, but their shampoos also are high in sulfates.  I read great reviews of a brand called Jason and their shampoos follow the good ingredient guidelines fairly closely, but my research has found their conditioners to stray completely in the opposite direction.

For now I've settled on Aubrey Organics Balancing Shampoo  It doesn't have a flashy label and no flowery fragrance, but there are no chemical name in the ingredients list and that impresses me.  Other natural hair-cleaning lines with good ingredients are: Desert Essences,  Kinky Curly, and SheaMoisture. 

My 6-week hair challenge may be nearly over, but I also feel like it's just the beginning of learning for me.  I'm committed to using healthier shampoos and healthier styling products as well.  Make sure you come back on Monday when I'll reveal our "after" photos and wrap up the hair challenge with our final thoughts!


Now, finally, today's giveaway:

Giveaway Items: 

Curly Hair Care Package: 

1 Bottle Aubrey Organics Shampoo, 
1 Bottle Aubrey Organics Conditioner, 

1Wide-Tooth Comb, 1 Microfiber Towel

Giveaway Information:

1 winner will receive entire package

 Contest will begin at 4:01 PM (MST) on Thursday, December 8, 2011

 and end at 10:00PM(MST) on Monday, December 12, 2011.

Giveaway open to U.S. residents only 

Entry Options:

~Mandatory Entry~

Browse my Curly Hair Challenge posts and leave a blog post comment here about something you've learned.

Curly Hair Challenge Posts

~Optional Extra Entries(Leave a comment for each extra entry)~

Follow Wandering Still through Google Friend Connect

Subscribe to Wandering Still email updates

Follow Wandering Still on Facebook

Uniquely December Giveaway #1 Something Store

*Giveaway now closed *

(But keep reading, it's still fun information!)

Along with my Uniquely December posts this month, I want to share with you some things that make me happy. Literally, I want to share them with you...that means giveaways! Here's a little preview:

• Today:  Come on now, be patient and keep on reading...
• Tomorrow: A feminine gift for you or a friend
• Wednesday: Something handmade to help you focus on the season
• Thursday: Catching up and connecting to the Curly Hair Challenge
• Friday:  It's a surprise...even to me...

Each giveaway will be live for 5 days and have fairly easy entries.  Good luck and now onto the giveaway!

I LOVE the Something Store!  The idea behind it is simple:  Pay them $10.00 and they send you...something. It's that easy!  The surprise and fun is in not knowing what you're going to receive, but the company guarantees the item's value will be more than the $10.00 you've paid.  And to make it even better, that $10.00 also includes your shipping!

Honestly, the Something Store isn't a website I remember all the time.  It just pops into my head every once in awhile and I treat myself then and there to a pick-me-up treat.  In the past I've received...

• silver earrings
• flashlights
• glass earrings
• Toys

One year we even used the Something Store to buy all of our white elephant gifts.  That year we got...

• a silk scarf
• a wine thermometer
• a cheese board
• an egg timer

The only downside that year was that I bought 8 things and got doubles.  So two of each of the things above.  I don't know if that's always how larger orders go, but it did happen that way that year.

So, how does it work?  It's easy.

• Click "Get Yours"
• Select the number of "somethings" you want to receive (up to 20 per order)
• Finish your purchase through Google Checkout and wait for you package to arrive.

It's so easy and who doesn't love a little mail surprise?

Ready to win?  Here we go...

Giveaway Items: 

Two $10.00 items from the Something Store.

Giveaway Information:

Two winners will receive (one) $10.00 item each

 Contest will begin at 12:01AM(MST) on Monday, December 5, 2011

 and end at 10:00PM(MST) on Friday, December 9, 2011.

Giveaway open to U.S. residents only 

Entry Options:

~Mandatory Entry~

Visit the Something Store website and leave a comment on this post about something you see there.

~Optional Extra Entries(Leave a comment for each extra entry)~

Follow Wandering Still through Google Friend Connect

Subscribe to Wandering Still email updates

Follow Wandering Still on Facebook

Tell me, aren't you at least a little bit curious? 

The Something Store is providing this item at my request. 

 They in no way have asked for my endorsement or influenced my review.

How's It Going (Hair Challenge Update)

Several people have asked how the curls are doing so I'm here to report...

Going into Week 4, this is a photo of how my curls are doing (second-day hair, at that).  I've finally pushed through the greasy gross stage and my hair feels really good.  It's softer than I can remember it ever being and I actually notice it "bouncing" as I'm walking.  The only con at this moment is that with my curls actually laying nicely I realize I have a terrible haircut.  Definitely looking forward to my sister Kimberly giving me something fun when I go home for Christmas!

Kathy is a week ahead of me and has been saying for awhile that her hair is really great.  Hers tends to be drier than mine and so she wasn't really bothered by the extra oil in the early stages-it was something new and nice for her.  She's realized she used to always wear her hair up because it was frizzy and has kept it down for weeks now because it's actually curling.  And the best part, all kinds of people are complementing her on how great her hair looks!

Brooke, I think, is still doing her own thing but has cut out the dish detergent...

My only other observation for this week?  All of sudden I'm fighting an enormous urge to pull out my flat iron and straighten every last curly strand.  That seems a little counter-productive, though, doesn't it?

I Smell Amazing! (Hair Challenge Update, Week 3)

Let's start by saying I'm on my sofa right now loving that my hair smells yummy!  Yes, let's definitely start with that because nothing else with this week's alternative shampoo experiments turned out nicely.

After writing last week, I emailed Kathy and my sister Brooke (who decided to do the challenge with us because she's lazy and doesn't want to shampoo, honest, those are her words) with a list of alternative shampoo options, told them to pick one, and report back.  Here is what we have to say:

Baking Soda

Mix 1 T baking soda with 2 c lukewarm water

There are a million ways to use baking soda outside of cooking.  It's a great cleaning agent and so why wouldn't it also make a great shampoo?  Kathy agreed to try so I shared with her that my research showed the baking soda would be extremely drying. Many of the recipes online suggest following up with a vinegar rinse for conditioning.

Apple Cider Vinegar

Mix 1 T vinegar with 1 c water

No one tried this.  See, I didn't know Brooke was going to do the baking soda so I didn't warn her about the drying.  When it completely dried out her hair she didn't mind, but when it "completely dried out my back and my legs and anywhere the water ran" Kathy chickened out and decided her hair was doing just fine with out shampooing.

Lemon and Cucumber Smoothie

Peel 1 lemon and 1 cucumber. Blend.

This is the option I decided to go with.  The lemon is supposed to be cleansing and the cucumber moisturizing.  My kids thought I'd gone off my rocker when I told them they couldn't eat the cucumber because I needed to wash my hair with it.  While fighting back a gag reflex with the first pouring on my head I thought I might agree with them.  

The blog I got this recipe from warned of a need to make sure you rinse really well to get all the little lemon pulp pieces out.  I'm here to tell you there is absolutely no way this is possible.  Originally I washed with just the smoothie.  My hair was extremely tanged, but I was determined to leave it. I got out of the shower, dried off and then gasped at my reflection in the mirror.  There were little white lemon flecks from root to tip!  Hoping conditioner would grab onto all that mess, I flipped my head over in the sink, conditioned and rinsed again.  No better.  My hair is full of citrus yuckiness...

Lemon Juice

Use the Juice of 1/2 Lemon, Squeezed

Seriously, my hair smells amazing!  And my scalp is tingling.  The good way tingling.  I can say with certainty that neither Kathy and Brooke nor myself are going to be come all-natural granola-type shampoo users.  But I definitely can see myself occasionally squeezing the juice of a lemon and/or a cucumber into a spray bottle and adding it to my washing routine.  As my husband pointed out, there must be a reason manufactured cucumber scent is so popular in commercial shampoos.  Trust me, the real stuff is so much better!  

So what am I telling you to do? 

 Experiment if you must.  

Use our experiences for jumping off and let me know how it goes.  

Have you tried these or other alternatives?  

I'd love to hear about them!

I have to add here that Brooke's solution for de-greasing her hair up 'til now has been rubbing in Dawn dish soap.  The sulfates in shampoos are also found there.  That should be enough reason to switch to a gentler shampoo...

Hair on Tuesday

Procrastinating just might run in my family...and so neither Kathy or I have gotten to the alternative shampooing.  Tonight!  We're doing it tonight, so please check back tomorrow morning.  We're taking half the kitchen pantry into the shower with us...

(oh, and I found out my sister Brooke has been doing the curly hair challenge, too....in her own way. 

 You won't want to miss that!)

A New Way of Drying

My sister Kathy and I are three weeks into the curly hair challenge and having mixed results.  We're definitely seeing more defined curls but we're still getting used to the greasier feel.  I started alternating between a traditional gel and a spray-on gel depending on what time of day I wash my hair.  If I'm going to be sleeping with wet hair the traditional gel works wells to hold the curl overnight.  Otherwise, I'm using the spray gel because it makes the curls lighter.  Either way, my curls are actually starting to bounce and I think that's pretty amazing!  

One huge change I made this week was from drying my hair with a terry-cloth towel to drying it with a t-shirt.  (I won't even be embarrassed to tell you that I'm usually not prepared enough to bring a clean t-shirt into the bathroom with me and end up using the t-shirt I just took off my body.)  The benefit of the t-shirt's smooth surface is less frizz.  And instead of twisting like I normally would on top of my head, I've switched to a method call "plopping."  My kids look at me like I'm crazy, but it's really working!

 The first half of this video gives a great visual of how to properly use your t-shirt to dry your hair

 (sorry, the rest of the video is really boring...)

The part of the challenge we're still not okay with?  The grease and gross at our roots and scalp. This week we're going to try a couple natural shampoo methods (a baking soda concoction and others).  I'll be back next week to tell you all about it...

Curly Hair Challenge

My sister Kathy and I have been cursed...I mean blessed...with curly hair most of our lives.  Trying to figure out what to do with it has been a lifelong experiment, and so I jumped right on board a few weeks ago when she emailed a quick question to ask, "Are we going to try this?"

What is "this?"  

The 6-Week Curly Hair Challenge

Before pictures (1st, Kathy/2nd, Me)

The idea behind The Curly Hair Challenge focuses on the sulfates in most commercial shampoos.  For curly hair, these ingredients completely strip the natural oils and leave behind dry frizzy lifeless poofballs atop your head.  Eliminate the shampoo and your
hair will quickly begin re-hydrating.  Add some wiser drying and styling methods as well and the result is supposed to be perfectly coiffed locks.  

This is the 6-week plan we're following:

• Get a haircut
• Quit using shampoo all together
• Use a light conditioner to massage the scalp and break up residue/buildup
• Rinse and detangle with your fingers
• Apply deep conditioner following instructions on bottle
• Continue detangling either with fingers or a wide-tooth comb
• Let sit a few minutes then rinse lightly with cool water.  (At this stage my deep conditioner calls for another light conditioning and rinsing)
• Squeeze hair dry while still in shower
• Use a t-shirt or microfiber cloth to continue squeezing water out. Avoid terry cloth towels.
• Apply gel in a scrunching motion (Optional: add a leave-in conditioner before the gel)
• Let hair air dry
• Occasionally turn hair upside down, shake, and scrunch to break up crunchy gel spots and create volume

These are the products we're using:

~Michelle: Garnier Fructis Pure Clean Fortifying Conditioner, Ouidad Deep Treatment, Infusium 23 Leave-In Treatment, Garnier Fructis Curl Shaping Gel

~Kathy: L'Oreal Repairative Smoothing Conditioner, L'Oreal Smoothing Deep Conditioner, L'Oreal Humidity Defying Leave-In Crème, LA Looks MegaHold Gel

And 2 weeks in, here are a few of our observations:

• First, we are in complete agreement that hair gel is disgusting and we hate it.  Kathy is using only a nickel-sized amount for her whole head.  I'm experimenting with a spray gel and like it a little bit better.
• My first wash was the worst, but I'm thinking maybe I forgot to do the final rinse.  My hair felt like sludge!
• We have heard that Week 2 is the worst.  Kathy agrees and is optimistic for better results next week.  For me, my hair is actually feeling more like straw.  I've changed the products I'm using to see if I get better results.
• Neither of us usually washes our hair more than 2-3 times a week.  With this challenge we're feeling like we need to wash it everyday.  Kathy's is more greasy and where mine is usually manageable for a few days, I can't get it to do anything when I wake up in the morning. Also, my face is sometimes as greasy as it was as a teenager, which I'm sure is a result of more greasy hair.

Check back next Monday for our next Curly Hair Challenge update!

Have curly hair and want to join the challenge?  

Email your "before" photo to michelle.wanderingstill@gmail.com and let me know how it's going!

We 're following the steps found at this blog.

Lots of  great additional information available here.