Eco styler gel Archives - Curly in Colorado

In Review: Camille Rose Naturals Curl Love Moisture Milk

Posted on by Michelle

curlyincolorado.com camille rose naturals curl love review

Camille Rose Naturals
Curl Love Moisture Milk

Earlier this year I celebrated 5 years on my natural hair journey and realized that I’ve pretty much stuck with the same products. I am usually one of those gals who like to use affordable products that can be found locally in stores. Once I figured out what worked for me, I stopped looking. Still, I couldn’t ignore all of the rave reviews that circulate in the natural hair world. For this reason, I decided maybe I could tweak my routine here and there. Who knows? Maybe I’m missing out.

My Curls after using the Curl Love Moisture Milk
and Eco Styler gel

I was eyeing the Camille Rose products at my local Target store for some time and decided to try something from the line. I needed a moisturizer for when I do my wash n’ go so I grabbed the Curl Love Moisture Milk. You get 8 ounces for about $15 dollars USD which seemed reasonable considering it contains all natural ingredients. The product claims to,”nurture your tresses and aid in preventing breakage, shedding and styling damage.” The label also states that it, “…will provide shine, protective anti-oxidants and long-lasting moisture to enhance the driest hair.” This sounded like something that would certainly provide my hair with the moisture it needed under a heavy styler like Eco Styler gel. I love how gel makes my curls pop but I’m sometimes left with dry hair a few days later.

I first tried it on wet hair after cleansing and conditioning. Then I decided to use a little grapeseed oil to seal in the moisture. Lastly, I sprayed each section of my hair with water before applying Eco gel. I was very surprised to see how much my curls clumped together. My hair also appeared to hang more than my usual wash n’ go. I let it airdry and realized that maybe adding the grapeseed oil was making my hair a bit too heavy. The next trial I decided to skip the oil and use the Curl Love as my sealer because it contains Castor oil. In this case I used Aussie Moist as my leave-in conditioner and then followed the same steps as before. The result was okay but my curls weren’t as juicy. The combo that worked best was when I used a leave-in conditioner, grapeseed oil to seal then the Curl Love all before applying the gel. This basically meant I was using the L.O.C. method (leave-in, oil, cream).

Overall, I found that the product does what it claims by allowing my curls to hang more when I use it to do a wash n’ go style. It definitely feels moisturizing and leaves me with much softer hair after using the hair gel. I did notice however that if I stuck with sulfate free products to cleanse my hair, the product would build up. I am back to using a sulfate shampoo for when I need to clarify so this is no longer an issue
for me.

Moisturizes and gives my curls hang time!

I agree with the price point considering I am still on the same bottle a couple of months later. I realized early on that you don’t really need to use very much of the product in order to moisturize your hair. I even use it on my kid’s hair and feel like we’ve gotten a lot of use out of it. I would definitely purchase this product again in the future.

HAVE YOU TRIED THE CAMILLE ROSE NATURALS LINE?

Celebrating 5 Years with Natural Hair!

Posted on by Michelle

Happy to be Natural
Five years strong!

This past weekend marked the fifth anniversary since I went natural back in 2009. I did my big chop on the third day in May after a nine month transition. Recently I looked back on my natural hair journey and thought about how I would have done things differently. It took a lot of trial and error to get to where I am today but I finally figured some things out.

In some of my more recent posts I discussed the different uses for hair oils. I spent a very long time thinking that I was sealing in moisture with coconut and olive oils. In actuality, grapeseed oil was the true winner when it came to this because it was heavy enough to lock in the moisture. Now I know that coconut and olive oils are to be used to help moisturize and condition the hair; not to seal.

My Current Hair Length

Another new discovery is that hair gel is not the enemy. I had so many failed attempts at styling my hair that I often blamed my beloved Eco Styler gel for the outcome. I learned that if used in the right way it could enhance my styles and make them last longer. Now I use the grapeseed oil to seal in moisture and apply the gel as a holding agent with no issues.

Watch my Youtube video for more on what I learned over the past five years with Natural Hair

MITCHELLZEE’S 5 YEARS NATURAL VIDEO

MYTHS AND TRUTHS ABOUT NATURAL HAIR

Summertime Slim Down — On My Way to a Healthier Me

Posted on by Michelle

Green Smoothie
with Kale, Apple, Cucumber and Banana

This year I’ve been learning lots about the importance of eating a diet heavy in fruits and vegetables. I even found out a thing or two about juicing and how beneficial it can be. Still, it took my upcoming summer vacation to finally get me motivated to lose some weight. I’ve been telling myself how great it would feel if I could just lose the 7-10 lbs. that have been keeping me from looking my best. There are all sorts of reasons why I fell off of the exercise wagon so I’ll save the long story. Thankfully my diet only needs a few tweeks here and there because my family and I eat pretty healthy.

After watching the movie, “Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead,” earlier this year, I decided to start juicing more. At first, there was a bit of a learning curve but I’m used to it now and can whip up a glass of juice for breakfast with no extra fuss. I’m happy to say that it helped with my psoriasis which was crazy out of control for most of the winter. One of my favorites is a green smoothie with Kale, Cucumber, Apple and Banana.

Now that my skin is looking better, I’ve been trying to exercise more in hopes of losing a little extra cushion around the middle and thighs. Don’t get me wrong, I’m thankful that I’ve been around the same size for years. It would be nice though to not have to rely so much on help from shaperwear when it’s time to dress up. Plus, I want to have more energy to help me get through these long summer days with the kids.

As for my hair, I’m hoping that the cardio and strength workouts will lead to a faster metabolism. This in turn can lead to faster hair growth (maybe). So for now the Wash n’ Go hairstyle is super easy for me. Since I use a heavy gel product like Eco Styler, I can just wet my hair in the shower to reactivate my style. Co-washing is also pretty easy because it removes most of the product without stripping my hair or causing my curls to go into shock. Sometimes I even use a light oil on my hair either in the shower or right after to seal in the moisture and combat dryness. The wash n’ go style is so much easier now and great for the summer.

Tips on How to Define Type 4 Curls

Posted on by Michelle

My hair wet with product

Sometimes I feel like I should be crowned the Wash n’ Go queen by now after all of the products and techniques I’ve experimented with to achieve the curly look. Washing my hair and just heading out the door is never the case. I have curls but they are “type 4” curls. Yes, I’m talking about the hair typing system. It’s not my favorite way to categorize my hair but hopefully it will give others a way to gage whether my techinques will work for them.

My curls are tight corkscrew coils, lazy “s” shapes and everything in between. I even have a section that laughs at the idea of curl definition. Oh and let’s not forget about the shrinkage. I would say mine can be up to 75% but it depends on the day.

In order to get my curls to pop, there are certain things that I must do in order to get the definition I want. Just so you know, I’m usually looking for hair that will last me a few days without feeling drastically dry and brittle. I’m still looking for a softer hold solution but at least I’ve got the curl definition part down.

Here are some things that I have learned when styling my own hair

My hair freshly washed and detangled
using a denman brush.
Dry with no product

1. Start with clean hair

For some this may mean co-washing; for others, shampoo. I’ve noticed that I really do get the best results after cleansing my hair. Otherwise, I end up with so-so results.

2. Detangle, detangle, detangle

There are times where I skip this step and I always pay for it. Not only does this cut help to cut down on the time it takes to apply the products but the hair is also way easier to work with. Whether you’re shingling, raking or combing product through remember to start with detangled hair.

3. Make sure hair is soaking wet

When my hair begins to dry, all of those pretty little curls go poof! Any curl defining product out there is really just a way to lock your curls into place. My hair is at it’s curliest when it’s dripping wet so I start with that. When sections begin to dry, I make sure to keep a spray bottle handy so I can wake those curls back up.

4. Work in small sections

We’ve all seen the videos where someone takes a quarter size amount of product and applies it to all of their waist length hair and voila; curl definition. Not for our hair texture! It’s best to keep the sections as small as possible so that each and every little curl can get enough product from root to tip. Sometimes, big hair is desirable but if you want every curl accounted for, using smaller sections is the way to go.

I get lots of curl definition using product
on wet hair

5. Smooth those ends

After I have completely raked the product through a section, I always go over my ends, using my fingers, to smooth them out. This will ensure that the curl lays flatter and discourages those stubborn single strand knots.

6. Once the products are all in, LEAVE IT ALONE!

This is a biggie. I’ve done it myself more times than I can count. Still, you’ve got to leave your wet hair be until you’ve got that, dried “cast” that tells you it’s okay to touch your curls. Even if you choose to diffuse, remember not to handle your hair with your fingers because this will cause lots of unwanted frizz. Simply tilt your head and let your curls drop into the diffuser so that it can do its’ thing.

I hope these tips will help someone out there. I sure wish I would have known all of this long ago when I first went natural. Still, I’m pretty happy with my coily creations and that’s all that matters.

Singin’ in the Rain with Gotye at Red Rocks Ampitheatre

Posted on by Michelle

Red Rocks Ampitheatre in
Morrison, Colorado

Here in Colorado it is pretty much common knowledge that Red Rocks Ampitheatre is one of the best places to take in a live show. This week the hubby and I made another trek up the winding ramp that leads to the open air venue surrounded by massive red rocks to see the musician, Gotye. The weather was not the best but fun was had by all once the show started.

There were two opening acts before the much awaited headliner. After warming the crowd up with a couple of tunes, Gotye (a.k.a Wally) remarked, as most singers do, at how the altitude made singing a challenge. Still, he managed to hit all the notes in perfect pitch. The show was full of beat driven tracks such as, “Easy Way Out,” and, “Thanks for Your Time.”

Prior to the show this week of course I kept thinking, “what am I gonna do with my hair?” With the venue in mind it was a no brainer. A Wash n’ Go was pretty much my only option because there was the chance it might rain. I decided this before realizing that I was completely out of my staple styler, Eco Gel. That’s when I remembered that I still had some Kinky Curly Curling Custard (KCCC) I bought a long time ago. I couldn’t remember all of the do’s and dont’s for using this product so I went online to check which leave-ins it paired well with. I found a video on YouTube explaining how the Tresemme Naturals conditioner I love so much works as a leave-in under the KCCC.

On the way to the concert rockin’ my curly fro-
So excited!

Before applying the products, I co-washed my hair with Suave Naturals in Coconut flavor. Then, with my hair still dripping wet, I applied the Tresemme conditioner in sections. After that, I used very little of the gel on each of the sections and wet the hair before raking it through. I noticed some crazy curl definition right away which usually means tons of shrinkage. This was what I was going for though and was happy with the final result. The next day (the morning of the concert) I re-wet my hair to reactive the curls. I ended up with a coily afro that was a lot of fun to wear.

At the concert there was plenty of wind and rain throughout but I didn’t have a care in the world because my curly fro held up just fine. Which left me with plenty of headspace for remembering all the words to, “Heart’s a Mess” and “Save Me,” my two favorite Gotye songs.

Waiting for the show to begin

Red Rocks all around