Enter Deva Curl. A friend of mine was recently a hair model at a Deva Curl salon (we don't have one here in Knoxville, dang it), and her hair looked AMAZING. Like, my dream hair. So I pestered her for an exact product list and technique tips and I ordered the DevaCurl Trial + Travel kit, which comes with the No Poo, One Condition, AnGel (now renamed Light Defining Gel), and the Set It Free Moisture Lock Spray.
I expected these products to be similar to their Ouidad counterparts but they are really, really not. First off, the No Poo (awful name). Even though it says on the bottle this is a non-lathering conditioning cleanser I was still surprised that it looks and feels like conditioner. You rub a generous amount all over your scalp and then rinse. I was worried my hair wouldn't feel clean, but I like this product. It feels a lot more gentle on my scalp and my hair stays clean looking just as long as with a foaming product. The accompanying conditioner is just conditioner but it feels nice.
The Light Defining Gel (AnGel) is totally different than the Ouidad Heat & Humidity Gel. The Ouidad gel is very thin and slippery, it's not a sticky "crunchy" gel at all. I use a TON of it and my hair takes it well. It has good hold without looking wet. The AnGel is super thick and has a lot of hold and a much more "product-y" feel. I probably used too much and while my hair looked okay, I hated the way it felt. The next time I used less product and my hair felt better, but the curls weren't as defined and my hair looked kind of dull. Not impressed.
I think I'm going to keep using the No Poo and One Condition for a while. My scalp is sensitive and it really has helped it feel better. Today I tried it with the Ouidad Gel and I'm waiting for it to dry so I can report back. I'm not giving up on Deva Curl yet, maybe I just haven't tried the right product. I have my eye on the Styling Cream and the B'Leave-in. And I'm fascinated by the insane hair dryer they make. Or maybe I just go back to Ouidad. My hair is looking pretty good here and why am I bothering with change?
Fellow curly girls, what are you using these days? I used to be hopelessly devoted to the Bumble+bumble Curl Conscious line, but they changed the formula and I've been on the hunt for the perfect product mix ever since. Tell me what your magic combo is.
Edited to add: I think the DevaCurl No Poo/Conditioner + Ouidad gel is a win for me so far!
I use three products in sequence, on completely wet, non-towel-dried, hair: Garnier Curl-Sculpting Cream-Gel, Frizz-Ease, and a topper of coconut oil. This is the only way I've found to combat frizz: weigh that shit DOWN.
ReplyDeleteYour hair looks pretty fabulous in this picture! I'll be interested to read your update on the Ouidad Gel.
I have had my eye on that hair dryer! I have a hard time justifying the price considering that my $20 hair dryer + diffuser seem to to a decent job.
ReplyDeleteI religiously use Frizz Ease Dream Curl spray. I often play around with conditioner and styling product. Currently, I'm using Foxy Curls conditioner and contour cream from Bed Head. I'm pretty pleased with them.
I've tried Ouidad and just didn't care for it. The conditioner was ok, but gel just didn't work for me. I have THICK very curly hair. I need a more substantial product to tame my frizz.
I use Deva Curl conditioner. I love it. I also use their drying towel- it really makes a difference. I have been using Frizz Ease Curly Mousse and Redken Fresh Curl Gel. Once out of the shower, I use the towel, finger comb, put in product. Then I use a blow dryer with a diffuser on low and warm heat to "Set" my curls - Usually takes about 4-5 minutes tops.
ReplyDeleteI used DEVA curl for a while but didn't love it, although it did get me out of the habit of shampooing. Now I only use the Tresseme Curly Conditioner when I shower - I have tried MUCH more expensive conditioners and none of them worked as well, go figure.
ReplyDeleteI was also faithfully using OIDAD, but I couldn't leave well enough alone and experimented with Miss Jessie's Pillow Soft Curls cream, which you can buy at Target ($22!). I blame birchbox for sending this to me. I have actually bought it twice and stopped using Oidad (Gasp!). It's possibly one of the first times in my curly haired life where I am only using a single product on my hair instead of a weird cocktail of cream, leave in conditioner, gel, hair spray, and serum. Haha.
Tell me more about this cream! I used to use a curl cream and have been using gel for a while. I'm wondering if I should switch back.
DeleteI was skeptical of it, as I am of most samples of curl creams. But it's great - it makes my curls soft, never crunchy. You don't have to use that much at all. It smells nice, like laundry softener? I was surprised I liked it as much as I did! I mixed it with Oidad products for a while until they ran out, and I was pleasantly surprised the cream worked well on its own. Sometimes I do have to do a quick coat of hair spray or hair oil if it's more humid out.
DeleteI have hair similar to yours too, in length, color and curl type. You should try it!
my hair is a totally different texture than yours (i'm african-american and have really tight curls) but i use the deva curl no poo & one condition followed by coconut oil and ecostyler olive oil gel. when i apply the conditioner i use a generous amount and really work it through my hair - finger combing and squeezing and scrunching - and i've found this to help a lot with my curl definition. perusing the devacurl facebook page for tips helped me learn the best way to use the product for the results i wanted.
ReplyDeleteToo lazy to log in, but this is @BoSanBo from Twitter. I have fine hair and tons of it, just like you, with a medium curl (sometimes it gets really springy). My stuff:
ReplyDeleteI either wash with a "low-poo" (sulfate/silicone free shampoo) and then condition with Aubrey Organics GPB, or I "co-wash" (conditioner wash, like you described) with Nature's Gate Herbal Conditioner and then use it again for another round of conditioning. After this, in the shower, I use Botanical Spirits Shea Moisture to detangle - like, a pea sized amount.
Right now the two low-poos I use are Kheil's Amino Acid (which my hair loves, but my wallet hates) and Shea Moisture's Yucca and Baobob Thickening Shampoo. I like the Shea Moisture well enough, but it is very, very moisturizing. I actually feel that if I washed with it every day, my hair would be *less* clean than if I did the shampoo every 2-3 days and co-washed in between. But I like the way it makes my hair look! I agree, curly gals have to get used to the "not squeaky clean" feeling and understand that it means *better* hair.
I also do a DIY protein treatment about once a week, since my hair tends to be very "moist" on its own and needs more protein than deep conditioning. I use 2 TBPS of gelatin in about 1/4 cup water, pour it into washed, damp hair, and smoosh it around, and leave it for up to an hours before rinsing and conditioning.
I use Garnier's Pure and Clean Gel and Peter Lamas Volumize Me Mousse, depending on how want my hair to look. I will also admit to caving and buying the stupid overpriced sea salt spray from J. Crew, which I stupidly like a stupid amount and it's so stupidly overpriced.
I try to let my hair air-dry, sometimes I clip the roots around a bit to aim it where I want it to be. When I must blow-dry, I use a diffuser and the "PixieCurl" diffusing method: with blow dryer off, pile on a section of curl and cup it right up to the scalp. Turn on low/low heat, and count to 20. Repeat all over head, re-doing sections if you need hair bone dry. But that just leads to frizz, for me, so I really air-dry as much as possible. Some of my frizz also comes from my hair cut; I'm growing out some blunt cut bangs, which should be illegal to get if you have fine, curly hair and tons of cowlicks. But nobody stopped me. :( I find that a bad hair cut leads to a world of hurt for my hair.
For me, the keys to great curly hair were: avoiding SLS, silicones (of all kinds, which also make me break out), and parabens; that amazing Botanical Spirits Shea Moisture, that one pea-sized amount totally changes my hair; and adding more protein to my hair.
The best way to start a loooong conversation with a curly-haired gal is to ask her about her hair routine. We get all science and shit about that business...
Lately I've been using Macadamia Oil repair masque about once a week. I use Be Curly conditioner from Aveda (and I don't shampoo every time I shower), then mix Be Curly style prep with Macadamia Oil healing treatment and apply to wet hair. It's been working pretty well so far - if I get frizzies later in the day, I use a bit more macadamia oil. I didn't have much luck with Miss Jessie or Ouidad... both felt a little heavy and left me a bit oily.
ReplyDeleteOh man, I love when women get to talking about their curly hair. Your hair looks so glossy in this pic!
ReplyDeleteDevaCurl One Condition and AnGel were my holy grails for years. The trick with AnGel is to let it dry almost completely, then scrunch the crunch out of the hair until it's all soft and curly and woah. It's hard to stay hands-off that long, but that's the only way to avoid frizz.
Now I am a convert to Jessicurl (www.jessicurl.com). The Hair Cleansing Cream and the Too Shea Conditioner are awesome and my scalp seems to like them better than the DevaCurl. So if you're looking for your next boutique hair product to try, Jessicurl is good stuff (and smells AMAZING). If you're on her email list she sends out discounts every so often.
Also can we just pause for a moment and ask why curly hair products have such cute/annoying names? No Poo? Too Shea? WHY?
Amen to that, Alison. Either too cute, or I want to EAT the product way more than I want to put it in my hair. I bought a sample of "Marshmallow Moisture Balm" for that very reason. It feels good to say it, and it sounds like I should put it on my cake after dinner.
DeleteI use Tresemme shampoo and conditioner, Suave mousse, and Fructis spray gel, then blowdry with a diffuser. Simple and cheap!
ReplyDeleteThis is me: http://i285.photobucket.com/albums/ll73/bbkf_2008/620dae7b.jpg
Nothing like a curly hair question to get all us lurkers out of hiding! My hair is thick, coarse, and color treated, so I have actually had the best luck with shampoos and conditioners for uber-dry hair rather than curl-specific ones. I use Aveda Dry Remedy every other day, and Deva One Condition on the days I don't wash. I use Carol's Daughter Hair Milk as a leave-in, and then I totally slut around with styling products. Still looking for the holy grail combo.
ReplyDeleteJoico Pliable Paste is unreal. I have thick, very curly, but also somewhat fine hair. It kept my curls in perfect spirals in the rainy, tropical weather of Saint Lucia (though keeping my hair nice in a North Carolina summer is no small feat either). Seriously, it's the greatest. I use it with a little bit of jojoba oil in place of a leave-in (and extra shine). Worth its weight in gold.
ReplyDeleteI have been using Garnier's Leave-In Conditioning Cream in Ezra and Iris' hair. I wet both of their heads in the AM, wide tooth comb out Iris' snaggles (seriously, what does she DO at night?) and put in a bunch of conditioning cream. It makes their hair soft and not crunchy. Iris' hair is longer so the cream keeps it from turning fuzzy/frizzy throughout the day. Their strands are soft and fine like my hair, but super curly.
ReplyDeleteIn the bath at night, we only shampoo ever 2-3 days or so and use the Aussie Intense 3 minute hair conditioner. Their hair is definitely dryer than mine and needs heavy conditioning.
But! I'm going to print out the products you mentioned above and totally try them out.
Curly hairs unite.
Oh, the exasperation that is curly hair. I have hair sort of like yours- I think- mine is very "supple"- fairly fine, a lot of it, long. I can straighten it super easily, and if I put it in a nape chignon wet until it's dry, it will be heavily wavy. On a rainy day I go as curly as a sheep. Without care and attention it goes shapeless and frizzy...
ReplyDeleteSo, ell...first, my plight: Wella discontinued Wella SoFine Conditioning Mist which I used for years and years and years. I ended up buying the last hundred bottles from the warehouse after I called Wella when I could no longer find it in the stores...(I rightly panicked). You could use it wet, dry, all day, next day, pre/post shampoo, whenever- and it turned or refreshed hair into big, glossy, clean curls that felt like hair, and nothing else. I got about 15 compliments a day, every day, on my "gorgeous hair". Sigh.
Moot point, stuff doesn't exist anymore.
I got really tired of trying so many things that didn't work, and spending so much money, as well. I also dance, and my hair is up in a sockbun 5 days a week, so it's got to be simple for my days off.
So here's my routine:
1-Sometimes, if I feel it needs it, I put coconut oil on my hair pre-shower.
2-I heard something crazy about someone using Dove Beauty bar on their hair, so I tried it- lo and behold, it does a great job of washing but not frazzling my hair, I've been washing my hair with it for about a month. You just suds it in your hands and focus on the "dirty" parts- for me, crown, temples, back of head, a little around the nape.
3-Then I use Desert Essence Lemon and Tea Tree conditioner. Which smells exactly like Pledge. Luckily I like Pledge. It works very well.
4-Tangle Teezer. Godsend.
5-The Body Shop Cottonseed Curl Booster. Great stuff, and I'm on my 3rd bottle. One pump, maybe two, through towel-dried hair, or post Tangle Teezer. It's very clean smelling, doesn't leave any residue whatsoever.
I then comb/side part my hair as usual and- this is the new thing: I spiral it. I just take pieces and twirl them right to the ends, and then join them together and do a nape chignon with an elastic. This way it dries "formed" in spirals (but no crunchiness) and doesn't frizz and stays glossy.
I never use a dryer (unless straightening). Totally doesn't work on my hair.
My hair actually looks pretty good with this combo, better than it has in years.
So taking notes on this blog! I, too, have been using Ouidad but only the conditioner. I have been buying a lot of cheap shampoos lately but that is about to change. I just hate the way my hair feels so weighted down, but also because I need a trim. It's so hard to keep curly hair looking good when it's long, at least in my experience. Right after I had Elise my curls looked great, but slowly something changed and now it's so hard to get them to look decent. I hate diffusing because I feel it brings out the frizz, but maybe I should give it another shot. I am also a mousse fan and I use the TIGI Bedhead Foxy Curls, which wasn't cheap, but a little goes a long way and my hair feels really crunchy. I still haven't found THE mousse or gel that works 100% to my liking, but I know I need to keep looking. Also, does anyone else with curly hair just HATE to comb it out after the shower? Mine (as is my daughter's) NEVER wants to cooperate, and it tangles sooooo badly. I need to figure out how to solve this problem.
ReplyDeleteYou need to get a Tangle Teezer!!!! I don't know how I did without it. Zips through hair in seconds. Before it used to take me 10 minutes with a wide-toothed come, and I'd be thoroughly enervated by the end of it. (I never, ever could have put a brush through my hair before.)
DeleteBonus with the Tangle Teezer: doesn't break or stretch your hair= fewer frizzies, broken hair. And it massages your scalp.
I hesitated for a long time because it kindof looks like a cheap dog brush and it was pricey in my opinion (I paid 15 euros) but I didn't regret it for one nano second once I used it.
:)
comB- typo :)
DeleteMy hair is very thick, medium curl, prone to dryness, length currently similar to this post's picture of Marianne.
ReplyDeleteI use the Herbal Essences conditioner for colored hair (it is extra moisturizing [most important] and cheap [also important because I use a LOT]) every day, and any old moisturizing shampoo when my scalp gets too much build-up, which is maybe once a month at most - usually I can apply extra conditioner and scratch/massage the scalp enough to clean it nicely.
I think my most important piece is this: I shower at NIGHT. Post-shower, I wrap in a hair towel and do my face-washing/tooth-brushing, thus it gets a decent start on drying. My last step is to apply a crap ton of Curl Keeper ( http://www.frizzoff.com/5-Curl-Keeper.aspx ), then I'm off to bed.
No matter what I try with product, blow-drying means either flatness at the roots or a stupid amount of frizz. Drying while sleeping means minimal movement, minimal frizz.
In the morning, I spend about ONE MINUTE taming the out-of-place wild bits. That's it. I will take the wet pillow for perfect hair in one minute's time!
For me the key is leave-in conditioner (L'Anza which is not too chemically) and finger-curling, i.e. teamwork for curly hair. It changed my (hair) life when someone (a curly-haired stylist, natch) finally showed me how to do this. It's the key to curls instead of mop-headed frizz.
ReplyDeleteAgree- finger-curling makes all the difference
Deleteoh, and I use satin pillowcases :)
ReplyDeleteI'm not loving the Angel Gel either. I've been using the Ouidad gel with the shampoos and similar styling techniques and it's given me a good result. I brought the DevaCurl travel pack products along with me on a recent trip and the gel wasn't working for me as a stand alone product. I kept longing for some sort of oil.
ReplyDeleteI do agree with what someone said above, sleeping on a head of freshly showered curly hair vs. showering and going in the morning makes a WORLD of difference. Thanks everyone
ReplyDeleteI use Ouidad Climate Control Conditioner and B&B's Hairdresser's Invisible Oil. I mix a little of the BBHIO with my conditioner in the shower and also use the BBHIO on my hair while styling. I have thick, curly, frizz prone hair. I also use the Ouidad Botanical Boost spray, it smells wonderful, and on bad hair day's it gives me a second chance w/o having to take another shower.
ReplyDeleteDemographics/hair info: white/natural color/"Botticelli curls" (to use the Deva term)/medium-long length. My hair can be straightened, but it gets wavy pretty quickly. I used to attempt straightening it once a year or so, but I gave up -- too much effort and too hard on my hair.
ReplyDeleteI've used No Poo and One Conditioner, and they're both OK. But One Condition doesn't do anything that my Suave Professionals conditioner can't do at a fraction of the cost. The No Poo isn't harsh on my hair, but there are other "no-poo" products out there that are probably just as good. It doesn't smell all that great either.
As far as gel goes, I found that the DevaCare (yes, Care, not Curl) Arc AnGel works much better than its DevaCurl counterpart. My stylist tried to convince me that Arc AnGel would leave my hair looking less natural and more crunchy; it's not crunchy at all, and less natural just means less frizz. The Arc Angel is a light tangerine color, just FYI.
I haven't tried Ouidad, but maybe I'll give that a shot next. Thanks, everyone, for the info!
Clearly, I'm getting to the party late, but did you try scrunching the DevaCurl gel once it was dry? From what I understand, their gel dries hard to keep the frizz-factor down when the hair is wet, but once it's dry you scrunch it to break the "gel-cast." On my hair, this works pretty well. After breaking the cast, my curls are soft and defined.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, I'm not crazy about how long it takes my hair to dry with their method and products. I feel like I walk around with a wet head half of the day!
DITTO what the PP said! You MUST crunch your curls after your hair is completely dry!
ReplyDeleteOh, I did! Deva products were just too drying for me in the end.
DeleteI absolutely agree about the scrunching. For deva products to really reach their full potential, you really need to follow the entire regimen. AKA removing phosphates and silicones from alllllllll of your hair products. I recently put a post on my blog about making the switch to deva and my hair has honestly never been healthier or easier to maintain! You can read my post here: http://thift.blogspot.com/2013/09/devacurl-curly-girl-lifestyle-md.html
ReplyDeleteI have fine, Botticelli-style curls, mid-back length, lots of hair...I have religiously used Aveda color conditioning shampoo and conditioner, as well as Aveda Be Curly cream. Love them, worship them, try not to cry at the cost, but I am wanting to try something a little less pricey. I picked Ouidad Vitacurl conditioner up at Ulta to try on what they call my "classic curls". I can't rec the Be Curly enough and won't switch that, but wanted to know if anybody with similar classic curls had success with the Vitacurl line? I gave Devacurl the old college try for two months and hated every moment. My hair felt dirty all the time and it was incredibly tangled and not pretty. I even did the whole towel and style method- just not right for me.
ReplyDelete