Donna Marie Miracurls, and A Tweak on my Homemade Flax Seed Gel

I bought a bottle of Donna Marie's Miracurls Curling Gelly back in September. After initial experimentation, I wasn't having much success. It wasn't providing me with the curl enhancement I crave, and left me a bit fluffy. I vastly preferred the results I would get from flax seed gel, which has a similar consistency and feel to me, even though the Donna Marie product is aloe based. I shelved the product because I don't like to put my products on the Swap Board. I don't swap because I know that very often, products work better in different weather conditions than others. Plus, every once in a while, someone will post a raving review, and then I just want to try it again to see if maybe the Hair Gods have changed their wills!

This is one product I'm glad I didn't swap. I've been using it lately with great success. I was inspired to try again based on this thread, where some other curlies noted they were having great success with this in lower dew points, despite its glycerine content (glycerine is an ingredient many avoid in low dewpoints because of its humectant properties).

First of all, I should say that that there was a formula change between my bottle (from September 2009) and the bottle pictured. Not only is my product a different color (it's a very pale beige...very comparable to flax seed gel color), but the ingredients are different on my bottle than what is on the website.

From the website:
Ingredients: Purified water, aloe vera juice, vegetable glycerin, xanthan gum, Provitamin B-5, avocado oil, Linseed extract, herbal infusion of marshmallow extract, plantago extract, Rosemary, Slippery elm and hibiscus and alkanet root, potassium sorbate, silver citrate, citric acid and fragrance.

From my bottle: Distilled water, aloe vera leaf juice, linseed extract, plantago pallium extract, vegetable glycerin, slippery elm root, rosemary leaf extract, avocado oil, pro-vitamin B5, potassium sorbate, and fragrance

Ingredients in red are not found in my formula, but found in the new formula.

As you can see, ingredients were added, but none were taken away. Relative amounts were changed. The most notably and consequential of the relative amounts changes is probably the movement of glycerin from the 5th spot on the list to the 3rd spot.

Silver citrate and citric acid are both preservatives, so not much to think about there. The xanthum gum was added for making the product thicker, most likely. So I'd imagine that the new version is thicker than mine.

So you must take my review with a grain of salt, as I'm reviewing the old formula. I've yet to try the new formula.

The old formula is working splendidly in low dewpoints. It's also working well with the super soaker method. Some general observations: it needs the full complement of products, by which I mean it needs a leave in and a gel for my usage. It's VERY curl enhancing for me. My hair positively sproings for this in low dewpoints in conjunction with a moisturizing leave in.

I apply it by scrunching. It has a similar, runny, gelly consistency to flax seed gel. It goes in easily, and my hair eats it up. I use a lot of it. Not so much as flax seed gel, but more than a typical curl enhancer. More like double a normal curl enhancer, and about 75% of what I'd use for flax seed gel.

My favorite combo so far is using Jasmine's Babassu Butter Cream, "super soaking" my hair, and Herbal Essence's Body Envy Gel. This is my hair yesterday with this combination. Dews were around 30. I've found so long as the dews aren't higher than around 35-40, I can use this product with much curl happiness.

Click to enlarge. Just FYI, the white specks are dust on the bathroom mirror, not dandruff :P

So as promised in the title, I've made 3 tweaks to this batch of flax seed gel. Here is the recipe I'm used yesterday in whipping up this bath:

2 cups water (cool from the tap)
1/2 cup whole, raw, golden flax seeds
1 tablespoon of agave nectar - This is tweak #1
1 teaspoon Vitamin E Oil -This is tweak #2
1/2 teaspoon epsom salt - This is tweak #3

Here is the original post, with the original recipe, and detailed instructions on preparation

In the first batch, I used orange essential oil. Didn't like the way that smelled in the product at all. So, that got taken out. I added more agave nectar in this batch (original used 1.5 tsp.). I like more hold than less, so I figured it couldn't hurt. Also, this gel was thinner due to improved technique. The last batch was definitely too thick (boiled too long). So this batch didn't boil as long, and was much easier to strain. The addition of extra agave nectar I think has helped to enhance the hold of the thinner gel. I added more vitamin E oil just because I have a good bit of it and I may as well use it. The epsom salt (magnesium sulfate) was added for curl enhancement. Some have reported success putting it in the water before boiling and others say put it in the strained gel. I put 1/4 tsp. in before boiling and 1/4 tsp in post-straining. That way, I didn't have to make a decision!

Things I'll tweak in future batches: I need to pick up some real preservative. Vitamin E Oil is an anti-oxidant, so it'll preserve product life, but it is not anti-microbial. I use up my 8 oz that this recipe makes very very quickly, and I keep it at a temperature between freezer and refrigerator temperature (keeping it just barely liquid). But next time, to be safe, I'll add in some Gradefruit Seed Extract (an anti-microbial)

Another thing I want to play with is the addition of olive oil. I don't know if this has been done, but my hair adores this stuff. I want to see if it will be miscible with the gel, and if it is, will it impact the product performance (positively or negatively). I want to do a similar experiment with coconut oil. I'm sure someone has done both of these before, but I haven't seen anything in my cursory readings. I'll have to dig a bit deeper to find out more.

Also, I like the results with the espom salt for curl enhancement. Aloe is enhancing on my curls, so I'd like to throw that in too.

Basically, look for more flax seed gel recipes to come. I've got a lot of seeds and a lot of ideas!

This is the results from today's styling with Flax Seed Gel Version 2.0. As you can see, less curl than the Donna Marie gives me, but that stuff REALLY enhances. For a one product styler, I'm very happy with the flax seed gel. It's a bit frizzy, but I attribute that to the rain today more than the flax seed gel. I thought about using a gel on top, but I really wanted to see how the new batch would do by itself.

I'm a Little Late to the Game, But Better Late than Never!!!

Every once in a while on naturallycurly.com's forum, CurlTalk, a poster will share with us something that is truly awesome, revolutionary, and effective. In July 2009, Rudeechick presented us with the Super-Soaker method. I was in the middle of my hiatus from CurlTalk at that time, so I missed the beginnings of its wildfire spread through the curly masses. When I came back, I made a post that asked what I'd missed, and several were quick to tell me about this new method. I put it on my list of things to try, but I just never got around to it. The goal of the method is to promote clumps and curl formation, and I just didn't think that clumping was something I wanted/needed to work on.

Fast forward to December 2009. I started using Curl Junkie's Curl Assurance Smoothing Jellie again. It's a nice product, but it never wowed me. I absentmindedly read the directions one day, and noticed something I'd missed. On the directions, it says to apply additional water after applying the product to "activate it." Figured it was worth a shot. It turns out that this is the way that Rudee invented the Super-Soaker method. But by this point, I'd forgotten that the method existed, so I just went on my merry way.

I realized one day a couple weeks ago that I was Super Soaking. I don't know why, but it just occurred to me! So, without intending to, I discovered that the Super Soaker method works for virtually all of my favorite product combinations!

The above variety of Super Soakers are not necessary, but highly recommended :P

To begin, here is the thread on the method begun by Rudee. Even though it's very very very long, it's worth a read. There are lots of good pieces of info scattered in there, as well as tweaked versions that you may find helpful. Read the first few pages, then go watch the video made by Rudee and her son. The video, as she says, has to move at a quick pace because the method needs to go quick, so it's better to have at least a working understanding of what you're doing.

The premise: Water likes to stick to itself. It has very strong cohesive forces. We owe life on this planet to that fact, along with the other properties of water. By applying a product, like a leave in to your hair, you are giving water's adhesive forces a chance to work as well as the cohesive forces. All CG products are water soluble. This means that water can adhere to the product, and ultimately, break it down. So what we end up with is the cohesive force of water sticking to itself, and the adhesive forces of water sticking to the product and your hair. This is my theory what creates the clumps with this method. Rudee has noted that she prefers to use what she calls a "base coat" such as a leave in because it gives her better clumps. According to my science brain, that's because the leave in adds in additional adhesive force with the water.

So here is the basic step by step:
1) Shower. Cowash, rinse-out, etc etc

2) Rake and/or scrunch in your base coat. This can include a leave in and a curl creme (products without hold). Basically, whatever you use BEFORE you put in your gel/jelly (the products with hold)

3) Now that you have the no-hold stuff in your hair, you can Denman brush through your hair. I personally skip this step because I do not have a strong enough curl pattern to brush and maintain coiling. What I do is I apply leave in by raking then scrunching, then scrunch in a curl creme if I'm using one. Once my hair has had something scrunched into it (whether leave in or curl creme or both), then I stand upright, fix my part the way I like it, then I move on to the next step. IF you choose to denman, it is crucial that you brush "up and away" from your scalp to finish so you don't get flat-top (hair stuck to your head and no root curl).

4) Lean to one side over your sink. Scrunch in palmfuls of water lovingly and tenderly upward into your hair. Lean to the other side and do the same thing. I add in something Rudee doesn't do, which is I lean upside down and do more water this way. I feel this helps ensure that every part of my head is saturated, since I find it hard to get at my crown underlayers just leaning to the side.

At this point, your hair will be thoroughly dripping. Gently bring yourself to an upright position. Now, I scrunch in my gel (to one side, to the other side, upside down). I use a good bit since the hair is so wet. I then take my Curls Like Us cloth, and while upside down, I scrunch out water until the towel is basically all wet (I try and get out a lot of water in this step to reduce dry time and help encourage curl shrinkage). Finally, I apply a last little blob of gel (while still upside down) to my hair, so that any gel that was removed by the towel has been replaced.

Cliffnotes of my own way of doing it: Shower, leave in, curl creme (optional), palmfuls of water to one side, palmfuls of water to the other side, palmfuls of water upside down, become upright and fix part, gel to one side, gel to the other side, gel upside down, Curls Like Us water removal, a little bit more gel upside down.

That probably sounds a bit overwhelming. But really, it only takes me a few more minutes than my old routines did, and I love the results of this method so that I'm more than willing to spend a few extra minutes on it. If you haven't watched it yet, go watch Rudee's video. Very instructive and a good starting point from which to tweak things if you feel the need to. Really the thing I change is I don't Denman brush and I use a bit more water.

This method is really really easy to generalize to any product combo. Just remember to put in your no-hold stuff first, super soak, then apply your holding product(s). Super soaking doesn't affect my drying time because I use the Curls Like Us cloths (great product, HIGHLY recommend).

My hair from today using Jasmine's Babassu Butter Cream as my leave in, super soaking, and Kinky Curly Curling Custard as my jelly/gel (hold product). Thanks to Rudee's method, I'm getting used to hair days like these! Click to enlarge to see the clumpy goodness (well, it's clumpy for me. I suppose other curlies will look at this and say what clumps?! The point is that its way clumpier than what it would be without Super Soaking!)

Jasmine's Bath and Beauty Products

Another small company success story in the making! Jasmine's Bath and Beauty Products, a small company which sells everything from facial scrubs to lotions to perfumes to hair products, is quickly becoming a must-try line on naturallycurly.com (read the thread here).

The tragedy is that there are currently only 2 hair products which are silicone free. These are the Shea Butter Conditioning Cream Rinse/Leave-In Conditioner and the Babassu Butter Cream Organic Conditioner. They both come in 4oz, 8oz, and 16oz sizes. Each product also comes with enough scent options to boggle your mind. I urge you all, if you order, to write in your order comments that you want more silicone-free hair stuff! These products are just too good. I dream of a Jasmine's jelly, gel, curl enhancer, more rinse outs, more leave ins, deep treatments, etc that are silicone free!

The Shea Butter Conditioning Cream is a nice, versatile little conditioner. I've tried it as a rinse out and as a component of a homemade deep treatment. The deep treatment recipe included:
1 tbsp Olive Oil
1 tbsp. Curl Junkie Curl Rehab
1 tbsp. Shea Butter Conditioning Cream
1 tsp. Coconut Oil
10 drops of jojoba oil
Combine all ingredients in a bowl, mix well, apply to wet hair. Leave on as long as you want (I did it overnight in a plop).

That deep treatment made my hair feel so soft! I used one part Curl Rehab to one part Shea Butter Conditioner because I wanted the thick substance of the Rehab to give the mix some density, while I wanted to see what the Shea Butter Conditioner had to offer in terms of moisture. I think it was a very successful combo. Soft, moisturized curls the next day.

I read on curltalk that many curlies were getting wow results from using this as a rinse out. Phrases like "it melts my tangles" were used frequently! I can't say that I had this experience. It didn't have as much slip as I like (I like a lot of slip, though, so take that with a grain of salt), and I had to work it through. BUT, don't count it out yet! I rinsed it all out because I'm not a big fan of the scent I got (Summer Melon--it's just too strong for my nose to handle), so I didn't want to have that scent linger on me all day. So after not liking the scent and having less than perfect slip, you'd think I wouldn't be contemplating my next order of the stuff. WRONG! Once I rinsed it out, my hair felt fantastic. Probably the best I've ever felt it in the shower. My hair is straight in the shower, but it curled right up for this stuff. It rinsed cleanly, but left me feeling like my hair was moisturized and really truly ready for styling. I will definitely continue to use this, and will re-order (in a different scent). I can live without the perfect amount of slip for this stuff.

The Babassu Butter Cream conditioner is a very cool little product. The texture of it is what really intrigues me. Most leave-ins (I should clarify. This is meant, according to the website, as a pre-poo treatment or as a post-poo conditioning masque. I call it a leave in because that's how many are using it with success) feel like watered down conditioners to me (because often times, that's exactly what they are). This stuff feels very very different from anything I've used. The texture reminds me more of an expensive facial cream than a conditioner. It's almost comparable to Curl Rehab, but Curl Rehab still has that watery translucence to it to me that this stuff does not. This stuff is thick, rich, and opaque.

I got the Mango Papaya scent. Much better than the Summer Melon. It's light and fruity. Still not my favorite product scent I've ever experienced, but there are so many other scent options that I don't mind exploring all the options with future orders.

This stuff is fantastic as a leave in. Really great curl formation, minimal frizz, and it holds up great all day. I've used it with Aura Naturelle Hypoallergenic Gel (from Sally's) and with Herbal Essence's Body Envy Gel. I like the results better with Body Envy. Don't have any theories as to why at this point, I just get much softer curls from that combination.

I used about 3-4 two finger scoop fulls of this stuff, raked through like a leave in and scrunched a bit like a curl cream. Very simple to use. Distributes very well. I use a comparable amount of this stuff as I would with any other leave in/curl creme. Topped it off with a gel (scrunched in about 3 dimes worth, then scrunched with Curls Like Us cloth, then applied a last little bit of gel) and then diffused

I'll let the pictures speak for themselves. Click to enlarge

Super Easy Moisture Deep Treatment and Bioterra Gel Review

I've been doing so much experimenting lately! I'm just bursting with things to say and review, so this shall be a two part post.

Super Easy Moisture Deep Treatment
Olive oil, Curl Junkie Curl Rehab, and Jojoba oil left on overnight in wet hair in a plop. Can't get much easier than that! Most people with kitchens should have some extra virgin olive oil on hand, many curlies have already got Curl Junkie's Curl Rehab (fabulous rinse out, leave in, deep treatment, all purpose product!), and if you don't have jojoba oil in your arsenal, well you should. Of course, you can replace the curl rehab with any super moisturizing conditioner, and you could replace jojoba oil with your hair's favorite oil.

Personally, I'm a big big fan of jojoba oil. It's got a lot of really nice properties and it's a multi-purpose product. I get mine from the Vitamin Shoppe, but you can get it at any health food store that carries oils basically or online at any variety of places. It's very popular and common, so it shouldn't be difficult to come by. The bottle pictured is from the Vitamin Shoppe and is 100% pure (ideal). 4 fl. oz should run about $8-10 without coupon usage. Jojoba oil comes from the jojoba plant (which is native to Arizona). The oil comes from the plant's seeds. Unlike your typical plant oils, jojoba oil is extremely similar to natural sebum (fatty moisturizing oil) produced by humans. This means that an enormously wide portion of the population can use it successfully. Also, for those who think they can't use oil in their hair, fear not. It's actually a wax ester, not an oil! It's anti-bacterial, and has been shown to prevent the growth of some known acne-causing bacteria. It is a stable oil, and will not oxidize or become rancid. It is very moisturizing, and can be used daily. It will remove makeup easily because it's a carrier oil. Honestly, I just slather it on my sensitive, eczema ridden skin after my morning shower and before I go to bed. It's a fabulous all natural moisturizer which is non-greasy and absorbs well, especially if your skin is dry. Jojoba oil has completely replaced lotions for me. The jojoba oil will not evaporate like water based lotions, so it gives you all day moisture while your skin drinks it in. Perfect for winter dry skin! It has also replaced lip balm. Just take a couple drops and smooth it on my lips daily. Because it's a carrier oil, meaning that you can use it in the Oil Cleansing Method of treating acne. In addition to all that, because it's like sebum, it's excellent for moisturizing hair. Another application is as a scalp rub to help combat dry scalp The whole point of the CG method is to avoid stripping your hair of the natural oils (aka sebum) that it needs to look and be healthy, so why not give it a boost with an oil that biologically mimics sebum? Sounds like a no-brainer to me! So there's my spiel about jojoba oil and why everyone should try it.

On to the actual topic!

Recipe for the moisture DT:
2 tbsp. Curl Rehab (or your own super moisturizing conditioner)
2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
15 drops of jojoba oil

Stir these ingredients together in a bowl. Wet your hair complete until soaking and squeeze out some water so you don't make a mess. Glop on the mixture liberally. Concentrate especially on your dry areas (for me, it's my canopy that always needs extra TLC) and the length, but certainly get everywhere. I combed it through with a wide toothed comb to prevent tangles in the morning, but this is up to you. I then plopped my hair, with everything still in my hair of course, into a long sleeve t-shirt. A satin bonnet or any other method of holding in the heat from your head will do, but I prefer the plop because it will stay on my head all night. Go to sleep and let the goodness of moisture soak into your dehydrated winter locks!

The next morning, my hair was mostly dry but still wet in some places. It curled up a ton in the plop overnight. I hopped in the shower, washed with Deva No Poo (still loving this!), conditioned with GVP Conditioning Balm, got out of the shower, raked/scrunched in some Curl Rehab, and applied Biotera Styling Gel via scrunching. Which brings me to the second part of this post!

Biotera Styling Gel
Love it so far. It can be found at Sally's for $6.49 (without the beauty card deal) for 13.5 fl. oz, or you can get a liter for only $10 (and they frequently put this size on sale). Very economical stuff. Biotera also makes a CG curl creme which I picked up as well. There is also a styling glaze, but I see no use for something which will not enhance curl or hold curl in its place! I found this gel to be super duper easy to distribute. It glides in, and is just liquidy enough that you can rake, scrunch, or anything you want. I've found that it's better to err on the side of too much. It takes a healthy application to get good, lasting hold. I'd call this medium hold. On my past shoulder length hair, I've been using several quarter sized puddles. Still, with it being available in cheap liter size, this is definitely a no guilt for globbing it in product! It had minimal crunch factor for me, but there was some. I like crunch; it reminds me that the gel is working, so this was no problem at all to me. Very easy to scrunch out. My hair just seemed to clump right up upon application, which is fairly rare for my hair. It felt great going in, and if I do say so myself, the results looked pretty good too!

So here are the results of both parts of the post. This is my hair the morning after deep treating with olive oil, Curl Rehab, and jojoba oil and after styling it with Biotera Styling Gel. I love the volume and curl shrinkage I got, which just goes to show that moisture in winter is so key! Weekly deep treatments are a must for me!

So Conflicted!

I bought DevaCurl No Poo about a week ago. My hair just wasn't feeling good lately with using cheapo conditioners like Suave and VO5 (I tried about 5 different varities). Also, I ran out of my CURLS Coconut Sublime conditioner, which I had been using to cowash. I don't think I'll reorder this one. It didn't turn out to be as moisturizing as promised, and it wasn't an effective cowash. Just didn't leave my hair and scalp feeling clean. It's a nice product, don't get me wrong. But it would be better suited to someone with more moisturized hair than what I have. My hair is consistently dry and needs some serious moisture power!

I had a coupon for ULTA and since I didn't need any makeup, I decided I've give it a go. My stylist uses the Deva line in her salon, so it's been on my hair before, but since someone else was doing the scrubbing, I didn't really know what it felt like going through my hair. I know that I do get nice results from being styled with Deva, so I figured it'd be worth a try.

I feel conflicted about it because I do not like the business practices of Lorraine Massey. Specifically, she was unprofessional in handling the minor crisis that went along with the addition of mystery ingredients into a new formulation of the One-C conditioner. She sent out messages to the naturallycurly.com community that were vague and filled more with curly puns than actual answers about the formulation change. Also, she was rude to a beloved member of naturallycurly, username Struttswife, real name Tiffany Anderson, who is a talented stylist and excellent resource to curlies everywhere, on Twitter.

However, the No Poo sort of speaks for itself. I can fault the founder of the line, but I can't fault the product. I love the consistency, the smell, the slip, the moisture, everything. Obviously, it's a bit on the pricey side ($17.95 for a 12oz bottle), but with some thrifty shopping and/or use of coupons, you can get it for less. The cheapest I've found online is at this website, which has reasonable shipping costs. Deva can also be found at ULTA stores, and if you look around online, you can usually find some printable coupons to take with you to the store.

No Poo has a nice, thick, rich consistency. It has peppermint in it, and that smell definitely comes through. It also smells floral to me. It's not a heavy scent, but not light either. It didn't linger on me. The peppermint makes your scalp tingle, and it made my hair and scalp feel clean but well conditioned. My hair is usually fairly straight in the shower, but it curls right up after washing with this stuff. I've been using this stuff daily for a week and it's been great. No complaints. I will be picking up Angell tomorrow because I suspect that my beloved LA Looks Sports Gel has been drying me out a bit.

I'm taking a trip to Sally's tomorrow and another trip to ULTA (to use another coupon on another product since they don't allow you to use more than one coupon per checkout!) to pick up..well a lot. I'm looking to try Angell from Deva (which I'll get from ULTA). Then from Sally's, I want to give Biotera Styling Gel a try. I may also pick up Biotera Curl Creme while I'm there. Rumor has it that Sally's sometimes has satin pillowcases, so I'll look for that too. I also want to try the Aura Cherry Almond Bark conditioner. I also need to get another bottle of my GVP Conditioning Balm as I'm about to finish off my second bottle of that lovely stuff. Such is the life of a PJ.

Cliffnotes: Despite the questionable professionalism of the Deva founder, the product speaks for itself and has given me excellent results this week. No Poo and I have been getting along swimmingly. I'll be trying Angell soon. I also have a huge Sally's shopping list!

By the way, Happy Curly New Year!