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!)
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