Hey, beautiful people!  My hair has been in desperate need of a trim for a couple weeks now, so I decided to take advantage of the long holiday to finally do it.  There are a number of ways to trim, all involving the use of small sections.  I decided to trim my hair in its curly state in sections small enough for my extra wide Curlformers.  That way, I could trim and style all at the same time.  This was also a great time for me to try out the It's A 10 Miracle Leave-in that I have heard so much about.

Here is what I did:
(1) Deep conditioned overnight with Silk Dreams Vanilla Silk
(2) Washed hair with Dr. Woods Pure Black Soap
(3) Conditioned / detangled with Hairveda Moist Condition Pro

Because I wanted to test out how well the It's A 10 worked, I used just It's A 10 on the left side of my hair and It's A 10 plus Carol's Daughter Chocolat Smoothing Blow Dry Cream on the right side.

Before putting a curlformer on a section of hair, I would put on my leave-in(s), comb it through, and then stretched my hair  between two fingers to trim off the last 1/4 to 1/2 inch.  I was ok with trimming off this much because I haven't trimmed my hair since my big chop.  My goal was not to make my hair even.  I just wanted to get rid of the ends.  It took about an hour to put in my Curlformers because of the added trim step.  After putting in my Curlformers, I sat under the dryer for an hour, in my favorite dryer pose, until all of the curls were dry.

After taking out the Curlformers, my hair was was amazingly soft on both sides, but the curls had almost no hold.  The side with just It's A 10 had a little curl, but was mainly just poofy.  The It's A 10 + Carol's Daughter side held the curl for a about an hour or so before puffing up.  By the end of the day, all I had was a curly fro.  It was potentially cute, but not the look I was going for at the time.

I think this was the first time I've had my Curlformer set poof out.  Even my set with Oyin Hair Dew didn't poof out.  Next time, I think I want to try a mousse/wrap lotion for a firmer hold.

What do you use for your sets?

Hey, fellow HHJs!  Today I decided to try a Curlformer experiment and I think it was a success for a number of reasons.  First, I think I now know what product to use for my Curlformer set.  Two, I think I inadvertently figured out what to use for mini twists.

Ever since I decided to transition, I've tried to use more "natural" products, which meant I also began the hunt for a new setting lotion.  I used to use Motions Foaming Wrap Lotion or KeraCare Foam Wrap Set Lotion, but I wanted to see if I could find something else.  I tried Jane Carter Wrap and Roll, but it did not work for me.  I tried gel and that did not work either.  Then, since I'm now on a no-buy, I decided to look around the hair forum for suggestions of what else I could use from my product stash.  That is when I learned that some women use nothing, and a fellow HHJ on the forum suggested that I try curling cream.

Since it is winter, I used Oyin Hair Dew all over my hair because it is my staple winter leave-in.  Then, I added Jane Carter Curl Defining Cream to the left side only.  I really like the Oyin-only side.  It dried soft, but still straight.  It also dried faster than the Jane Carter side.  It probably has no real hold, but I was only using the Curlformers today to stretch my hair .

In fairness to the Jane Carter side, not all of the hair on that side dried before I took the Curlformers out, but some did so I could still do a comparison.  Those that did were also soft and had some sheen, but they were also slightly greasy.  Those that didn't dry were damp to almost soaking wet.  It was almost as if the Jane Carter kept them from drying.  On the upside, I twisted the wet ones and learned that Jane Carter makes a nice styler for medium-sized twists.

I'll probably try the Jane Carter again at some point, when I'm willing to sit under a hooded dryer or sleep in my Curlformers, to see if I can use it for hold when I want a long-lasting set.  I may even go back to a setting lotion with man-made chemicals.  Who knows.  In the meantime, Oyin Hair Dew will get the job done.

What do you use for Curlformer sets?

HAPPY SETTING!!