Protein, Protein, Protein -- My Favorites!

Fine hair usually LURVES protein--and my hair is no exception. My hair loves any form of protein it can get in any way it arrives--in short I can hit it with major protein shots constantly and it never goes hard or straw like.

In honor of protein I thought I would post about my favorite products that have protein in them in high enough concentrations that my hair notices. A lot of products have protein--but for my hair, that needs a ton of it , I notice markedly more spiral curls and ringlet's the more protein I use. Animal, vegetable, whatever--my hair doesn't care--it wants it all! It is a glutton for this stuff!

Let's start off with protein treatments:

Nexxus Emergencee-- to say my hair adores this is a dramatic understatment. I use it in the shower at least 2x a week. I'll do my low poo and then use this and leave on for about 5 minutes (sometimes 10 if I'm shaving) and then rinse it out and use another rinse out conditioner left on for a couple of minutes. When I use this I am guaranteed spirals and ringlet's and tight curls. Links at the top.

Spiral Solutions Repairing Protein Treatment -- this is my other favorite protein treatment. The beauty of this one is that it can be used as a rinse out condish for me -- I don't need to add anything else! I really like this one with heat (usually on weekends) but I use it during the week too as both a rinse out and a leave in. I don't combine it with other protein heavy products because it is enough on its own. the smell on this one is divine--chocolate latte.

Curl Junkie Curl Fix -- I love the smell of this conditioner treatment. Although not solely a protein treatment it does have quite a few proteins in good concentrations. I like to use this about 2x a month with heat. This is how it works best for me. I've tried it as a leave in and my hair felt producty and got frizzy.









Moving on to rinse out conditioners that are heavy on the protein:

Hairveda Moist Condition PRO -- this is my favorite protein conditioner. Although short on ingredients this one really gets the job done with protein. It is not heavy so those with fine hair don't need to worry it will over condition you. You can use this as a leave in if you like -- works superbly for that as well. The cost is very reasonable although it can take a little while to get your product so order with plenty of time to spare.

Jasmines Shea Butter Conditioner -- Another excellent conditioner with protein. My hair likes this one as rinse out or leave in but I find it best as a rinse out. I think it's heavy enough to satisfy some of the more dry customers but not so heavy to make me flat and limp. Another good choice!

Tigi Catwalk Oatmeal and Honey Conditioner -- This one smells like cake batter or vanilla cookies. It's very thick and I find it very rich. I could not use it daily as I would end up over conditioned. It leaves my hair very soft. You can get this in litre size at Ulta's sale and my local grocery store (Von's) has it on sale quite frequently. If you prefer you can order it from amazons subscribe and save as that's another very inexpensive way to do it (this is the way I do it)--link on top left.

Jason Thin to Thick Conditioner -- although this smells like Grandpa's medicine cabinet in a very unappealing menthol way it really does work nice for those that like protein. You can get it on iherb for a good price (coupon code is at the top of my blog) or through vitacost or similar. I found it way too expensive in stores ($13!). Although it's not my favorite it does make my hair thicker, provide more volume, and get those spirals going due to the protein.

Mop C Hydrating Conditioner -- This is a very heavy conditioner. If your hair needs protein and loves a very rich, thick condish then give this one a try. We also like the Hydrating shampoo (it is protein free) but the condish is really moisturizing.

And, lastly, leave in options:

Terax Life Drops -- this is my top choice for a product specific to leave in's that has protein. It is fabulous and very light--will not weigh down your hair at all (in fact those that like a heavy leave in--this is not for you as its really light). It's not the cheapest product out there but it certainly rates very high for me. I love this stuff!

There are other options--I've chosen the ones I am most attached to and that I feel provide the level of protein that I require (high!). Leave a note if there is something else you found that you like! I'm also always happy to have guest bloggers so if any of you would like to post feel free!

THE POO REVIEW III

More poo reviews from SolidGold (from naturallycurly.com)

You're getting three reviews for the price of two today!

Curl Junkie Daily Fix Cleansing Conditioner


About $19 for 12oz from various online resellers



Ingredients: Water, Cetyl Alcohol, Cetearyl Alcohol, Behentrimonium Methosulfate, Cetrimonium Chloride, Cocamidopropyl Betaine, PEG -7 Olivate, Guar Hydroxypropytrimonium Chloride, Tetrasodium EDTA, Hydrolyzed Oat Flour, Mentha Piperita (Pepperment) Leaf Extract, Matricaria Recuitita (Chamomile) Flower Extract, Yucca Leaf Extract, Urtica Dioica (Nettle) Leaf Extract, Melissa Officinalis (Melissa) Leaf Extract, Polysorbate 60, Equisetum Arvense (Horsetail) Leaf Extract, Tocopheryl Acetate, Phenoxyethanol, Caprylyl Glycol, Fragrance.



This product is not technically a poo, but it is a cleanser, and it may be a game-changer for me. I have never gotten conditioner-washing to work for me: my hair never felt clean after and always felt weighed down. But this! This product cleans like a shampoo and conditions like a daily conditioner. My hair felt clean and full of volume after I used it for the first time. I can’t believe my thick, finicky hair could use one product for washing/conditioning! I’m willing to pay the retail price and shipping for this one, so it has to be good!



SpiralSolutions Gentle Cleansing Cream

http://www.etsy.com/shop/SpiralSolutions

No image or price information yet--coming soon!

I had the privilege of trying out a sample as the mixtress was developing the product, and I loved it! The GCC cleaned my hair really well without stripping. It had a very light lather and mild scent. All things I like! This product is currently only available at the etsy link above and I am waiting to purchase it because I liked it so much. It definitely compares to Jessicurl’s Hair Cleansing Cream in functionality, and I think the price is about the same. Again, if I’m willing to pay the full retail price and shipping, it’s gotta be good. Get it if you can!



Mop C System Hydrating Shampoo

About $15 for 10oz from various online sources

Ingredients: Water (Aqua), Sodium Myristoyl Sarcosinate, Cocamidopropyl Hydroxysultaine, Glycerin (*Vegetable Oil), Sodium PCA, Ethylene Glycol Stearate, Phenoxyethanol, Ascorbyl Palmitate (*Vitamin C), Sodium Ascorbyl Phosphate (*Vitamin C), Citrus Aurantium Dulcis (Orange) Fruit Extract (3), Mangifera Indica (Mango) Fruit Extract (3), Citrus Grandis (Grapefruit) Fruit Extract (3), Psidium Guajava Fruit Extract, Ribes Nigrum (Black Currant) Fruit Extract, Vitis Vinifera (Grape) Seed Extract, Polyquaternium 10,**Myristamine Oxide, Disodium EDTA, Citric Acid (*Sweet Potato), Citrus Medica Limonum (Lemon) Peel Oil, Citrus Aurantium Dulcis (Orange) Oil, Geranium Maculatum Oil, Ricinus Communis Oil Extract, Mentha Viridis (Spearmint) Leaf Oil, Citrus Aurantifolia (Lime) Oil, Zingiber Officinale (Ginger) Root Oil,**Methylparaben,**Propylparaben. *Source.**Food Grade. (3) Certified Organic by Quality Assurance International.



This shampoo is a thick, opaque, creamy cleanser. The scent is a pleasant citrusy mint that seems to be typical of MOP C products. I was afraid it would be too moisturizing for me, but I had no complaints after the first few uses. After a couple more uses, I didn’t feel like it cleaned as well as I wanted. I’m not sure what to attribute that feeling to; it could be the various other products I used and not a fault of this particular poo. This product ranks somewhere in the middle for me—I would purchase it if I didn’t have anything I liked better, but there are several other products that I would choose over this.

Spiral Solutions Firm Hold Gel

SSFHG

Another unbelievable product. I got mine on Friday and tried it yesterday with the SS Curl Enhancing Jelly. A-M-A-Z-I-N-G results. These two products turned my 2C/3A hair a solid 3A with a 3 b bottom. Even after my cut!

At first I wasn't sure about the smell since I've not really smelled a product with a similar smell. Kind of herbally but sweet and just a hint of floral. I was a bit confounded. However once you get it on your hands to put in your hair the smell is scrumptious and rich. It feels elegant to me. Extremely unique. The Curl Enhancing Jelly has the same smell and I love that they layer over each other. The smell doesn't linger but just lightly remains to the point that I kept thinking something smelled so good all day. I love this smell!!

It's thick and gel like--rub it in your hands and like the SS CEJ it spreads easily into your hair.

What I did: Used Sweet Nature by Eddie Low Poo (cannot wait until Spiral Solutions low poo comes out!) and then Spiral Solutions Repairing Protein for about 8 minutes or so. Rinsed and used a nickel sized of the Deeply Decadent Deep Treatment as a rinse out. I got out of the shower and put in a small pea sized of the Repairing Protein as leave in followed by the Curl Enhancing Jelly and the FHG. Amazing results--root spiral's and ringlet's galore. No need to use any clips as my hair layed perfectly. It even looked good after I was out in the rain and wind to go get pizza! Awesome!

The Firm Hold Gel has a great hold--it dries crunchy when used with the jelly but scrunches out extremely well. It's not hard to SOTC like it is for me with something like BRHG if I use too much.

I cannot tell you how much I am loving the Spiral Solutions products. There were new posts about an etsy company on naturallycurly.com and I went and scoped it out, even posted a question, but in the end didn't buy anything as I kept thinking I'm just gonna wait for more Spiral Solutions stuff to come out. I have never had a line where I've loved absolutely everything before. The closest is Curl Junkie where I like a lot of things. Between these two lines and a few outlier products I am one happy junkie!

Spiral Solutions Deeply Decadent Deep Treatment

DDDT

I admit it. I saw how thick this was and thought it would be impossible to get into my daughter's hair. In my hair possible since its so fine and thin I can make anything get in..I don't need slip. Imagine my surprise when not only did it go into T's hair easily but it took just 2 tsp to do one whole section of her hair (1/2 her head). That's amazing. If I told you how much we spend on conditioners for her due to how much we use you'd be flabbergasted. That's how much it takes just to get a comb through T's tangles which are legendary.

The slip on this puppy is just astonishing. The comb glides through like a hot knife through butter--seamlessly, effortlessly. Even my daughter asked what I was using (normally she just rolls her 13 year old eyes and does the teenage sigh that says I in no way could be as cool as she is LOL). Bravo!

This can be used as a rinse out or DT. For my hair it is so moisturizing that I would only need to DT about every 2 weeks (vs. PT every week minimum). For Tahia's hair we would use this weekly especially in dry times like the fall when we get Santa Ana's. It worked just as well as a rinse out with her when we tried that.

This DT is rich, thick, and extremely moisturizing. I think every texture/type of hair would love this stuff--on this we could all agree it's a definite winner! Add that to the chocolate caramel latte scent--pure HEAVEN in your hair! Makes me want to run to Starbucks for a carmel machiatto!


P.S. This stuff comes in a jar. NO WAY for this to be bottled...way too thick. Think Aubrey Organics products times 5!

Spiral Solutions Repairing Protein Treatment

"The PT"

So as a fine haired wavy/curly I spend A LOT of time looking for good products with lots o protein. My hair lurves it..just lurves it. Sometimes I cannot get enough. I will often use it in low poo, conditioner, leave in and curl enhancer or gel. My hair does not seem to get overloaded (it got overloaded recently with Panthenol but not protein).

This protein treatment feels like a conditioner and smells like fresh natural ingredients. Once again the fragrances used are not overwhelming. It is pretty thin for a conditioner but that does make it spread easily. I give all of my DT/PT's the drip test--first time I use them I see how long it takes for them to drip through my plastic shower cap under my R2D2 hard hat Ionic dryer. This one: Just over 3 minutes. PASS!

The reason I do a drip test is because products where there is mostly water will start dripping like crazy right away. I've found that they tend not to work as well as a DT/PT..they might work fine for conditioning but NOT for the sit under R2 type. I left this one for about 20 minutes on low heat. I will say it did itch--I am not sure why except it is thinner maybe? None of the ingredients show up on my watch list (I'm allergic to papaya and sensitive to a few other things--although they rarely show up in hair products!). In any case it wasn't that bad and it went away within about 10 minutes.

When I took the cap off I found all the product had absorbed and nothing was left in the cap. Yippee!

After rinsing I did the stretch test and noticed my hair had noticably more elasticity (what I was going for) so I declare this PT to work awesomely!

The nice thing about this one is that it doesn't leave your hair hard like some other Protein Treatments--so it's more pleasing in the feeling department.

If you have a need to do a PT then this one should be placed at the top of your list.

Spiral Solutions Curl Enhancing Jelly

Curl Enhancing Jelly

This stuff is the BOMB DIGGITY. MAC DADDY O. The BEST STUFF EVER!

Although not long on ingredients this jelly is long on greatness! It is one of the best curl enhancers I've ever used. It's not sticky and doesn't leave residue on your hands. You can use it with a leave in or without (my preference: with a leave in). You can use it on top of other curl enhancers mixed with a hard or medium hold gel AND if you add a bit of water (dollop in the hand + bit of water..not much!) you can scrunch it in and have a shot at 2nd day hair. Keep in mind I rarely get 2nd day hair but this *almost* did it!

It's not heavy and will not weigh down fine haired folks. It is very enhancing--giving a nice boost to your waves, wurls, or curls and also providing for a bit of definition as well. My hair is left shiny with very even curls.

Love it! Those who like jellies or gels instead of curl creme's will love this but for those of you that use cream's only you really ought to try this---I think you'll like it--since cream's are heavier just either mix it with a leave in or add it over a leave in.

Smells good as well. A TOP choice for enhancing your curls!

Spiral Solutions Emollience Hair Butter

Emollience

This is a fabulous butter - it works great to Scrunch Out the Crunch (SOTC) or to scrunch in mid day for a pick up. It's a butter so you'll need to emulsify it in your hands a bit. Your hands will thank you!

It is not heavy and oily - it sinks into your hair and hands without residue-leaving soft skin and hair with a healthy sheen without frizz! I use it after I've diffused and SOTC to get rid of the few flyaway and frizzy pieces. Just rub between your fingers or palms (depends on how much you need!) and then gently scrunch it in.

As a body product this stuff rocks. I rarely find a butter that immediately absorbs into my skin--most tend to sit for a while and I end up being ultra careful of my clothes and bedding so as not to get oil stains on them. With Emollience I don't have to worry--it's all in right away. This stuff also works good on your cuticles!

I used this on my daughter's ends and my son's coarser hair on his nape -- worked great for both of them.

As with most butters a little dab will do ya' but don't worry if you go a bit overboard..just rub it into your hands or body!

Enjoy!

Spiral Solutions Products

Spiral Solutions is the brainchild of naturallycurly.com Runnerchicki. She has been part of our community for some time and saw a need to create products that would work great and be based on natural ingredients full of things that are good for your hair.

By way of introduction here's some info from the owner of Spiral Solutions:

"Something that I haven't mentioned before, but I think it is important for people to know: I DO NOT use pre-made bases. Ever. I created each and every formula myself and I mix them myself. I even make my own version of Seamollient (it's a trademarked product) so I can get the exact texture and consistency that I want. I select my own herbs, mix to my own ratios, infuse my own oils...you get the idea. I even make my own labels, although I am not sure I will continue to do that for much longer!"

It's also important to know that, like most small businesses, it's going to take a little while to work out all the kinks. Because her products are so awesome we all descended like a swarm of grasshoppers devouring everything in our way (what can I say..we curly girls/guys are SERIOUS about our product! LOL). So the products sold out within hours -- while that is a great testament to the quality and efficacy of the products it can be a bit of a bummer for those of us who need to wait a bit. However, like the most fine wine you have to wait a while but when you get the goods -- OO LA LA!

Here's the skinny on the recent shortage:

"I am very sorry to make people wait for product. I know that is frustrating, so I am going to make it my priority to keep my out of stocks to a minimum. HOWEVER, this will not happen overnight. I'm not sitting on my tail...it just takes time for a single woman operation. It will happen...Today, I am keeping it simple: turn an amazing blend of herbs and jojoba oil into a blissful concoction. I love doing this because it is relaxing. It takes me most of the day because I infuse very slowly, but it makes my house smell heavenly!"

As you can imagine a one woman operation (she has a little help from Rambo her adorable super cute little doggie! Pic above!) takes some time to coordinate and set up--so please put on your patience cap. I PROMISE the end result will be worth it!

You will be getting products designed from scratch by another curly -- no base, no hastily thrown together product, no marketing hype. Just honest to goodness outstanding products that will quickly become your HG go-to's!

Patience is a virtue grasshopper!

Products reviews are next so stay tuned! Here is her etsy website which you should go right away to and bookmark! http://www.etsy.com/shop/SpiralSolutions