Styling products?

[jonquil]

Hi! I'm new to this and have just started to cut out sulfates and cones. I was wondering if anyone has any good recommendations for styling products that are cg and you can buy in oz? I esp would like curl creams. And to make it harder, I can't buy anything online and can't afford anything too pricey

Atm I'm using V05 Strawberry Moisture Milk for cowash, Australian organics balancing conditioner and a baby shampoo for a low-poo. I'm also using Garnier Fructis Style Endurance 24hr Gel which is pretty good, but I'm hoping theres something better, esp since I miss my tigi curls rock.

I have fine, apl, 2a hair with 3a on the bottom if that helps. Thanks!

[Feralcurls]

How do you like your hair to feel after the product? Also what are you trying to do with the product?

Mop C Curl Defining Cream gives a fairly soft look after you scrunch it out. Is totally CG.

Samy Get Curls gives a crisper hold. Has a PEG Cone (should wash out).

Matrix Curl Defining Elixir gives a crisp firm hold. Has PEG Castor oil & a PEG cone.

KMS Curl Up gives a softer hold. Is very expensive! No cones but lanolin which might not wash out easily. Have just rubbed some on my hands and it washes off there fairly easily.Lovely smell!

I low poo so am not too scared about using some cones btw. But it is up to you how strict you want to be. Cones are really only bad in that they take a bit more washing to get out and SLS dries out curly hair too much. It is the SLS that is bad rather than the cones.

[jonquil]

Thanks, I'll check them out. Where can you get samy get curls? I haven't seen that brand around before.

I love having that crunch and then scrunching it all out to get lots of soft curls, so maybe the Mop-C one is right for me. Does it do much for frizz? Its a pity the good products are so expensive, $30 here and there adds up very quickly!

[Feralcurls]

Samy is found in Priceline. It isn't bad and isn't super expensive.

I found the best thing for frizz was having my hair in good condition, lots of moisturising. I did lots of Coconut Oil deep treatments at the beginning.

You could try Aloe Vera gel or KY lubricant (yes the personal lubricant!). I haven't found a CG serum as they all have cones in them. Jojoba oil isn't too bad either, just a tiny bit.

[Amda]

Welcome to the boards! I'm not familiar with any decent curl creams, but if you're a fan of Tigi, their Foxy Curls Extreme Curl Mousse is fantastic. I've found it a tad drying, but nothing a little extra conditioning hasn't been able to fix.

At the lower end, price-wise, Fruit of the Earth Aloe Vera Gel can be found at Priceline and is great, particularly for winter (it actually reactivates after being exposed to moisture, which is handy for coping with rain and fog).

[jonquil]

I found the samy get curls but the description said it had silicone in it. The ingredient list did say it was a peg one (that's water soluble right?) but I got all confused and left it.

I did get some aloe vera gel but its Thursday Plantation so I hope its ok - woolies didnt seem to have the fruit of the earth one. It says its 97.5% aloe vera and I just guessed the rest of the % was just preservatives.

[Feralcurls]

Yep PEG means it washes out.

[curlywurlygurly]

I cannot get aloe gel to work for me - always dries me out, makes my hair like straw! you could look into the juuce kinky curly cream, no experience with it, have a sample just haven't tried it. You could ask for samples for a few different ones at hhwh or petra etc.

[jonquil]

Tried the aloe vera, it might be because I got the wrong one but it didn't seem to do much, although my hair was more shiny I think. It didnt dry my hair out but then I put it over my normal gel. Its a nice skin moisturiser so it wont go to waste if its no good for hair, lol.

[curlywurlygurly]

I know it can act like humectant so it might be a product you can only use on wet drizzly days. I've tried a few brands but I can never get it to work well (always crunchy and dry!).I too use it for my skin.

[jonquil]

Finally brought samy get curls; glad I waited since samy products are on sale this week at priceline Also grabbed a garnier conditioner - the volume restructure one - to try since it was cheap.

Hopefully one or the other will suit my hair; it seems atm if its not over-conditioned or too dry, it has too much or too less product; I can't win. But I'll figure it out eventually, lol.

[curlywurlygurly]

let me know how you find the volume reconstruct. I found it ok, on the light side. rotated it, so was fine.