I bought a serum. Silicone-heaven/hell - Page 2

jennyfurrens · 04-27-2007, 08:41 AM

Well I've washed my hair, applied the citre shine under Herbal Essences SMU gel and waitiing for it to air dry. My hair was sooo mooth whilst brushing through the serum, seriously tangle free.

But as it's drying I see more and more hairs drying out from the curl, like splitting off clumps, so theres lots of frizz before the curl has dried. I remmeber this from using Fructis which contains amodimethicone. It could be ok once its fully dry, but I'm guessing it'll keep going like this and my hair will look awful when dry. Maybe my hair just doesnt like silicones at all. And if it doesnt, what am I going to use to fight humidity

I'm thinking this could be silicone hell.... and I wanted to go out for a drink tonight with my SO, but I can tell an awful hair day may be approaching...

1curlydoc · 04-27-2007, 11:10 PM

So...what's the verdict, jf? How did it turn out?

jennyfurrens · 04-28-2007, 09:38 AM

So it's end of day two after using the serum on wet hair.

Pros:
-When brushing through wet hair it was incredibly tangle free
- My hair feels very soft, like the sort of softness I only get from overconditioning, but without the fluffyness of overconditioning.

Cons:
- (This is a con for me, maybe not for others) It minimised volume, so I had quite a flat top. Whilst this made my hair look sleeker and smoother on top, it wasn't the sort of curls I like. As my hair is long it needs teh volume on top or I look like a cockerspaniel (y'know, wiht the flat top and big curly ears...)
- As it was drying a few hairs did split off from the clumps. So when fully dry, it wasnt as noticeable, but was still there. When I don't use serum, this doesn't happen, and I dont have any frizz until second day. Whilst this frizz hasnt gotten any worse on 2nd or 3rd day hair, thus proving that it does minimise frizz throughout the day, I don't like the frizz it gave me in the first place.

Overall:
I won't be using it again unless I want the sleek look for a particular occasion. My hair has never really worked well with silicone-heavy products. However, I do realise the benefits of silicones and may consider using gels or creams that have a silicone in them, and see how these work. But for a serum that is mainly just silicones, I think it was too much for me.

My hair didn't look bad, but it didn't look good. It ended up looking bland. Just 'non-descripit.' I didnt feel like I was having a bad hair day, but it wasn't necesarily a good one either.

Hope this was useful to everyone

pitgirl · 04-28-2007, 11:00 AM

Well we have to try these things.

I dont think I will ever not find something new to try even though I know what works already.

It's all because us curlies are so curious

jennyfurrens · 04-28-2007, 11:02 AM

Exactly

I still want to try products that contain silicones, but I think serums may be tooooo heavy for me. Although maybe I used too much? I will test this serum again soon I'm sure, but I want a guranteed good hair day when I wash next, so it'll be my old faithful routine for once! SOmetimes I experiment so much I forget how my hair can really look...

lazy loops · 04-28-2007, 12:47 PM

I think serums would be too heavy for me, mimicking how natural oils used straight make my hair feel & look, which is greasy & flat. Though moderation is key & it's so hard to find that perfect amount. --- Have you tried jojoba oil? I recently went back to this & found out my past bad experience was probably from using too much though I don't remember how many drops I was using. Now I find 3 drops can sometimes be not enough & 6 drops is too much, so I settle for 4 to 5.

I don't have a fear for methicone, simethicone, cyclomethicone, pheyltrimethicone, dimethicone, amodimethicone, or others if I'm missing any, & any combination of such with/without PEG or other ingredients.

They must end in -cone though, not -xane. And there are more -xane silicones than just cyclopentasiloxane, which I found out on accident not too long ago. The products I tried containing such silicones left my hair feeling dry & bumpy, pretty much immediately. I'm guessing they lifted the cuticle too far.

1curlydoc · 04-28-2007, 03:23 PM

Here's an idea for you jennyfurrens. After I read about your silicone experiment yesterday I decided to use my regular products but then scrunch out the crunch with some Ouidad shine glaze I had on the shelf (it's mostly cyclomethicone and dimethicone). I let my hair dry like normal but instead of scrunching with SIF which I usually use I scrunched with just a few drops of the shine glaze. My hair felt nice and soft and was quite frizz free. Maybe you could try using your serum that way.

Eilonwy · 04-29-2007, 12:00 AM

They may have changed the formula, but this product has a ninja cone in the ingredients (it doesn't actually end in -cone) and is basically a light serum. I used it without realizing that it was water-insoluble, and I liked it a lot. It smoothed my hair without weighing it down at all. I'm really prone to cone-buildup, though, so I stopped using it when I found out its Dark Secret. If you can't find that one, Pantene's other "comb-in treatments" are just like it, but in different colors. They're the ones that open like glue bottles (twist the cap and it rises, creating a hole).

jennyfurrens · 04-29-2007, 02:36 AM

Thanks for the suggestion curlydoc

Unfortunately, I've tried using serum on dry hair before and it just doesn't work. It automatically breaks up clumps into poofs. That's why I was hoping it would work on wet hair instead. But I guess if my hair is crunchy its not dry OR wet so I may try it next time a good hair day isn't essential, to see

I'm intrigued at these other cones that end in xane but arent cyclo-xane. What was the other cone eilonway?

pitgirl · 04-29-2007, 08:29 AM

I'm still going to post you some of that serum Jen. The few times I tried it I thought it was quite light compared to others.

Don't know if the ingreds reflect this.

miacurl · 04-29-2007, 05:47 PM

I am one of the rare few (I think rare!) who like silicones and I prefer the cyclopentisiloxane (sp?) one especially. Why? The c. cone does not weigh my hair down. If I regularly condition and DT and if the serum itself has oil in it (like OJON Shine Serum) my hair does splendidly with it. I find only 2 silicones work well. The c. cone and the amodimethicone. All others weigh my hair down much too much.

My hair is too big, too puffy, and too messy looking without any silicones. I have tried and tried and tried. Does not work without silicones. Even Lorraine Massey likes silicones--some--now. She said it herself in an interview. In the CG book, those pics of her were before her products. Looking at her hair now--using amodimethicone regluarly--her hair looks fabulous.

Eilonwy · 04-29-2007, 06:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jennyfurrens

I'm intrigued at these other cones that end in xane but arent cyclo-xane. What was the other cone eilonway?

It doesn't end in -xane, either. It's called Phenylpropyldimethylsiloxysilicate.

Here's the thread I wrote in Product Reviews: click