Natural Hair #8: Spiral Rod Curls using Hot Curlers

Well, it's that time of year when I feel the need to see how my hair holds up in a blown out and curled state. I know many naturals refrain from using a lot of heat on their hair to reduce heat damage, but I've been doing this for years and never experience heat damage with the right types of products for my hair type.  For this hair styling escapade, I decided to apply Liquid Lanolin on wet hair as my heat protectant and blow dried my hair with my hand held drier on high heat...yes I said HIGH heat, but no worries or heat damage.

My hair gets really straight and can easily be worn without further heat manipulation, but I wanted some curls so I whipped out my SUPER OLD 1" barrel Gold-n-Hot hair curlers; and YES, the curlers work like new.  Before starting the curling process, I applied ULI pressing wax to each section of hair as an additional heat protectant.

Day 1: Curls are soft and bouncy.  No product build up. No greasy feeling.

During the time frame of this curl experience, the weather in Alabama was cooler and rainy due to Tropical Storm Karen.  This also provided an excellent test to see how my hair would hold up in high humidity.  Although I wasn't outside while it was raining nor even got wet while sporting my curls, the moisture from the air can sometimes add frizz.  However, the weather didn't significantly impact or distort my curls. Even my high impact exercising had relatively minimal impact.  My theory is that after I worked out at the gym, I would apply a nickel size amount of Liquid Lanolin around the perimeter of my head, then brush from root to the beginning of the curl.  This helped smooth out my roots.  Then I tied a satin scarf around my head to hold my roots in a straight position while the scarf absorbed any moisture. I  removed the scarf before bed and used the pineapple method.  I did NOT use any rollers at night to maintain my curls.  I wanted to see how my curls would fall and flow during the duration of this style.

Day 6: This is how my hair looked after applying Liquid Lanolin and scarf to reset roots.

Take a look at my video demonstration below.

Natural Hair #7: Defining Curls with Eco Styler and Liquid Lanolin

I've tried an assortment of gels and creams, but there is one that is a keep sake in my hair arsenal; that is good 'ole Eco Styler gel.  I started using Eco Styler back in 2009 after hearing about it from some other Naturalistas on YouTube.  The Eco Styler combined with Castor Oil created massive curl definition for me and provided great hold.  But in this "How To" video, I decided to try a different combination.  In my past videos, you will notice the use of Liquid Lanolin for many of my styles, so I decided that I should test it out with the Eco Styler gel.  

You will notice in the video that I did not rinse out the Alba Botanica Hawaiian Coconut Milk conditioner.  My reasoning behind this was that I felt the conditioner would help reduce the crunchy feeling that I get when using gels alone.  I got this idea when I first started wearing Wash-N-Goes using Kinky Curyly products.  I would use the Kinky Curly Curling Custard and the Knot Today Leave-In Conditioner along with Castor Oil to seal in moisture.  Using those 3 products would always leave my hair soft and well defined for the duration of the style (usually 7-10 days).  


When I first started applying the liquid lanolin on top of the Alba Botanica Hawaiian Coconut Milk conditioner, I couldn't tell that the lanolin was actually on my hair.  All I could feel was the conditioner.  As a result, I added a little more of the lanolin to each section and focused on working it onto the ends of my hair.  Even when I began applying the Eco Styler with Olive Oil gel (level 10 hold), I could not tell whether the gel was on my hair.  However, I continued to apply and shingle as usual...and hoped for good results. 

After the application process, I lightly misted my hair with water to give my hair concoction a boost and then allowed my hair to air dry.  In the pictures at the end of my video, you will see how my hair progressed from Day 1 through Day 7.  I must say that my results were AWESOME.  Throughout the week, my hair remained soft and well defined.  Even my gym escapades did not jeopardize my curl definition nor create excessive frizz.  I didn't have to mist my hair with water until Day 5 to reshape the style, but really could have reshaped without it.  The Liquid Lanolin and Eco Styler gel combo is a winner in my book!

Day 1

This is how my hair looked on Day 1 after styling.  Although it is still wet in this picture, my curl definition is visible.

Day 7

By Day 7, my hair still maintained a lot of curly definition.  I decided to switch the look up by doing a simple up-do.  

Below are a list of highlights about the products I used: 

1. There is a wide variety of Eco Styler gels.  I've only used the Olive Oil formula which is a level 10 hold.  
2. Eco Styler gels can be purchased from stores like, WalMart, Sally's Beauty Supply, WalGreens, and CVS.
3. A 32 fl oz container costs less than $5.00.
4. Liquid lanolin can be purchased online.  I actually purchased a 4 fl oz bottle from the Vitamin Shoppe for around $8.00.  
5. Eco Styler does NOT contain Alcohol.
6. Eco Sytler DOES contain Hydrolyzed Wheat Protein for those of you who may be sensitive to this form of protein.

Check out my interview here-->My Hair Story with Black Hair Information