Shingling method using Gorilla Snot Hair Gel

These days, there are so many curling gels on the market offering those with natural hair a plethora of options.  I recently watched some fellow YouTubers demonstrate their application process using Gorilla Snot Hair Gel or Moco de Gorila.  I've been doing wash-n-goes using the shingling method for years using products like Kinky Curly, Uncle Funky's Daughter, Eco Styler Gel, and the list goes on (LITERALLY). So, it made me want to try this Gorilla Snot out for myself.

I purchased the Gorilla Snot Hair Gel at a local Walgreens for $2.99.  This gel comes in a few different hold/strength levels, so I picked level 9 out of 10.  I felt this would give me the hold I need without too much of a crunchy feeling or that helmet hair look after it dries.    Now keep in mind that this gel is used by various ethnicities, such as Hispanics or Latinos to create spike styles.  With that in mind, who would have guessed it would be suitable to maintain wash-n-goes of those of us with curly textures.

My impressions of the Gorilla Snot Hair Gel:

Display Look & Feel: The design of the container is cleverly funky yet very practical because it allows you to easily squeeze out the product due to the fact that the bottom of the container is also the lid.  This eliminates the need to turn the container upside down to get that last tiny weeny bit of product out.

Smell:  Very pleasant scent with a hint of lemon smell.

Cost:  $2.99 + tax....no further cost point analysis needed:-)

Gel Look & Feel:  This gel has a slime consistency.  It is sticky, but not as sticky as some other gels I've used.  As my hair was drying, I didn't have a sticky residue feeling on my face or neck, so that is a  plus.

Ingredients off the bottle: Water, PVP, Alcohol, PEG-150, Sorbital, Hydroxyethylcellulose, Triethanolamine, Carbomer, Cyamposis Tetragonoloba (Guar) Gum, Fragrance.

Hair Impact Review:  The Gorilla Snot Hair Gel is good, but the alcohol seems to have caused frizz by Day 2.  Although my curls remained defined, my day 3 hair had more volume than expected.  I decided to  lightly spritz my hair with water and add some of my shea butter mixture for moisture.  I repeated as needed on the following days.  Overall, I will continue to use this product and tweak my regime to see if I can reduce some of the volume and retain more curl definition throughout the week.

Day 1 results using Gorilla Snot Hair Gel

Application Process:

1. I applied Castor Oil and Lanolin Oil to wet hair from root to tip.
2. I applied a generous amount of Gorilla Snot Hair Gel to each section.
3. I smoothed sections of hair from root to tip to allow my natural curl pattern to take shape (Shingling Method).   NOTE: In some areas I used my Denman brush to help separate my curls. 
4. I allowed to air dry from morning until night.   
5. I pineappled my hair with a satin hair tie.  

Take a look at my application process and more pictures in my video.

Day 5

Refreshing an Old Braid-out Using Curl Popper

Sometimes you just don't feel like shampooing & conditioning your hair just to get a new style so you begin to realize that nothings wrong with reviving a style and saving time to do other things. Well, my hair goes through a lot of those "reviving" situations too not only save time, but also to reduce the chance of my hair and scalp being stripped during the shampooing process.

With this in mind, I decided to give the Curl Popper product another try to refresh an old braid-out.  This time, I just lightly misted my hair with water then mixed my shea butter mixture and Curl Popper together before applying to my hair.  This was applied to each section of hair before braiding.  Since my hair wasn't soaking wet, I let it air dry and slept wearing a head wrap. The next morning, my hair was completely dry and ready for take down.  I got great definition and shine!

In the days that followed, I just added a small amount of Curl Popper to wet hands then applied to each section and re-braided to maintain the style each day until time for my next shampoo & condition regime.

Here's my demonstration using Curl Popper to refresh an old braid-out.

Finished Results!

Check out my initial Curl Popper blog entry experience at:  http://thediydoctor.blogspot.com/2013/05/curlpopperreview.html

Snap Back to Your Roots Natural Hair Forum in Birmingham, AL

Although I knew the natural hair phenomenon had spread like a forest fire, I didn’t think the age range of women strutting their natural crown of glory would be so broad until I recently attended a natural hair forum in Birmingham, Al.  This event was hosted by Dr. Dianne Coleman, a cosmetic chemist and instructor, who has developed her own line of natural hair products.  The event was held one Saturday afternoon from 2-5 pm at the Crestwood Festival Center.  When I arrived there were other vendors show-casing their businesses, which offered the event attendees an opportunity to mingle while waiting for the main symposium to start.  There was a mid-size crowd of approximately 40-50 eagerly awaiting the opportunity to ask natural hair care tips at this symposium.  One key take away was Dr. Coleman’s advice on the importance of moisturizing and sealing in the moisture for healthy hair growth and length retention. 

Unlike a classroom room full of unenthused students, these women asked question after question, took notes, and shared their personal hair experiences.  By the end of this event, Dr. Coleman had given several door prizes and I was the recipient of a full size bottle of her Curl Popper (the original formula).  Of course after winning, I thought it would be a good idea to test out her product and share my results.

The application process of the Curl Popper potion was simple.  After shampooing & conditioning (with Alba Botanica products), I applied castor oil to my hair while wet. Next, I sectioned my hair into four sections and applied a liberal amount of the Curl Popper potion to each section of hair.  I locked in the moisture by using my shea butter mixture (see mixture ingredients below) then braiding my hair.  Due to the thickness of my hair, I sat under my hooded dryer for 2 hours using a low heat setting until my hair about 80% dry. 

You will notice in my video that I did over saturate my hair with my shea butter mixture, so I decided to use a bandana to cover my hair at night so that it would absorb some of the oils.  This really worked wonders because when I styled my hair, I had a smooth finish without an oily or weighed down feeling/appearance.  Also, I didn’t have to add more oil for the entire week. I noticed that the lanolin I added really enhanced the shine and reduced frizz.  After high aerobic exercising throughout the week, the roots of my hair remained smooth with minimal frizz.  In addition to the use of lanolin, the reduction of frizz is also attributed to the fact that about 2-3 nights out of the week to help maintain the braid out, I just re-braided at night and tied on my bandanna.    

My shea butter mixture consists of the following ingredients.  I used a hand mixer to blend the ingredients until it reached a fluffy texture very similar to whipped cream or butter cream frosting.  Note: I have been using this mixture as my hair and body moisturizer for about 6 weeks; enjoying it thus far.

1. Raw Shea Butter
2. Vegetable Glycerin
3. Vitamin E oil
4. Extra Virgin Olive Oil
5. Lanolin

Check out my video demonstration:

Check out the Snap Back to Your Roots Facebook page for future hair symposium and product announcements. https://www.facebook.com/SnapBack2YourRoots?fref=ts

Also, coming soon is the hair care product line, which will be available at: www.snapback2yourroots.com

The Hair Process through the Eyes of Technology

When doing various tasks, we often think of the finished outcome without thinking of the steps used to achieve the end result.  Before the use of the Internet, learning occurred from books and classroom teaching.  However, in the 21^st century, we learn how to perform various tasks from visual aids (i.e. YouTube) and/or support guides (i.e. manuals) that are available on the Internet.  YouTube, viewed as a communication medium, has transformed learning into a social event.   Think about it for a second…as spectators, we access YouTube to find content on an assortment of topics.  However, the funny thing is that you never really think about the “learning” that is taking place.  Instead, it is viewed as entertainment that provides unlimited access for continuous use.  Through repetitive use, learning is taking shape.

In my first YouTube video, I demonstrated the shampoo & conditioning process used on my hair with a specific product (i.e. Alba Botanica).  The focus of the video is not on my hair type or length, but the effect the product had on my hair.  

The second video goes further by illustrating the combination of my styling technique (i.e. Heat styling) with a customized product mixture (i.e. Lanolin mixture) to obtain my desired finished style.  In the table below, I have listed each technology used along with an explanation of the action it performed on my hair. 

Share your technologies and the actions they provide for you.  What are you learning about those technologies and actions you encounter?

Technologies used	Action on my Hair
1.       Shampoo	Cleansed hair while providing softness.
2.       Conditioner	Allowed for easy detangling and manageability.
3.       Water	·         Removed shampoo & conditioner. ·         Aided in restoring moisture.
4.       Wide Tooth Comb	Separated and detangled hair into sections.
5.       Hair Claps	Held sections of hair in place which reduced re-tangling of hair with other sections.
6.       100% Cotton Towel	Absorbed excess water from hair after the shampooing & conditioning
7.       Hand Dryer	Stretched the state of hair from curly to straight.
8.       Lanolin Mix ( Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Glycerin, Liquid Lanolin)	·         Protected hair from heat damage while blow drying. ·         Added moisture. ·         Added shine. ·         Reduced frizziness.
9.       Flatiron	Used to add slight curly to hair before applying rollers.
10.   Rollers	Applied nightly to define curls.

Using Technology to D.I.Y.

There are many Bloggers and VLoggers these days on various social media sites.  I am an avid spectator of Youtube to learn the latest on topics, such as, natural hair styling techniques, female fitness and healthy eating techniques, technology tools for computers, tablets, and smartphones, beauty and fashion accessories, and the list goes on and on.  I’ve had a strong desire to become a contributor of this learning community, but felt that the YouTube community was over-saturated with many of the same topics thus providing limited opportunity of finding interested followers to become spectators of my chronicled experiences.  I’ve shared this interest with a couple of friends, who, in return, have suggested that I transition from the spectator sideline into the role of practitioner.  So this starting me to thinking, the role of a practitioner is often viewed as that of a “doctor”;  well at least in my mind.  

Okay, okay, I know this analogy is more on the abstract side, but let me explain my thought process before you jump off my bandwagon.  My definition of doctor is someone who “practices” a certain action on themselves or others in search for plausible outcome(s) or solution(s).  My interest, or “specialty” from the perspective of a doctor, covers a broad spectrum of technology focused topics.  My specialty focuses on topics that will allow my audience to spectate then “Do It Yourself” or as most refer to in the colloquial form, D.I.Y.

I think many of you will agree that the increased use of technology helps us share our practices and outcomes; thus, allowing spectators to discover new D.I.Y. solutions.  But here’s some food for thought:  What is technology?  Many people would immediately say computers, tablets, software, hardware, etc. Those responses are definitely adequate, but also limited.  Technology, from my perspective, is a mechanism that acts as a communication medium for an action to occur.  As you can see this encompasses a lot more than the traditional computer related tools.  From this viewpoint, this Blog and my VLog on YouTube will involve this technology philosophy.   Hence, the birth of  the D.I.Y. doctor

Quiet on the set. Recording in progress J