AG Hair Products

I had the opportunity to test out AG Hair products. I have heard of them before because many of the members of naturallycurly.com use and love the Re:coil Curl Activating Balm. I was sent the Re:coil Curl Activating Shampoo, Re:coil Curl Activating Conditioner, and Re:coil Curl Activating Balm to review. The shampoo is sulfate-free. The conditioner contains some of the heavy silicones such as cyclopentasiloxane and dimethicone. It also contains Amodimethicone which is a slightly water soluble silicone. The balm does not contain silicones. Because the conditioner contained silicones I wanted to test out the balm by itself then test all three together.

Experiment #1 was the Re:coil Curl Activating Balm by itself. I cowashed with Suave Naturals conditioner then conditioned with Aubrey Organics Honeysuckle Rose conditioner. The way this balm works is similar to how Kinky Curly Curling Custard works which made me think the Re:coil balm would work better if I had applied a leave-in conditioner before the Re:coil balm.

The reason I say that the Re:coil balm works similar to Kinky Curly Curling Custard is because as it dried it seemed like it would dry crunchy but, once it was fully dry you were left with defined, NOT crunchy waves. However, I still thought it would have been better layered with a leave-in conditioner.

In this picture, my hair wasn't 100% dry but fairly dry. I get too lazy to blowdry my hair and I figure the warmer weather is perfect for air drying my hair.
Experiment #2. In the next pictures, I used Kinky Curly Knot Today leave-in before applying Re:coil Curl Activating Balm. I figured since Kinky Curly Curling Custard works well with Knot Today leave-in conditioner and is similar to Re:coil balm then the Re:coil balm would work well with Knot Today leave-in. I actually prefer this combination to just using the Re:coil balm alone.













Experiment #3. This time I used the shampoo, conditioner, and balm together. I also used the Kinky Curly Knot Today leave-in. I liked this combination also but, it wouldn't work for those who are strictly following the Curly Girl method because the conditioner does contain silicones as I mentioned above.
In summary, the AG Hair products worked well with my hair but, I also needed a separate leave-in conditioner in order to achieve the results I wanted. The Re:coil balm alone just didn't give me the defintion that I was looking for but, once you added a leave-in conditioner, it worked really well. It worked as well as Kinky Curly Curling Custard which is a favorite among the wavies and curlies. The shampoo is sulfate-free which is a definite plus. For those of you who don't fear the silicone, the conditioner also works great.

Knock, Knock

Knock, Knock
Who's there?
Irish?
Irish you a Happy Birthday!

This was on one of the cards for Christle's gift. I thought it was the perfect card for her since her birthday falls on St. Patrick's Day.

We celebrated her birthday at this seafood restaurant Rockafellers. I liked the location where it was. It wasn't off the strip but, it was near the water. It's probably nicer during the summertime when you can actually eat outside.
Image courtesy of http://www.vbrestaurantguide.com/images/Rockafellers1.jpg

My boyfriend and I split everything so we wouldn't overeat but, then we ended up hungry by the time we left. We had split some calamari and a steamed bucket. We got some McD's fries and a vanilla cone after we left haha. Anytime we go to a restaurant we've never been to before we always try the calamari if it's on the menu. So far my favorite calamari has been Shucks in Norfolk and Red Star Tavern.

The product experimenting carried on. I used Giovanni Invigorating Tea Tree Shampoo, Aubrey Organics Honeysuckle Rose conditioner mixed with L'oreal Vive Pro Nutri-gloss for medium to long hair curly/wavy hair, and a little bit of Generic Value Product Matrix Bioloage Conditioning Balm. I didn't do the upside down rinse.

I scrunched in Goldwell Curl Definition Revive Cream - Intense and Giovanni L.A. Natural Styling gel upside down. The Goldwell Curl Cream doesn't really give me any definition just softness. It's one of my products that I use when I know I'll just be staying at home but, don't want to leave my hair product-free. The first time I tried Giovanni gel I thought it didn't have enough hold. I thought the same thing again today. When I got home, it didn't look like I lost some wave. If you already have this product, I think mixing it with something that has a bit more hold like Biosilk Rock Hard gelee or Herbal Essences Set Me Up gel would work better.

I think the Biosilk gelee would actually be perfect to mix with the Giovanni gel because Biosilk gelee has too much hold for me. The first time I used it I used to much and I felt like my hair turned to glass.

After I applied all the products, I plopped to get my hair off my back, and diffused my hair until it was completely dry. While I was diffusing I could tell the Giovanni gel didn't really have much hold and felt like the back was getting a bit frizzy.
You can kind of see parts of my hair where it's frizzy or where the wave is falling. You know I had to bust out the green dress for St. Patrick's Day.

I'm hoping to go for some longer runs outside since the half-marathon I'm running is less than a month away now. I'm nowhere near where my training schedule says I should be. My shin splints were really bothering me and now they're manageable so I don't want to overdo it and be even more hurt closer to the race. I find that my shins hurt me when I run on the treadmill or pavement so I've been trying to run only outside but, we've been having some rainy weather lately.

Ice works miracles too. If I feel like my shins are hurting, I ice them when I get home while I'm watching The Wire (which I'm currently addicted to but, that's another post) and the pain really goes away.

I ordered some Kinesio tape two weeks ago and still haven't received it. I finally emailed the company and they said they were back ordered and expected date of shipment is April 1. I'd be more annoyed if my shins were hurting me more but, since I'm managing now I can deal with that shipment date.

Totally Twisted

I've been neglecting my hundred other products and sticking to my Kinky Curly hair stuff so I decided to switch it up today.

I used Giovanni Tea Tree Invigorating Shampoo, Aubrey Organics Honeysuckle Rose conditioner, Giovanni direct leave-in, and Herbal Essences Totally Twisted curl boosting mousse. I decided NOT to rinse upside down since my hair got tangly (is that a word?) doing that the other day. I still left my hair sopping wet before applying products. I scrunched in Giovanni direct leave-in and Herbal Essences Totally Twisted mousse while my head was upside down. Then got most of the water out of my hair by scrunching upside down with my microfiber towel. (I'm hoping to buy one of the curl towels soon to help with the frizz.)

After I finished my hair, I fell asleep while it was still wet. Yup, took me a nap right after I finished doing my hair. I tried to position my hair so that it was all above my head and I didn't flatten it while I slept. It was kind of messed up in the back when I woke up but, not that noticeable. After I got up from my nap I didn't really have to mess with my hair.