I Heart Chunky Twist-Outs

Remember this?

A fluke? It was so dope, I had to do it again… same products only this time, sans rollers.

I
prefer the rollers. But again with the moisturized & defined, big
ass hair!  This is rather unheard of… I either get really defined hair
with little or no volume or huge hair with little definition.  And
usually, in both cases, the product has a tacky quality to it (be it
sticky, greasy or crunchy). With that said, I think my ‘hair grease’
phase is over.  Which is sad considering I have around 4 to 5 jars of
Dax in the closet.   These days, it’s all about the zero flakes, zero
crunch, zero gunk, soft hold.

Without further ado, as I revealed in the comments section the other day, the mystery product is…

Ouidad Curl Quencher Hydrafusion

Ingredients: Water/aqua/eau, Polyquaternium-37, Phenyl Trimethicone, Propylene Glycol
Dicaprylate/Dicaprate, C12-15 Alkyl Benzoate, Decyl Oleate,
Polyquaternium-11, Hydrolyzed Silk, Prunus Amygdalus Dulcis (Sweet
Almond) Fruit Extract, Silybum Marianum Extract, Glycine Soja (Soybean)
Seed Extract, Hydrolyzed Vegetable Protein, Retinyl Palmitate,
Cetrimonium Chloride, Lecithin, PPG-1 Trideceth-6, Polyquaternium-46,
Propoxytetramethyl Piperidinyl Dimethicone, Hydroxyethylcellulose,
Glycerin, Dipropylene Glycol, C11-15 Pareth-7, Trideceth-6,
Cinnamidopropyltrimonium Chloride, Quaternium-80, Benzophenone-4,
Bisamino PEG/PPG-41/3 Aminoethyl PG-Propyl Dimethicone, Propylene
Glycol, Aminomethyl Propanol, Citric Acid, Iodopropynyl Butylcarbamate,
DMDM Hydantoin, Butylphenyl, Methylpropional, Benzyl Salicylate,
Linalool, Limonene, Hexyl Cinnamal, Alpha-Isomethyl Ionone,
Fragrance/Parfum, Mica (CI 77019), Titanium Dioxide (CI77891).

Product Description: Curl Quencher Hydrafusion Intense Curl Cream is a unique styling cream
specifically designed for tighter curls. Our HydraFusion Complex is a
blend of conditioners including milk thistle and sweet almond extract
for intense moisturization to feed and strengthen curls as it instantly
defines and softens. Hydrolyzed silk protein wraps each strand so
moisture stays in, frizz and dryness are eliminated. Curls stay defined,
shiny and healthy looking all day.

My Thoughts:  

So
by now, we all know I heart big hair… I sacrifice length for it, even
definition.  I stay fluffing.

To achieve twist-out massiveness, I have
to be super duper light handed and/or skip a styler altogether.  It’s a
very delicate game of give and take. And it gets real.

I’ve used conditioners to style and when you find the
right one, it’s cool.  It’s gotta be substantial, but not too heavy, more slippery than rough and for me, glycerin can’t be in the top 5.  The old DevaCare One formula was the lick. I’d get
smooth, hydrated strands with decent definition.  The only issue was
the hold… or lack thereof.  They changed
the formula and I moved on and have yet to find a comparable product.

Gels just don’t do it for me.  No matter the type or amount of
leave-in I use underneath, I get crispy, dried out ramen noodle curls.  Case in
point- Ouidad Moisture Lock Gel. I was gifted that gel late last month
and while the ‘humidity proof’ claim on the label had me geeking, I knew
how it’d play out… dry, flaky, difficult to fluff curls with, of
course, excellent definition.  Now it sits in the product graveyard.

Mousse is cool, if I’m light handed AND going for a different
look.  I get super defined, but super shrunken and piece-y (not chunky)
curls.  And similar to gels, I seem to dry out quickly (save for TIGI’s
Totally Baked) and the curls are difficult to fluff, so the volume is
AWOL.

Butter stylers leave me heavy and frizzy and cream gels are
usually more gel than cream sadly.  Save for Original Moxie’s Cream
Gel… I love using it for my edges when I bun. But I digress.

The results I get from Ouidad’s Hydrafusion remind me of my DevaCare One days.

Blasphemy! 

Those that have been following me for a while know that’s an
EXTREME claim.  DevaCare One for moisture and smoothing + DevaCurl Set
it Free for hold was my holy grail for more than a year. That combo was everything until they changed the formula.  And while I can’t say for sure that Hydrafusion will fill that
void, it looks promising. The fragrance is light and pleasant and the
consistency is ideal- similar to a leave-in (think Garnier Fructis),
very slippery and easy to distribute.  I use about a pea sized amount
for each twist (on top of a leave-in) and twice now the results have
been awesome.  Soft, smooth, seriously moisturized hair that’s defined
yet easily fluffed.  It’s like someone finally mixed holding agents into
a conditioner! #itsBoutDamnTime

I’m going to
continue to experiment and report back.  The true test will come this
summer when the dew points start creeping up.  If it performs well in
high humidity, I might cry.

As with anything, there are ‘cons’.  For starters, there may be
one too many difficult to pronounce ingredients on the label for the
‘conscious’ curly.  Second, at least for me, you can only find it
online, which is usually a deal breaker.  I hate to be a slave to a
product I have to wait to be shipped. Third, the hefty price tag.  This
product is a whopping 26 dollars for 5oz.  So yeah, there’s that. While I’m usually against paying so much for so little,
in this case, I do believe I’d purchase.  Luckily, I don’t use very
much, so hopefully this gifted bottle will last for some time. So yeah,
much to hubby’s dismay, I’ll probably be adding yet another item to ‘the
splurge’ list.  I’ll also add it to the 2012 Hits and Misses To Date thread from last month. 

So there you have it folks.  The ‘secret’ behind my recent good hair days.