Reddit reviews Kinky Curly Come Clean Natural Moisturizing Shampoo Sulfate Free 8 oz

Hi, fellow curlies! Long time lurker, but I created a separate account to show off my 3a/3b work in progress! I’ve divided this up into sections because it’s definitely of TL;DR length, so skip right to the routine part if that’s what you’re after.


HAIR STATS

Mostly very strong 3a, but there’s a good chunk of something approaching 3b at the crown.

Really thick, I can’t use small hair clips or ties, even with it being shorter. It feels like it’s become a tad less thick, maybe due to age (I’m in my 30s).

Last cut in March (8 months ago), it’s a shorter curly cut that’s growing out but still looks decent.

Highlights and color applied at last cut. The highlights were subtle, the color was close to my natural hair color to help cover the whites coming in.

No flat iron/high heat for the last 4+ years. Most heat I’ve used is a dryer on low with bursts of cold air.

No “bad” products for the last 4+ years. It’s only been curly approved products with no traditional shampoo! Only No Poo with the occasional clarifying shampoo.

Very dry climate. So dry here I have a sinus moisturizing gel I shove up my nose before bed to avoid nosebleeds. I know most curlies hate the humidity but I wish I had a little bit, I think my hair would benefit.

Hair washed once weekly, twice weekly at most. More often during the week if I’m exercising (which I haven’t done much of lately, hah), but coarse/dryer hair + very dry climate = fewer washings. I do a lazy pineapple to pin it up when I do quick body-only showers.


HAIR HISTORY

It’s a story that’s all too familiar here: My hair was NOT cool as a kid— the 90s were not nice to big hair, and I was also one of the only “ethnic” people in super white schools. When in its natural state, it was almost nothing but fuzz and it almost looked like I had an afro. Stylists had no clue what to do with my hair, so the cuts never helped. Of course, I hated it, and I spent my teens and early 20s straightening it, tying it back, or clipping it into this nasty rat’s nest on the top of my head to get it off my face.

I first heard about the curly method in 2009 or 2010. Even though that wasn’t THAT long ago, the spectrum of products we have available now versus then is night and day. With my limited hair understanding, I took the plunge and went natural, but it didn’t look so great. I stuck with it, though, mostly out of laziness because life got really busy and stressful. Straightening my hair literally takes hours, so laziness won. Used to use DevaCurl No Poo and One Condition in the shower before crunching in the DevaCurl Light Defining Gel. Never experimented with other stuff because, again, I was lazy and busy.

Recently, my hair was going limp and was feeling greasy no matter what I did, so I started reading through the links in this subreddit and experimenting with newer products now that my life has slowed down. I bought a few new products based on recommendations here, and what I outline below is after playing around with a few different things for the last couple of months.


NEW "ROUTINE"

“Routine” is in quotations because routine suggests I do this with regularity when this is the first time I’ve done this whole “routine” as outlined below.

I realized I last clarified my hair when my hairdresser cut it several months ago, so I figured it was time to clarify. The pics are from last night, a couple of hours after washing.

1. Clarify with Kinky Curly Come Clean Natural Moisturizing Shampoo. I really spent my time massaging it into my scalp, and I liberally applied to my hair and worked it until it had the “squeaky clean” feel. I used a rake comb to help detangle and make sure the shampoo was applied evenly throughout. I NEVER, EVER tug at any tangles, I take my time gently combing them out. (I really love how my hair turned out, I’m not sure if I’m going to just clarify every time I wash my hair. I wash it so infrequently and it has so much product applied to it each time that I think I’ll be fine, but I’ll edit this post if it turns out to be a bad idea.)
   
   
2. Crunch out excess water.
   
   
3. Condition with Kinky Curly Knot Today Leave-In Conditioner. I applied liberally, massaging it into scalp and crunching it up into my hair until my hair felt smooth/soft. I crunched by leaning my hair to the side (and switching sides periodically) and making sure the crunch action reaches my scalp to ensure that the product it applied throughout. DON'T RINSE IT OUT. NB: Don’t over-apply to the point that the conditioner is dripping out of your hair, it’s wasteful and doesn’t add anything more to your hair apart from making it feel too greasy later.
   
   
4. Crunch out excess water. Crunching will be your life for the next 20-30 minutes.
   
   
5. Crunch gently with a towel. I just used my regular bath towel. Same crunch method as detailed in #3. I crunch until the dripping mostly stops.
   
   
6. Apply Miss Jessie’s Multicultural Curls. I squeezed out a generous palmful, tilted my head to the side, and crunched it up into my hair. Same crunch method as detailed in #3. I crunched until I felt I’d crunched it up evenly throughout and my hands weren’t covered in product.
   
   
7. Apply Miss Jessie’s Pillow Soft Curls. Same directions as in #6.
   
   
8. Get a handheld hair dryer, remove whatever piece is at the head of it so the airflow isn’t concentrated in any particular way. I have a Che hairdryer I bought 10+ years ago that works well. (I had a diffuser, can’t find it, if I find it/use it I’ll edit this post. If anyone has any diffuser recs for someone with 3a/3b hair, let me know, I may have gotten rid of mine accidentally, oops.)
   
   
9. Tilt your head upside-down, and dry with the hairdryer on low heat setting with one hand kept a few inches away while your other hand continues to crunch. Occasionally shift your hair to either side of your head and back to upside-down.
   
   
10. If your hair dryer has a cold burst setting, use it for 20 seconds every 60 seconds or so. If not, just remove the heat for a few seconds as you continue crunching. CRUNCHING IS LIFE, IT IS THE ONLY LIFE YOU NOW KNOW.
    
    
11. Dry your hair until it feels dry, never stop crunching. Your hands shouldn’t be damp or wet. I always used to rush through this part and the curls aren’t the same, the more time I spend with any low kind of heat (either with this hair dryer or using the helmet dryer at the salon), the better for me.
    
    
12. Finish your hair with a small amount of shine serum. I plopped my head upright and scrunched in a small palmful of serum, focusing on the hair at the crown, the most coarse/fuzzy. I have some old DevaCurl MirrorCurls Serum lying around. I don’t like the smell, I’m open to trying something else.
    
    
13. Fin. Maybe now is a good time to go gather the hair from the drain trap before your spouse yells at you for secretly threatening him with tribbles.
    
    
    GOALS
    
    I’m happy with my hair, but I have some things to work on:
    
    
14. Fuzz. It’s still a little fuzzy at the crown, way better than before, maybe I need to make peace with it? Maybe a diffuser would help.
    
    
15. Length. I haven’t had long hair in years, I’d like to continue growing it out and seeing how much more the thickness/length of the hair will weigh it down and make it less bouncy.
    
    
16. Finding these products in bulk. It seems impossible, but I won’t give up hope. I would be willing to spend more money upfront for this stuff if it meant it was cheaper per ounce.
    
    
17. Figuring out how to keep it looking good through the week. I do the pineapple at night with a giant, silky scarf and then cover the top with a night cap, but it still looks fuzzier/less awesome the next day. What do you recommend? This climate is WAY TOO DRY for me to do this this whole routine any more than twice/thrice weekly.
    
    
    Wow, that was a novella. Thanks for reading, and best of curls to you all!

Hey, what are your thoughts on shea moisture honey and manuka deep conditioner?

I got some from walgreens and tried it..it seemed to make my hair really soft the first night but by the next day my curls were already going back to frizz and feeling dry. I did use devacurl light defining gel too, but it doesn't seem to do much tbh.

I'm currently waiting for Kinky Curly Come Clean Natural Moisturizing Shampoo to see if it can help remove hard water minerals. Do you think my issue is the gel or maybe the deep conditioner isn't right?

Here are few I found:


Traditional Shampoo (These will remove oils from your hair, but also dry it out. Use a lot of conditioner if you're going to use these, or a deep conditioner like this.)

Eden Bodyworks Peppermint Tea Tree Shampoo - This is clarifying so use it rarely when you need a "Reset" with your hair.

Kinky Curly Come Clean - This also has a sulfate, so it will remove oil from your hair, good and bad.


Non-sulfate Shampoo (Great if you don't need to get every last bit of oil out of your hair)

Maple Holistics Argan Oil Shampoo - Probably one of the more gentle ones.

Shea Moisture Baobob Low Porosity Shampoo - Great if you have low porosity hair.


Co-Wash (You can use these daily if you wish as they don't strip the hair of many oils. These are also conditioners)

As I Am Coconut CoWash - Thick and great for high porosity hair, but on low porosity, it can build up.

DevaCurl Original No-Poo Cleanser - Pricey, though I do think they ship to Canada.