Reddit's Curly Girl Method

The same hairstyle that I have had since junior college, after straightening.

I have been straightening my hair for the longest time but as I get older and perhaps because I'm trying to grow it out, I find that my hair isn't as thick as before. Especially the front, which has always not been thick but now it just seems more apparent. ಠ_ಠ It could very well be because I'm paying closer attention to it now (You know how overthinking kills. *nods slowly*). But anyway, I turned to Reddit for here and came across the Curly Girl/ Guy Method (CG Method).

You know how curls look more defined and just a lot prettier overall when wet than when they are dry? This method says that it is because we are using the wrong hair products. We are using products that are loaded with sulfates/ sulphates that give us the lather, make shampooing really fun (It's like snow. Okay, just give that to me. I live in a country with summer as my only season.) and clean our hair really well. But at the same time, they are also very harsh and can strip away the natural oils, leaving hair dry and in some cases, irritating our scalp too. Then, there are the silicones that make our hair so smooth and shiny we want to touch it forever but these chemicals actually kind of wrap themselves around each strand and prevent moisture from getting in. And it can also weigh hair down and make it limp and lifeless in the long run. So the CG method is to eliminate both of these chemicals in our hair care routine.

Okay, there are people out there who feel that these two chemicals are actually okay. To each his/ her own and YMMV but anyway, I decided to try the CG Method a couple of months back. I haven't got curls but my natural hair is actually pretty wavy and the thing is, I don't want to straighten my hair anymore if it's possible. I have been doing it for a decade already and my hair stylist knows what she is doing but I just don't think it's very healthy? Also, my skin is drying up so I really want to take care of it.

There's a wealth of information on the thread *points above*, but basically this was what I did and what I'm currently doing.

• Step 1: Give your hair a final wash with a sulfates-only-no-silicones shampoo.
  This is to make sure your hair is extremely clean and free from any build-up before you start the method. I used Schwarzkopf Extra Care Purify & Protect Shampoo (SGD11.90 at Watsons.). It's a pretty huge bottle for something that you're only going to use once so I suggest waiting for sales (Which are very frequent.) or sharing it with a friend. I'm keeping mine because I'm planning to do this 'final wash' once every few months just to get rid of any possible build-up.

• Step 2: Find your sulfates-and-silicones-free/ CG-friendly shampoo and conditioner.
  Okay, so there are 3 ways to do this; Co-wash, No-poo and Low-poo. There are many variations to these terms but they basically mean
  • Co-washing ('Conditioner-washing'): Washing your hair with conditioner and yes, including the roots. People always say that it's bad but it's actually because of the ingredients in the products that we use. Apparently, it's okay if they are free from sulfates and silicones.
  • No-poo ('No shampoo'): Exactly what the name says; washing your hair with only water.
  • Low-poo ('Low-shapoo'): Washing your hair every now and then with shampoos that are CG-friendly.
  I live in a very sunny and humid place where perspiring is breathing. I have to shower every day, twice. Sometimes, thrice. And I absolutely cannot go without shampoo, so I shampoo my hair every evening and condition twice a day.

  To do a quick check on whether a hair product is CG-friendly, just copy and paste the ingredients in here.

• Step 3: Dry/ Style your hair.
  The original CG method calls for styling, drying and then, scrunching for curls but I haven't got them so I blow my hair dry and then, apply a leave-in conditioner.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Charlene シャーリーン (@charlenewrites) on Nov 4, 2018 at 10:41pm PST

So far, it has been pretty okay. Some people experience greasier scalps, oilier hair and an increase in hair fallout in the first two weeks or so, but thankfully I haven't got those (yet?) because I would have given up so easily man. Lolol (My hair is my everything! *screams dramatically*). And in fact, my hair actually feels a lot softer. Not more manageable and my front's still as thin as before but it just feels lighter and happier. Haha.

I was previously using Giovanni Tea Tree Triple Treat Invigorating Shampoo and Conditioner (USD7.16 each on iHerb.), and am currently using Sukin Moisture Restoring Shampoo and Conditioner and Maple Holistics Silk 18 Natural Hair Conditioner. All have been okay. I have repurchased the Giovanni one, along with some others from iHerb, because I like the minty feeling and the Maple Holistics one is my second bottle already. (ღˇᴗˇ)｡o

(At my company's D&D event, with two of my favourite-st people in the world.)
Look at how thin my front is. ಠ_ಠ

I'll continue to update this space on my CG journey. If you have any questions, as always, just drop me an email or a DM on Instagram. Or check out the Curly Hair Community on Reddit. Everyone is just incredibly friendly, helpful and encouraging. ♥ Gawd, Reddit is truly the best (Along with Netflix.). ♥♥

The Minimalism Project I: Beauty Expenses Part 2

This year, I am going to try very hard to be a minimalist in all aspects of my life. And this includes my skincare because this is really where all my pay check goes to. Heh. •͈ᴗ•͈ This section is a record of all my sins, along with their 'justifications', throughout the entire year as mentioned here.

The Minimalism Project: Beauty Expenses
Chapter 1: January - March
Chapter 2: April - June May
Chapter 3: July - September
Chapter 4: October - December
R.I.P

↟↟↟ November Diaries

Hi. So.. I have stopped writing about this project because I am weak and went completely out of control. ಥ_ಥ I have saved more than I did last year but I also bought a hell lot of products in the 2nd half of the year, which is really, really bad. ಥ_ಥ

There was one day when I got really fed up and decided to do up an Excel spreadsheet on all the brand new skincare products I own currently and it's like worth a fortune. A fortune with an expiry date. Hence, I'm going to try this again with more precautions taken.

• Going completely cold turkey will definitely not work, so it's going to be a replacement-only-no-buy ban. I can only replace products that I have finished using or am left with 2 backups (Just because of delivery times.).
• /r/MakeupRehab/ is my new best friend.
• Every time I want to buy something, I will text Peiying immediately.
• Unfollow Instagram accounts that do unboxing of any kind.
• Focus all my energy on my other hobbies!

Okay, I can do this! Wish me luck! (๑˃̵ᴗ˂̵)و ﾞ

↟↟↟

May Diaries When term ended, I immediately paid a visit to Cindy so that she could fix Term 2 out of my face. Term 2 was just 3 months of a seemingly never-ending loop of work and home. But I guess that's adulthood? :\ Anyway, visiting Cindy usually means new skincare products (Yay! :D I trust her with my life.). I finished Dr. Grandel SOS Ampoules so I wanted to replenish that. These little glass bottles soothe irritated skin immediately and each time my face turns red, dry and splotchy from stress and fatigue, all I need is 1/3 of one ampoule to calm all that chaos down. I got the Beauty Date Ampoules and Time Out Ampoules too as part of a promotion.

Then, because I have been eyeing on Cezanne makeup in like forever (Ask Brandon!), I decided to get the Airy Touch Shadow in 03 (SGD17.90 before discount) and the Nose & Eyebrow Powder in 01 (SGD15.90 before discount) when Watsons had their 20% sale. The pigmentation for the eyeshadow is really light but I'll play with it some more before I blog about it in detail. On a side note, I'm sooo very glad that Cezanne is back on our shores! Does anyone else like this brand? Their powder foundi is top notch! (ؑ‷ᵕؑ̇‷)◞✧

Cost of sins: ~SG148

↟↟↟

April Diaries Hello! ごめんね、このブログポストがちょっと遅かった。最近は超忙しいから。休みが欲しい〜 Anyway, here is my very small April haul. Really pleased with expenditure last month because it was the lowest ever and seriously, it should have been like this a long time ago. I kind of feel like there's an error but umm... Everything looks right? Heh. Keep it up, Char!

Right, back to the haul. Recently, I discovered another mole on my chin, so I have three now. Just like the Orion's Belt, which is really pretty in the night sky, but not on my face (People always think that I don't clean my mouth after eating.). And then, somehow, Facebook got to know about it and drew up this article for me and I freaked out a tad. I have diligently gone through tubes of La Roche-Posay Uvidea XL Aqua Fresh Gel, which is kind of an in-between-physical-and-chemical sunscreen. I really love it but there are still chemicals in it and the article made sense, so I decided to get the MooGoo Natural Sunscreen SPF 40 (AUD4.50 before discount). It contains 24.9% Zinc Oxide and it makes my skin feel so good after washing it off. Like legit soft and good. But the downside is that because of the high Zinc Oxide content, it makes you really white too. And when mixed with perspiration and sebum, no thanks to Singapore's weather, it's just not a very healthy look. ಥ_ಥ So I'm back to La Roche-Posay but I still use this every now and then, especially when I know I will be getting a lot of sun on that day.

This is my second pail of MooGoo Milk Wash. It's really gentle and moisturising for my sensitive skin. Initially, it felt a little weird because my face wasn't squeaky clean but I didn't encounter more clogged pores and in fact, it is very calming and soothing. The rest are all freebies. :D I have to go now but I will talk about the samples later on. またね！

Cost of sins: ~SG61

↟↟↟

The Only Thing that Stopped My Itch: Dermal Therapy Anti-Itch Soothing Cream

I have been dealing with eczema for the longest time. The first time I had it was when I was in primary school and you know how hot and humid our little island can get. What started out as heat rash on the insides of my elbows developed into eczema when I couldn't stop tending to the itch. Mum took me to a very expensive Chinese doctor who gave me some cream to apply and it cleared up everything so magically that I still remember it. I actually went back to the same doctor a couple of years back to ask for that same cream but apparently, it's banned in Singapore now. Lol.

My next encounter with eczema was when I was 14 and was being officially inducted into Singapore's stressful education system. It happened on my face and it appeared in such a way that I looked like I had an extended smile. Think: Joker. I tried so so so hard not to scratch because it was on. My. Face. And thank goodness that went away when the holidays rolled in. But that encounter also sparked a long-drawn on-and-off battle with stress-induced eczema. And 101% of the times, the eczema gets worse because I tend to the itch. It usually happens in the middle of the night, when my mind is asleep but my body is awake to every itch that happens.

I really think that the way to 'cure' eczema is to stop the itch first, instead of healing the skin. So you first need to find the root of the problem. For me, it's stress-induced so I should quit my job? Hahaha. I will prolly stress out from the lack of a stable, decent income and that's even worse. Also, no PW anymore which I think takes away a large part of my stress. (ؑ‷ᵕؑ̇‷)◞✧

Anyway, when I can't manage my itch, I go to my Chinese doctor but the queues are super long so because I'm also such a beauty junkie, I'm always reading up and finding new creams to try. And I have prolly tried all the popular ones already so trust me, when I say I found the cream that stops all itch.

Meet my new best friend, Dermal Therapy Anti-Itch Soothing Cream. I saw this at Unity Pharmacy and just bought it without doing any googling because it has no steroids and like, it either didn't work like most creams or there was a 0.0000000001 probability that it might work. You can see that there was very little expectation. Haha. I applied it that night when my back started to itch. There was a minty feel which halted the itch and that was what usually creams with menthol usually did immediately upon application but unlike the others, the itch didn't come back again for the entire night. I actually slept through without once waking up to find myself scratching. Which is super duper rare. It only happens when I'm really knackered and my body is dead to everything.

(It doesn't even happen during the holidays when there's no work and hence, no stress. I don't get tired enough so I don't go into a deep sleep and again, my body is awake to every itch. Yes, my body is stupid like that.)

I have gone through 3 tubes of this (Really need to manage stress better. ಥ_ಥ) and recommended it to everyone and so far, it has worked for everyone, yay! The only 'downside' is that it's not moisturising but then again, the tube doesn't say that it would moisturise. So what I do is that I layer it on with a MooGoo moisturiser. Sometimes, I add the Dermal Therapy Skin Relief Cream but this one is a really small tube, is pretty expensive, and it doesn't seem to be more moisturising than the MooGoo one.

If you're dealing with eczema, I really, really^(infinity) recommend that you give this a try. It's SGD19.90 at Unity Pharmacy and sometimes, there's a 20% discount. Do drop me an email at lovecharlenejudith@hotmail.com if you have any questions and also, let me know if this works for you! :D