The Synth Chronicles: Wash #1

OK, girls....

This morning I washed the PlastikHaar/Dome combo for the first time in warm (not hot) water. I shampooed and conditioned rather quickly, and left it to air-dry for about a half hour. Then, I blow-dried the top (my real hair) for about 1/2 hour and blow-dried the synth with the cool-shot button a little (I did not attempt to straighten or curl it--I just detangled with my fingers and kept the dryer moving). Afterwards, I sprayed some Dome Care spray on the synth, some shine spray and hairspray on the top, and went to work.

The hair has definitely straightened out. It's not pin-straight by any means, but the wave has loosened considerably, and it's getting a bit "piecey." On the plus side, the hair dried superquickly (much faster than human) and remained pretty tangle-free. Tonight I will sleep with it in a braid, to see if that makes it a bit wavier, but I'm thinking I'll need to steam it or curl it with boiling water to restore the wave.

Mer and Kalika: Let me know if these photos look similar to the progression of the hair after you washed it. :)

Here are the befores again and the afters (after three days and one wash):

BEFORES:





AFTERS:





:)

That still looks darn good!! I hope mine holds up half as much.

Remember, my LONG hair seems to be the RED STRAIGHT HAIR.

As far as i know my blonde hair hasn't lost the wave, but now that i think about it i can't see the back.

I will have tim take a pic LOL It's prolly similar to yours and I don't even realize it!

3 times full out the whole head (plenty of times just the roots with like adrip method of shampoo and rinse)

crap i forgot the question

i will edit in a min

oh i use hot water, i towel off as much as possible, i air dry, i low heat blow dry and scrunch, it is always stringy still. i spray my shine on it. brush and go. and it dries nicely and i brush occasionally

Good questions, Gina. I'm still a little vague on it myself, but apparently steaming the hair restores it to its original smooth, silky (as opposed to piecey, or stringy) state. Blow-drying the hair straight (very carefully, will achieve a similar result. As I understand it, velvet-covered hot rollers or steam rollers will add curl, as will braiding the hair or setting it in rollers and dipping it in very hot water. You cannot, however, blast a hot blow-dryer at it on full blast (I don't think), and curling irons and flatirons will singe the hair. Once it's singed, that section has to be cut off.

I'm sure others who have more experience with synth will chime in, but this is my understanding based on what I've read. :)

Jenny.. I haven't heard from AMM bout the "Mo-MO"
synthetic you can use an iron with. I was away for a few days... is the jury still out?

Hmm...I'm not sure. I think AMM's still testing it. I'm sure she'll report back soon. :)

UPDATE: Slept with the hair coiled up in a scrungi last night, I just removed it, and it looks wavier--not as wavy as when they were first installed, but wavier than last night (when I took those photos). I think if I had sprayed some warm water on the hair and coiled it up into several scrungis or braided it, it'd probably be wavier. :)

I'm not sure what Isaac uses, because my hair wasn't steamed when he installed it, but he did mention that I could buy a steamer for pretty cheap. Then, I totally forgot to ask him what to look for and where to get it, lol. I'll need to email him about that. :)

Jenny - my hair was straighter for a few reasons...

A. I waited a little over a week to wash it
B. I used a regular brush on it a lot
C. I washed it in hot water
D. I blowdried it with warm air

I mostly did it cause I didnt care if I retained the wave, its not hard ot get it back :)