QuoteReplyTopic: The Synth Chronicles: 3 Weeks, 1 Day, and 10 Washes Posted: March 05 2005 at 8:40pm
Hey girls,
These are the latest pics of my PH/Dome combo. On the plus side, the hair feels silky and soft--almost like new. I'm not having any problems with the hair being too stiff anymore. I recently had it trimmed and steamed, and the blow-drying really smooths it out, too. In this photo, it's just been washed, blow-dried, and brushed with a bit of Biosilk, and it feels great. It's in better condition, imo, than human hair would be after three weeks:
On the downside, that blow-drying (above) makes the hair pin-straight, so you must add the curl, if that's the look you want. Here's my attempt with Caruso rollers left in for a half-hour. It would look better, I think, if I had the right-size rollers and more of them, and I still have some pieciness issues to figure out (not with the hair, but with the pinchbraids).
Jenny, I think it does work better wavy. It really hides the piece-y-ness that is unfortunately quite obvious with the super-straight hair. It does look good after three weeks of experimentation. =)
Can you see the wavier pic? It's not loading for me, but anyway....
Yeah, I totally agree--with the hair pin-straight, it's just way too piecey, and the waves help a little, which is part of the reason I'm trying to create some curls.
I think the Caruso rollers are good, in that they feel moisturizing to the hair and do add some wave, but it's not really all that lasting in this hair--at least for me. Once I brush it, it relaxes a lot; maybe I'll have better luck with the velvet-covered ones...
i think it looks great! the straight actually looks better than last time *not that it looked bad last time!* it actually looks like you just put product in your hair to make it a little piecey to style it..and the wave is pretty : )
Scotchyroo
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That's great, really great. It really doesn't seem like it's that big of a drama for you to look after. When you say you wish you had the right size rollers, do you wish they were bigger? Just curious. Someone needs to invent a big spiral roller for long synthetic, or how about this? What if you wrapped the hair around the barrel of a big curling iron and lightly steamed it yourself? Have you already tried something like that?
Someone needs to invent a big spiral roller for long synthetic.
You're not kidding! I love that idea.
And what I mean about the right-size rollers is that I've got a mix of medium, large, and jumbo, which are just enough to do my head. If I had lots of them, I'd be able to do smaller sections at a time, ideally all with the mediums, which seem to hold the curl best.
I have curled this hair while damp/wet with an iron, and it does work (in fact, the iron produces a very resilient curl). The biggest problems with it are: A) You need to be careful, or you'll fry the hair; and B) (even more important) because the hair is so sensitive to heat (much more so than human or therm, imo), any "flaws" created during the curling process are difficult to remove.
More specifically, the biggest problem I have with curling the hair is that the clamp part of the iron (that holds the hair down) can create an undesirable crimp or bend that's ironed into the hair at that point. Again, this is because the hair is so heat-sensitive. (Hopefully that makes sense.) I'm almost thinking it would be helpful to create a soft fabric "sleeve" or something just for the clamp part. Alternately, a brush-style (rather than clamp-style) curling iron might work, and I'll be trying the velvet rollers soon, so we'll see.
I have to say, once this hair is smoothed, it's much less tangly and high-maintainence--at least for me--than human. And I'm optimistic that we'll figure out something to add some curl. I think Fina's been experimenting, too.
As I posted earlier, I FRIED a long strand with the curling iron. Gosh I get nervous when I hear that sizzling sound (OK, am I a complete idiot?) but how could you *not* get the sizzle sound when you have *WET* hair on a hot surface? I guess I need to just make sure the iron is WARM.
OK - I discovered last night also that with a warm blow dryer, I can "curl" the ends under. It worked really well!
I will post some pics later today. My hubby says he can take pics with the camera even though the dog broke it the other day. . .
Fina
Bridget
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Bridget: I think Rae may have test-flatironed it (I haven't), but I imagine it's the same deal as with a curling iron (use metal, not ceramic, make sure the hair is wet, and most important--do a few test strands first). But seriously, you will NEVER need to flatiron synth hair (at least monofiber, like Dome/PH). In its natural state (after the first blow-drying or steaming, and after the wave drops out) it's about as pin-straight as hair can possibly be--straighter than any human I've ever seen, certainly. I don't think a flatiron would be necessary under any circumstances I can think of. And the blow-drying and steaming have the added benefit of "smoothing" out any bunchiness, which I don't think would work with a flatiron. If you ordered straight hair from the get-go, the biggest challenge would be adding wave to it--keeping it straight would be a breeze.
Fina: I can't wait to see your pics--and I'm dying to know how you curled the ends under with the dryer (it hasn't worked real well for me...).
Oh, one more thing, Fina: Even if you think the hair is fried, you still may be able to rehabilitate it. Of course, if the hair is literally melted and falling apart, that's one thing. But if the hair is only frazzled and rough, you may be able to salvage it via blow-drying or steam. I thought I'd fried quite a bit of this hair early on cause it was looking frazzled and feeling rough, and the blow-dry/steam brought it back to life--those seemingly fried areas are now like new (as strange as that may sound--lol).
Thanks Jenny. . .I guess I could try the rehab (hmmm sounds familiar LOL). That's actually surprising. . .I mean it looks so *weird*, I hadn't thought it could be revived. It is not melted, just kinda frazzled with strange bends in it. I'll let you know.
Here are my pics, 9 days and about 6 washes later. (I like to wash my hair). I've done VERY little with this hair -- small amounts of blow drying, and one day I curled it with a small barrel iron. You can still see some of those peristent little things!) It has definitely "fallen" from the "rolled" Rita Hayworth look, but all in all I'm still THRILLED with it.
I've added some "SatinBlond" highlights to the front with shrinkies, and still need more shrinkies on my crown in the back. You can see where my "swirl" is kinda flat and could use some help. I'll get to that this week.
I *love* the SatinBlond as an additional highlight color. Also, I've put a few WaWa strands in the front (the #27) around my face.
here ya go! (And the silly look on my face is because my husband said something really stupid at the moment he snapped the photo)
-Fina
SHEESH - I am trying to get these pictures NON POSTER size. . .having trouble. . .sorry to be so IN YA FACE!!
Bridget
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The reason I was wondering about the flat iron is because in the past when I had a glue-in or sew-in, I needed to flat iron my own hair w/the extensions to blend it. And now, I have a grown out body wave (perm) in my hair (I got this when I was pregnant figuring it would be easier to take care of). My hair is now a bit frizzy-ish, so I routinely flat iron it, taming my over grown perm.
I want to go with synthetic, but fear not being able to blend it ie: no flat iron!
Fina: Your hair looks awesome. Frankly, I'm shocked that the curl has stayed in so well. I know you said you curled it with the iron, but it looks like the hair hasn't completely lost its wave. Also, have you blown it out to make it smooth? Because it looks pretty silky to me!
I just love it, which is making me wonder if there would be any benefit to getting the 28mm, rather than the 50mm, since the 28mm seems to relax to the 50mm, which is the wave I like anyway.... This is really not indicative of the way my hair has progressed, and I love the way yours looks, so I'll need to solve the puzzle, lol.
Bridget: Well, you could obviously still flatiron your real hair on top and even go through your head to flatiron the real parts. Overall, I do think it would be best to stick with blow-drying for the extensions, but I don't think a flaitron is out of the question, either. Maybe the best thing to do would be to install some test strands. Sometimes, it's just a matter of figuring out how to make it work for you.
Bridget, you'd just need to try to iron as little of the synthetic as possible. I accidently caught my synth in the flat iron along with my real hair, and it was fine. I use a Conair ceramic iron on low-medium heat, and I've even used the flatiron on KK jumbo to straighten it. I think if you have a flat iron that can operate at a fairly low temperature, you'll be fine.
FinaFina
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I got the 28 mm based on everybody's comments (including yours) that the 50mm really seems to drop a lot.
Having said that, bear in mind that the 28mm is "BIG HAIR" - it will be HUGE for about the first 4 washes. In fact I was wondering after I had it put in if I should have gone with the 50mm. But now I'm really glad I got it and am going to do so again, but I'm going to wait a while (until it relaxes a bit) to cut it.
No, I haven't had to do *anything* to it blow-dryer wise to make it silky. I love the shine and am really glad it has stayed. My goal is to NOT have to do much.
I keep a bottle of slightly diluted fabric softener in the shower, and "condition" with it then rinse it, every time I wash my hair.
I also thoroughly spray my hair with that Pro-Hair stuff that Bettie gave me. I really like it because it's not oily at all. It contains (OK get ready for Chem Lab:)
Water, Dicetyldimonium Chloride, Propylene Glycol, Panthenol, DEA-Methoxycinnamate (which is a sunscreen), Benzophenone-4 (another sunscreen), Steartrimonium Hydrolyzed Protein, and a few other things.
It says it "leave ProHair tangle and static free, smooth, glossy, and manageable." I must say I like it. It also smells good, which, if it didn't, I don't care *how* good it is, I wouldn't use it.
-Fina
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You girls are still maintaining bombshell status, the both of you! Jenny, your hair looks gorgeous both straight and wavy but I can understand where you're coming from with wanting the wave. Fina, your wave is still awesome which is a big relief to know since I just got my plastikhaar in 28 mm - yours looks just how I want mine to look too (only brunette) - plus I'm loving the fact that you do very little to it - low to no maintenance is my goal as well. And your colors and placement - two words: bomb shell. That satinblond is completely gorgeous! A big WAY TO GO with the experiments, girls! I hope you know that you look fantastic! No one in the outside world would ever know you two were anything other than rockin' blonde chicks with enviably awesome hair!
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also thoroughly spray my hair with that Pro-Hair stuff that Bettie gave me. I really like it because it's not oily at all. It contains (OK get ready for Chem Lab:)
Water, Dicetyldimonium Chloride, Propylene Glycol, Panthenol, DEA-Methoxycinnamate (which is a sunscreen), Benzophenone-4 (another sunscreen), Steartrimonium Hydrolyzed Protein, and a few other things.
It says it "leave ProHair tangle and static free, smooth, glossy, and manageable." I must say I like it. It also smells good, which, if it didn't, I don't care *how* good it is, I wouldn't use it.
-Fina
Jenny, does that sound similar to the wig spray you love?
The Dome Care (which I also use) has: Alcohol Denat, Water, Phenyl Trimethicone, Polysorbate 20, Fragrance.
That said, I've actually been using less sprays and products recently. I think I was ODing on them a bit at first, and now I'm sort of limiting it to Biosilk and the occasional spray of this or that.
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Scotchyroo wrote:
