Curlsmith Hydro Style Flexi Defining Curl Gel

Most Helpful Positive Review

Great Paired With the Feather Light Protein Cream

Several months ago, after watching a bunch of YouTube videos of curly-haired women using Curlsmith products, I decided to try some on my own very fine, thin, low-porosity, 2bâ€"3a hair. I purchased the Feather-Light Protein Cream, Weightless Air Dry Cream, Hydro Style Flexi Jelly, and the Bouncy Str...ength Volume Foam. Curlsmith also inluded a free sample packet of Curl Defining Styling Souffle with the order. Since then, I have tried them all multiple times by themselves, varying the amount used, as well as combining some, trying to consistently get the best look I possibly could. Since my hair is rather shortâ€"just touching my collar in the backâ€"the trick is to not use too much of anything. Here are my conclusions: 1) Curlsmith does a very good job of describing their products. 2) I can pretty much use any of these products with good benefit during the fall/winter months of low humidity, with the exception of the Bouncy Strength Volume Foam. It is very good at giving volume, but it does inhibit curl formation for me, so I will have to figure out a way to use this one up. 3) I got the best curl formation with the Styling Souffle, but it doesn't have sufficient hold to use routinely. 4) The Weightless Air Dry Cream doesn't do much for my styling needs, so that also will be a challenge to use up. 5) The winner in my experiments was a combination of the Flexi Jelly and Feather-Light Cream. This is working well for me even during the humidity of Southern Indiana's summer. Not to say that I get no frizz, but it is tolerable. I end up with moisturized, shiny curls and waves in thin clumps that hold well enough, although I usually spray my hair with water and do a quick restyle each following morning, which usually turns out even better than wash day! I don't need to add any more productâ€"just water. The products reactivate very well and also wash away completely with mild shampoo. Great! :) This is my procedure: I wash my hair twice with a gentle, moisturizing shampoo (by Andalou Naturals), I skip conditioners, since they inhibit curl formation for me, I dry my hair with a T-shirt just until it doesn't drip anymore, I take a pea-size amount of Flexi Jelly and a bit less of the Feather-Light Protein Cream and mix them together well by rubbing them between my hands. I apply the mixture around the outside edges of my hair and distribute it as best I can, then I pull my hair outward from the center of the top of my head, exposing the tops of my hairs and repeat with an additional, but smaller amount of the product combination, until every hair is coated. I brush it all by sections, pulling outward from my head with a Denman vent brush (not the brush most curly women seem to use, because that one pulls too many of my very few hairs out in the process), I shake my head and crunch to encourage the curls to form, which they do in a natural way. As my hair air dries, I shake my head back and forth and up and down periodically to help encourage some separation that adds volume. When fully dry, I crunch out the cast, and I am done. Sorry I have used so many words, but I hope this will help other Curly Girls (and guys) who, like me, have few, very fine hairs, so can't pile on all the products most of the curly people on YouTube use.