Climate Control

Yesterday, I mentioned I had two samples of Ouidad Climate Control Heat & Humidity Gel.It promises to control frizz in all climates, and since August is the time of year when my frizz is in full bloom, I decided it would be the perfect time to try it out.

A little background info: My hair is neither all the way curly nor all the way straight. It hovers somewhere in the middle, which is great because I can bend it to my curly or straight will pretty easily. But also, it’s not great, because if I don’t do anything, my hair is just kind of disorganized-looking.

And so, we begin. First of all, I really hate when samples come in a larger size, but in a packet that cannot be closed. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve over-squeezed or somehow otherwise managed to accidentally get product all over my sink and/or counter from that type of packaging. This gel is in one of those kinds of packets. Somewhat mockingly, the packet is SHAPED like a bottle, but it does not actually have a functioning lid.

The fake bottle packet says this “is the must-have styling aid to tame frizz and fly-aways.” And then some stuff about it being able to “breathe” with the humidity. So far, sounds great.

The instructions for use involve “Ouidad’s Rake & Shake technique.” Basically you rake the gel evenly through your hair in sections, shaking each little section to reset the curl pattern. It seemed like a lot of work, but since I didn’t have to blow dry, (I don’t think? They didn’t actually mention that.) I figured it was actually faster. I let my hair dry naturally.

When my hair dried, it looked like I had done the mousse/gel “scrunching” trick from the 80s, only slightly less crispy. I combed it through with a wide-tooth comb, and then it looked fluffy and wavy. Still not a good look. The next morning, there was no improvement, plus, I could really feel that my hair had “product” in it.

I could, if I felt like it, try this again, and use my diffuser to boost the curls. But I don’t really feel like it helped me with frizz or flyaways. Maybe this WAS a single-use packet, and I didn’t actually use enough of the product. But I can’t imagine using more, I can already FEEL it. I think, more likely, this is meant for people with SERIOUS curls, not my half-assed curls, which collapse into waves if you look at them funny.

Using this stuff actually reminded me of another product line, samples of which I have tucked away somewhere in the depths of my bathroom vanity. Devachan is another brand famous for curl care, and for their “no-poo” (no joke!) products. Last winter, I bought a sample pack of travel size products from their salon on the recommendation of the very curly haired aesthetician who was in charge of my eyebrows until she left to go work in marketing. I never ended up trying it because it was winter and I liked my straight hair. But now, maybe I’ll dig that out and give it a shot, if only to write about something called No-Poo…