I'm no Deva

Next week Drew and I are having an anniversary remix as our true anniversary on Oct. 10th was less than celebratory.  That's the thing about marriage - society would have you believe that if you're not doing it just so, you're doing it wrong.  Actually, that's why our anniversary sucked - we both bought into the idea that our marriage and this pregnancy had to be done a certain way and we weren't doing it right.  Thus, we felt bad about it and being completely human, blamed the other person for it.  That led to hurt feelings all around and our anniversary found us sleeping in separate beds.  That, my friends, is life.  


Life is also getting to have an anniversary remix.  We were going to just chalk this year, reasoning that we could only go up from here but who says we have to wait that long?  No one, that's who!  This is our marriage and we can do this any way we choose and I choose an anniversary remix.  The stars lined up and Drew had a free night thanks to his hotel points that he had to use before the middle of December.  We were going to to take a day trip but with only one night free it didn't make a lot of sense to even try to go somewhere as close as Austin, so we decided to stay in town.  We're going back to the hotel where we spent our wedding night and we're taking a cab to the AA center to watch the Stars play St. Louis. We got great seats and it's going to be a wonderful night - because I said so.


In honor of our upcoming anniversary remix, I wanted to get my hurr did.  It had been over a year since my last haircut and it was long overdue.  Curly hair hides a multitude of sins and I wasn't hurting for a haircut, but it was approaching my waist and all my layers had pretty much grown out.  I like layers because they give my curls some interest and movement and I wanted to look good for our remix night.


On my lunch break last week, I stopped into the hair salon across the street from work.  I was looking for an appointment this week but they only had one that night.  After grilling them about the stylist who knew curly hair the best, they pointed to Martin.  He was just finishing on a client with the prettiest curly hair I'd seen and I was sold.  They also carried the Devacare line and Martin knew how to do the Deva cut - dry, cutting curl families instead of blunt cuts.  I was impressed with him and the salon and I came in later that night.


The Deva line is all natural, sulfate-free and it smells divine!  After my hair was carefully washed with the No-Poo and scrunch dried with paper towels, Martin broke apart all my little curl families (it was a curl divorce) to detangle my hair, and then put them back together once the tangles were gone (it was a curl reunion.)  He said that the Deva cut would be good for me but my hair needed more moisture to encourage my curl families before he did that, so he did more of a traditional cut.  Then he used the gel on my hair and made lots of ringlets and corkscrews and I really liked it!

Very ringlet-y, but I was happy with Martin's work!

Corkscrews and ringlets

Ringlet closeup

Some Bo-Peep-ness happening.

If you get too enthusiastic making ringlets, that's what my hair does

Random pretty curl.

That's what happens if you only twirl twice as opposed to making 

full-out ringlets.

Wrapping it up for the night, a la Curly Nikki.

I was doing four twists but I needed one more for better definition at the front.

Crossing my fingers it looks good in the morning!

The next morning - the twists haven't been shaken out

Not too shabby!

My hair, not my yellow skin - no more pics in this bathroom!

Shot of my layers - they blend better than the picture

would lead you to believe.  They're not that choppy.

I had my hair washed last Wednesday at the salon, I washed it myself on Saturday with an apple cider vinegar clarifying rinse to remove buildup because Martin said that may be why my hair tangles rather easily.   Just be sure to dilute it - I just took the bottle in the shower with me and dumped some on my head.  Don't do that or you'll choke from the fumes.  I used the One Condition which smells ah-MAZE-ing, left it in and then I styled it using the Curly Girl method with the gel.  Unfortunately, gel and I are not friends.  My hair has never done well with gel and Deva AnGel is no exception.  Now, this could be because I left the conditioner in or the apple cider vinegar rinse, or the gel - I'm not sure.  My hair felt like straw to the touch, it tangled if you just looked at it (which I don't think is just because it's dry) and I ended up having to wash it out and go with my usual Tightly Curly method on Monday night and once again, my hair is looking good!  That way is just more suited to my curl type and it lasts longer.

Well, maybe I am a little bit of a Deva.  I got the trial pack of the No-Poo, One Condition, Set It Free and AnGel and the gel is the only thing I didn't like.  I'm definitely going to compare the ingredients with my drugstore brands because even though the Deva products smell like Heaven in a bottle, they are not cheap!  I may splurge for the Set It Free because it really does work on the hairline frizzies but the full-size bottles of conditioner aren't that big and I'd go through them faster than my wallet would like.

At any rate, I have a great haircut thanks to Martin and now I'm all set for our anniversary remix next week!