how i do this curly hair o'mine

out on phx...with my everyday hair.

I posted last week about our rehearsal dinner - a day I was having a particularly delightfully good hair day.  I got a few emails and comments about it...asking what products I use and such.  Figured I would share...as I'm missing my curly locks right about now.  The past 2 months of residency has forced my hair style to be one of two things....  in a ponytail or in a french braid...away from my face and out of my patient's faces.   I feel like a bit of a scrub.  Oh well...

ANYWAY.

My FAVE hair products are Aveda.  THE SMELL!! ohmygod.  I think that's what Heaven is going to smell like (if you by some chance don't know what I'm talking about...just walk into an Aveda salon at your mall...you will understand.)  Aveda products are wickedly PRICEY...so I only purchase the three items that pack the biggest punch for me.  I only need a small amount in my hair, so I only have to replace them about twice per year.

I use be curly, phomollient, and sometimes the volumizing tonic.

Why I love these products:  my hair looks natural, and my curls are soft.  I'm not a fan of the wet-looking crispy curl look...I rocked that in junior high.  Now I embrace volume a lot more :-)   I use a dime size amount of the "be curly" and scrunch it in my hair, then I use 3 pumps of the "phomollient" and scrunch it in the hair, and every now and then when I use the "volumizing tonic" I'll spray it at the roots. 

a lil wild...lots of volume...somewhat frizzy...this is my hair most days.

 I can make the frizz go away easy enough, by using a diffuser when I blow dry.  Except, I don't really blow dry very often.  I only wash my curly hair every three days.  Day 1 I wear it down and curly, day 2 I wear it half up/half down, day 3 is ponytail (sometimes I pull a day four and make it a messy bun at the nape of my neck.)

this is what i refer to as sleek curls...where they are defined and smoooooooth.

To make my hair curly sleek - only for the most SPECIAL of occasions - I take small sections of hair and wrap it around the barrel of a small curling iron for a second.  Viola!  Sleek curls.  These curls last for a solid 3 days....4 if I really really push it.

What curly hair products do you use?  I'm thinking about using a curling shampoo and conditioner once the gigantic bottles of shampoo/conditioner I currently have finally run out.  Any thoughts??