About five years ago, an old school stylist told me about the Kayvel brand. She swore that it was the best smokeless "press n'curl" line that she had ever used. I checked into it, and they were not in business at that time anymore. Well, with so much natural hair coming back to be the trend, the "Second Generation" of the Kayvel brand was released.
So as soon as Kayvel was back on the market, I got my hands on it! I played around with it some, but never could get a feel for what the line could do until now!
I used the Kayvel Curl Wave (a wax) on one of my Type 3 looser curl pattern clients, and it did NOT weigh it down. I had been avoiding using any potentially heavy product on her hair because I did not want to weigh it down, but her texturized hair was not holding the style. We only relaxed her hair every 4 to 5 months for some humidity control, but it was prone to frizz at will. So remember a few articles ago when I did the product review on the Mend conditioner? Well, that same beautician mentioned using a "wax" (no particular brand) as another secret to helping the curls to stay. So upon her advice, I took just a dab of Kayvel "wax" and emulsified it into the palms of my hands. I then distributed it lightly through my client's long blowdried tresses section by section from root to end. Only one small dab was enough to effectively distribute through the hair without it feeling greasy nor oily. I was still a little nervous as to whether it was going to be too heavy, but by the end of the marcel curling, it was shiny, bouncy, and frizz-free. It was perfect. Heavy enough to fight humidity, but light enough to move when she moved. The Kayvel Curl Wave did GREAT!!!!
I recently started using the Kayvel Creme Press on wet hair to assist in the blowdry process. The instructions are on the Creme press jar and the Curl wave jar on suggested usage. They suggest a "soft pressing" with the creme press and finish the styling with the marcel irons and the curl wave to get the moisture repellent curls.
The products seems to be smokeless and non-greasy. So anyone wanting an old school press with a new school finish should get their hands on the Kayvel!