minimum product goal

Ok, so I remember me loving my hair the first year I BC's around 6 months into it. And I could never get that feeling back and I did not know what what was different.
Not I think i know what the difference was.

NO USE of Gel except for a small amount on my edges.

Its totally undefined and fluffy and  a bit frizzy but I think i'm okay with that because get this....its softer and more manageable.

I think somewhere I got lost in the perfect ringlets syndrome.

So I gave myself a major trim and left the gel alone.

THis is 2nd day hair. I made the mistake of putting my hair in a pony puff as I would have done if my hair was coated with a layer of gel.
Bad idea, because my hair w/out get stretches out very easy and the fluffiness was gone and the ringlets stretched and were less defined: