It is hard to have defined and frizz-free curls without having a hair regimen that works and provides great results. One of the great methods that you can use for your curly hair is the curly girl method. If you want to know what’s this method and how you can do it, follow me through this post about the Curly Girl Method.
What is Curly Girl Method?
The Curly Girl Method is from the book Curly Girl: The Handbook by Lorraine Massey. In this method, we only use conditioner and gel, and we avoid damaging habits such as using shampoo and heat styling. You can experiment with this method and if something doesn’t work for your hair, you can easily modify it as you like.
First, avoid these damaging things
The first important thing that you should do is to avoid some damaging habits and products. You may have been doing some of all of these and you didn’t even know that they are damaging for your curly hair. These things include:
- Fragrance
- Sulfates – namely sodium lauryl sulfate & ammonium laureth sulfate
- Non-water soluble silicones
- Heat styling tools
- Combs & brushes
- Alcohol
- Shampoo
Should I stop using shampoo instantly?
As I mentioned first, if something doesn’t work for your hair, you can easily modify and change it as you like it. If stopping shampoo leaves your hair greasy, you can still use a sulfate-free shampoo to solve this problem. Before you start using a sulfate-free shampoo, experiment with no shampoo and see the result. If you want to try a sulfate-free shampoo, tgin Sulfate Free Shampoo and tgin Rose Water Sulfate Free Hydrating Shampoo are great options.
You can use things such as:
- Humectants – panthenol, vegetable glycerine, sorbitol
- Proteins – wheat, wheat germ or soy
- Emollients – Shea butter, olive & vegetable oils
- Gentle cleansing ingredients – cocamidopropyl betaine & decyl polyglucose
- Styling gel ingredients – PVP and PVP/VA
- Moisturizers – amino acids & aloe vera
How to cleanse
Cleansing and washing are straightforward in the Curly Girl Method. All you have to do is gently massage and scrub your scalp with fingertips and your preferred conditioner. Remember that you should never use fingernails to cleanse your scalp.
How often should I cleanse?
Wavy: Use regular shampoo once a week. Conditioner before and after shampooing.
Curly: Use water and conditioner to co-wash once a week or every 10 days.
Coily: Wet your hair between co-wash days and go to the conditioning part.
How to condition
Apply conditioner in sections until it is distributed on your hair completely.
Wavy: Just rinse for a few seconds. You can leave a little amount of conditioner on your hair.
Curly: You can leave the conditioner on your hair if you want extra moisture.
Coily: You should leave the conditioner on for 15 minutes with heat. Then, rinse your hair completely.
How to style
You can either use a diffuser or let your hair air-dry. Now scrunch gel from the ends to your scalp.
Wavy: You can use pin curls or scrunch more to encourage your curls.
Curly: If you want to create volume, bend forward and fluff from roots. Never touch the top layer which can cause frizz.
Coily: The Curly Girl Method recommends wash & go, but feel free to style as you wish. Never use heat for this hair type.
If you have found any method that works for your hair, feel free to share them in the comments. This can be very useful for those who have your hair type. Have you ever tried the Curly Girl Method? Did you get the result you were looking for?
