Curly hair is not a trend, its a lifestyle
There’s a lot of talk about the Curly girl method, its certainly becoming more and more talked about in the last few years but what is it? There’s blog after blog, endless You Tube videos! I hope I can help explain this some of this minefield of information by writing ANOTHER blog (lol) in one place through what I have learnt since I started. The method comes from the natural hair movement for black women. Its important to acknowledge that embracing natural hair care came from black women needing to take ownership of their natural hair. This method has grown from them. Here is a link of a really interesting article covering some of the history of the natural hair movement http://www.theupost.org/2020/04/29/the-whitewashing-of-the-natural-hair-movement/
A book written by Lorraine Massey – Curly girl, the handbook is also an early resource to embracing and caring for natural curls. This is all about learning how to care for your hair type, it doesn’t make your hair curly.
I started Curly Girl Method in February 2018, I had enough of horrifically dry hair, hours of hair straightening and the constant fight against frizz. After reading some blogs about what it was all about I decided at first to ditch the shampoo, heat and brushes. These were the first products I found and tried with my new knowledge. The first basic rules I followed then were no silicone’s, no towels, heat or brushes.
Luckily for me the changes were fairly positive and quick, although ditching shampoo was a real mental challenge, Certainly takes a lot of getting used to. Over the last three years I have read more and learnt more. Experimenting with products has been full of equal triumph and failure.
One of the biggest part of learning about my hair was the revelation of curl types. One size doesn’t fit all! There’s a whole scale of hair types that all need looking after differently. Type 1-4 with sub types in each number. As you can see from the graphic below. Curly girl method tends to work well with type 3 and 4’s.
In doing some research for this I found some information on a wavy hair method. I found this really good website for wavy hair ladies
It uses the back bone of curly girl method but advises adaptions that work better for those waves. As a general guide, type 2 is often mistaken for straight hair, of all the curly hair types it tends to be the least dry so ditching shampoo may become troublesome.
Type 3 curls are much dryer, this is where no shampoo really starts to have a good effect. One thing that I’m really noticing on the market now is cleansing conditioners, a little pricey at the moment but could be a really good place to start, especially for the hair type who still have a good level of moisture to them.
Type 4 curly hair is very coily hair, it tends to be the driest of the hair types with defined S and Z shaped curls.
It’s important to note again that this method is not a one size fits all theory, from research and talking to various people hair types 2C – 4A tend to work well with Curly girl.
Another part of the hair to consider is the porosity. Varying conditions need caring for, ranging from Low, medium to high knowing which type your hair is will be a game changer. Each kind responds to products and treatments differently. This site explains it all in much more detail and shows you how to discover your type
https://www.naturallycurly.com/texture-typing/hair-porosity
Do’s & Donts of curly girl
These are not hard and fast rules but rather a guide. They’re a very good start in experimenting what works for your hair and what doesn’t.
Do’s
Wash hair with silicone free conditoners or a cleansing conditioner
Finger comb hair when wet to detangle
Use cotton T-shirts or microfiber hair towels after washing
Air dry your hair or use a diffuser on a low setting
Dont’s
Use shampoo or shampoos with sulfates
Avoid combs or brushes
No towel drying
Non water-soluble formulas
Avoid silicone’s, alcohol or fragrances
Below is a fantastic video, it really does well to show how to follow some of the practices and I absolutely adore Jayme Jo! I don’t do everything in here but there’s enough in here to try yourselves, you can easily pick and mix what works and what doesnt
How do I find the right products?
This has been some of the hardest part of all this, I have mostly relied on the blogs of other people who have clearly worked their arse off reading and analyzing the ingredient lists of hundreds of products! These women are curly hair heroes! When searching definitely remember to search within the country you live, the two example links I’m sharing will be UK based. Products and ingredients vary wildly across the world, when I first started looking it was mainly based in the USA. The method has definitely grown online in the last three years. I’ve certainly found the more I read on other blogs the easier it became to find the right products myself. I’ve also found that shops like Superdrug now even have most of the products made for curly hair in one section! Which really makes things easier.
Two good blogs in the UK that I have used are the following
- https://curlygirlapproveduk.com/
- http://www.theupost.org/2020/04/29/the-whitewashing-of-the-natural-hair-movement/
On curlygirlapproved.com there’s an interesting chart under Shea Moisture where they show which products are good for which hair type. It really shows the importance of trying different variants of products within a brand to find what works for your own hair. Finally this website I found today which is an absolute game changer! All you do is type in any ingredients from hair products and it tells you if its good or bad for your hair! So simple but effective! Genuinely wish I had this years ago!
My own routine!
In my view my own routine is simple, its basically routine so to me its just part of my day to day life. To the right are my current products, these have really given me the best results I have ever had with my hair.
I start with ‘washing’ my hair with my conditioner, its left while I shower. I then give my scalp a good clean with a silicone scalp brush (only silicone and brush allowed haha). This really helps with fending off an itchy, flaky scalp.
Giving my hair a really good comb through with my fingers to de-tangle and smooth is done before I rinse. Part of rinsing is really taking the time to squeeze as much water out of the hair as you can, you don’t want your hair weighed down with water or the water being a barrier for products. If your hair is air dried then leaving a lot of water in the hair can really hamper drying.
Next is my Coconut oil, Its my favourite part! I know my hair really loves oil, it definitely shows me if I’m not giving it enough oil love. This is done before I wrap my hair in my microfiber towel, I like to rest my hair in the towel while it absorbs the oil and dries a little. Its then treated with a good amount of Creme gel, scrunched to volumise and finished off with my serum.
My Hair in 2007
My hair in 2021
My Curly hair journey is all here to see, Like I quoted at the beginning “Curly hair is not a trend, its a lifestyle” Its fully ingrained in my life now, its part of me. I love my hair! For me feels easy to look after now I really know how, a couple of my favourite pros is when I dye my hair the colour stays! it takes a good few months to fade which is remarkable for red (A con here is that my hair does hate being dyed, it takes a couple of days of intense conditioning for it to recover). A big pro is with the lack of damage from brushes, hairdryers and straighteners I’ve not seen a split end in three years. I haven’t needed to cut inches off my hair every year! Its glorious!
If i can advise anything to anyone starting then it would be research, experiment and be patient! If it works for you it will change your life
Love
xoxo
Collection of all the links used to help me write this
- https://www.realsimple.com/beauty-fashion/hair/hair-care/curly-girl-method-explainer
- https://www.naturallycurly.com/texture-typing/hair-porosity
- https://www.beautyempirestore.com/blogs/news/hair-types-porosity-density-we-break-it-down-for-you
- https://www.allthingshair.com/en-uk/hair-care/hair-types/type-2-hair/
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j_9jSWr-1C0
- https://medium.com/@letscurlupseo/curly-girl-method-for-wavy-hair-e7e5a7b69c74#:~:text=While%20applying%20styling%20products%20to,preserve%20the%20clumps%20without%20shrinkage.
- https://www.curlsbot.com/
- http://www.theupost.org/2020/04/29/the-whitewashing-of-the-natural-hair-movement/
- https://www.littlemisskaty.co.uk/2020/10/curly-girl-method-results-six-weeks.html
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