The Curly Girl Method

So, for those of you sitting there wondering, "What the heck is the Curly Girl method?" fear not! I was definitely in the same boat as you until I did some research. And trust me, what I found was pretty incredible.

The Curly Girl method was pretty much thought up by Lorraine Massey, who wrote this book all about how to care for curly hair. Turns out that most of the products you find (in the drugstore or otherwise) are just jam packed with ingredients that may work perfectly for straight hair, but put curly hair through the wringer. In order to recover from these harsh ingredients that we find in shampoos, conditioners, and hair stylers, she thought up a new way of caring for curly hair that eliminates all things that are not curly girl approved.

Here's the low down: Sulfates are not curly girl approved. From what I understand, sulfates are pretty easy to spot in ingredients list, because they often contain the word "sulfate" in them. Silicones are not curly girl approved. Anything with the suffix -cone, -conol, or -xane is a silicone, and should not be used if you are trying out the curly girl method. Drying alcohols, waxes, and non-natural oils are also no good.
Here is a great website to help you spot ingredients that are not curly girl friendly.

What's wrong with these ingredients? Well, nothing, if you have straight hair. But curly hair is naturally drier than straight hair. Why? The oils that are produced at our scalp have trouble sliding down the twists and turns of our curl pattern. Think about it. It's easy to fall straight down, but if there are tons of kinks and curls on the way down, it's going to be hard to make it to the bottom. That's why most curlies have oily scalps and dry ends.
Basically, sulfates are really harsh and stripping. They eliminate all the dirt and oil from your hair, which sounds nice, but in reality, it's just too harsh for us curly heads. When we use sulfate products, they strip our hair of moisture, causing unruly hair with lots of frizz. We then use products to tame this mess. This is where silicones come in. Silicones tame the frizz and craziness, but guess what? They can only be washed away by sulfates. It's a never ending cycle of damage. We strip our hair with sulfates, we tame the frizz with silicones, and wash them away again with sulfates. The Curly Girl method eliminates these products entirely, with the ultimate goal of calming that frizz and restoring our hair's health.

What does this mean? Well, basically, it means no more shampoo. Yeah, it sounds pretty crazy if you've been using shampoo your whole life. But here's the truth. Conditioners have cleansers in them just like shampoo, but they are much more gentle. When you wash your hair with conditioner (called co-washing), you remove the oil and dirt without completely stripping your hair of the moisture it needs. When you wash your hair with conditioner, you really have to rub your scalp in order to lift up all that gross-ness. But the rubbing removes the stuff you want to remove, leaving you with a nice, clean scalp.
Usually, you follow up co-washing with another conditioner, called a rinse out. Rinse outs are often thicker and more moisturizing. Apply this to the length of your hair to get as much moisture as you can. You can rinse this out all the way or almost all of the way, leaving the rest as a leave in conditioner. However, there are other leave-ins that you can use when you get out of the shower to lock the moisture in all day.

What about styling? When you style your hair, you use products without silicones. Also, most curly girls apply their products when their hair is basically dripping wet. This just causes less frizz. Furthermore, curly girls use old t-shirts or towels designed specifically for curly hair to dry their hair (before or after you apply product- it's up to you). Terry cloths have lots of little fibers that cause frizz. Perfectly fine for the body, but not for the hair.
Some curlies "plop" their hair, or tie it up in a old t-shirt on top of their head to speed up drying time and avoid frizz. Some curlies use diffusers. The least damaging way of drying the hair is just to let it air dry.
Also, curlies do not use regular brushes. They use wide-tooth combs or just their fingers to detangle. When their hair is dry, they do not use a brush at all.

But what if I want to use shampoo and still be a curly girl? Some curlies use sulfate free shampoos, which you can find at the drugstore. Sometimes, our hair just needs a good cleansing, like anybody else's would. In this case, you can use a sulfate free shampoo, or clarify with natural ingredients.

How to start. When you start the method, the first thing you're going to do is wash with a sulfate shampoo in order to remove all the silicones in your hair. After that, you use your conditioner. You can start co-washing in your next shower, or you can start right after your last sulfate cleansing. Remember, if you choose to start in your next shower, you can't put any silicones in your hair.
After that, you're ready to go!
I've heard that there can be an awkward transition period where your hair is getting used to the new routine. A few weeks, maybe more. But the results are really striking. Check out some before and after pictures on naturallycurly.com. This website is pretty much dedicated to all things curly. It has lots of helpful information, whether you're a curly girl or not.
My plan for this blog (along with makeup related posts) is to document my curly girl journey. I'm doing my last sulfate shampoo this weekend, and I'll be posting updates on my hair's progress. I hope you found this helpful! Leave me a comment if you have any questions, and I will do my best to answer them.

Click here if you would like to see the products I chose to start the curly girl method.

Click here if you would like to follow my Curly Girl journey and see how my hair has changed.

Wishing you all a fantastic day!
Gianna