What is the Curly Girl Method?
The Curly Girl Method is a hair care method for natural curls, founded by Lorraine Massey. When you follow this method, you avoid products with sulphates, silicones, wax, dehydrating alcohol and mineral oils. These ingredients are not good for your hair. They put an enclosing layer over your hair, which makes it dehydrate. Next to that, these ingredients are not easy to remove from your hair.
The Final Wash
Do you want to start with the Curly Girl Method? Then you wash your hair for the last time with a shampoo which contains sulphates, but without silicones, mineral oils, wax and dehydrating alcohol. You do this to wash out the bad ingredients out of the hair. In this way you can have a fresh start. Use a hair mask (CG friendly!) after the Final Wash, so the hair does not dehydrate by the sulphates.
Final Wash Shampoo
Wash your hair in a CG-friendly way
Washing your hair in a Curly Girl-friendly way could be done by using a shampoo or conditioner without sulphates, silicones, wax, dehydrating alcohol and mineral oils. Do not wash your hair more than once per week with a shampoo. Washing with a conditioner (co-wash) could be done as often as you want.
Do not rub too often through your hair during washing; leave your curls intact. Only wash the scalp with a shampoo. Massage your scalp in turning movements to release dirt. Rinse off the shampoo and conditioner, again without rubbing too much.
Curly Girl Method Shampoos
Using a CG-friendly conditioner
After washing you use a CG-friendly conditioner, again without sulphates, silicones, mineral oils, wax and dehydrating alcohol. The amount of conditioner you should use is different with everyone; experiment with this to decide how much your hair needs.
Apply the conditioner first from the scalp to the hair ends. Slide with your fingers through the hair. Do you have long hair? Then bring your hair towards your scalp, by grabbing it at the ends and putting it up. This is called scrunching and is good for the curl pattern. With some curl types you could leave a bit or all conditioner in your hair. Curly hair needs a lot of hydration and does not become greasy quickly.
Comb your hair when it is soaked with water and conditioner (do not comb your hair when it is dry!). Use your fingers, a Tangle Teezer or a Denman Brush to not disturb your curl pattern.
Never dry your hair with a towel made of terry cloth, because this could make it fluff. Use a cotton T-shirt or micro fibre towel. Do not rub with this over your hair, but squeeze the excess water out of your hair. Do you want to use a blow dryer? Than use a diffuser and blow dryer on a low temperature.
Curly Girl Method Conditioners
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Styling in a CG way
Lastly, it is time for styling. It is important that you also use CG-friendly products when choosing styling products. After washing, leave your regular conditioner or a leave-in conditioner in your hair. To style the hair, you could use gel on wet hair. When the hair dries, this could become hard. You could remove hard gel by carefully scrunch the hair.
