To think the curly hair method is a con?

I‘m late to this thread, but I’ve been doing the CG method for years - haven’t actually used shampoo since long before covid. I use Alberto balsam apple conditioner to wash my hair - maybe every 2 or 3 days or after sweaty exercise, rinse and then scrunch a bit of conditioner in. That keeps things curly and under control.

If I want extra curls, I scrunch in a gel / cantu hair cream combo before putting my Turkish towel on (used to use micro fibre turbans but all of my buttons came off and I’m too lazy to sew them back on!!). I scrunch out the crunch once my hair is dry and crispy and the curls are immense.

In a morning, if I don’t want to wash or wet I’ll put a teeny bit of conditioner in my hand, add a bit of water and scrunch through your revive.

I’m 50 - my hair does seem to be frizzing a bit so I may have to revisit my routine.

it took a while for my hair to cooperate after many years of many products, but since then it’s been very reliable.

You do need to experiment a bit though - my hair HATES anything with coconut in for example, or almond, and I’ve wasted money on fancier conditioners when the 99p Alberto balsam is just fine.

It is frustrating that rained on produces great curls, or they finally sort themselves out at 9pm and look great just before bed!

Mine looks best when it's been heavily rained on, but that's not really practical as a method. I had a 20-minute walk in pouring rain yesterday and had excellent day-3 curls today.

I do a very lazy version of CG.
i think you just need to work out what works for you.

Too many product make my hair floppy and gross… using a towel and rubbing it dry makes it really frizzy…

I Co wash once a week and wash with sulfate free shampoo once a week. After washing I squish conditioner in (silicone free) but I don’t faff about too much just give it a good load of conditioner, squeeze it out with water , then a little dab of curl cream and stick a tshirt on my head. Little blast with diffuser (warm, not hot) and if I’ve got time stick a silk scarf on my head when it’s dry , while I’m doing makeup. Silk calms the curls right down.

the more time/effort I put in to the drying bit (don’t rush, not too hot etc) the better it looks.

Doesn't work for me. The styling tips do, like styling while very wet, etc., but nope. Just invest in a good quality shampoo and conditioner and then gel to style and you're all good.

Not sure if I use the curly girl method exactly, but my hairdresser told me to start washing it just once a week, with a small amount of shampoo but more conditioner. I then comb it and leave it to dry. I also don't comb it in-between washes. It's much better this way for me - less frizz, more curl, I get some really nice defined ringlets. Some of the hair at the front is finer and frizzier and I add Super Milk by Lush, which makes it ringletty again and smells gorgeous.

@Axolotyls I recently changed the mousse I use and tried a different one (ran out of the Only Curls one I was given as a present and couldn't justify the cost of it!).

It's an Umberto Giannini one and the first time I used it, I found that the curls fell out much quicker than usual. But I just upped the amount I used and it worked much better the next time.

It's a pain doing all the trial and error stuff to see what works best for you, but I'm glad to see you're getting some positive results already!

It didn't work for me either. So I carried on with my normal products. Shampoo every one to two weeks, and use Pantene pro v repair and protect every time I shower in between. I don't dry it (got a defuser for if it's super cold in winter) I put a bit of oil on my hands and smooth it through the ends and finger comb and scrunch, all done.
I use fantasia frizz buster oil.

I found the same with the curly girl method. My hair is pretty coarse and thick and wavy, but the method and products were way too heavy for it and made it feel minging. And gave me dandruff.

I experimented a bunch with products and ended up with an adapted version that's less effort...

1. wash with any old shampoo, sulphate-free makes no difference for me, not using shampoo doesn't do anything good either
2. condition it with a reasonably nice conditioner meant for curls, like John Frieda Dream Curls. Comb it while wet with conditioner in to detangle it, then scrunch it a bit.
3. wash it out, pat it dry with a microfibre towel (the kind that are £5 in a mountain gear shop)
4. smooth a bit of curl cream in (I use Boots' own cheapo one which is the best I've tried)
5. scrunch in some curl jelly (I like the Umberto Giannini one)
6. let it air dry or, if I'm going out and it's freezing, diffuse dry it

I just sleep on a normal pillow, but fling all my hair up behind my head before sleeping so I squash the curls less. Bit of water and curl jelly the next morning if needed and ready to go. Low effort.

I cut my own hair for years using the "double unicorn method" (see Youtube) and it was honestly soooo easy and looked great. I now have an undercut as well as curly layers, which is beyond my skills to do (but keeps me cool in summer and reduces drying time by half), so I get curly cuts from a good local hairdresser.

I found when on holiday somewhere with soft water it always seems better too.

I have knotty, frizzy and clumpy type 2C hair. Each hair is fine and fragile, I live in an extremely hard water area, and on top of that my scalp and skin all over my entire body is very oily (no, it's not due to over washing). This makes it incredibly hard to find anything at all that works for my hair.

The only thing that sort of works is normal shampoo and conditioner, detangling in the shower, then using detangling spray to plait my hair while wet, and wear a tight beanie hat until it dries (takes a day). This makes the waves uniform and smooths the top part of my hair, reducing the frizz halo.

All those products caused me to have a scalp condition so i just stopped🙁
But you need to do your own thing that works for you.
For me, I only shampoo my hair once a week, the other times I use water and maybe a little conditioner.
Try protective styling always
Leave hair in braids etc
For the roots, you can do loose bantu knots at night, really look into this!! Do not brush hair after opening the knots or even fiddle with it too much. It always makes nice curls for a while.

Also get nice big bobbles/hair bands and do nice buns then you only need to sort out the front.
You can also put your hair in braids or twists at night,use a silk scarf to sleep with and just open then up in the morning, if you want tight curls open more, if you want more controlled big curls, just loosely open up hair.
My hair is curly but the curls are not very tight so depends on hair type as well
Oh and I like doing warm oil soak before shampooing, so I mix olive oil and black seed oil(tiny amount) and any other oils I have, like a drop of tea tree oil some rosemary etc
Warm in microwave and pour into my scalp and hair
Sit with a cloth on top or cling film
And wash after 30 min
I also do henna every 3 months or so.
Henna cuz it makes the hair stronger and the curls a little looser. Make sure to do a deep condition after henna as henna can be very drying. Even 10 min with a good conditioner after shampooing is fine.
Also, when you cant be bothered doing anything just embrace it

May I see a picture of your massive afro?

Oh c'mon... It's a post about hair. No need for woke comments.

Yes I definitely think it does, although we don’t have hard water. Used my friends shower head with a filter recently and the results were so good!

I’ve followed the curly girl method-ish but I’ve found that you need to find products dependant on hair type and different factors: how dense your hair is, the thickness of strands and porosity of your hair. I realised that even though I have very thick dry hair, my hair is low porosity so I was using creams that were way too heavy for my hair and it was making it frizzier. It takes so much trial and error, so I try go for the travel size products first. I like the only curls range, my hairdresser used this on me on my last curly cut. They have a curl quiz, as do many of the big curly product companies but it might help you understand what type of hair you have and what kinda products you need. Also a denman brush or the knock of version of a bounce curl brush helped my definition of curls so much.

Curly girl looks nice on me but it leaves my hair feeling claggy

I’ve got thick quite greasy hair that’s just a mess if I leave it. It’s a bit long now so I can put some aussie curl cream stuff on and just leave it so it’s messy in a good way (just) but normally I just wash it after swimming in a morning, by the time I get home it’s nearly dry so I put some serum stuff on the ends and do it with one of them brushes that heat up. Even though it’s quite thick and long I only have to section it into 3 or 4, it only takes 10 minutes. I’ve got a big revlon one and a babyliss (big hair) one that spins around. I use L’Oréal shampoo and conditioner for greasy hair I think L’Oréal are quite good whichever type you need.

I have very thick, frizzy hair, with a slight curl, I straighten it now takes about 20 mins having my hair curly just makes me feel like crap & I'm sick & tired of the usual comments like 'oh I wish I had curly hair' I only wash it once a week because anymore than that & it goes so dry, I can't afford fancy shampoo/conditioner so just use whatever is on offer. I remember going to the hairdresser when I was about 10, the hairdresser made me look like Deirdre Barlow crossed with a poodle, I haven't been to a hairdresser since, my mums friend used to trim my hair whist taking the piss out of it, my mum would laugh along & it really made me feel so self conscious. I just trim it myself now the dead ends, the curly method just seems so time consuming.

I have hair that is curly but also tends to frizzy. I've tried many different shampoos and conditioners over the years. Even the ones that work only work on the day they are used as soon as I have slept on it rearranged itself and frizzies again. I tried Only Curls same result. Going through that rigmarole of 4 separate steps for 1 day is not worth it. My hair looks best tightest curls and no frizz if I get caught in heavy rain and let it dry naturally! I wonder if it is the hard water in our area that affects my hair the most.

I’ve only seen 3/people using it - one looks like a poodle perm and the 2 other look like they have wet/very greasy hair.

My hair sounds like yours. I tie mine up after washing whilst it’s still wet. Looks neat during the day, and is substantially straighter by the time it’s dried later in the day. I can’t be bothered with straightening or lots of styling to get my curls looking good.

I used sulphate free shampoos, like faith in nature. Always silicone free conditioner. I like cantu and I always use a silicone free curl cream (currently hello wave). I let it air dry, use a denman brush after it's washed and deranged and the curl cream has been worked in and then I let it air dry. I need these products though as my hair is very dry. without curl cream, I look shit. There are so many products and so many different types of curls, it's a lot of trial an error. can you post a pic of your hair? what type are you?

I'm on Frizz Ease. I've had to experiment a bit with different combinations of products and treatments. I moved my parting to cover up a persistently fuzzy clump at the front. A good cut can make all the difference - my life has changed since I started going to a local curly salon, it's like I've found my people! 🤣

Also, throw every hairbrush you own in the bin and buy a shower comb