To think Curly Girl Method is just a huge amount of stress to look lank and greasy??

[TheOtherSideOfTheMountain]

I know the die hard CGM followers will lynch me for this.

I thought lockdown was the absolute perfect time to take up Curly Girl Method. So I've not only been doing it myself for 5 weeks now, but also avidly researching and following loads of social media groups to learn all about it.

The thing that has really struck me is...even those who get through the "settling" period of letting your hair adapt to no shampoo, no silicone and sulfates etc - because it's accepted that you have to become a greasy mess for a bit to come out the other side - whisper it just never end up looking that great.

I must have viewed hundreds of galleries of people showing before and after pics. Some of them DO look amazing- that's how I got sucked in. But what I've noticed is the ones who look fab with huge bouncy curls, when you really read their routines properly - often aren't following it properly. They're cheating with the odd shampoo, or a non CGM conditioner. Those who religiously only use the approved products and methods seem, even at their very best, to look a bit dreadlocky....sort of greasy and stringy. Even when everyone tells them they look awesome.

So why has this method got such a cult following? People are spending literally hundreds of pounds trying to find the holy grail approved product. They're beating themselves up if they accidentally use something which isn't CGM approved. I'm seeing people get really really stressed about not following every instruction to the letter. But nobody is acknowledging the fact that actually they might look a whole lot better if they just cherry pick the bits of the method that work for them?

I'm pretty strict CG and mine doesn't look greasy at all - although to be fair it doesn't tend to get greasy!

I definitely felt better once I ditched the prescriptive CG method and just decided to do what worked for me! I stick to the sulphate and silicone free stuff but I was already sulphate and silicone free after using shampoo bars - and that was a transition period!

Now I've found the products that work for my hair are quite cheap! 99p conditioner from XHC at Poundland/Savers/B&M, 1.99 curl creme from Boots and a mousse I got from Wilko so can't have been expensive!

And if it doesn't work and my hair looks crap... Up it goes!

Pic
I wash with conditioner, condition then use a leave in and gel/mousse
Scrunch out any cast and dine

@eaglejulesk Yes! One last wash with sulfates, cheap conditioner to wash, nice conditioner to condition, creme or gel, microfibre towel, apple cider vinegar rinses, if you pull it and it snaps it has too much or not enough protein, and on and on!

I have the curly girl book and it does say that there are lots of different types. I have to use a medicated shampoo once a week (scalp only) but I have to say when I actually did the CG method for my hair religiously I saw great results very quickly - my hair strands are very thick, I also have absolutely tons of hair and it tends to be dry and frizzy if left to itself. But it's obviously not working for you so I would just add in a shampoo when you think you need it!

Thank you for the lovely compliments

You’re absolutely right when you say that one size very much doesn’t fit all. It really is about having the time and patience to experiment. If your hair is wavy rather than curly, or is fine then a heavy conditioner and lots of product won’t work, for example.

I use sainsburys coconut conditioner to wash (costs 80p I believe!) and then condition with tresseme undone. I leave that in for a few minutes then rinse out. Then I put a handful of the sainsburys conditioner back in, followed by a decent amount of Eco gel (the green one) on top. The gel costs about a fiver for a big tub. I only ever use reasonably priced conditioners and products...I’m sure some of the expensive ones are lovely, but because my hair is so thick I need to use a lot each wash and would end up spending a fortune. I really would recommend starting at the cheap end!

A weekly intensive conditioner is really important. And I do an occasional apple cider vinegar rinse if I feel I’ve got some build up.

For my hair I also rub a little argon oil into the ends as they are particularly dry. To be honest the single best thing I did for my hair was embrace cutting it shorter - I wanted it waist length but the truth is it gets very scraggy two inches past my shoulders. It's been miles better and weirdly looks longer than it did when it actually was longer!

It's just another gimmick, works for some, not for others.
I gave up and have gone back to how I was and my hair is much better.
I don't use a lot of products but it's light airy and bouncing curls rather than limp and lifeless.
I prefer a good cut too, and I wasn't getting one with vicky Queen of Curls, she's rubbish at cutting. Does that thing of lifting and dropping hair without actually cutting it.
I hadn't had a decent cut in years, she took nothing off it and it needed a good inch at least.
It isn't cheap either.

I thought that too - I wouldn’t want to touch their hair! I did give CG a good try but - my hair just needs washing. It still curls!

It depends on your hair. Mine is really fine and the curly girl method just makes it really greasy. The best thing for me is to wash and condition as normal, but with sulphate-free products, then pop some mousse in and leave it the hell alone!

I normally just shove it up in a bun as it makes my life so much easier

No-poo didn't suit me but low-poo does. No silicones/sulphates. Conditioner. Microfibre towel. Those are the bits that have worked for my hair. It's proper ringlety again rather than straggly, and growing rather than breaking off as it used to. I'm pretty low maintenance so couldn't be doing with the faffy bits. It's not a religion - just take what you need from it.

My hairdressers have recently recommended I try the CG method, I've experimented a bit and find my hair looks better when I wash with a sulfate free shampoo and conditioner, then when my hair is still soaking wet leave-in conditioner and a bit of curl creme then wrap my hair in a microfibre hair towel and leave it for half an hour or so and leave to dry naturally. My hair is already better than it was, it used to be flat at the roots and would start to curl from just above the ears so it had this awful triangular shape, now my hair has volume and curls from the roots. I use Creme of Nature products, really not that expensive I'm not spending any more than I used to on hair stuff, probably less as the curl creme and leave-in conditioner last ages.

I started the CG method and hated ever second. Using that and other methods online I made a simplified routine that didn't include needing to cut out shampoo and putting up with that heavy, greasy root feeling.

Now, I use sulfate free shampoo on just my roots, slap on some Shea Moisture, rinse off the majority but have a little left in, run a little mousse through my let hair and wrap a towel round for 5 minutes.

Then after that it air dries and my curls look really good, shiny, healthy and my scalp doesn't feel greasy and itchy.

Keep experimenting with different products and methods. CG isn't the only way.

I also think it's definitely trial and error with products. People with wavy/loose curls probably can quite easily accidentally end up in greasy territory with some of the products.

I have very curly hair (3b) and it needs leave in conditioner, styling cream to stay moisturised. Before I started the curly girl method, it was basically a dry frizzy mess if I didn't straighten it. Whereas now, it's soft, my curls are actually defined.

I did it for 6 months and my hair went really dry! When I went back to shampoo the moisture came back. God only knows what happened.

It works a treat on my hair but if left will get drier and frizzier never ever greasy. Maybe that is the hair type it works for.

I think it works very well for some people but I’ve got the wrong hair type. My hair is fine textured with a loose curl so I’ve avoided cgm. Too much conditioner makes my curls drop out and gives me an itchy head.

YANBU

I started doing it about 6 months ago but don't follow the Facebook group or anything. The key thing for me (and this is probably really common sense which I should've picked up along the course of my 45 years of life) was not combing product through my hair after washing! I comb conditioner through in the shower, rinse, towel on head then I might comb the parting a bit but leave the rest messy curls and hope for the best.

I do struggle with the 'wet look' though. I do put mouse on and leave it and then scrunch it much later on but I still feel like day 1 it looks wet all day. Someone earlier mentioned cast and dine - what's dine?

Ps. All the photos of CG curls on this post are beautiful

@Fifipopopo my hair is the same.

Totally agree some people in the curly group seem to to endless complicated things

I have tried it several times with different products and my hair nearly always goes greasy looking and if it isn't lank and greasy, I look like a poodle and I hate it. I have quite thin curly hair. I think you need to have thick hair for it to work properly.

I've given up with my curls and use my Dyson Airwrap instead. Takes 5 minutes to get, not quite straight, but manageable and decent looking hair.

@user100987 it was my typo - I meant to say done!

Haha I did think it might be but thought I'd best check in case I'd missed the final piece of the puzzle!

I tried the CG method. My curls are quite loose and fat and my hair is very dry. To be honest, it looked awful. Went back to shampoo and occasional conditioner and some styling putty. Much better. Try to stick to low sulphate stuff but Johnson's Baby Shampoo is also pretty good.

I have lived with my curly hair for 53 years. A combination of age and the vast amounts of products now available, means that I finally love my hair. CG didn't really work for me, except some parts like not endlessly fussing with your hair.

I have the fine smooth curly hair which gets lank without shampoo, but have found products perfect for my particular hair.