Curly girl help

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Hi,

Can anyone recommend a cheap and cheerful no pop shampoo & conditioner that I can get from Tesco or boots? I love the devacurl stuff but it's just so expensive.

I've also had my hair cut really short and find I'm having to wash it every day as the curls just literally go sideways. Any tips?

Nope, but sitting here with similar hopes!

Nope, but sitting here with similar hopes!

I don't use shampoo at all but my favourite conditioner is tresseme botanique or tresseme undone. Sainsbury's own brand coconut or apple conditioner are also good and cost under a pound.

Yes to blueberries and yes to carrots are fab too and available in boots.

Boots Say Yes to Blueberries shampoo is the cheapest I've found, and I like Wilko's fruit conditioner.

I use the conditioner as a leave in as well and then use the super cheap blue gel pot (25p!) from Tesco. I don't wash my hair too often, but I do soak my hair every morning and reapply the conditioner and gel. Sometimes just the conditioner. I find my hair can tolerate this indefinitely, I have to wash it because I need to brush the knots out!

It's taken me 34 years to get there but I now have reliable hair!

I find a lot of them still have silicones or alcohol in though

The Avalon Organics range is pretty good and available in Waitrose, Boots etc. so easy to get hold of. Around £5 a bottle I think.

I'm a curly girl too and started off by buying products from the Curl Emporium shop at around £16 a bottle but I've been finding the Avalon just as good and they do a tea tree one which helps my flakey scalp as well.

The thing that has made the most difference to my curly hair (rather than a particular shampoo) is treating it with care generally, so no blow drying, no brushing and I use a curl-ease towel (which is like a giant tea towel) which doesn't rough up my hair.

I get Faith in Nature conditioner at Oxfam. About £5 a bottle . No silicones or other nasties.

Tesco own brand pro-vitamin conditioner is curly girl approved and costs 75p. I use it to co-wash followed by Tresemme Undone and then Yes To Carrots.

Superdrug extracts conditioner (£1.25) is brilliant - I don't use shampoo but co-wash with this and use either Body Shop rainforest conditioner or Tresemmé undone as a conditioner, then use gel to style. I dry it crunchy with a diffuser and scrunch out the crunch. I do use deva curl gel but it's nearly 20 quid a bottle so I'm trying others - next on the list is tesco value gel at 25p .

I thought I'd lost my curls, they were getting flatter and sadder by the day, and discovering the curly girl method has been nothing short of a revelation. Total boingy spirals! The curly girl co-washing group on facebook has been brilliant, and it has a list of CG-friendly (no silicone) products, although it's not always easy to work out which are available in the UK.

I've found it's much easier to find conditioner than it is shampoo. I've got an ethnic hair shop nearby that sells good shampoo but it's much more expensive than regular shampoo.

My recommendations are silicone and SLS free

Daisy, do you dry your hair the curly girl way too?

Thank you everyone. Going to try a few of these.

Does anyone get good day 2 curls without washing? I'm struggling with them that.

Silver - I genuinely wash my hair once a week. I do one of two things - if my hair isn't too mussed from sleeping I spray with water, maybe add a bit of conditioner and then dry. If it looks really shit, I soak in the shower (but don't wash - not with product anyway - although I guess I'm rinsing it out) and then apply conditioner and gel and style as needed. I don't brush either.

True, my hair looks a bit fluffier and not as defined, but tbh I prefer it that way - I like the extra volume days 2-6 hair gives me!

Hello,

Another vote for the tresemme botanique, silicone free conditioner. I run it through my hair, leave it in whilst in the shower and rinse most out. Leave a little bit in so that the water running out of your hair is still somewhat milky.

To style I use boots curl crème- a steal at 1.99. I'm a new convert to no shampoo and to both of these products really, but I can honestly say that the last month my curls have looks so frizz free and defined. Highly recommend!

www.boots.com/en/TRESemme-Botanique-Nourish-Replenish-Conditioner-500ml_1795456/

www.boots.com/en/Boots-Essentials-Curl-Creme-250ml_927582/

Oh and for second day 'refreshing' wet your hands, run them over your hair a couple of times and scrunch your curls up, usually does the trick for me.

You can also dilute some alcohol free gel into a water sprayer bottle thing and spritz it through the hair to style without it going crispy.

I'm also a fan of Boots curl creme. It's the only styling product I use.

I didn't get on with the pink creme. It'll do in a pinch, it does give good definition, but makes my hair really lank and dirty looking and feeling. My hair never gets greasy as it's so dry but it makes it look it!

Also lavender oil in a spritz bottle is supposed to be good, although I haven't tried it myself.

It took a bit of experimenting with the curl creme for me to find a happy medium between definition and not weighing my hair down.

I just dip the end of one finger into the pot and work that through my wet hair with a comb. Its such a small amount that a pot of the pink stuff lasts ages (at least six months, maybe more - I can't remember when I bought the current pot!).

Using a small amount I get non-greasy, non-frizzy, bouncy curls and can happily go three days without washing my hair again.

If I'm at all heavy handed with it, I get the same result as you Felicia.

Of course, all of our hair has a different level of naturally-occurring greasiness, frizziness etc. so what suits one of us won't necessarily suit others.

I think you're probably right about being heavy handed with it. I find that using a little bit means I end up with a bunch of frizz on some area of my head - I'm one of those that needs to over style to be sure I think!

Actually, you've reminded me - if I use the pink cream with equal amounts of oil then I get good definition, trouble is I can't remember what hair oil works best for me!

The best gel I have ever used I got from the aforementioned ethnic hair shop, but it was £7 compared to the 25p, and plus I can't be arsed going all the way into town for it!

Superdrug have a brand called 'Limited Edition Conditioner' in 'Pear Drops'. That is discontinued and is being sold off at 20p a bottle (400ml). As far as I can see its CG friendly.
Also 500ml of gel for 75p from Wilko

I use this gel and it smells incredible.

www.superdrug.com/Twisted-Sista/Twisted-Sista-Amazing-Dream-Curl-Gel-354ml/p/701405

Conditioner wise - buy coconut oil and raw Shea butter and combine

You can use it on dry hair too. Best moisturiser you can use and leaves very defined curls

Unicorn that sounds interesting, is it a 1:1 ratio?

Mighty - I use slightly more coconut oil but you can play around to see which suits you . If you have the time, if you melt both together then leave in the fridge for an hour , you can then whip it up and it goes all light and fluffy. I also add a spoon of vitamin e oil for good measure.

Once I've made a batch, it does last a good time as a little goes a long way