Those who encouraged me to go for the Curly Girl Method

[GinGeum]

Thank you very much! Look - I have curls! Well, waves really. But not just a ball of frizz for once.

I started it on Saturday, bought some curl creme and was so surprised at the lack of frizz when it had naturally dried. I went swimming yesterday, popped a bit more creme in and it's still nice today.

Why did I not do this sooner?

That looks fab OP, well done!

Please explain your method I've tried the curly girl method a few times but can't always find clear instructions so I just half make it up, with mixed results.

Bay I washed my hair with a sulphate shampoo on Saturday (apparently you are supposed to use it one last time to get rid of the silicones) and then used the Sainsbury's 50p conditioner. I brushed it while it had the conditioner in and then rinsed it. When it was dripping wet I put in Cantu Curl Activator and gently scrunched dry with a tshirt. Left it alone (it looked horrendous!) until it dried, then scrunched again with hands and put a tiny bit of Curl Activator through it again on the bits that were a bit fluffy. That's all I've done! Then just slept with it tied up on top of my head since then.

Can I ask what you do when you sometimes want it curly and sometimes straight do you still use the curly girl method

Sometimes I blow dry mine straight, but most of the time I go curly. I have the book and it was very discouraging about doing both. I have noticed my hair is much healthier now I let it dry naturally most of the time.

Have you any before pictures to see what it was like ? Mine has a bit of curl but mostly frizz so I straighten everyday

Looks amazing!

Your hair looks gorgeous! I'm so tempted to try this myself.

So do you use a sulphate free shampoo, or just co-wash

I can't find a single 'before' photo annoyingly, but it was very very frizzy, with maybe a deep kink in it, with the odd bit swirling into a loose ringlet. I was blow drying it twice a week and then leaving it, but it would end up so knotty after a few days that I'd have to brush it, which would just make it wild, or it would go really flat near my roots.

I'm going to experiment I think with cowashing. I tried cowashing before, and my hair felt quite heavy and oily, so I think I'm going to try a sulphate free shampoo just for my roots, because my hair isn't as dry as classic curly hair. I only wash my hair once or twice a week though, so it should be okay (fingers crossed!)

It was just so nice to swim yesterday without having to worry about my hair going crazy. We were away a few weeks ago for a weekend and I wouldn't swim in the sea because I'd blow dried my hair the day before and didn't want to have to re-do it again so soon. Life is too short for that kind of nonsense!

I tried it for 8 weeks, even had it cut properly in preparation.

Hated it...the idea was to spend less time and effort and cost than goes into straightening, but I was spending three times as much on all of it! Money on trying different products, time and effort on the method etc.

But despite all my efforts it still looked utterly shit, my work colleagues stared in amazement and my DH hated it (although he didn't tell me at the time, he was polite and supportive but heaved a sigh of relief when I straightened it again and said he never liked it curly ).

I guess my hair was not destined to be natural, I have to smother it in silicone and straighten the shit out of it. But at least I've learned what products are good for my hair and how to remove build up regularly! I still get stressed about rain and drizzle but I have to suck that up - not having to worry about it (actually rain made it look better!) was nice for a little while.

Yours looks fab, I'm so glad it's working for you.

FWIW, I just leave out shampooing and go straight to a curly conditioner, which I leave in for a few min, brush through with my fingers, rinse out, then use one (spenny) curly product - but a pea sized amount that lasts forever. Then diffuse.

Not for everyone, but that's gotten me great results.

I do wonder if it's worked well with this attempt because my hair is just that bit longer. It doesn't Curl as well nearer the roots, so perhaps there just wasn't the length there for good curls before. Who knows.

I'm going to wash it again tomorrow, and I might try just with conditioner...

it looks great.

If you do want to wash, some wavy people do find they prefer to, you can get sulphate free curly girl friendly shampoos.

"Please explain your method smile I've tried the curly girl method a few times but can't always find clear instructions so I just half make it up, with mixed results "

The basics of it are, wash everything that's in your hair out with a shampoo with no silicones but that does have sulphates, then use a conditioner without silicones or drying alcohols, and wash with that from then on, if you use styling products you want water soluble ones.

Don't brush it, only finger comb or use a wide tooth comb while it's covered in conditioner and don't towel dry it, use cotton and don't rub - brushing and towelling cause damage.

Oh and no heat, no straighteners, curling irons and blow dry o cool with a diffuser.

The complicated bits are styling methods, but, they're only as complicated as you want to make them tbh.

I work from home today, so it's a wash day, lol.

I've washed, put in leave in conditioner, mousse and gel (because I like them) I've plopped in a t shirt for about 40 minutes and then just left it to air dry while I got on with stuff.

Tomorrow I've not got all day for it to dry, so I'll put in the leave in conditioner, a tiny bit of water and mousse and it'll be completely dry half an hour later.

Other people have other routines though.

If you don't mind me asking. What's the Sainsbury's 50p conditioner?

What beautiful hair you have!

I have been half following the technique for years (use sulpahte free shampoo twice a week and silicone free conditioners/products, no heat drying or styling). It looks great the first day but I can't get it to look decent on the second or subsequent days as it gets tangly and frizzy so I either brush it out into loose waves or wear it up. I'm not prepared to soak it every morning as it takes at least a couple of hours to dry. Also can't sleep with it up or in a turban.

I've just had a look, and it's 75p now - I'm sure it was 50p when I bought it last year. Anyway, it's the Sainsbury's own brand coconut conditioner. I also have the Aesop conditioner but that was a lot pricier at £17 for 200ml.

Wh0 my hair can't cope with being soaked over and over without getting tangled either. If I don't wear it in a pineapple, it would never last more than one day, Curly Girl or no Curly Girl.

You have hair that I want!
What was yours like beforehand?

nice a birds nest it was mostly frizzy with not much curl. The odd bit would curl, but mostly it would be very slightly wavy with no volume at all near the roots.

Yours looks so shiny. That's another problem with it for me, mine only really shines if I've brushed it. I also find it really hard to resist brushing it, the feel of the brush on my scalp and going through the hair is soooooo good. I also find that brushing gives it lots of volume, whereas with curls the overall shape is much flatter, I do wish mine was properly curly. I think I need to start experimenting again. I washed it at 7am this morning, it is just about dry now, got to resist brushing!

Wh0 the shine thing was my issue with the CG method when I tried it first time round a few months ago. My hair just felt so dry and looked like straw. Some people on another thread emphasised the use of products after washing which had made the big difference (and is the thing I wasn't really doing before). I always, always said I could only get shiny hair by straightening/blow drying it.

Here's my before and after starting curly girl
Not perfect but it's improving!