Curly girl method for a year and greasy roots on day 2

[Fannydango]

Been doing CGM for a year. Hair is much more consistently curly where as previously I never knew if my hair was going to be curly, wavy or straight and meh from one day to the next.

Lots of trial and error and the best products I’ve found as yet are: co-wash with As I Am coconut co-wash which I love (co-washing with a standard conditioner makes my hair absolutely disgusting!) use a Giovanni leave-in conditioner (which is ok - I think my hair is low-porosity so I have to use v light conditioners) and Umberto Gianni scrunch jelly (looks lovely when first styled but drops throughout the day).

My main problem is that the following day, my roots (particularly around my ears) look really greasy. The hair there is all strandy and eugh. I see all these women with beautiful bouncy curls on the CGM FB page who manage not to wash their hair for 4,5,6 days , just refresh it, and it looks lovely. What am I doing wrong?

All the advice says that you get greasy hair through the transition stage but surely I’m well past that?

I’m so gutted as I really thought I was for once on my way to lovely hair but I can’t seem to master it. Any tips?

There is Castor Seed Oil in the co-wash.

See here for an ingredient checker. It also lists Polyquaternium-11 from the scrunch jelly as potentially causing build up on thin, fine hair. I don't know which Giovanni one you use so haven't checked that for you.

For what it's worth, I use the shea butter conditioner to wash, then the leave in conditioner with their styling lotion and use the boots purple hair gel after that. I wash my hair once a week, not because it's greasy, but because it is liable to tangle and I can't brush it without washing it.

Blatantly marking this thread as i need help here too. Keep stopping and starting CGM as cant cope with the mess i end up in. Have tried the laura method which basically follows the cgm but instead of plopping you squish to condish then cover your soaking hair with a mask of gel and diffuse from wet or air dry. Then break the gel cast once dry. My hair seems to not get as greasy from this method. Can i ask for tips on a sulphate free shampoo please? Xx

Is the As I Am not cg approved then? I was sure it was ok, I’ve seen it recommended lots of times?

I use Giovanni Direct Leave In conditioner. Find it really hard to find any conditioner that doesn’t make my hair limp. Interesting you mention tangles -I know most curly hair gets knotty so I’m always surprised that mine never does at all. Not sure what this says about my hair??

What sort of curls/hair type do you have Gummy? I can never find that purple Boots gel anywhere!!! Want to try it as I’ve never found a product that gives me a cast.

Teago- not sure on the low sulphate shampoo as I only use As I Am but I think some of the Shea Moisture ones are ok, also Johnson’s baby shampoo.

The yes to cucumbers shampoo for coloured hair is sulphate free.

I have half wavy and half curly hair, it can't make up its mind!

The purple gel is in the men's haircare section, not in women's so it took ages to locate. It gives an excellent cast, sometimes too well as it takes a while to scrunch it out.

Yes, my hair is half and half too!

How weird it’s in the men’s section! Going to hunt it down.,,

It took such a long time to find it. I'd given up and was going through all the gels to check for ingredients before I went to look at the men's hair gel.

Tried refreshing my hair today using the method I saw on Marisacurls (curly haired instagrammer). So - damp praying hands, smoothed in UG gel and scrunched. Definitely worked better and much less frizz than using a spray bottle of water but...my hair just looks dirty. Why??!!! I only washed it yesterday!!

In what way dirty? Do you mean greasy or like the curls have unclumped and are running wild in various directions?

Also do you pin your hair up at night? I pineapple mine and either sleep on a silk pillow or (don't laugh) put a silk bonnet on.

When refreshing, I spray my hair with water and a tiny bit of lavender in it, then scrunch. I don't add more gel as the spraying seems to reactivate the gel already in there. On days 4-7 I tend to put my hair up as it looks untidy when down. I could wash it but I have a toddler and an infant and I don't have time. It doesn't look dirty though, just messy.

How fine is your hair OP? I have very fine 3a curls and co-washing just doesn’t work for my hair - it leaves it lank and greasy. The terrible transition stage just never went away for me! I know CG is supposed to be the holy grail for curly hair, but it doesn’t suit everyone. I wash daily with a sulfate-free shampoo and follow it up with a CG-friendly conditioner (and then curl cream post-shower). I recommend some trial and error adaptations of the CG programme to see what suits your hair.

Dirty as in dull - not shiny at all. And a bit rats taily. Yes at night I put it in a pineapple (no special pillow or bonnet though I hear they help).

I try using a clarifying shampoo every now and then as I thought the “dirtyness”was build up. But the Bounce one I use makes my hair feel quite stripped as I’m washing it. I use a deep conditioner after but I struggle with DC on my hair - never feel it really absorbs and tends to make my hair limp.

My hair is fairly fine. But on wash day, even though I cowash, it looks lovely and shiny, nice curls (although they usually drop a bit). I just want to be able to maintain that fresh shiny look for more than a day.

Ypsilanti how many days can you go between washes?

I wash it daily. If I don’t, it starts looking a bit greasy at the roots by the afternoon of day two. TBH I need to wash it daily regardless, as I seem to destroy my hair in my sleep.

Sounds just like mine. Is it more curly since you’ve been doing your version of cg though?

I can’t use any products with coconut or argan oil - my hair just collapses (though it’s beautifully soft). Aloe Vera seems to be ok though. I’ve found a good solution in Dr Organic shampoos (usually Aloe Vera) and then tresemme perfectly undone conditioner on the ends (which is now a giant PITA to buy). Then scrunch the water out, Boucleme curl defining gel, blow dry to damp, then a tiny bit of that magical boots pink curl creme, allow to dry completely and scrunch out the product.

Yes, much! And less frizzy.

Yes, I’ve not even bothered trying to find that Undone conditioner (heard it’s really good) as I don’t want to love it and then not be able to get hold of it!!
So do you leave a bit of conditioner in your hair? If I did that, mine would be limp as anything. I’ve been wondering about a protein treatment to see if that might add some bounce but I know that can go horribly wrong and that you’re supposed to add that to your routine gradually. Any experience?

Oo following this? Could people post photos of their hair too? I’m never sure whether mine would be called curly or wavy!

You can bulk buy it from Amazon, but I do get a bit panicky when my stash starts running low. It’s a brilliant product if you have fine hair - moisturising but not too heavy.

I wash out all the conditioner - like you it’d leave my hair limp. As well as being fine, I have really thin hair (just as well it’s curly) so it’s all about getting as much volume as possible. I can’t comment on protein treatments, but I think you’re wise to be cautious. I once used a Shea Moisture conditioning product and all the curls dropped out.

Was the Shea too moisturising?

Hubble - don’t actually have any decent pics of my hair. It’s a real mixed bag- curly at the front, wavy at the back and poker straight underneath!

Yeah, much too heavy. It was beautifully soft, but not really even wavy.

This is my hair on a good day (not today - I didn’t blow dry it this morning so the roots are really flat).

We use cheap conditioner (Alberto etc), shea moisture shampoo, any curly girl friendly conditioning mask (eg extraordinary oil) or curly girl friendly conditioner left on for 5 mins under shower cap. Never a leave in and then scrunch with shea moisture gel cream. Lasts for ages, is a wrench to wash it!

Your hair is curlier than mine, Ypsilanti. I think mine is thicker but the strands are probably the same fine-ness as yours. If that makes any sense??

Do you co-wash with the cheap conditioner, Swaying? What is your hair like?

It's my daughter with the curls, very fluffy Caucasian curls but thickish hair, 3b/c?

We just condition first, then shampoo (as we've learnt we can't do without it), then something rich but always rinsed out.