Curly Girl method for a beginner

[Neilsfavouritechilli]

Hi, I have half wavy, half curly hair and have been reading up on the curly girl method. To be honest, there's so much advice and so many steps that I'm finding it a touch overwhelming. Would someone be kind enough to help me put together a basic (and cheap) plan. Should I no poo or low poo? Are there any particular (again cheap) products I can use - ideally ones I can get from boots/superdrug. I have a microfibre towel which is a start. I plan to pop to town in my lunch break so I can get started tonight. Will my hair look shit for a while? Thank you x

A cheeky little bump.

Cough cough 😥

Bumping for you op, I have similar wavy hair, I'd like to know what to do when you want it curly most of the time but occasionally want to straighten it.

I tried it. I gave up as I was so confused. Now I use this which works without the hassle.

F I tried this once before but can’t remember exactly what I did and which products I used. But my hair wasn’t actually too bad. I would like to have another go.

I use Johnson's baby all in one wash (I think it's low poo) and Superdrug own brand coconut conditioner then the Frizz Ease foam. It's not perfect but better than when I'm left to my own devices!!!

I have been trying to follow the curly girl method for 4 years...4 long years....trying to achieve that perfect frizz free curl. The one thing I have finally realised is that all the products recommended, and all the products that I have bought will not give the results you want...there is no magic product.
Work with your curl pattern and only trial and error will get the results you can be happy with.
Out of my 3 washes a week I use baby shampoo twice, followed by a generous amount of Superdrug coconut conditioner and rinse. Squeeze the water out and put a generous amount of Tresemme Botanique coconut conditioner on and scrunch into hair. Use a cotton t-shirt to take a lot of moisture out of hair ( no towels ) then a small amount of Cantu curl cream ( from Superdrug ) followed by Got2be twisted curling mousse, diffuse to 40% dry and then air-dry...but don't don't go out on a windy day until fully dry 🥴🥴🥴
This is my nearly fool -proof method, bit still get bad hair days. Love it when people say ' would love your hair, you must just wash and go '....errmmmm no 😂🤔😂

Thank you all for replying and for your recommendations. I have four weeks before I start a new job so can deal with slighty crap hair until then. So baby shampoo, a suitable conditioner and a "casting" product (reminds me of worms that does). Towel at the ready then hope for loveliness.

Cantu, I did read about that brand. Worth the £?

Sorry to keep adding but I was hoping for lower maintenance. I can wash my hair and plait it when wet and get reasonable waves. Is curly girl worth it in that case?

I’m a fully fledged curly girl!

Have attached a pic of today’s hair.

Start simple. Do a final wash with Johnson’s baby shampoo (buy a mini).
Conditioner
Rinse
I squeeze out excess water with a microfibre towel
Add leave in conditioner
Add curl cream (I use cantu or shea moisture)
I then use a denman brush, this isn’t strictly curly girl but gives me good definition. Check out manes by Mel on YouTube
Then scrunch in gel or custard
Then lightly scrunch with microfibre towel and air dry

Happy to answer any questions.

There’s some great Facebook groups.

Omg your hair is beautiful. I'm so doing this. Any facebook groups you'd recommend? I'm off to boots tomorrow and cracking on as soon as I get home.

Thank you. I’m on the curly girl UK page and the international one. I tend to pay more attention to the uk one as it’s frustrating seeing all the American products that people love and we can’t get.

Try Superdrug if there’s one near you. They often have 1/3 off shea moisture and cantu.

Check the Facebook pages for approved products, not all cantu ones are approved and they have quite similar names so it’s easy to get confused.

The Superdrug extracts conditioners are all approved and super cheap. Shockwaves number 5 mousse is excellent.

Don’t buy a new shampoo, use hand wash or washing up liquid for last wash.

Then conditioner to wash.
Whatever you want to style/cast.
Plopping is optional.

Just make sure your products meet requirements.

I use cantu and a vo5 gel for styling/casting. I’m trying a bunch of new conditioners. But my hair is fabulous. 😀😉

I accidentally ended up spending about £60 on a bottle of LUS conditioner from Canada. Don’t do that. 😬

I don’t plop. It makes my hair weird.

Honestly the easiest way is to just buy products from a brand aimed at curly hair - Cantu, Boucleme, Jessicurl, Trepadora, Only Curls... there are loads of them.

Most have a lot of advice on how to use the products too.

Key is no sulphates, no silicones, no combing or brushing, heat is your enemy and loads of product.

I don’t plop. It makes my hair weird.
I plop for as long as it takes me to get dressed/eat breakfast.

if there is one thing CGM is NOT it is low/lesser maintenance. in the year or so i was devout i spent FAR more time and money on my hair than ever before and it looked nice for about 12 hours twice a week. i've gone back to heat styling for the time being but i'm still hoping to find a way for my natural hair to not look just like i couldn't be arsed.

one thing i would say is that far more important than product is your techniques. youtube videos are good but a rabbit warren.

When you plop your hair do any of you twist hair or just put product onto hair with fingers then plop? I absolutely love your hair @Sexnotgender

Brill, superdrug it is then. I can pop on my way home. I'm trying to avoid the mega bucks so will hopefully not spend £60 🤣. I can see it's easily done though after reading through a lot of American blogs. So am I meant to plop before or after conditioner (or both) or not at all as a pp would recommend? See I told you I found it all confusing.

My hair takes 10/15 minutes which isn’t ridiculous I don’t think? I use a couple products and a brush.

People plop once they’ve put their leave in conditioner on as far as I can tell. It’s not a strictly necessary step.

Also I have had my naturally curly hair lightened at my hairdressers with a view to going grey any tips or anything I need to know re grey curly girl hair? I am about to go on holiday abroad and worried about what my hair will be like whilst away and what state it will be in when I get back.