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

Me too.

Let us know how you get on.

I'm currently using child's farm baby shampoo and tresemme conditioner for dry hair and have seen some improvement.

I tried just doing the conditioner but my hair became incredibly greasy so I had to put in a shampoo. Maybe I'll be able to phase it out eventually, who knows?

See, I'll also lose faith if I had to try so many product before getting it right. But the whole ethos of CG is that you have to give your hair time to adjust and the natural curl to come through. So try a couple of products (i.e. conditioner and curl creme) for at least a few months and then decide if it's the right one for you or not. Your hair WILL look like shit for a while but you WILL also come through the side. It takes a lot of patience.

I'd not I'll

I’ve been using Aunt Jackie products (they popped up in TK Maxx) - love their Curl Custard. It was all going a bit pear shaped at the outset but then I tried putting on their leave-in conditioner and that was the magic touch my hair needed. Am persevering now and my hair is definitely looking better.

I gave up on that. If you have fine hair, you will never ever give up on shampoo and just use conditioner, it is too heavy - and I am in the fine hair but lots of it category.

I was quite happy just switching over to a Curly hair product for fine hair that kept to the CG rules but was what I understood - shampoo and conditioner. Hair was brilliant straight away, no fussing about.

Yes, I prefer some products to others, and it took me a bit of time to perfect just how curly I could get it, but my original routine isn't really changed from what I started with - shampoo, conditioner - finger comb through wet hair, scrunch gel through wet hair, curly towel. Then leave house and hair is dry by the time I get to work. Scrunch out gel if necessary. The end.

Hello👋🏻 I have fine wavy hair. I’ve been trying the CG method... can I just ask a couple of questions?
What’s with the baby shampoo?? My hair is really greasy, just cannot imagine not shampooing it at all!!
And, is plopping like scrunching but using a T-shirt?? Sorry if I’m over simplifying- I know I should watch some videos on it, just hoping for some experienced advice!! Thanks

If you google CG, there are multiple advice posts on curly blogs and forums saying don't give up shampoo for fine wavy hair - you will just get too greasy and too much build up. Your hair is drier than straight hair but not nearly as dry as full on curly hair.

A shampoo without SLS is ideal and a conditioner without silicones, but you are never going to go the whole no-poo, or co-wash thing.

Hi I’ve been cg for almost 2 years now and I finally love my hair. My advice would be don’t spend loads on products and and give it time. My hair is still evolving now! You will go through phases where your hair just doesn’t want to cooperate, and you’ll try a product only to discover it turns your hair to candy floss, but with patience and time you’ll get there.

It all seems a bit overwhelming at first, but honestly it doesn’t need to be complicated. I actually think I spend less time on my hair now that I ever did. No more straightening, I just tip my head upside down after it’s been up in a pineapple overnight, give it a good shake through and I’m done.

I recently had a curly cut and on her advice I’ve cut out Cantu curl activator. It was coating my hair and leaving a residue behind. My hair is curly enough that i don’t really need it. Now I just use a bit of conditioner left in, followed by gel. Plop for a bit while I get ready then either air dry or diffuse depending on how much time I’ve got and what I feel like doing.

And my latest discovery that all the curly girl groups on Facebook are going mad about is the pound shop conditioner! There are several in the range, banana, tea tree, ginger. It’s only a pound a bottle and a little goes a very long way. I’ve seen it in Poundland and B&M so far but lots of other places stock it apparently. I’ll post a pic later.

Good luck!

Well results post second wash are still varied. I'd say my curls look better and thicker. But i think my hair looks less fresh than it usually does after a wash. I've promised I'll stick with it and keep it simple for the next month. I start a new job in september. If it still doesn't look right by then, I'll go back to my old routine. It was nice and easy though today. Co-wash with a rich conditioner, condition (same conditioner) then rinse most out. Mousse on wet hair. Plop then leave to dry.

You want Neutrogena anti-residue clarifying shampoo (on Amazon).
You need to clarify and get rid of the build up regularly.
Start out by doing this, then do this every 3 weeks.

Best leave-in conditioner: Shea Moisture Jamaican Black Castor Oil Strengthen/Grow and Restore Leave-In Conditioner (you can get it on Amazon and in Boots).

I've tried CG and I stuck it for about a month, but it left my hair feeling very dirty, and weighed down with product instead of feeling shiny. However, it was more curly! I gave up because it was actually making my head itch. But maybe I'll go back and try again with baby shampoo...

kissme that sounds like you were using products too heavy for your hair. Look for lighter products. (Like, ditch the leave in, use a runny gel for styling.)

you’ll try a product only to discover it turns your hair to candy floss,

Haha! Shea moisture coconut and hibiscus did that to my hair! it was quite weird!

My hair doesn’t like coconut.

And unlike Vanguards recommendation I hated Sheas Jamaican black castor oil masque. What works for one person the next person you speak to will say the exact opposite! I found if you get into the Facebook groups, you can see photos of people and judge if their hair looks similar to yours. Then you can decide whether to try what they are trying.

A cheap deep conditioning treatment that I found good is Vatika egg protein hair masque. Only about a fiver from amazon, and also at larger Tesco’s I believe.

Right so I have a mad itchy scalp but am resisting the urge to wash. I'd like to refresh my curls tomorrow as they're looking a bit flat despite pineappling. Any tips? Scrunch in some water, have a hot steamy shower without wetting hair?

HELP ME!!! (please)

Why are you trying not to wash? I co-wash every day.

Itchy makes me think you’ve too much product there.

My best ‘refresh’ tip is to dilute your conditioner in a spray bottle and use that. (About 1:5 or 1:6 maybe?)

I cant wash every day (never have). My hair takes 4-5 hours to dry so it's always been a twice a week affair. That's always been fine, it only used to start looking rough on the 4th day. My roots are greasy despite rinsing all my cowash out well yesterday and only using product on the ends - my scalp it itching because its greasy.

Thanks for the refresh tip but I'm guessing from the sounds of it that I'm doing something wrong or it just isn't going to work for me.

No giving up.

That said, I don’t have another answer either.

I wish I could show you my before and after because it was like night and day (but I’m
not posting them).

Thank you. I'll keep at it and really hone my scalp scrubbing technique. Plaits will also be a good idea whilst I get through this bit.

@womanaf Thanks for the refresh tip. I tried it today and my waves looked quite sprightly. Is anyone else here early on this journey with me?

Are you in the fb group? There’ll be loads of people there who can share your pain. I found it really useful.

www.facebook.com/groups/707494335965428/?ref=share

Thank you again. I did join another uk curly girl group but most of them seem to have it a lot more sussed than me. The more help the better so I've just sent a join request to the one you linked to. Thank you for taking the time to help.