I’ve given up on the curly girl routine - what now?

[Drinkandknowthings]

I’m going to stick with silicone free shampoo but I’m ok with using any products. So my question is what products are good for encouraging a wave in hair?

I wash with a lo poo every week. Just whatever is on offer in sainsbos without SLS. I then use silicone free conditioner, brands vary but at the moment I have boucleme. Comb conditioner through in shower then leave it in. Squeeze water out with a curl towel/old t shirt then smooth gel over curls. Leave to dry. Scrunch. It honestly takes 5 mins. Days I don’t wash I wet my hair in shower, comb through a bit of conditioner then do the same leave in/gel. Really not hard.

There are a few simple things here I’ll try. I wash my hair at night and diffuse dry it. Like mentioned upthread, I’m never sure how to deal in the morning though.

@MagicSeeker

I use Cantu twist and lock in the morning and it gets my curls bouncy and (thank the Lord) NOT CRUNCHY. Which we know is the curly girl holy grail! Mine is very curly and obviously not sure what your hair pattern is but it's definitely worth a go. Smells lovely too!

www.amazon.co.uk/Cantu-Butter-Natural-Moisturizing-Twist/dp/B01LTIAU8I

Have attached a pic of today's hair and that's day 3 after wash just using twist and lock gel and a little water to reinvigorate in the mornings and intermittently throughout the day because I am now addicted.

Excuse my geeky smile I am in my 30s but fellow curly girls will understand the good hair day joy!

And any diffusing doesn't work for me. But I work for myself and thinking about it, before that when I had office hours and a specific location to work to I probably couldn't have done it as my hair takes ages to dry naturally.

So not sure what the answer is to avoid diffusing if you have somewhere to be! I guess conquering letting it dry naturally in the evening but having a foolproof morning routine to reinvigorate your hair the next day?

I'll add to the echo of "how on earth is CG high maintenance'? It's the lowest maintenance haircare routine I've ever followed. Wet hair, conditioner, rinse, gel, plop and forget about it. My hair takes bloody ages to dry so I leave it plopped overnight. The next morning..voila...perfect curls.

Agree curly girl is the easiest hair routine I've ever had - maybe I lucked out finding the best products for my hair quickly but don't give up OP when you find the right ones it's life changing and saves SO much time and effort. It's made me fall back in love with my curly hair.

Avocado how do you use the twist and lock gel? I bought it on a whim but then all the YouTube videos I could find showed it being used to fit dreadlocks, and I'm white so didn't need it for that.

Drink do you pineapple your hair up into a loose ponytail on top of your head at night? Hair rubbing on the pillow case can give you frizz and break up the curls. You can also wear a silk bonnet to bed, like a lady of olden times. In the morning use a spraybottle of water mixed with a bit of conditioner to damp your hair and reactivate the product in it. You'll only have to diffuse for

I don't wash my hair every day. On the second day, I use a water spray bottle (actually think it's a plant watering one ) and spray enough to make it damp but not wet. Then I scrunch it up.

I really can't emphasize enough the importance of a good cut. I've just had my hair cut short with lots of layers put in and the difference is amazing. My curls bounce up now and I can leave it to dry naturally and it still looks good. I do still tend to diffuse my hair though, just enough to take the rough off and lift it at the roots.

I do think curly curl doesn't really work on every type of curly hair. Mine gets too greasy to not use proper shampoo every wash or go weeks without washing. My hair has also always looked a million times better when it's dryed with the hair dryer.

@PippiDeLena

how do you use the twist and lock gel? I bought it on a whim but then all the YouTube videos I could find showed it being used to fit dreadlocks, and I'm white so didn't need it for that.

I am the palest of the pale with VERY Irish hair! I rub a little (it goes SO far) of the gel between my hands and then very very gently pat it onto the side of the top of my hair where it lays on the scalp and then scrunch the lengths of the hair with it - again gently and not trying to force the natural curl pattern to do anything it doesn't naturally.

It means I only need to wash it every 4 days and before curly girl method I had to wash it every morning to get nice curls that lasted the day.

I think the tub I've got will last at least 6 months and I have LOADS of hair. I imagine overloading hair could (as with anything) cause the dreaded crunch so try a tiny amount first and work up.

Reddit has a curly hair subreddit which is amazing for advice - you can send a pic of your curls (blurring your face obvs) and get dozens / hundreds of tips for your specific hair type. So happy to love my curls now - only took 30 years!

Beansonbread. Do you wash it with conditioner? I used to have straight hair, but since I’ve gone through the menopause it’s really quite wavy.

Just wash with conditioner and then add gel?

Thanks @AFairlyHardAvocado , I will definitely try your trick with the gel! I do follow the curly hair subreddit but a lot of the products posters on there use are only available in America so I get frustrated that I can't get hold of them easily.

theEmoji yes, you can use conditioner to wash your hair. For your first time you should clarify your hair by using a cheap shampoo to strip any silicones from previous products off your hair shaft (Aldi shampoo is good for this, or even fairy liquid in a pinch) then you can use conditioner to wash your hair from then on. It's much more moisturising.

I gave up on shampoo all together about 15 or 20 years ago. I just soak my hair in the shower daily, and use copious amounts of Pantene repair and protect conditioner. Then pull a bit (size is a bit less than a 20p) of fantasia frizz buster through the ends and leave it all. I get loads of ringlets.
I don't get any build up of conditioner and noting seems to do any better for me than this routine.
Shampoo makes it very dry and breaks the ends.

I was going to also say if you feel cgm really isn’t for you, there’s still plenty you can take from it to help your curls look great if that’s what you want.

Prior to starting I went on holiday and hadn’t had time to really research products etc. But I used the principles of squishing in the conditioner, trying to encourage the curl pattern by not disrupting it too much, not using a towel or scrubbing at my hair to dry it, etc.

Even though I was still using shampoo and non cgm products, just changing those few habits made all the difference.

@MagicSeeker nothing but a bit of water, and only if it needs it. My hair is still crunchy when I go to bed so no real harm comes to it. Some people smooth over a bit more cream, gel or leave in conditioner but doing that just makes mine frizzy.

Thank you for the morning hair tips. I’m going to get a plant spray bottle thing and give the water/ conditioner spraying a go. It’ll be great to not have to faff with my hair in the mornings.

My hair hasn't liked it since I had dc3 so I now use baby shampoo, rinse out upside down so it naturally clumps, scrunch in conditioner and rinse, add a small amouny of cantu, then add mousse or gel and plop.
I'm hoping after my hormones settle down I can get rid of the shampoo again.

I do CGM but it has never involved me spending ages on Facebook groups or working out the best products. I also do it because I am lazy - it takes me seconds every day.

I use either Boucleme/Jessicurl/Only Curls shampoo and then conditioner like normal. Then one of those brands gel on to soaking wet hair and scrunch it through. Wrap hair up in T-shirt to dry it a bit and I am done.

I never comb or brush my hair, just run my fingers through it and it dries naturally in the car or on the way to work. It is the ultimate in lazy hairstyles. I have left the T shirt on overnight and then it was mad curly but DH was less impressed with the bed-time look

My hair is v fine so only goes every other day between washes. On no wash days I refresh it with Jessicurl Awe Inspiraling Spray or just with wetting my hands and scrunching it.

Not complicated, not loads of products, not time consuming. Just need to buy stuff actually designed for curly hair to start with.

The Facebook group is helpful when you start it can seem complicated ! Also a lot of people on there have obviously straightened their hair when it's naturally curly so it can seem as if it makes your hair curly which it doesn't.

I use two products. Superdrug cherry conditioner and pantene mousse. For styling I squeeze out water with a t shirt, apply the mousse then dry with a diffuser. On non wash days I soak it in the shower then repeat the mousse and drying. I did this pre curly girl so it's not any extra time. My hair was really curly anyway so it's not made it curlier just more defined, softer and less surface frizz.

A word of warning about Cantu - it has coconut in it which makes my hair dry and over moisturized so it might not work for you.

Phil Smith shampoo range has one for curly hair. I've just ordered it to try as I sometimes like to leave my hair to dry naturally. I use the Cocolious one and it's great.
Sainsburys sell it or you can order from Phil Smith online.
(I don't work for him, but we trained together as hairdresser's in the 80's. I really rate his products.)

Given up on CGM too. Tried it on and off for years; far too much build up and unhappy scalp. The various groups get a bit militant too.

All that reading every label on every product too, far too much faff. Plus, there's no way I'm ready to stop dying my hair. Also the porosity test that is advocated is rubbish.

The youtube channel, Manes by Mel, is pretty good at actual sciencey science and why silicone wont destroy your hair.

I've utterly given up and gone back to frizz ease shampoo & conditioner (deep conditioning every Sunday).
The bit I kept was mousse & LA Looks gel, plop, the diffuse. But I've gone back to high heat.

Curls look far better than during CGM & hairless is less than 1/5th of what it was with CGM. It's also holding for 5 days plus.
I guess CGM wasn't for me.

Wait a sec... am I not supposed to dye my hair on curly girl? Eff that! If my natural colour was a lovely bright white I would think about it but it's just a mousy dull grey.

I dye my hair and it's fine, doesn't make any difference

Thanks @motherofgod2. I've continued dying my hair and the only thing I do differently is not use the conditioner that comes with the hair dye.
I think that some of the curly girl bloggers get a bit obsessed about 'the rules'.

They do. I also use a diffuser as I like volume. Sone of their hair looks wet all the time and flat. Which I don't like.

Marissa Curls is good.