Curly girl method

[Myshitisreal]

Hi is anyone following this??? I've started last Saturday. I've read the older threads but couldnt find a recent one. I don't have instagram or Facebook so don't have anyone to chat to about it. It's definitely more work than I've ever done on my Hair but I've always been pretty lazy to be honest. My hair is only wavy but has potential. I'm due to get it cut ✂ in a couple of weeks because its been 9 months 😵. Must say i am getting good results for the first week. I washed as normal Saturday and added a hair mask. I sprayed on leave in conditioner after and used Tesco gel as my product. I made a spray bottle of water and leave in conditioner and have been using it to revive my hair daily plus a little humectant. I actually wore it down today and it looked good although a little crazy at the roots 😂 ill wash it either tomorrow or Saturday. I got a new product to try today also 🤞. Anyone want to join me???? I can't be the only one. It feels like there's so much information out there I'm almost a little overwhelming so it would be great to find a kindred spirit 💇

I decided to have a go at curly hair about 3 weeks ago. I'm 50 and I've straightened or pulled my hair straight with a brush all my life. My hair is short but I'm amazed by how curly it has become in 3 weeks. I'm not sure if I like it though.

I run every day so I do need to at least wet my hair. At the moment I'm using conditioner and Boots curl creme.

I can't take a good photo of it but here is the top:

Will take some pics and update on the micro fibre towel. I live on the coast so air drying is not an issue for me as it is so windy up here. I think my hair has bounced up ok because I never really used that much heat styling although it was very dry and frizzy so just needed moisture.
@Tranquilityofsolitude
Your hair looks lovely and your username is my life goal.

@tranquilityofsolitude I think it looks great 😁
Are you just not sure because it's so different from what you're used to??? Have you had comments from others??? @muminabun I think mine is lacking in moisture too. My curls seems to get better each day by spraying with the watery conditioner mix so i think ill do another hair mask this week. I like the idea of @fuckinghaterats mask but i couldn't be sure about quantities etc

Thank you. It probably is because it is different. I expect I just need to get used to it, and maybe try arranging it a bit more instead of letting it do its own thing.

muminabun my username is a lyric from a song by the Jam, but I do spend a lot of time on my own!

If in n.i. Ciara at theCurly blow Dry Bar in Dungiven is fantastic.

I’ve been CG for a couple of years. It’s really very simple although some people make it more complicated than it needs be. I use Boucleme products which you can buy online. I just cleanse,condition and add gel.use an old T-shirt to blot out the excess water. Then diffuse. Trick is the application and using loads of water. Have your hair absolutely soaking wet before you add product. Scrunch up.

@Myshitisreal did you do a final clarifying wash before you started CGM? I read through but I couldn’t see if you’d mentioned it.

With the Curl Creme (and the Cantu stuff when I tried that) I find the best way to use it is to emulsify it with water first. Put a 5p size blob on your hand, add some water and rub your palms together hard until you’ve got white “lotion” all over your hands. With your hair absolutely dripping wet (so do it upside down over the sink or shower) start squishing it in. When your hands are clean, repeat. When you feel like you’ve covered all your hair, carry on gently squeezing and squishing. Your hair will start to feel different, sort of a bit squeaky. Stop squishing and gently squeeze out the excess water without disturbing the curl shapes and then plop into your T-shirt or microfibre towel.

Co-washing doesn’t work for me because I have a really sensitive scalp and it can’t cope with all the scrubbing. A gentle rub over with some SLS free shampoo works much better for me.

Don’t be tempted to throw too many new things at your hair at once. Evaluate each product before you try the next one, then you won’t waste too much money. If you’re feeling a bit greasy, try a vinegar rinse. If it’s all a bit shit, do a(nother) clarifying wash and start again. No one is scoring your performance 😁.

@skinfulnappies46 thanks so much for the recommendation, always good ru have other options. Yes I'm Northern Ireland, are you 😁. Yes it's easy to get overwhelmed and too excited, especially when you watch all these YouTube videos and people use so many bloody products! I think I will just stick to gel for now.

Do you co wash or use low poo 💩? Do you get better results diffusing compared to natural drying??? Do you put your hair in the diffusing bowl or just use it like hovering? Just seen so many techniques and I do get confused when there's so many options and ways.

@gingersausage I did use my normal shampoo full of evils before starting. I got great results that day/wash and my hair lasted a week before washing again. I even wore it down day 5 and 6 which I never would have. I used to wear my hair in French plaits a lot the last few days before washing.

The second wash i tried the co wash but it's felt greasy since that day like the roots aren't clean. I've read online that people with Wavy hair (rather than curly) don't co wash as it doesn't suit their hair type.

Thank you for the cantu information,I think it's made my hair quite stringy. The blogger person I've been watching actually trialled this product and said exactly the same thing. She explained how many different oils there are in it which makes it heavy and not great for wavy hair. Her hair is very similar to mine, so i think ill keep it simple for now.

I do have cantu shampoo so I'm tempted to try it, keeping the conditioner and gel the same. I'm trying to find a way of drying my hair naturally and giving better curl so might try doing twists and letting it dry overnight. I'm on a buying ban 😂 so no more new products, shouldn't need anything for months really. I got a microfiber towel for £1 today, and a spray bottle for £1 so happy with that 😁.

I'm scoring my performance haha. Yeah I get frustrated easily so well try to pace it a bit more. Must look up vinegar rinse, can't imagine how that goes. I did see something about rice water rinses on pinterest 🤷‍♂️ so much information!

So, last night I
*washed my hair with cantu shampoo
*deep conditioned 60mins with hair food
*rinsed, then squished in hair food as leave in
*scrunched in gel
*i plopped it in my new microfiber towel at 2330 last night and slept like that.
It's still in now 😂 it feels bone dry so I will take it out later on and see what I'm working with . I'm a bit frightened 😂. As my hair takes so long to dry, I'm really hoping this overnight method works 🤞

I'm a bit confused if the cantu shampoo is okay to use for my weekly wash. Can anyone advise??? I'm a bit confused about clarifying shampoos, low poos, No poos, sulphates, etc. Last night my only new product is the cantu shampoo so I've stripped it all right back 😁

Enclosed a pic of products used yesterday. Ignore the psycho 😺 desperately trying to get in the picture 😂

So I kept my hair plopped for 18 hours and it was still damp so i diffused it maybe 5 minutes. It looked nice and my roots weren't greasy so the shampoo did the trick. It was very flat at the roots but I had curls in places I didn't expect particularly at the root around my parting. Day 2 i didn't go anywhere so kept it pineappled all day. Day 3 and day 4 I've sprayed with conditioner/water spray and put gel on both days around a pea sized amount and scrunched. Bizarrely my Hair tends to look better each day 🤷‍♂️ like curlier. Although now I'm typing, I did use a new gel Saturday and Sunday as I feel like the Tesco one maybe isn't giving a lot of hold. I still don't understand how much you're supposed to use on wet hair. I wonder if the new gel is making my hair look better. I'm off to the hairdressers 16th so that's exciting, can't wait to get it cut with curls in mind. Ive had loads of compliments on my hair, from people I work with who see a difference, and also from general public in work so that's really nice. Anyone else started and how is it going???tips/tricks/advice???

You need to use a lot of gel on wet hair, like a good handful of the cheap stuff. Easily a third of that tub on hair your length. Much less for a refresh obviously. That’s why it’s best to use the cheapest stuff on wash day so you can use loads and keep the nice stuff for in between.

Don’t keep your hair plopped for that long or you’ll end up with scalp fungus. The occasional overnight at the absolute max, preferably no more than a few hours.

If your roots are a bit flat, try root clipping. Just get some small claw clips and literally put your head upside down and put them in your roots to give extra volume.

The Cantu shampoo is low-poo. Any sulphate free shampoo will do. If you want to save money, XHC brand from Savers, Poundland, B&M etc is a sulphate free low-poo. If it’s working for you, stick with it. As I said, I’m a wavy and no-poo/co-wash just doesn’t do it for me.

@gingersausage thanks so much you're so helpful. A third is a tub, goodness me. No wonder I'm not getting any crunch to scrunch out 🤯 I've used that tub for 3 washes 😂. That's great because I really feel like my hair has A lot more curl than I'm getting to be honest. Scalp fungus, ok that sounds terrifying. Thank you for pointing that out, sometimes my brain doesn't engage at all. Thank you for the cheap shampoo recommendations that's exactly what I need. In the beginning I really struggled with finding the right products so ill definitely be heading to the pound shop 😊

Seconding the XHC recommendation! I'm using their banana conditioner as a co-wash at the moment and really liking it. Can't really go wrong for the price! I sort of half-heartedly follow the CGM right now and I cycle so my hair gets squashed under my helmet twice a day but I'm still getting good results with a refresh.

Flip sake you can't exactly pineapple under a cycle helmet 😂 I know how unforgiving they are!!! How do you half heartedly do it? The refresh is amazing, I sometimes look and think ugh can't see it having life or looking nice today but that water spritz really seems to revitalise it like magic. Root clipping is on today's list to Google. Must say the pineapple seems to give my roots body. I used to have a very clear parting but it seems to fall differently now. It's very interesting

It's such a pain! I cut my own fringe in (like you do !) and flip it up under my helmet so it doesn't go all flat to my head and just don't take my helmet off until I get near a reflective surface!

Half-heartedly... I cowash with the XHC but don't really do any squish to condish or anything and rarely leave any conditioner in. I plop it in a microfibre towel just for a couple of minutes and then go in with Boots curl creme and either Wella mousse (in a red can) or the ecostyler gel. I wash every other evening and don't bother pineappling (too short right now) or putting a scarf on (laziness/pregnancy cba!) and then in a morning I just spray it with a spritz bottle and wet my hands and run them through it and scrunch it a bit and hope for the best! My short curly cut is growing out a bit now and I look a bit like a poodle so I pull the front but not right at the front bits back and that seems to show off the ringlety bits at the front nicely!

Refreshing with water really is magic! I look mad when I wake up with it all over but just a bit of water and I'm presentable again. Once I get some energy back I think I'll try a bit harder with my hair and see if I can get an extra day out of it! But this is working for me right now, a little bit more water after I get my helmet off and I'm ok for the rest of the day

Yeah I've got a 30ml spray bottle of water/conditioner mix I can keep in my backpack to spritz if needed. It sounds like it's really working for you anyway despite not following all the steps. I think it's important to take from it what works for you. How do you find the boots curl creme, is it heavy? Are you wavy or curly? Can you help me understand why you use curl creme and gel/mousse? And is there much difference in the results from gel versus moose? So many questions sorry 😂. I can't believe you cut your own fringe in, are you a hairdresser???? I had a fringe once maybe 13 years ago and trimmed it myself before going to a festival. My gosh I wish someone had told me how bad a job I'd done, the photos were 🤯 so I've never had one since. Can't be doing with the high maintenance. I'm not suggesting yours looks terrible by the way! Just my experience.

Mousse is a lot lighter than gel and a lot of people with finer hair prefer it. Does nothing for my hair except turn it to straw but mine is quite coarse.

Am I heck a hairdresser just an idiot with poor impulse control! Luckily once it settled down it's turned out alright! Though my mum did point out she didn't realise my forehead was that big once I'd put it away!!

If I'm totally honest I use the curl creme and the gel because that's what all the guides say to do! I like the curl creme, it's meant to define the curl more I think though if I'm totally honest I don't know if it does anything. Might do an experiment tonight and skip the curl creme and see what happens - in fact I'm going to wash it in a minute, I'll do that and report back tomorrow!

As for gel and mousse, I get pretty similar results with both. My hair is definitely on the curlier side but before I started the cgm method it had lost its groove and it's looking much curlier now! There's a cgm guide on reddit on their curly hair sub, and that goes into a lot of detail but I prefer not to be so militant when it comes to following it, purely because I can't be arsed all the time!

Thank you @pickachew 🤔 I have an awful lot of hair, and I'm unsure of my hair is thick or fine but I'll ask my hairdresser next week. I think it's thick but I've heard so many people curse my hair over the years 😂 (when getting coloured)

@bogoblin that's so funny 😂 I think my forehead is massive, I see photos sometimes and think hmmmmm. Oh I would love to hear how the experiment goes thank you. Your line of thinking is right up my street. Does your hair look too greasy and that's why you wash every other day? I think my hair is trained after years of infrequent washing. Have you tried baby powder? Or dry shampoo?

I didn't read the original cg book so Google was my friend. But there are so many variables and different ways, i got really overwhelmed at which one to follow. Add in youtube videos (clumping /plopping/squishing/adding product) and seeing them use a wide range of American/unknown products i don't understand the need for and it's left me kerfuddled.

I think I'll stick with cheap gel after a wash and I have a bottle of brylcreem stuff I can use to refresh. I'll maybe look at that curl creme in future. I would like a light oil to try help reduce frizz a little bit so far ive not been able to find a cgf one.

My hairdresser sells aveda products but I really don't want to go down the expensive product route.

I tried reddit years ago and didn't get it 😵 I'll maybe try Again

I have been doing CG for about 6 months and my curls have stopped being so frizzy but holy hell, I didn't realise how curly the hair at the back of my head was!
I can't take a picture of it but the back of my head is full on tiny ringlets whereas the front is more wavy. I've just cut myself a fringe and it seems to be looking ok today.
I use Maui coconut shampoo and either shea butter, vanilla or coconut conditioner. Once a month I use Noughty detox dynamo.
I shower every other day and I wash hair every other shower so I wash every 4 days and condition every other day IYSWIM. On shower days I use Cantu curl custard afterwards. About a tablespoon or a bit more, flip hair over, scrunch through towel dried hair, flip back up and away I go. On 'no wash' days I either tie it up or use a water spray and some cantu comeback curl and scrunch this through. I don't do plopping unless I'm wearing a woolly hat or a bike helmet.
I found that my curls started looking even better after getting some proper layers cut into my hair. They are cut more gradually than in straight hair.
OP, I love your colour. I'm not that brave!

@fartlek thanks so much for posting and photo too!!! Your hair looks fabulous, I can't see any frizz. Do you think it's getting better over time? Isn't it crazy how your hair can have different curlage in different parts??? Custard and jelly for hair are just things I don't understand. Are they gel with a fancy name??? Thank you for the hair colour love. Hopefully i can talk my hairdresser into a bit more on Monday 😂 I've not been since May so the brightness is from home colouring.

I’m a 3a/b and I’ve been doing it about 2 weeks. It’s about as curly as ever, but a bit flatter at the roots as I’m not using my dryer. Still, saves me time as I don’t have time to blow dry at the mo with 2 small kids.

Custard is a gloopier creme which tends to work best on coily/kinky 4a/b/c curl patterns and it’s a bit heavy for Caucasian hair. Gelly/gelée/jelly is generally slightly thicker fancier gel, in a tube rather than a tub.

@bluntandtothepoint80 I assume you're pleased with the results? I'm glad it's working for you. Have you tried root clipping at all?

@gingersausage thank you so much that's a perfect explanation! I'm learning so much. So custard is not for me, jelly might be but can be pricy

Im now a member of reddit. I've found a couple of curly communities to join so will try get my head round it. Thank you for the suggestion, as I really didn't want to be forced back onto facebook

Would I be right assuming creme is more for type 3 4 hair?