Anyone else starting curly girl method during lockdown?

[MoonBabysMagicalKalimba]

I started a few days ago, I figured if my hair looks crap at least no one has to see it. Got all my products, all silicone and sulphate free, and a silk bonnet to sleep in. Curls are looking ok but quite rats tail like. There’s still a little bit of frizz too.

I’m an every day hair washer, currently trying to get my hair to adapt to every other day but the on the second day it definitely looks greasy and limp. Very glad I don’t have to go anywhere or look presentable!

Is anyone else giving this a go, or done it in the past? How long does it take for the lovely curls to appear and stop looking like I’ve been dragged backwards through a hedge?!

@chocolateneededrn isn't that the same? I thought co wash meant conditioner wash?

@BemidjiMinnesota
So I think the back looks better today, I used some baby shampoo I found in the cupboard as a clarifying wash then did as you said.

Front not good but I think that will that time to recover due to heat damage

@justtakeatowel it's pretty much the same thing, but you can get specially made co washes, like the As I Am co wash, or you can just use the same conditioner that you use to condition.

Ok, I have bought a few basics and spent all afternoon reading various blogs and jumbling bits together. Please could someone answer a couple of questions for me?

I have the cantu conditioner but one website said it isn't CG friendly as it has silicones in? Is that right or is it ok? If not, what should I get instead?

My hair is type 2a and quite thin. It's flat on top and gets curlier the longer it gets as it's the end that is curly. It is highlighted (but not bleach).

So if I start by using fairy to clarify it. Then I use the garnier banana hair mask for 20 minutes under a shower hat and towel.
then rinse out and 'plop'
then add the cantu curl activating cream
then add the cantu custard.
Wait for it to dry
Then scrunch it.

Wash every few days with 'As i am' coconut co wash, and about once a week with the cantu shampoo. using the same as the above method (using the cantu conditioner instead of the deep conditioner when I co wash, if cantu conditioner is ok to use? )

I don't have a leave in conditioner, should I get one? or, if i can't use cantu conditioner should I just use the banana mask instead of condtioner and leave in conditioner ?

Also, I don't have a diffuser but really will need extra volume at roots so guessing I should get one?

I hope that all makes sense! Thank you for your help!

Yes justtakeateatowel the back looks much curlier! The clarifying wash is quite hard on hair so it should get softer and softer from now on because your hair isn't coated with silicone and the moisture can get in.

As chocolateneededrn says you can use a cheap conditioner to co wash, use a formulated 'co wash' (like AsIAm) or just use a mild shampoo that doesn't strip hair. I still shampoo with a curly hair shampoo because, though it make my hair soft, my scalp doesn't feel clean enough just co washing. I use Shea Moisture black castor oil shampoo, Giovanni Direct Tea Tree shampoo or cantu shampoo.

Maybe you can try curl training at the front/top when you deep condition? .

Sorry to be a pain @BemidjiMinnesota but as resident curly girl guru, would you mind giving your opinion on my plans? Pretty please?

Hi Iris

I think Cantu conditioner is curly girl friendly? I just looked up the ingredients and the wash out conditioner doesnt seem to contain sulphates or silicones (but the leave in does)

Your planned routine looks good! As you get to know your hair and get more wash days under your belt you'll start to learn what works for you. Some people swear by applying products to damp hair, others can only apply to soaking wet hair.

You can use any normal conditioner as a leave in, just use a little (between 5p and 20p sized) and smooth it through the ends first. If that's too heavy for your hair you could try a specialist leave in, i like Giovanni Direct.

You can get a diffuser, try to get one with a big, wide, dish. Dry with medium heat and low/medium power. Or you can let your hair dry naturally, keep flipping from side to side to get the root volume. I actually hang my head off the side of the bed and turn a little fan heater on nearby to dry my hair, my arm gets too tired using a diffuser!

Good luck!

Thank you so much. I am quite excited.. I think!!

Youre welcome, I hope you get good results. It will be fine! It's a learning process and what works for one mightn't work for another. Conditioning is the most important thing, Shea Moisture have some great ones if you feel like Cantu isn't rich enough. For my first 6 months I looked like a labradoodle, so if I can spare anybody else that embarrassment I will try!

this amazing woman is a curly hair guru on YouTube and Instagram and her videos really helped me figure out a routine and what products to use.

@chocolateneededrn thanks that makes sense now!

@BemidjiMinnesota I’ll try the curl training and see if that helps!

Now need to sort out what to do on day 2 to refresh as I’ve woken up with a birds nest on my head

@justtakeatowel

Let me introduce you to... the silk sleeping bonnet! It keeps your hair nice overnight and makes you look like a Victorian ghost; what's not to love? Or you can sleep on a silk pillowcase if you don't want to lose all your dignity, your choice.

I loosely clip my hair up on top of my head at night, but your hair might be too short so I'd go with the bonnet or pillowcase.

Refreshing is a problem. Try damping your hair with some watered down conditioner and scrunching a bit more gel or mousse on it. This hair stuff is such a rabbit hole to fall down.

Wow, I have no words 🤣

I think when it is a bit longer it might be easier as it just puffs up and goes weird, the front is particularly unmanageable! I'm afraid I've gone for a loose scrunchie and baseball cap!

I'll look into bonnets!!!

@BemidjiMinnesota I have a silk bonnet but mine isn’t as frilly. I look a bit like a prison hooligan in mine 😂

So I think things are getting slightly better but I still look a bit like a scarecrow. My curls tend to drop fairly quickly.

How do you refresh and de-frizz in the mornings? I have a spray bottle of water mixed with a bit of gel, would this help? I’ve heard about using lube for frizz but I wouldn’t even know where to begin with that!

I know it's for the greater good and the front definitely curled a bit more today than last wash but by the end of the day I need to pull it up off my face as it's annoying me! The side bits were like straw today and I didn't have as good a curl as Saturday, I know I'm transitioning, I just need to learn to be patient! It's so hard when I know tomorrow it'll be awful and unwearable down. I'll keep repeating to myself it will get better!!!

I’ve just started this week, I had already stopped using heat and don’t really brush it very often anyway I’m using faith in nature coconut conditioner to co wash, the banana mask as a conditioner and the the cantu curl reviver. So far so good, it’s a lot wavier/curly in places though still frizzy and I have random straight places! They seem very strong smelling though!

Here’s second wash in

I'm getting to the point that I want to give up as I look so awful all the time.

If I'm lucky I might get 2 hours of okish time on wash day after 4 hours of dry time. It's just not worth it

No, keep at it! Preserve! It'll get better. I've been doing it since just newbie lockdown. Hair is better. Definitely less frizzy. Curls at the front are improved. The back, which was always flat, is getting more volume and bounce. Finger coiling it for encouragement.
Clarify Shampoo and conditioner - Maui
Cowashing - As I Am
Gel - Eco from Boots and 96 hour from got 2be
Mousse - Pantene 5 Defined curls
Hair mask and leave on conditioner - Ultimate Blends Banana & Macadamia versions
Cantu curl reviver for immediately after washing
Microfibre turban
Silk pillowcase (used this already)

Clarify every few weeks
Co wash 2&3 times every week.. trying to reduce this to once or twice

Immediately put in cantu curl reviver and leave in conditioner
Use hair turban for about 15 minutes

Used to put in His gel but I find it made my hair a little frizzy
The got2b gel is really nice. Very light
Started to put in mousse instead and that's working very well

Before washing I would wet my hair and put in a hair mask or coconut/almond oil intensive conditioning.

Every day I will wwt my hair down and put in more gel or mousse or conditioner. Trying to find what works best. I think once my hair is super conditioned the frizz will pretty much go away. I acknowledge this will take up to a year

I use the curly bot website to check ingredients on products

once I get my newborn out of my bedroom I'll be using my diffuser to give extra volume

Remember this is is a regime change for the rest of your life. I think it's looking better already 😁👍

Oh no @justtakeatowel ! It's a pain at first, but don't give up.

Is it just the top section of your hair that's not playing ball? Maybe you need a protein treatment, the first one i did blew my socks off. I love this Hask one from Superdrug or Giovanni Nutrafix hair reconstructor . You use them like a deep conditioner, but only leave on for a max of 20 minutes. They rebuild the structure of your hair.

So sorry you're struggling. Looking like a scarecrow is no joke, we've all been there. Just stick with using loads of conditioner and really squishing it into your hair and it'll come right eventually.

So pleased to find this thread. I am about to begin with CG method but struggling to know how to start.
I used to have fab, thick ringlets but years of straightening have left it damaged. It’s also very fine (menopause related I think). I left it to dry this week and it just looked fluffy!

Where is the best place to start? The FB group?

Also, do you leave conditioner in? Does that not make it limp?

I think the time it's taking is not helping. So it feels all morning I look awful whilst it's drying, I might get 1/2 hours where it looks ok then it starts pouffing up and going frizzy, the front starts to go straight then the next day I look like a scarecrow!

I need to get a diffuser I think as that might help, it just isn't manageable and I'm avoiding meetings as I look such a fright!

A good friend came to drop something off the other day and she was amazed at how tricky my hair was to manage. They've all said oh how lovely it would be to have curly hair. Not sure I'd agree, I just want manageable hair!!

I've woken today and it doesn't feel like it needs a wash but it's gone huge!!!!

If I'm going to persevere I need to find a good way to pin up the front that suits me. I'm just fed up of feeling ugly every time I walk past a mirror

This is what I've woken up to this morning and the sides have gone very very straight (probably because I pulled it in to a ponytail yesterday as it's never straight).

The fringe is actually just touching my top lip. I don't know what to do this morning, doing I do the whole thing again do I just pin the top back and leave it for another day? My hair feels in good condition but is just unmanageable!

@WarmestRegards thanks for your kind words, I will preserve for now but I know if lockdown was to end tomorrow I'd be right back to using my cloud 9s!

I started on the CGM about 8 years ago and it was great....then it turned to shit. Sorry to pee on anyone's parade. If it works for you that's great, but some curly hair cannot stand it. I lost a lot of hair, loads of breakage and thinning. Its quite common. There was even a law suit against the Deva curl products.

A lot of the products are really heavy and clog the scalp and weigh down the hair which is not going to be washed out properly with all the best co washing in the world. A lot of the instagrammers who have success with CGM are WOC / or women who have a courser texture which these products are designed for and work well with. My hair is fine. And my hair just turned to mushy crap.

Manes by Mel explains why this happens on you tube. Silicones and sulphates are not the devil. (She also explains why the water glass/ porosity test is BS btw.)

There's some good FB groups to join (some less cultish than others). My hair is totally recovered now and growing really fast. And my routine is really minimal and quick.

I'm just putting it out there for balance. But great if it works for you and your hair texture.