➿ Fantastic Haircare: Making Sense and Science of the Curly Girl Method

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Offshoot from the Fantastic Skincare threads to document the trials and tribulations in order to make sense and science of the curly girl method. We don't necessarily follow it to the letter and are even critical of it in places. Nor are we especially knowledgeable at this point but we're learning as we go. Feel free to join in (especially if you have superior knowledge) as we attempt to approach this with an interest in ingredients and try to not buy everything that promises us magical things…

Useful blogs:

Curly Cailín
Science-y Hair Blog

Yes you can see the difference with the ring light. Looks professional, hair is shinier and you can see everything more clearly.

I think generally it's harder to see the curls and definition in very dark hair (and actually now I think about it, I'm not sure any of the curly IGers I follow have extremely dark hair).

I tend to keep a soft hair tie with me all the time Bo now that it's full on summer here and just pineapple it when I'm feeling really hot. I am trying to keep my hair down as much as possible though as I don't want to get into the habit of having it up all the time (been there...). Having my hair on my neck makes me very hot though - I don't think it bothers everyone in the same way.

I'm the same Sophie re wearing it up. Mine too makes me very hot and it's just easier to stick it up sometimes. I usually do so on day 3. I keep saying it but I hope the cut just generally makes it less ratty. And knotty. Can you guys run your fingers through to the ends at any given time without encountering knots? I hate that I can't and have to stop myself doing so and detangling with my fingers. Wash day not too bad, but gets worse from day 2.

You're probably right Sophie, I think Curly Cailín is the darkest I can think of but she's not as dark as me, and has a lot of warm red tones to pick up. I think there are some influencers with darker hair but they tend to have deeper olive skins or even darker and that probably photographs differently too as the contrast isn't that high.

No, it's not an issue with me Pupsie and I go very long without seeing a hairdresser so I think my hair just isn't prone to that. I think dyeing may be a factor? Do they use olaplex in your colour treatment? I did have quite some damage from the hair loss treatment and that did make the ends ratty and frail, I needed to take off a lot to get a fresh start with that.

I don't even have that much hair but don't like it in my neck either when it's hot. My hair is probably long enough now to play around with braids and pinning them up and over each other like a crown. This has also made me think I should probably wait even longer to see my hair dresser as the layers are just long enough to all stay put in a bun or braid. I might just do a mini dusting trim again to tide me over...

Not much volume today. Due to getting fed up diffusing and going to bed with damp hair! The definition is nice though so day 2 is always more volume

My hair knots up really easily underneath, whatever length it is, tbh. I usually carry an "emergency hair bobble" in case I need to put it up, though that's more likely to be due to wind and rain in the UK. Often I put it in a low, messy bun or side plait now it's longer, so I can put a hat on it. Hair looks nice, Queen, I never diffuse mine all the way dry, it takes to long and goes fluffy, even on a low, cool heat.

No I don't have an Olaplex treatment Bo but I have just bought myself a bottle. Also I only usually have the roots done. Is knotting mostly associated with ratty hair that needs chopping off or are there other factors?

(Trying not to tot up how much I've spent on hair care in the last month, but I'd have had 2 x colours and 1 X cut in that time at least so that's saved me about £150 ).

It has to do with porosity, I think. From all sorts of damage (friction, sun, heat, harsh chemicals etc.) the ends are more susceptible as they've been around the longest and at the most vulnerable spot (easily catch onto things). At some point they were roots and dyed so from that point on they became more porous and that increases with time due to the other damaging factors. It does that anyhow but dyed roots basically have a disadvantage from the beginning. Porous hair has less resilience and elasticity so tangles easily and is more brittle so breaks off at weak points which then tangles into the other more fragile bits of your hair and creates larger knots.

I'm not sure what the association with ratty hair is, although I find that description confusing as to me ratty means limp stringy greasy hair. Which is not how I would describe your hair, your hair seems a coarse texture to me which will probably take a bit to figure out to sit smoothly as you're also dealing with grey hair texture on top of that (although it could be one and the same thing).

Pupsie, I would never attempt to run my fingers through my hair other than on a wash day!!! Think that's because I've always had curly hair and I just don't do that. I'm sure it would have some tangles if I did though - but I find that normal. You're used to straight hair.

I actually forgot about curly Cailin Bo as I've read her blog back to front several times so don't look at her on IG really. She has pretty dark hair.

Nice curls Queen I'm going to make an effort to diffuse mine for longer today. Got a deep conditioning mask on (the hairfinity one which is quite balanced protein-moisture wise). Could not be bothered with a rice treatment and had done the aphogee during the week so am sure my protein balance must be better.

Hello Quirky, yes I always have an emergency bobble with me too!!

When you use your olaplex Pupsie, you need only a very small amount. You need to make sure all your hair is covered but a little goes a long way (fortunately as it wasn't the cheapest here). My bottle looks barely touched and I've used it once.

Ah missed Bo's last post and your question Pupsie. For me the straggly ends were a combination of 2 things: needing a cut and also getting the ends in better condition. When they are in better condition, they curl better so not as straggly.

If your hair is coarse then I think olaplex will really help with smoothing it.

Pupsie and SophieLion where did you order your olaplex from? I notice the reviews on amazon say that it's not always the real thing.

Looking at Curly Cailin she says she doesn't recommend Cantu or Shea Moisture as they're too heavy for her hair. I think I need that heavy moisture from Cantu (I have only just switched to the orange label leave-in conditioning cream as dp got the "wrong one" during lockdown and it turned out better).

I have been doing curly girl for a long time, due to a thread on mn . But, there really wasn't that much around, certainly nothing that was advertised as co-wash, sulphate free etc. I then started using some products from my hairdresser that were cg friendly, but she switched product lines as she turned vegan. I have also explored lots of products via silver hair fb groups, trying to balance purple/silver shampoos with cg. I'm trying not to change too much at once, I have used the two step olaplex in the salon, though.

In her curl clinic Curly Cailin said the ingredients in those brands are awful and that they wrecked her hair and she commented twice that she was worried about getting sued. Then she said she'd only leave the IGTV up for 2 days.

To me ratty = straggly. Yes my hair is quite coarse. It's also strong and I don't generally experience breakage. Yes I want to run my fingers through it because I'm uses to it being straight.

Oh, and I think I bought my Olaplex from Look Fantastic. Thanks for the tips Sallie. Is it worth using it now or should I wait until it's coloured in 3 weeks? Or could I do both?

Thanks, Pupsie. I will look at Look Fantastic. Interesting about Cantu and Shea Moisture, they are definitely recommended on lots of Curly forums. I can't really speak for Shea Moisture, I only used the black castor oil conditioner for a bit as it discoloured my hair. I have used a few Cantu products over the last year or so and have liked them a lot. They are more perfumed than I'd like, but the performance outweighs it for me.

On knotty hair, if I've worn mine up it is not very tangled but if I've worn a scarf or high neck it will be. I really wouldn't run my fingers through my hair, as it would separate out all the curls.

SOPHIE!!! personally I would wait until you do your colour Pupsie and then do the olaplex afterwards (that's what I did - although I only had one week to wait - so depends how impatient you are!!! You could always do both if you fancy it.) I am planning to do olaplex every 6 weeks possibly. And definitely after a colour.

Quirky, I had heard that sometimes amazon has fakes so I bought mine from a good hair salon here. You can always check on the olaplex website for authorised stockists.

Oh FFS @ myself Sophie .

Thank you. I'd worry that it might affect how the colour takes. Once it didn't take to a large section and I think it was due to using Elasticizer too close to colouring. Different product obviously.

It's not am intention running fingers through quirk. More a habit and then when I think about it I don't like knots. So not all curls = knots basically. It's probably not as bad as I think. They comb out easily whilst conditioning.

Not again Pupsie 🙈🙊

As it's been explained to me by my hairdresser you use olaplex 1 and 2 with colour (or as a standalone treatment) and 3 is a lower concentration version of it. I'd definitely do 1 and 2 if there's any bleaching involved. I don't think there's any harm in doing 3 ahead of colour, should probably help protect it somewhat.

Yes, buy from an official supplier, Amazon just gets a whole load of stock from different sellers in their warehouse so you could be getting anything even if it's dispatched by Amazon (and I'm not really interested in making Jeff Bezos the first quadrillionaire so avoid as much as possible anyhow).

I still find it odd to be so scathing and trash talking these brands because you had a bad experience with it 🤷 I really do miss somewhat impartial experts in the CGM world, like dermatologists and cosmetic chemists for skincare to sort the fact from the fiction. I know there's some hairstylists but their education isn't really comparable. I did find a cosmetic chemist on YouTube who mostly discusses natural hair and ingredients, it's interesting but very short videos so I'm always left a bit wanting.

I like some cantu stuff - the custard is amazing on my hair but it flakes badly
Shea moisture I really like, I actually used the 10 in 1 conditioner yesterday

I've been using cantu deep treatment masque and am liking it, not at all to heavy for me but I do have thick hair which soaks up conditioner. It's been keeping my hair nice and soft and seems to be helping with frizz. I've also been using cantu wavemaker mousse, I'm not fully convinced by it as I think it's just not strong enough but again it helps with frizz and I can use it on day three on dry hair to smooth it out.
They are heavily scented but I love coconut scent so don't mind it

When do you use the foam out? I was initially convinced it (not Cantu, but foam in general) did nothing until I switched to using it as the very last step.

Maybe I'll do the chelating shampoo.tmrw and follow up with Olaplex then. Any special tips?

I have got a few lighter strands in my as I wanted to go a bit lighter in places around the face but otherwise no bleach involved.

For the olaplex Pupsie: it's applied to damp hair. I divided my hair up and applied the olaplex section by section and combed it in. As I've said, a little goes a long way. As it's very hot here, the top front sections of my hair started drying whilst I was applying so I had to spray them down again to make sure damp. Kept olaplex on for an hour under shower cap. I did a deep condition afterwards but I think that was because I'd done colour not because of the olaplex.

I think my frizzy patch at the top back is creeping back so I may do an olaplex myself soon as it really sorted it the frizz.

I diffused my hair yesterday much more than I normally would (to perhaps 70/80% dry but on the lowest heat) and the difference was huge. My curls were bouncier, more ringlet-y. Got some lovely compliments yesterday evening when we were out which is always encouraging when you're on a "journey" and investing time and effort in something. I will endeavour to diffuse every time I wash but it really is boring and time consuming.....

Yeah, you really have to use it like a treatment Pupsie, wash, leave it on for a good amount of time, then wash out, condition, etc. A lot of people mistake olaplex 3 for being a conditioning treatment when it's not.

I think I've found something that squeaks me out more than the idea of lube in my hair (pic attached) 🤢

*rinse out, not wash out. No need to shampoo twice AFAIK.

The instructions and my research says you shampoo after using?

Also should I wear the heat cap or just a shower cap?

Good shout re having the water bottle handy Sophie.

Lovely to get some compliments. I thought your hair looked gorgeous in the photo you stated early on. I bet it looks utterly fab now!