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

[botemp]

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

Laziness Sophie, just parking myself under a hood instead of faffing about with a blow dryer appeals to my lazy self. Potentially it's more effective than the microwave hot heads as the heat coming off that isn't that hot IME.

Pupsie, it was humid here and I struggled with my hair too. It seemed to dry really quickly after washing before I could put LIC and other products, which did not help.

bo, I had read that article, not sure really what they mean by frizz. The photos don't look really frizzy. My curls can lose definition and look like a fuzzy mess but I also don't want the curls to look too coated. I think when I was younger there were issues about curly hair being messy in corporate jobs.

You've got a point quirky, I tend to associate frizz with anything that doesn't behave like the majority of the hair but I suppose that is more fuzz than frizz.

Sophie, found a better article with information on what inositol does for hair here, it repairs and helps with elasticity which would explain the improved curl pattern.

I've booked an actual curly cut with a Lorraine Massey trained stylist
She's fully booked so not until October but it's £50 which I didn't think was too bad

I reached new levels of insanity this morning and used a sieve as a make shift diffuser. I never really bother blow drying my hair so own a tiny travel sized drier however this morning it was so bloody cold I couldn't face 8 hours with wet hair so googled makeshift diffusers and arrived at the sieve method. Only took it to 50% dry so will reserve judgement until its fully dry but my hair is still wavy and its formed the cast of the eco gel nicely. If its a complete disaster it at least gave the maid a good laugh finding me sat with a sieve on my head

Thanks for the article Bo.

The haircut sounds exciting Queen - look forward to seeing photos. Price sounds very reasonable indeed.

at the sieve on your head outheforest!

at the sieve, I'm now trying to remember which children's book has a character with a colander on their head for a helmet. Maybe it's Peace at Last.

Having watched the Manes by Mell video on protein and moisture and talking about elasticity, I think that's what I lack. I know my hairdresser used to test my hair for it regularly and use a treatment, not sure which one though.

Not Peace at Last with the colander but Whatever Next! Still Jill Murphy, though.

I think when I was younger there were issues about curly hair being messy in corporate jobs.

I had to job hunt over the last 5-6 years a few times (mid level jobs, all under 30k) and I cannot remember how many times recruitment agents adviced me to put my hair 'in order' (whatever that means) or to straighten it when I go to the actual job interview. I always ignored it though and rocked a pretty wild curly mane. Most interviews resulted in a job offer. I must have left an impression

Ehm... I'm another member of the insane sieve posse I tried it when contemplating whether I wanted to buy into a diffuser (as my universal one size fits all diffuser is a special Japanese one with a silver mesh in sort of a sock contraption, so not too far off a sieve). A sieve actually works quite well except you have to direct your blow-dryer properly otherwise you end up frizzing up the stuff not in the sieve. The arm fatigue was annoying though...

Yes, quirky, elasticity seems very important but there's not much information out there, maybe it's a term thing as 'Moisture' in protein vs. moisture isn't the most helpful term either (it's about your hair's ability to retain moisture in the shaft but 'Moisture' in haircare usually has people thinking occlusives). As I read it, elasticity is more of marker of how healthy hair is where protein and moisture products mask that and not necessarily improve that (as it washes off). What you can actually do to improve elasticity (aside from avoiding damage in the first place) is a bit of a mystery to me. Well, aside from inositol, but I'm wondering if there are more ingredients like that. I suppose the small size hydrolyzed proteins probably fit in the category too.

Oh @botemp was it you asking how much curly C curl clinics are? The 1 to 1 are 45 euros (I asked!!)

this only reaffirms my belief that influencers follow camgirl business models... Is it for a decent length of time at least? I had estimated 55€ for something like 40 mins so I was probably not too far off.

30 mins on video

Verdict on the sieve is that it worked pretty well, no frizz and I didn't have to freeze while it dried. My sieve is so big I got all my hair in at once and sat it on my head so no arm fatigue
however I think I overdid the gel, was a nightmare to scrunch out and by the time I managed to scrunch the bulk of the cast off my hair had split into many thin curls and looked pretty scraggly. Will try again with reduced quantities.

That's a great price for a haircut @QueenCT. Are you going ahead with the 1-2-1?

My hair turned out okay from my gel-less wash yesterday, and looks okay today. More wavy than curly but that's fine. Nice to know it looks decent enough this why as it's what I'll do on holidays (whenever the heck I go on one again!).

Is anyone who doesn't diffuse conscious of their hair being wet for so long? From what I've read this can contribute to hair being over moisturised, which makes sense. It's partly why I diffuse to 50-60% dry.

Still waiting for my protein mask to arrive. Hopefully be here soon. Interested to see if I feel it makes a difference.

I'm more likely to let my hair air dry in the summer and diffuse a bit in colder weather. If I diffuse too much, on low and cold, it fluffs up. Although, some protein plus diffusing gave me bouncer curls so gradually increasing protein might help.

*bouncier - autocorrect seems to want to talk about the dog from Neighbours or a nightclub security guard.

Pretty decent wash day. I used the Blueberry Bliss leave in to see if my hair would appreciate the protein (I think it did). And I plopped after avo curl cream/gel. I normally plop after LIC but before gel, because I worry I won't easily be able to rearrange hair after gel, and it needs it, especially at the back. Not completely happy with how it's framing my face (as in its annoying me). Definitely need to get better at appreciating how it's going to sit once dry and arrange accordingly. But moving in the right direction.

@Pupsiecola looks fab! I have done a chelating shampoo and a deep conditioner protein treatment so will see how that turns out

Looking good, Pupsie, lovely, bouncy curls! I know what you mean about plopping and gel. I do plop after gel, which I now do for much less time, as I agree the curls can be a bit weird after, especially at the roots going in random directions.

Rather annoyed with the Hairfinity website. I ordered the Amino Masque over 10 days and it's still not arrived. I emailed them yesterday and they replied today to say it's out of stock. Yet they took the money at the time of ordering. Pretty sure that's illegal? It's usually on dispatch? They've offered me a refund, an exchange, or to wait until it is back in stock.

I've just looked at their website again and it's still showing as "available" and I'm able to put it into my basket.

That's not good, Pupsie. I get really annoyed at websites who make products appear available when in fact they're not, but taking your order and money is a whole other level!

quirky random question, would purple shampoos work on cool brown hair too? I occasionally buy a colour mask from Christophe Robin (comes in handy little pouches) and that's sort of purple toned too for dark brown hair.

I had a really disappointing wash day today as I attempted to give the spiralicious gel and the JC shampoo another shot but it's awful, it didn't scrunch out at all and it feels horribly lank and just bleurgh.

Anyhow, after a deep dive into polyquats (as there's a shit tonne of them in spiralicious) I'm definitely one that's sensitive to them (apparently low porosity hair doesn't like it because our hair isn't as charged other porosities so it fails to bond properly and just sits there ie. not that different from silicones in my hair).

It's part of the cationic compounds which I really like in a (deep) conditioner over traditional heavy occlusives (as my hair just struggles to absorb that) but I think I really should be avoiding them in styling products as I'm definitely getting inconsistent results and build up and this is probably the missing link for me. Certainly clarified why some things work really well for me and other very popular products are crap for me.

Also makes sense why I've always gotten on well with Christophe Robin and now Innersense as they're so called 'natural organic' brands and therefore avoid polyquats. Both brands do contain other naturally derived versions of them and with CR those have been the products I haven't gotten on with, ditto the Jessicurl products really not working for me, quick scan of the ingredient lists has it all making sense to me. Ah, well, at least I know what to avoid now but it means more amethyst infused nonsense and deep breath ceremonies...

It doesn't look absolutely horrible but it feels gross and I need to get myself a shampoo that cleanses that out (my clarifying/chelating one doesn't tackle the polyquat buildup, unfortunately). Hoping to find a travel size somewhere, it's a pretty common surfactant that's in the cheaper sulfate free shampoos, I've always avoided it because it's as awful as SLS in terms of drying out.

Bo I'm in awe of your process and understanding. Frustrating wash day for you but sounds as if you're getting to the bottom of it.

Interesting, as when I tried that CR pear mask a few years back off the back of the skincare thread it did nothing for me. But then I was in a different place with my hair. I do really like the Innersense Gel though. Only tried the foam once and also have one more of their products to try.

I'm going to one of my closest friend's socially distanced wedding today. Thinking about wash days this week has been interesting due to that and training and going into the office for the first time tomorrow.

I went for a run late pm yesterday. Then washed my hair at around 7pm. It's been my best wash day to date and very happy with it this morning. Lots of volume and some nice clumps. Will see how it holds out after hours in a garden this afternoon. I'm hoping it will also be fine for work tomorrow.

Clarified with Phyto) (really felt I needed it. Think I used too much product last wash day)
Regular Biolage conditioner but left on with a shower cap for 20 minutes
Blueberry Bliss LIC
Avo Curl Clump Creme
Innersense Gel

Micro plopping only (first time I've not full on plopped)
No diffusing
Pineapple

Was almost dry when I went to bed. No cast this morning: I think it probably scrunched itself out in the night (I do get a good cast with Innersense and it was crunch when I went to bed)? I do toss and turn a fair amount.

I'll definitely emulate this wash day. It was lovely to skip diffusing and washing that late didn't impact my day at all.

I found these sun protection products on the Phyto website:

www.phyto-haircare.co.uk/collection/phytoplage.html

No SPFs mentioned but one seems to be a light protection and the other heavier. @SophieLion I didn't know whether the Phyto Plage Veil might be of interest to you?