➿ 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

Ehm, I didn't recognize it so that's usually a sign it's banned in the EU. Ahem, it's a formaldehyde releaser, so definitely banned here. Rest of the world it's fine though...

What protein treatment have you ordered Bo? I'm going to do a modified rice treatment this weekend with my protein deep conditioner (sorry if I've already said that).

I wouldn't even know where to look for curly groups here Bo! Majority have straight hair (well blow dried every week or twice a week - they're huge on hair salons here. I hate going to the salon). There are only 2 people who I can think of with curly hair that's in good condition. I asked one where she got it cut (although her's is much shorter than mine) and that's where I go now. Called for appointment today but need to call again Thursday.

It was me Pupsie who said that (apparently) the Giovanni gel gives a very hard cast -did it? Your hair is getting curlier every time you wash. Really quite amazing. Oh poor you with the woolly hat and the bus - children can be really mean sometimes. LOVE the photos. The little toddler one is so cute and the other reminds me a bit of Princess Diana. Very glamorous. I think my girls would kill me if I cut off their hair. One has very long, thick mainly straight hair and the other has long, very curly hair.

Are you not based in the UK either then Outtheforest?

bo that's what I was seeing, doesn't sound great and interesting as the company is very big of natural ingredients, environmental concerns etc.
sophie I'm based in Africa hence the lack of locally made products for caucasian hair, 95% of my products hair and beauty are imported so I was pleased to find something local.
Will do some more reading on it

Goodness sounds more of a challenge with curly hair there than it is here Outtheforest! I have to order most hair products but can find a few things here. But sounds very exotic being in Africa

@SophieLion it's the shine and define curl custard. And yes, the aussie gel I use is the instant freeze. I have a hob lot that I bought on amazon, last summer. I'll have to make a note of the Jessiecurls one for when I've made some space in the bathroom cupboard :o

I love doing a gelatine treatment, that's really easy but you have to be completely sure your hair needs protein as it's a pretty strong one! I mix it with hot water, ACV and deep conditioner

@botemp hair brushing was a nightmare when I was a kid, even though my hair was kept fairly short. I always had odd bits that would stick up that my mum tred to tame with water and even sellotape :o inevitably wetting it made it worse. I rebelled and grew it long when I left home for uni and it just grew horizontal! I could feel some waves in the finer hair around the nape of my neck - that bit is verging on 3a, now and stays curly with no help.

I was pregnant when I had the standard Toni & guy curly cut and my hair had been extra unruly, at the time. Obviously had been affected by hormones.

The tragedy is, I spent a fortune acid perming my hair in the 80s!

Sophie yes I would say it is quite firm compared to the Boucleme, which is the only other one I've tried. No idea if I'm using enough.

I wonder how people like Curly Caitlin and Powerdom get so much volume into their hair. Is that only achieved with a mousse? And a diffuser? I guess the right cut really helps. My longesst layer is only about an inch above the total length.

I've ordered a silk scrunchie, having said I wouldn't buy anything else. Because my hair was driving me nuts yesterday I put it in a pineapple early evening using an invisibobble. It didn't feel sore whilst up but when I took it down at bedtime my scalp was so so tender. So I need a better method because I've been wearing it loose at bedtime.

Bo was this the Aveda product with blue lettering you mentioned? I used to use the tube version on my ends (when drying straight, obvs). This just came up in my FB feed as an ad, but I already wondered if it was the one I had.

Aveda Brilliant

I wonder how people like Curly Caitlin and Powerdom get so much volume into their hair.

no idea who curly Caitlin is but I get loads of volume by picking the roots with an afro pick. Makes a world of difference.

Venge she writes a blog with lots of useful info for newbies.

I've been trying to source a spriggle pick but can't find one. That's a good alternative. Thanks.

I found this to be a really good intro to protein balance:

I think the protein posts on the scienc-y hair blog really helped me figure out the proteins. Before that it was all about 'proteins' as this monolith and a bunch of products. She mentions there why gelatine treatments are so effective as well.

Yes, it was definitely the brilliant line, Pupsie, the entire jar was blue though, maybe they changed it 🤷

I just use a wide tooth comb through my roots while upside down, think that's more specific to wavy hair though. An afro comb/root pick would be wasted on me, especially with the slippiness of the Jessicurl products.

Sophie, I ordered the ecoslay matcha boost which is relatively new. It was in the April Lockenbox and the Dutch curlies are really enthusiastic about it so it showed up in the sample shop as it's attached to a FB group, I'm not on FB but that seems to be where all these groups are. I'm sure there's at least one based in Greece which would know about curly cut hairdressers there.

The ecoslay is not as heavy duty as aphogee which put me off, as I don't want anything that drastic (or smelly). Ecoslay looks promising though, it's hydrolyzed quinoa and hydrolyzed keratin which ranked well from my research.

Beautiful bouncy hair in that video Bo. Let us know how you get on with it.

Well, sleeping with a pineapple via a silk scrunchie suited me very well. No tender scalp and hair has kept the waves. I watched a video on refreshing and I have to say, looked as long-winded as washing although I guess you're not actually washing it. But jeez, that's not for me from a time, effort and product usage pov.

Just popped on quickly to say thank you Bo. I'm completely rubbish on social media and hadn't even considered a curly hair group on fb but.... searched, found a Greek one and now I'm a member. Not sure how useful as they are talking about a range of products that I was using here but not anymore (they're probably the most accessible CGM friendly ones, vegan friendly too and in the supermarkets. I use the shampoo as a clarifying one). They had a lot of posts with info re curl type, protein and shampooing and the administrators seem very enthusiastic. All in Greek so good practice for me!
Anyway, I posted asking if someone knows a good hairdresser in Athens so fingers crossed.

Keeping 🤞for you Sophie, would be rather funny if they recommend the stylist you already see.

My hair is currently drying. I wouldn't normally wash this quickly but it was pretty limp looking from the no protein routine last time and my samples are here, so... Anyhow tried the matcha boost and it made my hair feel amazing, like it had loads of conditioner on my hair, so smooth but I had washed out all the product. I was so unsure it really was free of product that I rinsed a couple of extra times just to be sure. Followed with a deep conditioning mask and heated cap, so it's a rather time consuming process altogether. Was hoping to speed up drying with diffuser but it really is on its last legs so I'm leaving it to air dry now. Hopefully it'll be dry by tonight, I did notice my hair is holding on to much more water since the protein treatment so who knows how long it might take 😬

Also interested to see the results Bo. How does this match protein treatment differ from rice water treatment? I know different proteins but wondering overall effect.

The lady in the video has lovely bouncy hair. I want a cut like that (and not getting too excited about the fb group coming up with a magical solution).

Someone asked re power domi's volume (Pupsie?). I was reading that she does a rice water treatment every week. Another big curly blogger also does a rice water every week.

Anyone know off the top of their head whether boucleme gel contains protein? I'll look it up otherwise. Not intending to buy it but notice it is pretty popular.

Also lady in video also applies her products upside down. I really can't understand why I seem completely unable to do this properly. I always miss part of the back without fail....

So Bo you were kind of spot on with the hairdresser!! The first (and so far only !) reply wasn't the guy I went to last two times but a Scottish hairdresser who we used to use years ago before she left for one of the islands. Completely forgotten that she has returned to athens!! I might try her as I know her pretty well and can be honest and communicate about what I do and don't want etc etc. Thanks again for the fb tip

I think the entire Boucleme line is protein free. I'm still a bit scared of protein overuse, I've never tried a rice rinse so I can't really compare. Hydrolyzed rice protein is able to penetrate deeply and give moisture but a rice rinse isn't hydrolyzed, so I think it's not as concentrated as a treatment. For my hair the matcha treatment is only recommended for once a week use, it's hydrolyzed quinoa and hydrolyzed keratin which are both able to penetrate deeply (low molecular weight) and have good similarity to human hair makeup.

I missed a whole patch too today, as usual, I think I need to try separating down the middle and then instead of moving down to the front first move it down to the sides from the nape of the neck first.

Brilliant news on the hairdresser, I'm trying to imagine a Scot in Greece now and it's doing weird things to my mind.

*Once a month use that should read.

Well Scots in Greece don't walk around in kilts playing the bagpipes They're quite normal!!!

When I do my rice treatment this weekend, decided to balance it out with a protein free deep conditioner afterwards. My hair is looking a bit rubbish and not as good as a couple of weeks ago. Not sure why....

The ecoslay matcha sounds a great product and will add it to my notes but I really cannot purchase anything else right now!!

I was thinking more of perpetual fear of the sun and how can they go out during the day but obviously not all Scots are that fair, and there's such a thing as sunscreen.

There's a Scottish makeup artist on YouTube called John Maclean and he's very very pale and there's one tong in cheek video that goes on about his hatred of the sun. It was very amusing.

I think I made a mistake by going absolutely protein free with all the other products, the gelebration spray really is a bit lacking as a curl definer. Wish I'd used my normal curl cream as I think it's drying a bit frizzy

Yes it was me asking about volume, thanks Sophie.

Tong in cheek .

I am also going to do a rice water rinse this weekend. I thought I'd do the modified version with the deep conditioner mixed in Sophie? I will probably clarify first?

I've worn my hair down most of the day and it's looked okay! Kept the waves from yesterday. It does drive me mad on a psychological level because it's very knotty and tatty at the ends. I am so used to being able to run my fingers through it and I miss that. I don't know if this is how it will always and I'll need to get used to it, but I guess it's massively impacted by the fact that it's not been cut since 5th March (not that I'm counting lol).

I am trying to wash every 4th day but I will probably wash tomorrow mainly because I have a video call. I will probably stick to the same products. I've not yet tried the Boucleme cleanser and regular conditioner.

I've been thinking about how to speak to my hairdresser. We've become friends really. I just don't want to come across all "ok so I've read some blog posts and now I'm an expert so please do x".