Curly Girl Method Questions

[Windflower92]

So I have a couple of questions about this method to make sure I've got things right before I start!

So it starts with a reset shampoo. Is this literally just washing it with an sulphate filled shampoo, no conditioner? Or do you follow with an sulphate free conditioner in the same wash? Is Aussie Clarifying Shampoo okay to use here?

I've had a look at brands I could start using that are sulphate free; Maui, John Frieda, Herbal Essences, OGX and Aveeno. Have I got those right?

And does anyone have any recommendations for curling gels? I've never used any before so no experience, but I am on a budget!

Thanks for answering my questions, I'm fed up of feeling like I have rubbish hair when I know it's actually lovely underneath all the frizz!

The shampoo for your 'final wash' needs to have sulphates but no silicones.

Then all the products you use have to be silicone free, but there are also other ingredients you need to avoid.
I have done CG for 6 years now and stick to 'safe' products so I'm not an expert on the ingredients. So no particular brand is good or bad it's all about the specific product.

There are some great Facebook pages that will guide you through and have photos of all the safe CG products.

Assuming you're in the UK, Alberto Balsalm shampoo is ok for a final wash. I use the Garnier ultimate blends hair food conditioners, Cantu styling creme, and Cantu Curling custard, which is a gel.

It's very trial and error, but worth it.

Hiya. It’s been a while since I’ve looked into brands but I think you need to check specific products using an ingredient checker. https://www.curlsbot.com/

John Frieda previously wasn’t curly girl friendly but that might have changed.
Definitely use a conditioner ( silicone free) after your reset wash and every wash!

The good curly hair ranges are usually quite expensive, such as Curlsmith, Boucleme, Only Curls etc so I mix and match with high street. Currently using Umberto Giannini scrunching jelly as my gel. Good luck!

I use a variation on this, not as strict. For the gel, I find a cheap as chips bog standard gel, usually from Bodycare or Savers, works as well as any of the more expensive ones. I rinse my conditioner off in the bathroom sink, so that some remains, then quite quickly put almost a golfball sized blob of gel through. My hair is pretty thick and shoulder length so less may suit other people.

I started with the Cantu curling creme. Coming it through with afro comb, and then sticking it in a pony tail for 3 days. This was in lockdown though when i didn't have to go out!. Then washing hair twice with cantu shampoo and conditioning twice with cantu conditioner. I only need to wash my hair twice a week now, and have waves and curls instead of the old frizz.

Combing*

For the clarifying wash yes you need a shampoo with sulfates in it.

Conditioners don't contain sulfates, that's a cleansing agent and conditioners don't clean your hair.

It's silicones you need to avoid, otherwise you'll need to use a shampoo with sulfates in again to get the silicones out.

Shampoo that doesn't have sulfates in it isn't really shampoo. The CG community refers to it as low-poo because it does contain other cleansing agents. Maui is low-poo, I know because I use it.

With cowashing (literally means conditioner-only washing) it's the action of rubbing your hair/scalp that supposedly cleans it, not the ingredients in the conditioner.

Maui make conditioners too, if you're going down the cowashing route, or if you want to follow your regular low-poo/clarifying sulfate shampoo with a conditioner. I don't know what ingredients are in the conditioners, I've never looked,

I do know that it's not uncommon for a conditioner sold as suitable for curly hair to contain silicones, when the matching low-poo to go with it doesn't contain the sulfates that will get the silicones out - AKA a recipe for disaster. Or the shampoo does contain sulfates but also contains silicones itself. "Suitable for curly hair" is a subjective phrase.

AFAIK everything by John Frieda is packed full of silicones (as are a lot of products marketed for curly hair) including their shampoos! It's years since I've looked though so my knowledge could be out of date.

Any words ending "cone", "conal", "xane" is a silicone but there's others. If you're solely cowashing or low-poo, you'll have to become an expert on ingredients that are silicones. And check your products regularly because companies have a habit of bringing out "new and improved" formulas that aren't, without telling customers. So you find out when your hair inexplicably goes to shit and you get round to checking ingredients. You'll have to check ingredients on styling products too, not just shampoo and conditioner.

Silicone is coating your hair in plastic. Favoured because it makes hair easier to detangle. If you don't remove them these layers build up, meaning no conditioning agents can penetrate the hair shaft and your hair will get drier and more frizzy and develop split ends and become such s PITA to brush that you go looking for a detangler spray/serum/whatever product (which is pretty much guaranteed to contain silicones). Breaking the vicious circle (and keeping it that way) means avoiding silicones first and foremost.

I would get ready for months of experimentation to find what works for you. My hair’s a mixture of 3a-c and it took a long time to get into a routine that works for my hair.

Brands that have worked particularly well for me are Aveda and Only Curls. Aveda products are incredible but expensive. You can usually get travel/trial sizes though so it’s a good way to try before you buy full size products. I can highly recommend the Aveda Confixor gel which is really lightweight and doesn’t weigh my hair down at all.

I recommend the Aveeno apple cider vinegar shampoo and the Umberto Giannini gel.
Use more conditioner than you think you need! Probably more gel than you think you need too.
And scrunch in the gel while it's still sopping wet. I find a good squelchy sound when I scrunch is a sign I'll get a good curl.
Best prepared for lots of trial and error.

I use a mixture of products - Trepadora when I'm feeling flush, otherwise any silicone free shampoo, ultimate blends coconut conditioner, cantu curl activator & Umberto Giannini curly jelly. Use more than you think you need, add water after the gel so that it clumps properly.
Only curls does nothing at all for my hair.

Have been following the 'curly girl method ' for many years. Don't get to hung up on right and wrong products, you will eventually find what works for your hair. My two go-to products are Aldi volume conditioner (£1.29 I think ) and Crème of Nature Snot gel, available from Amazon ( £6.29 ).
This gives me the cast, which when scrunched out, results in a good curl formation.

Thanks all for the replies, lots to unpack there! I've used the curlsbot link above and found loads that don't fit, so I think I'm starting with Aveeno kids shampoo (which I know smells gorgeous!) and a Garnier conditioner, with Cantu curling cream. I'm amazed at how many curly shampoos don't have the right ingredients! Even the kids ones that are meant to be gentle! Will let you all know how I get on 😃

I do Curly Girl but am v lazy about it, could not face joining Facebook groups or reading lists of products.

If your hair is fine/wavy washing in conditioner will prob not work as the buildup makes your hair awful.

So I just stick to brands designed for curly hair that meet the no SLS/silicones, still do shampoo and conditioner the old fashioned way. Key is a lot more conditioner, using a leave in conditioner and a much stronger gel than you thought your hair needed.

@Windflower92 if you try the Herbal Essences range be sure to check the ingredients list. I really like their products and they work well for me but some of them do have sulfates and silicone added where you might not expect it - eg the aloe/hemp shampoo no sulfates or silicones but the matching conditioner, although advertised as sulfate free, does contain silicone. Conversely, the white grapefruit conditioner is silicone free but the matching shampoo contains sulfates.

I also rate Cantu curling cream but just to warn you it did take my hair a while to get used to it. I have thick, dry and quite coarse curly/wavy hair which would normally soak up styling products but the Cantu made my hair look and feel incredibly greasy for probably the first month or so. Now, three years into "lazy" CG, my hair is transformed. Good luck with your curls!

I've got long, very fine curly hair, and a lot of the recommended products are too heavy for my mop. I also didn't get on with no-poo. The brand that works best for me is Noughty - they're quite a bit cheaper than some of the curly-girl recommended brands, and have really suited my hair. I wash with a tiny amount of their detox shampoo, then use either their Wave Hello conditioner and styling products, or To the Rescue occasionally if it needs a boost. Its been transformative for my hair. Only using micro fibre towels has also been worthwhile.