The Curly Girl Method

[sleepsforwimps]

I want to thank whoever it was that mentioned this method in a thread a while back. I googled it and have started the no-poo method, it has absolutely transformed my hair. So thankyou, thankyou, thankyou whoever you were.

I've given up on the method tbh, don't think my hair is curly enough to be worth it - it just looked manic and/or greasy. It's still good to know about plopping though, for when I want to encourage a bit more wave.

Hmm well I gave in and pooed once when my scalp felt itchy. Since then I have persevered but don't seem much curlier or better condition. It could be because I am not very good at plopping and tend to screw my hair up in a towel as of old.
Plopped today so will have a look in a mo.
Anyone know if home colouring is good with this method and if so which make of hair dye is best or should I consider henna? I only use non permanent usually because permanent seemed to damage my hair.

I must admit I don't plop for long (5/10 mins) as my hair is only shoulder length and I don't think it likes being plopped for long. Or I just squeeze/blot my hair with a tshirt. I also diffuse my hair which definitely encourages the curl. Not sure all this is exactly Curly Girl Method but works for me.

FlyMeToDunoon my scalp has at times felt itchy too, I've used my kids halos n horns shampoo a few times, as figured it it has no crap in it, and that seems to sort it out. I also went through about a week when I though my hair was not so curly, but I seem to have come through that. The odd low poo may be needed for some of us, keep trying different things because co washing has definitely transformed my hair.

Just to report: I've been co-washing for about 5 weeks now and my hair feels great! My scalp's felt a bit greasy when I don't give it a good scrub, but my hair is lovely and soft and much curlier with no frizz! I can also tame it easily if it gets fluffy by wetting it a bit. I tend to wash it every other day and even second-day hair is good too!
I have just been using gel, but am going to try adding some curling creme too as my only complaint is a bit of fluffiness, which hopefully the addition of another product will fix.
Am so happy with this method though!

Okay, you've all convinced me!

Fully stocked up with the Superdrug coconut and almond, and just done my final shampoo with Aussie miracle moist. I have plopped with an old t-shirt, and am waiting to be amazed...

i started doing this 3 days ago

my hair is wavy rather than curly but quite dry/frizzy too so I always have to straighten it - am sick of it, is getting drier and drier too

anyway, started Sunday night with last wash and have done two conditioner washes since

using boots pink creme emulsified and sometimes diluted drop of umberto gianni flirty curls gel (is that the right one?)

my hair is lovely and soft and far less frizzy (used to need SO much frizz ease serum it wasn't funny) but is a bit floppy - I was sort of hoping it would mutate into loads of bouncy curls, there are one or two, but mostly lots of odd bits going in different directions

is still quite short (growing out short bob) so maybe that has something to do with it - or maybe it needs a bit of layering to separate it out a bit? not sure, any ideas welcome

anyway, wanted to post here to get it in my threads and to say THANKS too

ps - what about home hair colouring? I am getting quite a bit of grey which I can't be doing with just yet

is it ok to use stuff like castings or whatever?

or is henna the way to go? remembers teenage years in bathroom smelling of cow-dung [pinched nose emoticon]

Im going to have a go at this. I cant actually remember how curly my hair is as since the invention of straightners its been treated very badly. Its fairly wavy though and is past my shoulders, though im fairly sure its straightish on top and ringlets on the bottom!!!. So Im going to get some of the recommended conditioners and UG scrunching jelly and give it a try tonight. I all ready use aussie miracle moist so got that part sorted

I started using this method about 8 weeks ago after reading this thread. Before using this method I had frizzy ringlets, now I have shiny ringlets without the frizz. The only way to describe it, is that everyday is a good hair day.

I use Original Source White Pear and Avocado for washing & OS Peppermint and Teatree oil for conditioning, followed by Boots pink curl creme, if I feel that my hair needs a thorough wash I use the Aussie miracle moist shampoo, followed by the OS conditioner.

I must admit that last week I reverted back to using one of my old hair mousses which wasn't curlygirl compliant, and my hair went back to being frizzy, but I've learnt my lesson and am back to good hair days.

The only problem I have now, is what to do with the drawer full of non curlygirl compliant stuff.

bin them! Binned all my Frizz-Eze products last week and it felt SOOOO good!

I bought Aveda be curly today the curl enhancer and the curl control - thought I had read on here about it being great for curly girls. Cost a fortune and now I re-read the ingredients I see that the curl enhancer has something called phenyl trimethicone in it - apparantly it is from natural source (silica) but I fear it May Not Be Acceptable - anyone know? the other one, the curl control looks ok but does contain ployquat - 4 - should this worry me?

am thinking I need to do modified CG anyway, I'm wavy rather than curly and my scalp is getting a real build up (flakes etc - ummm, yumm) from a week of this. I am also having to cowash every day as the hair is SO dry next day from the products I guess (have been using boots pink creme and UG flirty curls gel - but prefer the UG so may just stick to that)

anyone know what the mods for wavy hair are? I did buy some no SLS shampoo today thinking maybe I need to use once a week or so - is that about it?

Am loving having curls and waves though, after years of straightening and years before that of hiding in ponytails etc. Met my hairdresser out at a gig on sat night - have been trying without success to get appointment with him for a couple of weeks - and his reaction to the hair was "wow you don't need to come to me at all" - most reassuring! I do need to go though, I resorted to trimmming the back of my hair in teh loo at work today with a nailscissors! it needs a tidy and a bit of layering to bring the curls out better. Anyone any tips on that? (have never had cut to emphasis the wave before, always trying to minimise in past)

thanks

also wanted to bump kdk's question from earlier in the thread which I didn't see an answer to - anyone found a no cone spray on shine or glosser? my hair is nice and wavy/curly but no real gloss to it...

I find that using the clear gel while the hair is still wet seems to seal the gloss in- are you not finding this?

I still haven't had mine trimmed yet- I have no idea where to go, and I'm a bit nervous. I'm also thinking about getting some highlights, and I don't know how that will affect things...

In case anyone is getting tired of Original Source products other cone free products available in boots are the naked range. The naked rescur Shea butter and olive and the naked mppth jojoba oil conditioners are both yum and the former especially makes my hair really soft and curly. In healthfood shops I hvae discovered faith in nature's lavender and geranium conditioner which smells amazing. This is runnier than the Naked conditioners and nice for using as a styling product and a co-wash rather than as conditioning so you can detangle.

I also bought Avalon Lavender Shampoo for the occasional lo-sulphate wash it has cocamidopropyl betaine than Sodium Laurate Sulphate whcih is recommended in the curly girl book for if you want to shampoo. I find this good if I go swimming and sometimes the chlorine and products gunk up my hair

BoF what products are you using?

I tried using the OS conditioners, with the curl creme, but my head was getting itchy. My hair's more way than curly atm, so I don't know how much difference that makes.

Anyone tried Dr. Organics conditioners?

I'm using the Original Source teatree and mint conditioner to wash with, then adding a hemp conditioner from the health food shop which is a bit richer as a leave-in (a small amount, obv). Then I work in a tiny bit of curl creme, and a ten-pence sized blob of clear gel, again a health food shop one free of nasties. Plop for ten minutes and then leave to air dry or scrunch dry with a diffuser on a low heat and speed.

I did go through a phase of my scalp feeling itchy, but just made sure I was giving my scalp a good scrub and it seems to have passed now.

I like to hear what people are using when it's working properly, not just those who've not had success.

I think my hair'll be better when I've got the ends trimmed off, it's a bit ratty atm.
I'm going to do the MN ponytail cut I think.

Be evry very careful- it can give you nastily short layers, which you do NOT want as a curly...Can you not just snip at it dry so you can tell what you are cutting?

I used to do it myself when it was shorter, but I'm a bit nervous of now it's longer. I'll prob just give it a go. Grab a section, twist and snip, was the method I used to do.

Hi, haven't posted on this thread before but have been following it and have been trying the methods for a couple of weeks, with limited success, it doesn't look massively better TBH (I am wavy not curly).

However, I have been using Dr Organics Vit E shampoo and conditioner for the last 2-3 weeks, and there is one quite remarkable change. I have always had to wash my hair every day for it to feel really clean, whether or not I used styling products. For the last six months I have presisted with washing every other day, and after about 3 months my hair adjusted to that quite well, but still a bit off on day 2.

With Dr O, I am only having to wash every 4th day, and it actually looks just as good whether it is day 1 or day 4, even with using a bit of curl creme and gel most days.

So, a big thumbs up to Dr Organics from me

i have never had so many compliments on my hair IN MY LIFE! my dds laughed yesterday when yet another friend said "wow, yourhair looks fantastic" and they said (the dds) "oooh mummy, everyones says that - you are famous - well, your hair is" made me laugh so much

mine is wavy too, though getting more and more curly at the front as the days go by. I LOVE it.

I am doing the co washing mostly - using OS tea tree and the lovely almond butter (I think it is ) one. I also got some culpepper aloe vera shampoo which also has the cocamidopropyl betaine in - I have washed once with this so far about 10 days ago and will probably do so again tomorrow. It sorted out the itches and the sort of matting I was getting (nice!)

the Aveda curl controller has been a revelation. I use it a couple of times a day, just a fingernail sized bit and plump it through all the hair - it boings up the waves and stops them flattening down. I love it. I brough the becurly enhancer back to shop for refund though as it had trimethicone in.

I also use the UG flirty curls gel every morning to scrunch and either leave to air dry or the last couple of nasty mornings used the diffuser that I bought about a million years ago and never used - it does a good job.

my hair was in a sort of bowl cut with a fringe before (I ued to straigten it and it looked very sharp) - since I've let the curls out I've sort of hacked the back and sides up a bit, I was hoping some more curls might spring in as a result but they haven't. However i do like the shape, it's quite fresh and fun on me I think...I wear a big slide on one side to pull my old fringe up to the side which looks nice (although exposes wrinkly forhead - yikes!)

how about colouring hair? I'll need to do that soon...

if anyone is still around on this to answer a question .... this is for my mum who has really frizzy, wavy hair, but wants it straight. At the moment she washes and conditions and then blow dries and tries to straighten it by using a brush to pull the waves straight iyswim. it does end up looking really dry though and mostly still a bit frizzy. If she does this method to get rid of the frizz and get her hair in better condition, how can she get body into her hair and the waves out without blowdrying and using a brush or is the whole point of this to highlight curls rather than get rid of them.

whole point is to embrace the curls I'm afraid - why not get your mum to try it? I spent 20 years fighting my hair only to go curly and get more compliments on it in two weeks than in those 20 years

i think i will try to talk her into it. It's about time she gave up the fight! Might get her all the stuff for Christmas and while we're staying with them i can make sure she gives it a go. is it pretty much instantly lovely or will i have to keep nagging until she sees the results? getting quite excited (pathetically.) the only thing is she might have to have a restyle, but no bad thing.