Intrigued by the thought of embracing your natural curls but not sure where to start? Let us help you get a kick start at this!
What is the Curly Girl Method?
The Curly Girl Method (CGM) originated from the book, The Curly Girl Handbook by American curl expert Lorraine Massey. This pretty much has begun a revolution, with people encouraged to accept and embrace their natural hair and finding ways to care and style for their hair.
Beginning our embracing happens with acknowledging that we need to treat curls differently to straighter hair types, by being more conscious of the ingredients in your products and the techniques we use.
While textured hair can be unpredictable, following CGM can help you achieve more consistent results.
To begin with ‘CGM’ you don't have to have tight cork-screws or bouncy ringlets even if you have loose waves.
How do you follow the Curly Girl Method?
Avoid shampoo
As crazy as it sounds,
Shampoo strips your hair of its natural oils, But when you have drier hair, you need those natural oils.
This doesn't mean you should get rid of cleaning your hair altogether, it just means finding products that don't contain ‘sulphates’ - which are known for stripping the hair - and other harsh chemicals.
Remove silicones from your routine.
Silicones are ingredients commonly found in conditioners, hairsprays, heat protectants and many other hair products. They're used to help give hair that glossy shine we all crave, but they're not necessarily the best thing for curls.
Silicone is like a plastic that coats the hair,So at first when you use silicone, you get a wonderful coating that smooths out frizz. But over time, that plastic doesn’t come off so your hair becomes even drier because the water can’t get in.
Style and scrunch
If you want to make your curls pop, the products you use after you wash your hair are really important.
start with a leave-in conditioner, which helps the water to seep into the hair. Then use a curl cream and a gel.Learn and include or remove products as you go deeper into learning about what your hair accepts and doesn’t and ofcourse considering other factors such as the weather.
We recommend running a pesky ingredient that catches your eye on a site such as Curlsbot, where you can copy and paste ingredient lists to help you decipher which ingredients might damage your hair.
We suggest applying cream before gel and scrunching your hair in an upward motion - you should hear it squish, and you should start seeing curl patterns form even while wet. If you put too much gel in and it feels crunchy, don't worry - this is called a 'cast' and you can scrunch this out, using some water, once your hair dries.
Deep conditioning
As curls are drier, they need extra hydration, so we recommend using a mask or deep conditioner on your hair every now and again. How often you choose to do it will depend on your hair needs.
However, it is possible to over-moisturise your hair!
If you feel like your hair is almost too-soft and the curls are going limp, you can try a mask that contains protein, or a rice water rinse.
Dry carefully
If you always dry your hair with a terry towel, you might want to think again. The friction from using towels can cause extra frizz in curly hair. Of course, there's nothing wrong with frizz if that's what you like, While microfibretowels are a gentler alternative.
However most microfiber towels are more of cleaning tools, and still not ideal as they absorb a lot of water very quickly - and again, the name of the game is to retain as much water as possible.
The Curly Missy™ Signature Towel Wrap in OxyWick fibers known for its unique Moisture wicking properties which give you the most gentle and super fast drying experience.
The unique weave of these Polyester ~Bamboo fibers is one of a kind which Encourages the pattern of kinks, coils, curls and waves to form taking away only the right amount of moisture from our hair.
We also recommend using a good quality diffuser attachment for your dryer. Use settings between hot and cold to eliminate damage to your hair.
Gentle knot-removing
The Curly Girl Handbook advises against any brushing at all, suggesting you should use your fingers to brush through your curls while wet with conditioner, so as not to damage your curl pattern.
Sleeping on silk
Always wake up with matted, knotted hair? You're not alone. But according to CGM, this can be easily solved by using a silk or satin pillowcase or hair bonnet.
The silk is much kinder and far less abrasive to curls, and You’ll even noticed a difference to your skin when You use a pillowcase
Ae also recommends sleeping with your hair in a 'pineapple' - a loose bun - using a satin scrunchie so as not to dent your curls.
Refreshing
What happen now? What happens on Day 2 of your washed hair??
It makes sense that your curls might not always be in the best state when you wake up, but instead of reaching for your straighteners, you can put some product in to refresh them. Spray your hair with water and use a bit of leave-in conditioner, or any other curl creams or CGM-approved sprays. Just make sure you add water!
Remember, you don't have to follow CGM to the letter Or go by our guide or blindly follow someone else’s hair care routine. everyone's hair is different - in fact, every curl on a single head is different! - so it's important to find what works for you. But using CGM as a spring-board can be a great place to start.
EMail us on info@curlymissy.com or Dm on Instagram (curly.missy) for all your Curl Queries!! We’ll be with you in lightening speed.