Curly Girl Update

Many of you have asked me how to use the Curly Girl method on your own hair. At first I followed the "Curly Girl" rules to the letter. Now that I've been using the method for a while I have adapted it to fit my needs. I will happily share my method with anyone willing to listen.  You may have to adjust this advice to suit your own hair's needs.

Washing:
I have to shampoo about twice a week - usually Sunday and Wednesday.  Any other day I just use conditioner. This is because my hair is more wavy than curly and it isn't curly to the root.
I don't dread wash days anymore. I actually like them.
When using shampoo just use it on the roots, not the ends. After rinsing use conditioner like you normally would. On non-shampoo days use conditioner like you would shampoo. Rub it into your scalp with your finger tips (not your nails) detangle your hair with your fingers and rinse well.

Drying:
Immediately after turning off the shower bend at the waist so your hair hangs down. Scrunch the water out of your hair. Then rub a little gel between your hands and scrunch it into your hair. I use Garnier Fructis Brilliant Shine because that's what I happed to have, but they also have a curl shaping gel which works well.

Then scrunch with a t-shirt - DO NOT use a textured towel or you will break up your natural curl pattern. Then stand back up and let the water run from your scalp down your hair a while. After about five minutes, flip back over and scrunch again with a towel and scrunch mousse into your hair. I like TRESemme Flawless Curls.

 This sounds like a lot of product, and it does produce a bit of a stiff curl. If you prefer softer curls don’t use gel, just mousse. Here’s the hardest part: DON’T touch your hair till it’s completely dry. This will cause your hair to frizz. Frizz is curly hair’s biggest enemy.  

Detangling:
Only detangle in the shower while your hair is wet. Do not use a brush. Sometimes I still want straight hair so I use my brush when I plan to straighten my hair. 

If you are interested in trying out this method there are two ways to go about it.

1.      Cold turkey. This is how I did it. I stopped shampooing completely. I didn’t shampoo for three straight weeks. By the third week my hair was so greasy it needed a good shampooing.  Then I slowly introduced shampoo again until I found the frequency that worked for me – which is twice a week. You may never need it, but I do.

2.      Gradually. Slowly cut back on shampooing. If you shampoo twice a day, cut back to once. If you shampoo every day, go to ever other. If you are shampooing every other day cut it back to every third. You probably won’t like it at first, but put your hair up on your non-wash days and grin and bear it. Your hair will thank you for it.

I love this method. I don’t think I’ll ever go back… I mean, just check out these curls!