What exactly is the Curly Girl method?

The basis of the curly girl method is to avoid sulfates and silicones. Sulfates are found in most of the shampoos being sold. They clean your hair to a point where it strips your hair and leaves your hair dry and dull. Silicones which are found in conditioners, serums, mousses and gels coat the hair giving it an appearance of smoothness. Silicones would be fine except most are not water soluble, not allowing your conditioner to seep into your hair unless you use a sulfate-based shampoo that will dry your hair out to remove the silicones from your hair.

So what is the curly girl method solution? NEVER EVER USE SHAMPOO AGAIN! Instead you will wash your hair with conditioner. I have a hard time with this which is why I do a modified version of the curly girl method.

Here's my version of the curly girl (cg) method:

1. Wash hair with a clarifying shampoo. I used Suave Daily Clarifying shampoo. Very cheap, sometimes you can even find it at the Dollar Store. This should only be done once. It's basically how you start the curly girl method. Using a clarifying shampoo, which does include sulfates, removes your hair of buildup and silicones.

From now on, this first step will be replaced with either a conditioner wash (cowash) or a low poo wash (shampoo that does not contain sulfates) everytime you wash your hair. For my cowash, I use Suave Naturals conditioner in Ocean Breeze. To cowash, just apply conditioner to your scalp, massage your scalp then rinse out. For the days you want to do a low poo wash, just wash your hair like you normally would with shampoo. I use Avalon Organics Nourishing Shampoo in Lavender. I cowash most days. I wash with a low poo when I feel like my hair is overconditioned and getting weighed down.




2. After either cowashing or washing with a low poo, I apply conditioner. The conditioner for the cowash is usually a cheaper conditioner since it will be rinsed out soon after applying. The conditioner applied after cowashing is more richer and moisturizing. I prefer Giovanni 50/50 balance conditioner.







I apply the conditioner to all my hair and then comb it with a Jilbere
wide-tooth comb. I purchased my Jilbere comb from Sally Beauty Supply. It even has a handy hook for the shower. I leave the conditioner in my hair until the end of my shower. I rinse it out until my hair feels smooth.




3. After finishing my shower I do not try to remove excess water from my hair at all, not even squeezing out the water or using a towel to remove the water. I then put on a bath robe because I don't like my wet hair touching my back. I put in my Giovanni Direct Leave-in conditioner. (The one that took me forever to find the other night.) I use about a quarter size of conditioner for each side of my head, scrunching my hair as I apply the conditioner. My hair is still dripping wet at this point. I work the conditioner through my hair until I have covered all my hair with conditioner. Be sure not to overcondition. I then do the same thing with gel. I prefer Herbal Essences Set Me up gel. Usually during this process, I have to get a paper towel and wipe my hands because of all the water and conditioner getting all over them.


4. After I have applied my leave-in and gel, I then plop my hair. You can find videos and tutorials online about plopping. Plopping is a way of letting your hair dry while it is up on top of your head, using a big t-shirt, towel or turban. They say microfiber material is the best. I ended up getting two Turbie-twists on sale for $10.00 at Bed, Bath & Beyond. Along with my 20% off coupon from the mail, it was pretty cheap. Especially considering there was 1 microfiber turban for $20. Maybe I'll upgrade to a microfiber turban one day, but my Turbie-twists are working just fine for now. I'll try to upload a picture of the way I plop later.

I lay the turbie-twist on my bed. Bend over from the waist so that my hair is upside down. I put the back of the turbie-twist onto the back, bottom portion of my head. I tuck the rest of the hair onto the top of my head. Twist the turbie twist and secure. It's a lot harder to say it than to actually do it.

I plop from 10 minutes to about an hour and a half depending on how much time I have. See how happy she looks!

While my hair is plopping, I usually put on my makeup and decide what I'm going to wear.


5. When I'm done plopping, I remove the turbie-twist while I'm bent over from the waist again. I don't touch my hair except to move certain pieces that are doing crazy stuff, usually the front of my hair.


Don't be overwhelmed if you look like this when you remove the turbie-twist and you feel you would be a more suitable hair model for Soooulll Glllooo than the original Soul Glo models.




I think the combination of the heat from your head, water and products just makes your hair look very um..moisturized. At this point, I either let it air dry or use a diffuser attachment with my blowdryer. I've been diffusing my hair lately because of the cold weather.

Curly girl method sounds complicated but, once you get your own routine it's not. It takes longer to do the curly girl method but, less difficult than straightening my hair. Before when I used to straighten my hair, I'd end up sweating while I tried to blowdry and straighten my hair. The reason cg takes longer is because of waiting for the hair to dry.

Give it a try. You might like it. It may not work for your hair right away. Sometimes your hair will seem like it looks worse but stick with it. It seemed to work for me the first time I tried it. They say you shouldn't wash your hair everyday but, I have to because I usually go to the gym.

I have my boyfriend's work Christmas party to go to tonight. I'll try to take pictures of me fixing my hair and after.