two years of the curly girl method
I can’t believe I’ve had curly hair for two years now! I will never, ever go back. It’s so crazy for me to think about the first few months when I wanted to quit. I am so thankful I didn’t!
When I started my curly hair journey, I hoped I would have my dream hair in two years. Am I there yet? Not quite. I love it, but I want to grow it out even more. Give me a couple more years. :) My goal is big, long, curly hair! I’m Denise Huxtable on the way to Vanessa Hudgens. I haven’t cut it in a year and a half. As someone who has never had long hair and always wanted it, it’s weird to be entering that territory. It has started to get tangled more easily and takes a little longer to dry. But, it’s more than worth it to me!
If you’re new to the curly girl method, check out my other posts here, or read on to hear my top 10 things you need to know.
CURLY GIRL METHOD TOP 10
Curls need moisture! Frizz is just a curl that needs water. Water is your new best friend!
The most important pieces of the curly girl method are products and technique. I will outline my wash day routine below!
Figure out your hair porosity. You might be someone (like me) who needs to say goodbye to shampoo!
Get your hair dripping wet before you use styling products. This will seal in as much moisture as possible.
Use more styling product than you think you need. You hair won’t absorb more than it can handle!
Every wash day will be different. Experiment with new things! If you “mess up,” you get another chance tomorrow (or next week).
If you’re not happy with the general shape of your hair, get a hair cut by someone who is trained in cutting curly hair.
If you want to be able to go multiple days between washes, sleep on a satin pillowcase with your hair in a ponytail on the top of your head. In the morning, take out the ponytail and spritz with water.
Curly hair products don’t have to be expensive! I have been using the same products since day 1 and combined they cost about $12. Since I only use these products once a week, I don’t need to buy product very often!
You may want to quit in the beginning. I wanted to quit for several months! Keep going for at least three months. I am so glad I stuck with it.
MY CURRENT WASH ROUTINE
I wash my hair once a week. My routine has not changed in the past year, with the exception of adding step 7. I consider it one of my most important steps now!
Wet hair completely. My hair has low porosity, so it takes a while to get completely wet. I stand under the water for quite a while, letting it just soak in until it is fully saturated.
“Wash” hair with conditioner. Take a palm full (or three) of conditioner and massage it into your scalp with your fingertips (preferably not fingernails). I use a mixture of a massaging and squeezing motions for a few minutes until I can feel that my hair is “refreshed.” Rinse.
Condition. Flip your head upside down again and get your hair dripping wet. This is when I detangle with a wide tooth comb. Then I take a palm full (or two) of conditioner (I use the same Suave conditioner as in step 2) and this time focus on the ends of my hair by scrunching and squishing the conditioner up into my soaking wet hair. I turn my head side to side to make sure I’m covering all angles. I leave this in for a few minutes and finish up with the rest of my shower.
Rinse / leave in conditioner. When I’m ready to rinse out my hair, I flip my head upside down again and let a little bit of water fall over my hair while I use the same scrunching motion to rinse out a little bit of the conditioner, attempting to leave some in. You will start to get a feel for how much conditioner is left in your hair. Another way to do this step is to rinse your conditioner out completely and then add back in a tiny bit of conditioner.
Time for gel! While I’m still in the shower and my hair is dripping wet, I take a dollop of gel and scrunch it into my hair. The gel will obviously get “watered down,” but I feel like this helps trap some of the moisture in my strands.
Plop with a T-shirt. After I get out of the shower, I flip my head upside down and wrap my hair on top of my head with a T-shirt (which creates less frizz than a regular towel) for 5-10 minutes. You can also use a microfiber towel, but for me I find it removes too water from my hair.
Re-wet hair. This is a new step for me, but makes a world of difference. Even though I use a T-shirt to dry my hair and not a towel, my hair is often too dry to apply product immediately. So I flip my hair over my head and use a spray bottle to add water to my hair until it is dripping wet. My curls are so much more moisturized and I get more ringlets when I take the time to do this step!
Add more product. I take a palm-full of mousse, flip my hair over my head and coat it with mousse all over from my roots down, then scrunch up toward my scalp. Once I feel like I have touched every piece of hair, I do the same thing with another dollop of gel. Then I flip my head back right-side up and shake my hair around to part naturally. It’s important for me to do not do any brushing with a comb or my fingers at this step to get the volume I want at my roots.
Air dry. Do not touch your hair until it’s completely dry! This is my least favorite part of the entire process because I don’t love the look or feeling of wet hair. You can use a diffuser, but I don’t often want to spend the time so I just air dry (my hair takes about three hours to dry completely). I try to not touch my hair, but to help create root volume I will shake my head side to side to change which side of my head my part is on while it is still drying.
Scrunch out the crunch (SOTC). Once my hair is completely dry, it is stiff and crunchy. I would prefer soft curls, so this is when I scrunch out the crunch (a few different ways):
Just like you scrunched the gel in, take a T-shirt in your hands and use it to scrunch your hair to break up the gel cast. I have even done this with a paper towel when I’m in a pinch at work. You can do this with your hands as well, just remember that your skin has oils on it that might affect your final look.
Another way to soften your hair is to flip your head over and clap your hands with your hair in between your hands. Yes, it’s weird, but it works!
My third and final way to break up the gel cast is to use a scalp massager I purchased on Amazon to fluff my roots. I flip my head upside down and slide the massager into my hair near my roots and shake/fluff to create volume. Again, you can do this with your hands as well, just remember that your skin has oils on it that might affect your final look.
Let me know if you have any questions! I love helping curly girls (and boys!) embrace their curls!