Are you one of those girls who had the most voluminous and bouncy curls growing up, only to lose the luscious locks due to all the colour treatment? Or had silky straight hair which has lost its shine and smoothness due to the frequent use of hot hair styling tools?

Well, you’re not alone. Many of us have experienced the loss and can't help but mourn the beautiful hair we were born with. And we really have no one to blame other than our own ill-informed choices. Harsh chemicals, products and frequent heat styling can make any hair become dull, dry and brittle. They become more prone to breaking, frizzy, unruly and almost impossible to tame. 

But all is not lost. You can still transform your hair, bringing back the lost shine, strength and beauty using the Curly Girl method. It’s not just for curly hair, or girls with curly hair for that matter. It can work wonders for all hair types, and for both men and women, but is the ideal hair care routine for textured hair, coils, waves or curls.

The Curly Girl Method, also known as CG Method is a complete guide to achieve all your hair goals. You can almost immediately see the results after your first day of the routine. By cutting out all the harmful products from your hair care routine you can bring back the big, bouncy and voluminous locks in no time.

Are you interested in starting the curly girl routine? Read on to find out how.

What is the Curly Girl Method?

The curly girl method is an all-natural method to enhance the natural curl pattern. You might think that you don't even have any curls or waves in your hair and it just seems limp and flat with no texture but trust me when I say that your beautiful and luscious curls are hidden somewhere underneath all that frizz. 

It was developed by a well-known hair stylist, Lorraine Massey, who wrote an entire book dedicated to it known as Curly Girl: The Handbook. This book is a detailed guidebook, emphasising the need to replace harmful products containing sulphates, silicones and parabens, that derive the hair of nutrients and moisture, with nourishing products that help you get back healthy and bouncy curls. It also highlights harmful habits that cause hair damage such as the use of harsh chemical treatments and heat treatment. 

With specific products and styling techniques, this method has evolved over these years to suit different hair types and curls. However, as each hair type, curl, and lifestyle is different, the curly girl guidelines can be tweaked accordingly, but the basics of it largely remain the same. Don't be scared to experiment and make a few mistakes before you finally discover what works best for you! 

Tips to Remember Before Starting a Curly Girl Routine

The "No Rule"

When starting the curly girl method, get ready to hear a lot of Nos. Few of which are:

• No washing your hair with shampoo.
• No brushing your hair.
• No heat styling tools.
• No alcohol.
• No towel drying your hair.
• No products with silicones, sulfates, waxes, or anything that's overly stripping or forms a fake protective layer on your hair.

Now hold on! These tips can get quite overwhelming but you just have to trust the process and wait to get surprised by the results.

Choosing the Right Products

The entire curly girl routine is based on the right products and techniques for your hair. While choosing the right products for your hair, its elasticity and texture should always be kept in consideration.

Give any product a 3-4 week time period to show what it can do for you and if the results aren't satisfactory then change the product accordingly.

Take Notes

Keeping notes of a few small details like when your wash day is and which curling technique suits you best will definitely make things easier. You can also take pictures of your hair every week to see the difference and decide for yourself if this routine is worth it or not. We can bet it will be the former.

How to Do The Curly Girl Method for Beginners

Step1: Final Wash

Also known as the reset wash, it is exactly what it sounds like. Using a sulfate shampoo, making sure it has no silicones, for one last time, you remove all the dirt, silicones, and waxes that have been building up in your hair for a long time without you even noticing. Since build up is natural, you might have to do this every 3 months or so just to get rid of any hidden dirt or oil in your hair.

Don't forget to detangle your hair before washing it. In fact, detangling your hair, while in the shower, with a generous amount of conditioner in your hair is recommended by the CG method. Use a wide tooth comb or even your fingers can do the trick! 

Detanglers, hair products that are made to make your hair easier to tangle by giving them more slip, can be life savers. For example, you could check out the Leovard Oil Fusion, containing a blend of many different oils including castor oil, if you have coily hair.

Step2: Co-Wash

After your final wash, now you're going to use a conditioner as your new shampoo. We know it sounds crazy but bear with us. 

Start by wetting your hair and use a curly girl-friendly conditioner as a shampoo, gently rub it on your scalp, and then rinse it off with water. Afterwards, use the same conditioner on the rest of your hair to moisturize and rehydrate it. 

Note: Once a week, don't forget to deep condition your hair, for at least twenty minutes, using a CG friendly hair mask or deep conditioner to restore dry and damaged hair. Curls are drier than straight hair, hence they require more deep conditioning to look healthy and shiny.

Step3: Scrunch

Now it's time to scrunch up your hair. While your head is upside down, scrunch your hair up to the scalp and let it fall back gently. When you notice a few curls start forming, rinse off your conditioner while scrunching your hair until most of your conditioner is out. How much conditioner did you ask? This is a fair question of trying and testing and making your own decisions.

Step4: Style

Scrunch, scratch and scrunch. And then some more. 

After coming out of the shower, use a cotton t-shirt and scrunch your hair with it for 5 minutes. Then wrap that t-shirt around your head like a permanent scrunch for 10 minutes. This process is called plopping. Now open the t-shirt to see the beautiful curls that you never thought you had. 

Now, use a bit of mousse and start scrunching it into your hair. The more you scrunch the better your hair will curl. Now plop your hair for about an hour or overnight. You can also diffuse your hair at this point if you want it to be as quick as possible.

And voila! You just got down with your first ever curly girl routine.

Take Away

Even if you don't notice, the way you do your hair shows a lot about your personality and spirit. Your curls not only define you but also crown you, just like the Queen you are. So taking care of them should be a priority.

With the curly girl method, your hair will transform unlike ever before. However, it's important to understand that it requires time, patience and lots of trials to get it right. So don't be disheartened if you don't see immediate results, although we can promise less frizzy hair right away. But aren't all good things worth waiting and striving for?

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