What the Curly Girl Method Is and Why People With Straight Hair Use It

Many people dream about beautiful curls or nice wavy hair. But not all of us would guess that there might be curly hair hiding behind seemingly straight hair — all you need to do is change your approach to washing your hair. Moreover, even people with curly manes can give their unruly curls a groomed look and a healthy shine if they use the Curly Girl Method.

5-Minute Crafts wants to explain what this method is all about and how it can transform almost any hair.

What the Curly Girl Method is all about

The Curly Girl Method is a special method of hair care that was developed for naturally curly hair and that helps bring back hair’s natural beauty. Thanks to this method, thick curls become tamer and take on a more groomed look, while hair that is not pin-straight looks wavier, like the way it’s shown in the picture above.

The goal of this method is to find gentle hair care, minimize possible damage to the hair cuticle, moisturize it, and emphasize the natural curl.

What the specialties of the Curly Girl Method are

• It’s recommended to wash hair according to the “co-washing” technique, using conditioner or balm. Or to use shampoo without sulfates in its composition.
• Hair should be dried with a diffuser nozzle and you should avoid using any combs or brushes.
• Carry out the procedure of deep hair moisturizing with the help of special masks once a week. In this case, it is better to put special thermal caps on the hair, which allow the product to penetrate deeper into the hair.
• Hair should be styled in a special way with the help of styling products.
• You need to ditch using hair products that contain silicone.
• It’s recommended to cut hair when it’s dry using special techniques.

Important note: The result of using the Curly Girl Method is visible after the first hair wash and styling. But the full transformation won’t happen until after about 6 weeks.

How to wash and style hair

Step #1. Get your hair ready. Before shifting to the Curly Girl Method you need to remove the leftovers of used products from your hair. To do this, you can use a shampoo that has sulfates in its composition. It will remove all the dirt from your scalp and hair.

In the future, if you shift to the Curly Girl Method completely, this step can be skipped.

Step #2. Wash your hair. Apply a hair conditioner or a sulfate-free shampoo to the scalp at the roots of the hair, and massage gently for a minute. You can use a special head massage brush with soft bristles for this. Then rinse with water — the foam that forms as a result of this will wash the hair along its entire length.

Step #3. Untangle your hair with the help of a conditioner. Tilt your head forward so that your hair is in front of you, and apply a small amount of conditioner, which doesn’t contain silicone, to your hair. You can gently compress your hair to evenly apply the product.

Rinse the conditioner with water without washing your hair thoroughly — let a small amount of it stay on your hair after rinsing. At this stage, you can apply a product for extra care like hair-growth or hair-restoring conditioner.

Step #4. Enhance the structure of your hair. Now you can apply the product that will enhance the shape of your curls to your clean hair. It can be a hair gel or other natural styling product for curly hair. When applying the product, squeeze the strands in your hands as if you are slightly lifting them from the bottom up.

Step #5. Wrap your hair with a towel or an old T-shirt. Tilt your head down and wrap the towel around the base of your head, as shown in the picture above. Don’t use terrycloth towels, use an old cotton T-shirt instead. Leave it on for a while.

Step #6. Dry your hair. Remove the towel or the T-shirt from your hair. Let your hair dry naturally or use a blow dryer with a diffuser nozzle using the gentle or no heat mode.

Wash and style your hair this way regularly to gradually improve the end result. Each time, naturally curly hair will take on a more and more groomed look.

How often to wash hair using this method

Everything depends on the texture of your hair. It’s enough to wash curly hair once every 7-10 days. If you have dense curls, try to wash them more seldom. In between the washing days, you can occasionally rinse it with water and move straight to steps 3, 4, 5, and 6.

What ingredients should not be present in the composition of hair products when using this method

• Sulfates wash away the dirt from the scalp but do it too aggressively, damaging the hair, making it brittle and dull, and leaving the scalp dry.
• Silicone is added to products in order to give hair softness and shine. At the same time, silicone is poorly soluble in water, so you can only get rid of it by washing your hair with shampoo that contains sulfates. If you use products that contain silicone and use the Curly Girl Method, your hair will look greasy.
• Wax and minerals can be washed away from the hair only by using shampoos with sulfates.
• Alcohol can damage the hair, making it dry. Most often, it is added to hairsprays and dry shampoos. By the way, not all types of alcohol are harmful — for example, sugar alcohol can even be good for hair.

Is it OK to comb the hair?

The Curly Girl Method is based on refraining from using regular combs and hair brushes. But at the same time, if you wash, moisturize, and style your hair following the recommendations above, you won’t need to use these accessories.