The Curly Girl Method: In 3 Easy Steps

the curly girl method

When I decided to stop using heat and rocking my curls it was 2013. Freshman year at A&T so you can imagine why I did it. In my mind the less stress the better, however I had no idea going Natural would be as much work as it was. I went from product junkie to minimalist to long hair to “UGH Im SO over this I just want to cut it all off.”

Until I came across YouTube videos to explain this curly journey I decided to embark on. Then there was the Curly Girl Method that explained this in greater detail.

So What is The Curly Girl Method?

The Curly Girl Method is basically a hair care method that trades in damaging habits for healthier options in a minimalist way. Less is more in the Curly Girl world. As a Curly Girl you only need TWO products: Conditioner/Cowash and Gel.

The first step in being a Curly Girl is to do your research and figure out what NOT to use on curly hair.

Don’t Use the Following Products

• Heat Styling Tools
• Combs and Brushes
• Shampoo
• Sulfates
• Non-water soluble silicones
• Alcohol
• Fragrance

Now I know if you’ve read some labels you’re probably thinking theres alcohol in everything, or everything has a smell, however they’re are products that don’t you just have to do that research. Seeing that every curly girl is different you’d want to look up hair types and figure out textures so it can narrow this research down.

Step 1

Cleanse

Depending on your hair type you want to use a nice cowash or shampoo. For Wavy hair, shampoos are safe to use once a week and never shampoo without conditioning. For Curly hair, cowashes are your friend in between your washes, so once a week or every 10 days. And for my Coily/Kinky girls, you can cowash minimally and in between cowashing go straight to step 2 which involves conditioning. But don’t forget to wet your hair first!

Step 2

Condition

Smooth conditioner all over your hair. Then follow the appropriate directions:
Wavy – After rinsing it’s okay to leave some conditioner in your hair;
Curly – You can rinse or leave the conditioner in depending on how much moisture you need;
Coily/Kinky – If you have time when conditioning, wrap your hair and apply heat for 15 minutes for a moisture boost. Rinse completely to avoid a any conditioner staying in your hair.

Step 3

Dry and Style

Bend forward & blot dry by cupping curls in a towel – NEVER wring or disturb your curls. Then air-dry. If you’re in a hurry, use a diffuser. You can scrunch gel from ends toward the scalp, starting at the nape and working up, scrunch the top layer last. Clip the roots for lift.
Wavy – Encourage your curls to form with extra scrunching or by doing pin curls;
Curly – When hair is completely dry, bend forward and fluff from underneath to create lift. Don’t touch the top layer to avoid frizz;
Coily/Kinky – Just try to avoid heat.

So of course this does not mean you can only use these products however, other characteristics like porosity, density and width have a lot to do with the products you will be able to use. Note: you may have to use a sulphate conditioner once a month to prevent product build-up. Just know too if you buy a product and it doesn’t work you can return it (that’s what they don’t tell you).

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