The Curly Girl Method was developed by Lorraine Massey in 2001. It is based off of a book she published that year, The Curly Girl Handbook 2001 as well as an updated book she published, Curly Girl Handbook 2010.
Both books focus on avoiding certain ingredients, heat tools, chemical procedures, and brushes. They also go into detail about how to wash and style hair, depending on the type of curl someone has and has photos of each of these types to help people identify their own. And there’s a section explaining how to trim your own hair.
Around 2017 Curly Girl Facebook groups began to become popular. A few of the first were “Curly Girls! – Conditioner-Washing Group For Women” (a women only group) and “The Curly Crew! – Curly Girl Method Support Group For All” (both women and men). These groups were about using principals of these books, but admins also added additional helpful ways to help people get started, such as helpful info graphics and albums with Curly Girl approved products by country. These groups also added their own little spin on this method that I’ll explain in more details in future posts.
I actually first learned everything from these Facebook groups, and later read the books because I was curious about any differences between what the books conveyed verse what these Facebook groups were saying. To be honest, I’m really glad I found these Facebook groups before the books because if I read the books first, I probably would have never even started. I will go into more detail about this as well in future posts.
To read my story about how I first learned about the CG method, Click Here
One of the main points of this method is that curly hair requires extra moisture. Most shampoos contain cleansers (sulfates)that are very harsh on not only curly hair, but all hair. Sulfates in shampoos are meant to cleanse the hair from oils, dirt & residue. But these sulfates are also stripping away all the natural oils essential for curly hair to stay moisturized. These same sulfates that are in shampoos are also found in fish soap. You wouldn’t want to wash your hair with dish soap, right?
Some common sulfates are:
- Sodium Lauryl Sulfate
- Sodium Laureth Sulfate
- Sodium Lauryl Sulfoacetate
- Sodium Olefin Sulfonate
- Sodium Myreth Sulfate
- Sodium Coco Sulfate
- Sodium Carboxylate
- Sodium Polystyrene Sulfonate
- Sodium Xylenesufonate
- Sodium Lauryl Ether Sulfate
- Olefin Sulfonate
- Ethyl Peg-15 Cocamine Sulfate
- Ammonium Lauryl Sulfate
- Ammonium Laureth Sulfate
- Ammonium Xylenesufonate
- Alkyl Benzene Sulfate
- Alkylbenzene Sulfonates
- Diocytl Sodium Sulfosuccinate
- TEA-Dodecylbenzenesulfonate
*Note: Depending on which CG FB group you’re in, they will have different guidelines about what ingredients they classify as sulfates and what ingredients they classify as “clarifying shampoos” depending on how strict the group is. I will make a post about this more in detail in the future. But this list for those of you who choose to follow more strictly, and that’s actually what I suggest doing when you’re brand new. I will also go further into this in a later post.
So instead of shampoo, Lorraine Massey recommends cowashing. Cowashing simply means using a Curly Girl safe conditioner aka cowashing instead of a shampoo to wash your hair. Wait, can conditioners really clean hair? How can that be? Aren’t they only meant for conditioning? Conditioners can clean the hair! Here’s why….Conditioners don’t have cleaning ingredients that are as strong/harsh as a shampoo, but they still have cleansers in them! Since the cleansers are more mild, you just need the extra scrub time, (5 full minutes) to sufficiently and thoroughly clean the scalp and roots. The biggest benefit of cowashing is that it will clean your hair, without removing its natural oils.
To see a tutorial of how I cowash my hair, Click Here
To see more benefits of cowashing, Click Here
Another big ingredient you’ll want to avoid to follow Curly Girl is silicones. Silicones coat the hair, like a fake plastic coating, & make it look smoother & shinier. However, they are actually sealing the hair & preventing water from getting in. And we already went over that curly hair needs all the moisture(water) it can get. What happens over time is that, silicones will start weighing down the hair and will make it look dull. Since water is blocked from getting in, you will start getting buildup and products will just sit on your hair. Since both water and conditioner can’t get in to moisturize the hair, it will eventually get very dry and frizzy, and can actually lead to breakage.
Some common silicones are:
- Dimethicone
- Amodimethicone
- Cetyl Dimethicone
- Behenoxy Dimethicone
- Stearyl Dimethicone
- Stearoxy Dimethicone
- Bisaminopropyl Dimethicone
- Phenyl Trimethicone
- Cetearyrl Methicone
- Trimethylsilylamodimethicone
- Dimethiconol
- Cyclo………Cone
- Cylco………Xane
Another ingredient to avoid is drying alcohols. Think isopropyl alcohol, the kind of alcohol that’s used when your cleaning personal hygiene items bc it’s strong enough to wipe all the bacteria. Would you wanna put such a harsh alcohol in your hair? But this is actually in a lot of hair products out there. These drying alcohols are considered unsafe because they are simply much too drying for curly hair. There are however alcohols (not listed here) that are considered moisturizing and are Curly Girl safe which I will post about in the future.
Some common examples of drying alcohols are:
- Isopropyl Alcohol
- Denatured Alcohol
- Propyl Alcohol
- SD Alcohol
- SD 40 Alcohol
- Witch Hazel
- Propanol
- Isopropanol
- Ethanol
- Ethyl Alcohol
- Alcohol
*Note: This is another area where different FB groups will have diff guidelines. I’ll add more details in a future post. But again, these are the ones to avoid if you’re following more strictly.
Similar to silicones, these ingredients will also build up on your hair over time.
Some common waxes are:
- Mineral Oil
- Lanolin Oil
- Lanolin
- Petroleum
- Bees wax/Cera Alba
- Soy Wax
- Flower Wax
- Candelilla Wax
- Paraffin
- Isoparaffin
- Paraffinum Liquidum
*Note: This is another area where different FB groups will have diff guidelines. I’ll add more details in a future post. But again, these are the ones to avoid if you’re following more strictly.
To see my favorite products, Click Here
I have more products I like in my Amazon store. And there I have them all divided between having protein and not having protein. Click here to connect to my Amazon store.
As I mentioned in the beginning, also direct heat tools, chemical procedures, and brushes should be avoided as stated in the book.
Diffusers aren’t considered direct heat, so those are safe on low heat. Flat irons and curling wands are direct heat and have the ability to damage the hair over time, especially if used too often. This however is an area where you can decide for yourself if you want to completely avoid direct heat, or if you want to use it occasionally. If you do use direct heat, be sure to use a heat protectant spray.
These are a few CG safe options: GIOVANNI Vitapro Fusion, 5.1 oz. Protective Moisture Leave-in Hair Treatment , Not Your Mother’s Passion Fruit Kombucha & Awapuhi Ginger Youth Revival Leave-In Tonic
There is a very large number of curly girls that still use both hair color and even bleach for personal preferences and are still able to get beautiful results.
To read about my recommendations for after color care, click here: (coming soon)
Brushes is another thing that will ultimately be personal choice. Those who follow really strict only detangle with a wide tooth comb or their fingers. Modified curly girls may use wet brushes or flexi brushes for detangling, and denman brushes for styling. One thing that’s very clear in both the books and most CG FB groups is to only detangle hair when it’s soaked with conditioner and water in the shower. Dry brushing will cause the most damage.
Chemical procedures such as Brazilian blowouts and any other means of putting chemicals on the hair marketed to straighten it or reduce frizz are very damaging and should be avoided.
If you’re ready to start the Curly Girl Method, Click Here.
If you’d like a one on one Curly Consultation with me before you start or to help you if you’re feeling overwhelmed, Click Here for more details