How To Start The Curly Girl Method

Step 1) The Final Wash

Wash your hair with a shampoo that has sulfates, but no silicones. Make sure you rinse thoroughly. This will remove the non water soluble silicone buildup from your hair. Silicones are like a fake plastic coating around your hair, that don’t allow moisture to get in. The faster you remove them, the faster you will begin to see progress. After you’ve done the final wash, avoid all sulfate shampoos. If you skip the final wash, it will take considerably longer to see results. Silicones will eventually wear off, but can take months and prolong your transition time. After you’ve done the final wash and removed the silicones, your hair probably won’t look as “pretty” at first. But if you stick with it, you’ll start to see what your natual curls or waves can do!

Here are a few easy to find final wash shampoo under $15:

Note: The final wash wasn’t in the book, but was added in the online community(Facebook groups). As you learn more about the Curly Girl Method, you’ll notice more differences between the book, Facebook groups, and the curly community on Instagram. In the book, she doesn’t say to final wash. However the strictest FB CG groups say to do it just to get the silicones out faster. This is what I learned when I was new(in early 2017). It made sense to me then and it still makes sense to me now. It’s really only one more time using a sulfate shampoo, and I think it’s worth it to just have a fresh start. But you have to remember other things in the book aren’t followed word for word either. (She says to never use sulfates again, but many clarify with sulfate shampoos. I do not. She says no brushes at all, & definitely no dry brushing, but again, some people do both. She says to never use direct heat again…flat irons, curling wands, blow dryers… but some still straighten & blow out their hair. ) Ultimately you just have to decide for yourself how strict you want to follow. I always recommend beginners to start off strict, and modify if you want, but when you understand the fundamental principles. This website is made with the intention to simplify and explain the best I could. Since there are so many people following this method now, & the curly FB groups are also getting bigger & there’s more & more of them, the information is interpreted a little differently. The ones I always recommend are the stricter ones. Curly Girls! (Conditioner-Washing Group for Women) and The Curly Crew! (Curly Girl Method Support Group for All)

Step 2) Cowash

Choose a Curly Girl safe conditioner or a Curly Girl safe product marketed as a cowash to wash your hair. Make sure to scrub your scalp and roots for at least 5 full minutes. Conditioners don’t have cleaning ingredients that are as strong/harsh as a shampoos so that’s why you need the extra scrub time to clean the scalp & roots thoroughly.

Will washing with conditioner make your hair greasy?

At first your hair may be greasy if you just started CG because your hair goes through a transition period of getting used to milder cleansers and no silicones. Transition generally lasts about 3-4 months, shorter for some and longer for others. Once you’ve passed transition, as long as you’re scrubbing for at least the 5 full minutes, your hair shouldn’t be greasy anymore.

To help with greasy roots, you can try an ACV(Apple Cider Vinegar)Rinse. 1 tablespoon of water mixed with 8oz water. Click Here to see a tutorial of how I do it.

How do you cowash?

Wet your hair under the shower. Then apply conditioner all over your scalp & roots. Massage well with your finger tips in tiny circular motions for AT LEAST 5 MINUTES. Even though conditioner CAN clean the hair, you’ll need to scrub longer since the cleaning ingredients aren’t as strong .You don’t need to cowash the length. Anything that trickles down the hair is enough to clean it. Just make sure to rinse it all out.

Click Here to see a tutorial of how I cowash

Should you condition after?

When you cowash, you’re cleaning the hair. You’ll still want to follow with a conditioner on the length of your hair.

How often do you cowash?

As often as you like.

These are my favorite conditioners to use for cowash:

Step 3) Deep Condition

Deep conditioning adds moisture to your hair. You can either use the same conditioner you used to cowash and mix with a few drops of a Curly Girl safe oil. I just use my regular conditioner with no added oil. This is the one I use: Sally’s GVP Conditioning Balm. You can also buy a Curly Girl safe store bought deep conditioner. This one is my favorite: Not Your Mother’s Matcha Green Tea & Wild Apple Blossom Nutrient Rich Butter Masque . Apply the deep conditioner generously throughout the length of your hair. Then put it up and put a shower cap over it. For added heat, wrap a towel around the shower cap. Leave this on anywhere from 30 min to 2 hours. As you get to know your hair, you can personalize deep conditioning more to work for you. After this initial deep conditioning, you don’t have to deep condition every time you wash your hair. You can alternate between deep conditioning and just conditioning as you learn your hair’s needs.

When in your routine do you do it?

Here’s a few popular ways:

Wash, deep condish, style(I do this one)
Wet hair, deep condish, wash, style
Apply to dry hair, wash, style

Step 4) Detangle

You’ll want to start detangling while you still have all the conditioner lathered in your hair. This is when your hair will have the most slip. With conditioner still in your hair, run your head under the water for a second and squish water in. Repeat until hair starts feeling softer. Add more water or conditioner as needed. This is called Squish To Condish (STC). Start detangling at the ends of your hair, and slowly move up your length to your roots. The most gentle options would be either a wide tooth comb, I use either of these 2, or just your fingers. They will be the least pulling on your hair. Some modified curly girls choose to use a wet brush, which isnt technically CG approved, but it comes down again to how strict you choose to follow. The denman brush isn’t meant for detangling, it’s meant to help in the styling process.

To see a tutorial of how I STC and detangle, Click Here

A quick note about hair loss

Following CG method should not cause hair loss. It’s normal to loose some hair when detangling. Shedding 50-100 hairs a day is normal. It can look like more if you have longer hair. And if you’re going 3 or 4 days between washing, it will be that many times more hair. 3 days would be 150-300 hairs. As long as you’re being gentle, you should be fine. Detangling too roughly, getting frustrated with it, can cause hair loss as you would be ripping hairs out.

If you do notice sudden hair loss, I highly recommend talking to your doctor to rule out anything serious.

Step 5) Leave In Conditioner

Leave in conditioner will help keep your hair moisturized. Transition hair usually needs all the moisture it can get. You can either use a product marketed as a leave in conditioner or you can use some of your regular conditioner. You will eventually figure out which works better for you as well as how much or how little to use. Generally speaking, if you have longer or thicker hair, you will probably use more leave in than if you have shorter or thinner hair.

Do you have to use it?

Nope, you don’t. But most curly girls do. If they don’t, they probably use a cream instead.

My favorite leave in conditioners are Giovanni Smooth as Silk Direct Leave In Conditioner and Kinky-Curly Knot Today Leave In Conditioner

Step 6) Style

Choose a CG safe gel, cream, mousse, hairspray, or a combination of any of these, to help hold your curls. I recommend just choosing one of these to start with. Gel seems to be the most popular. You can either apply them to soaking wet hair right in the shower or to damp hair. There really is no right way to style . You just have to figure out what works for you through trial and error. When you’re new, it’s best to start simple and with a routine similar to your pre CG routine. Then, as you learn what your hair likes and doesn’t like, you can switch products around as you go along.

Here are some popular ways to style:

Raking- Rake stylers in using your fingers as claws, like a cat
Praying hands – Take both hands, facing palms inward towards each other and glide your stylers on your hair inbetween them
Scrunching – Take your hair in the palms of your hands and gently squish your hair up to your head
Finger coiling – Twirl small sections of your hair around one of your fingers

To see my styling routine, Click Here. You’ll see 3 different ones there, I do the first one 95% of the time.

Step 7) Dry

You can plop or microplop, or a combination of both. Plopping is way of using a cotton t shirt or microfiber towel to help form/set your curls. Microplopping is a way of using a microfiber towel or t shirt to gently squeeze/scrunch some water out of your hair. I don’t have any tutorials of these, but if you YouTube them, you’ll find them. Most people will plop/microplop before drying.

If you are new, there’s nothing wrong with air drying, especially if you’re just starting CG in the summer months. And some people prefer to just air dry all the time. If you do diffuse, use cool air. I belive even the warm air is still too hot. I’d recommend only using warm air only for short periods of time if you do. Heat from a diffuser is considered safe because its not direct heat like flat irons and curling wands.

My favorite diffusers are the Xtava Black Orchid and the DevaCurl DevaFuser

Step 8) Scrunch Out The Crunch (SOTC)

What is it?

It stands for Scrunch Out The Crunch. Once your hair is dry it may feel hard and crispy (a cast)

How do you do it?

You just start gently scrunching your hair. As you’re scrunching, the cast will break, leaving your hair feeling soft.

What do you use?

You can use your bare hands, a t shirt, or a satin or silk scarf. You can also use a CG approved oil and put a small amount on your hands.

How long do you scrunch?

Until the cast breaks and your hair is soft.

What if the cast doesn’t break?

You can try putting a little conditioner on your hands, rub them together, then scrunch. Or you can grab a dampened t shirt and scrunch. If you are having trouble breaking the cast, it could mean you might have used too much product or the product was too strong for your hair.

What if I don’t get a cast?

That’s perfectly normal. Not everyone does. You can still achieve defined waves and curls without one.

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After these initial steps, skip step 1 and start at step 2. For step 3, you can go back and forth every other wash with conditioning or deep conditioning as needed.

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If you would like a one on one Curly Consultation with me before you start, or if you are feeling overwhelmed, Click Here for more details.