Trying out the Curly Girl Method

Every morning when I wake up, I sigh and look at myself in the mirror to face the frizzy mop of curls on my head. Every night I dread spending an hour dealing with my hair the next morning. My hair can be unpredictable; On a good day my curls are luscious and defined but on a bad day my hair is a tangled mess of frizz. On those bad hair days, I have to take on the challenge of taming the frizz by wrestling my locks into knotty braids or a messy bun (and not a effortless, pretty one you’d see on Instagram). When I found out about the “Curly Girl Method” it was like a glimmer of light at the end of a dark, dingy tunnel.

After researching the method, I found that I already knew the basics; Sulfate-free shampoo, scrunch up curls in a cotton t-shirt or microfibre towel, avoid using heat and use a low-heat diffuser to dry if you don’t have time to air dry. However, the CG (curly girl) method recommends using conditioner to wash curly hair (co-washing) instead of shampoo to give dry textured hair the moisture it needs. Leaving longer between washes is also recommended, but you can change that over time. Using a sulfate-free shampoo once every 3-4 co-washes gets rid of product that has built up. Once washed, scrunching up the curls in your hand with curl-defining creme and wrapping your hair in a t-shirt to dry (also known as “plopping”, much to my boyfriend’s amusement) or letting it air-dry. Certain products are officially CG approved but I decided to use products I already had that are suitable for the method.

Before trying this method, I washed my hair every second day, which wasn’t the best for my hair or my time-management. My hair is quite long and there is a LOT of it so when I switched to co-washing I found myself flying through my conditioner rapidly. Additionally, my hair takes hours to air-dry or dry when in a t-shirt so I usually plop my hair while I get ready for my day and have breakfast and use a diffuser to dry it until 90% dry and let it air-dry from there. However, my hair was softer than ever, my curls were the most defined they’ve ever been. But after sleeping on those curls, I would wake up and they would be lifeless and more greasy than normal, which I expected – hair takes time to adapt to a change in routine. It was only when my hair kept getting greasier and greasier after a month of the method, I decided it isn’t for me for now and stopped co-washing. Every hair type is different and maybe I did something wrong, perhaps the conditioner I was using was too heavy to use for co-washing or possibly the method is different for all hair types and I chose a version of the method that doesn’t suit my hair type. Either way, I’ll be taking a break from the method while I do more research into my hair type and it’s behaviour as well as the different products I could use.

The Curly Girl Method might not have worked for me but it has been praised by many people who have been fighting against frizz for years. I spoke to Jade Duffield, who started the method while in lockdown and has seen a big improvement in her hair, “I first came across the Curly Girl Method on a Facebook group for make up and monthly subscription boxes. A girl voiced struggling with chaotic curly hair and someone commented suggesting that she should join the Curly Girls UK group. Curious as I am, I decided to check it out myself.”

“I’ve seen a big difference, though it took me a few attempts to really notice any changes. Once I found the right products, my hair really improved. There is a lot less frizz and my curls are far more defined than before. I have even found my hair to be softer and healthier looking. It’s crazy! I’ve found my hair to be a lot more manageable than before, I never realised all the mistakes I was making.”

If you struggle with unpredictable curly hair, I’d recommend giving the Curly Girl Method a try. I haven’t experienced success with the method so far but I’ve kept bits and pieces of the method in my routine as I research products that are more suited to my hair type. I still use a t-shirt to help dry and “plop” my hair, I use as little sulphate-free shampoo as possible and use more conditioner to give moisture to my hair. So if the whole CG method doesn’t work for you, adopting parts of the method that suits your hair, lifestyle and schedule is a good idea. But if you struggle with a mop of unpredictable, frizzy hair, maybe try the method out for yourself. This method has worked wonders for some people who have struggled to tame their hair for years. As Jade said to me, “I can finally learn to love my natural curls.”

If you want to try the Curly Girl Method, you can find more information here.

If you want to know how I plop my hair, you can find a tutorial here.

Photography by: Ryan Duff