THE CURLY GIRL METHOD (CGM). WHAT IS IT? AND HOW TO START.

You may have heard about the Curly Girl Method, or seen the hashtag #cgm or #curlycurlmethod on instagram along with pictures of beautiful, perfect natural curls. About a year ago, that was me. I stumbled across one of these profiles and got sucked down the rabbit hole that is the CGM. I don’t follow this method 100% anymore and I have since adapted it to my own version that works for me and my curls but it is a great starting point and I definitely think that it’s the reason I was able to get my curls to where they are now.

Starting out can be a little confusing with all the abbreviations and things to avoid so, if you’re wanting to find out more, I’ve simplified it as much as possible for you below.

WHAT IS IT?

Lorraine Massey is the author of the best-selling book, Curly Girl: The Handbook. This is a good place to start to find out all the basics of what you need to know. I’ll also try to simplify the main points for you below.

The CGM is a guideline of what to do, what not to do, what products to avoid and what to embrace to enhance your natural curl pattern and get your curls healthy and nourished.

INGREDIENTS TO AVOID:

Where to even begin with this. When I first started I was so confused with everything that’s out there. But in short, the main things you want to avoid in the products you are using are sulphates, non water soluble silicones, parabens, drying alcohols and mineral oil. I’ve listed a few of the main ingredients to look out for on your products, if it contains any of the below ingredients, you want to avoid those products:

• Sodium Laureth, Myreth, or Lauryl Sulfate

• Sodium C14-16 Olefin Sulfonate

• Ammonium Laureth or Lauryl Sulfate

• Alkyl Benzene Sulfonate

• Ammonium or Sodium Xylenesulfonate

• Ethyl PEG-15 Cocamine Sulfate

• TEA-Dodecylbenzenesulfonate

• Sodium Cocoyl Sarcosinate

• Sodium Lauryl Sulfoacetate

• Dioctyl Sodium Sulfosuccinate

• Sodium Xylenesulfonate

• Amodimethicone

• Dimethicone

• Dimethiconol

• Cyclomethicone

• Cyclopentasiloxane

• Behenoxy Dimethicone

• Bis-aminopropyl dimethicone

• Cetearyl Methicone

• Cetyl Dimethicone

• Phenyl trimethicone

• Stearyl Dimethicone

• Trimethylsilylamodimethicone

• Isopropyl alcohol

• Denatured alcohol

• Ethanol

• Isopropanol

• Propanol

• Propyl alcohol

• SD alcohol 40

• Mineral oil (paraffinum liquidum)

It’s a long list, I know! If you’re unsure of whether something is ok to use, you can use this nifty little online checker: Curlsbot

FIRST STEPS:

So the first thing you want to do, is wash your hair with a good clarifying shampoo to try get any old silicone build up out of your hair. Why is silicone bad for your hair? You know when you use silicone to seal the edges of a bath or counter top to stop the water from getting in, well that’s what silicone does to your hair. It creates a coating on your hair follicle that stops water, moisture and protein from penetrating the strand.

Get a good chop. I know, curly hair and scissors can be a scary combo but trust me, it’s likely that your ends are damaged and dead anyway. Your hair will grow back a lot quicker when it’s healthy.

SOME TIPS:

1. Use a microfibre towel

Normal towels can be rough on your hair and cause more frizz. Rather use a microfibre towel to absorb the water. A silk/satin scarf or a t-shirt work as well.

2. Detangling

Use your fingers or a wide comb to gently detangle hair in the shower (with conditioner to avoid breaking the hair). Don’t brush your hair when it’s dry, it will cause breakage and is rough on tangled hair.

3. Shampoo less/Co-wash

Try to not shampoo your hair too often. Once a week (even every second week) is plenty. Obviously still wash your hair please 🙂 just use a co-wash or light conditioner instead. Co-washing is using a cleansing conditioner instead of shampoo. It will cleanse the scalp without having to use shampoo which strips the hair and dries it out (conditioner works too).

4. Scrunch in your products

Scrunching in your products will encourage your natural curl pattern to develop.

5. Deep condition!

Before finding the curly girl method that was something I had never heard of. It really made such a difference for me and I would recommend doing this once a week in the beginning. Make it a Sunday self care ritual 🙂

SOME DONT'S:

1. Don’t use products that contain harsh ingredients

I mentioned this above, but using these harsh ingredients on curly hair will only make your curls more dry and hard to manage. Why would you want to use harsh ingredients on your hair anyway?

2. Don’t use towels

They are rough on the hair and cause more frizz – rather use a microfibre towel/t-shirt to absorb excess water from your hair.

3. Use too much heat

Stop straightening your hair, it really damages the hair. The higher the heat, the more damaging it is. Once in a while is ok but regular straightening will fry your ends and destroy your natural curl pattern causing more frizzy hair.

KNOW YOUR CURL TYPE

Why is it important to find out your curl type? Different curl types will react to certain products better than others, so knowing your curl type will help you choose the right products for your hair. Type 2a, 2b, 2c hair is usually wavy hair. Type 3a, 3b, 3c is what most people consider curly and type 4a, 4b, 4c is known as coily. Most curlies have more than one type which is completely normal. My hair is mostly 3a with a bit of 2c and 3b as well.

It’s also quite important to know your hair porosity, as again, this helps determine how you manage your hair and which products are right for you. You get low, medium and high porosity hair.

Low porosity. Hair with low porosity has a tightly bound cuticle layer with overlapping scales that lay flat. This hair type repels moisture when you try to wet it.

Medium porosity. The cuticle layer is looser, allowing just the right amount of moisture to enter while preventing too much from escaping. Hair with normal porosity tends to hold styles well (ie. it’s a good one to have).

High porosity hair has gaps and holes in the cuticle, which let too much moisture into your hair and leave it prone to frizz and tangling in humid weather. This hair type is usually the result of chemical damage. You can do a hair porosity test by adding a single strand of clean (no product) hair to a glass of water. If your hair floats you have low porosity hair, if it sinks you have high porosity hair.

This is a very brief explanation of the CGM, there is so much more that I could explain but we’d be here all day so I’ll stop here. It really is a journey, be patient and start slow. Small changes over time can make a big difference! Don’t forget to take lots of pics, you’ll be surprised at how much your hair will change, even when you think it hasn’t 🙂

S xx