Easy Hair Routine to Achieve Your Best Curls
Where are my curly girls?! And by curly girls – I mean even if you have the slightest wave to your hair – read on!
Above is my transformation after starting the Curly Girl Method. If you’ve never heard of the Curly Girl Method prepare to have your mind blown!
First, join the Curly Girl Method facebook group (over 110k+ curlies) giving advice about what curly girl method’s work for them.
But with over 110k people – it easily gets overwhelming with all the different products and routines everyone is talking about.
I am going to outline for you what curly girl method worked for me and my hair!
Final Wash
First, if you are just starting the curly girl method you have to do a final wash. This is a wash to get rid of all the alcohols and parabens in your hair. This final wash has to be done every time you use products that are not CG approved (all CG approved products can be found in the FB page). The final wash shampoo I use is Suave clarifying shampoo or any of the shampoos in the image below.
Then condition with a CG approved conditioner.
After the final wash, shampoo and condition with CG approved products only, from here on out. There are a ton of different CG approved shampoo/conditioners you can use. I personally love the Not Your Mothers Naturals shampoo/condition combo (yellow bottle). I know a lot of other curlies like shea moisturizer brand or deva curl products. Again, over 200+ CG approved shampoo/conditioners can be found in the facebook group photo albums.
While in the shower with conditioner in my hair, I use the Denman brush to brush my hair. To be clear this is the only time my hair sees a brush. This brush is a game changer for curlies! Get yo self one!
After I brush I put more conditioner into my hands and “squish to condish”.
Squish to Condish
Doesn’t it sound like a dance? Well it may look like I’m doing a dance, so I guess it’s fitting. As curlies, we know our hair is dehydrated! When your hair is soaking wet you need to (with conditioner in your hands) squish the conditioner and water up into the hair.
Lean to the left, squish up, lean to the right, squish up, and upside down and squish – see I told you it was like a dance!
This is also how I rinse the conditioner out. Squishing water into the hair.
This technique alone has made such a huge difference in how my hair curls!
To Gel or Mousse
Personally, I go back and forth between the two. I have used LA Looks gel since I was in high school (CG approved) but recently switched to Herbel Essences mousse because of so many CG’s raving about it. So far I’m really liking it. I would say those are the two most popular products in the group followed by Kinky Curly curling custard.
The best advice I can give when putting the product in your hair is doing it right when you get out of the shower – when it’s still soaking wet.
I get out of the shower, flip my hair over the side the tub and squish the product up into my hair while also squeezing the water out of my hair.
Once I have several handfuls of product squished up into the hair, I plop!
Plopping
We’ve all thrown our hair into a towel, twisted and threw it back…STOP THIS NOW!
First off, NEVER use a towel on your hair unless its microfiber..but what is even easier is using a t-shirt!
Also – do not twist your curls! Plop them!
What I do is lay a large t-shirt on my bed, plop my curls in the middle of the t-shirt and then tie the sleeves around my head.
Oh, that didn’t make any sense to you?
Me either – I’m a visual learner so check out this youtube video of exactly how I plop my curls. This is the perfect tutorial. In the beginning, she talks about why you should plop your curls but if just want to see how it’s done, she demonstrates it at 1:25 in the video. I typically leave my hair plopped for 10-15 min.
After you take your hair out of the t-shirt you have two options: You can let your hair air dry or you can diffuse. Either way, our end goal is dry hair.
Once your hair is completely dry it should be crunchy, meaning it should have a stiff cast from all the product you put in it. If it doesn’t have a cast, next time add more product (or try a different product).
DO NOT SKIP THE NEXT STEP!
SOTC
I am so embarrassed it took me so long to learn this step. I walked around for years with crunchy 1980’s looking curls because I didn’t know any better. Let me tell you the best secret I have learned about my curls in my last 30 years walking this planet.
SOTC = Scrunch Out the Crunch!!!
After your hair is 100% dry…not 90%…not 99%….100% dry!!
Do the same method of squishing your curls up into your head as you did when you squished to condish and when you applied your product. Do this until none of your hair is hard or crunchy anymore.
It will probably take you several minutes of squishing to ensure no more crunch is left.
Holy cow prepare yourself for the most beautiful, soft flowing curls!
And that’s it!! Now love your locks!!
Next Day Refresh
How you sleep in your curls is important too. I use a buff that I got here and wear it like this while sleeping:
Or you can wear a pineapple to bed. Which is when you gather all the hair on top of your head and put it in a loose ponytail up on top of your head.
This will protect your curls and allow them to be worn for several days before having to do the whole washing process again.
To refresh the next day I either run a little Moroccan oil to tame the frizz or put a little of this curling cream in it (a little goes a long way). It just depends on how well my curls are behaving.
And there you go! Comment below if you have any questions or any tips or tricks you use for your curly hair!
Meet Kaila:
Kaila writes about all things travel, lifestyle, and how to market your business. For more tips and free trainings on how to start a business online – you can follow Kaila on Instagram @kaila.ruan
14 Comments
Shelley Harris
Love the idea to SOTC. Never thought of that before.
Melissa
I have long thick natural curly hair . It frizzes due to dry hair. I have recently saw the plopping method and gave it a try. The issue I am having is that my hair doesn’t dry when I plop it. I sleep with my hair plopped in a t-shirt and the next morning when I take my hair down it is still 75% wet and my curls doesn’t hold. I use a diffuser but it looks no different than it did in the before pictures. What could I do to make my hair dry faster and still have curls that I could love ? My hair has always held water which sounds crazy since it is so dry.
Kaila Ruan
You should never plop your hair for longer than 20 min. and never sleep with your hair plopped. It will weaken the strands and can cause fungus on the scalp.
I plop my hair for 10-15 min then diffuse or air dry. After it’s completely dry I SOTC. Then I sleep with dry curls either in a buff or a pineapple. Hope this helps!
Amber
Never is a strong word. I plop from 20 to 90 minutes and my hair has no fungus. I’ve slept plopped and no fungus. It just isn’t going to dry. And it probably won’t look so good.
YMMV, most people don’t plop beyond a half hour. The benefits don’t increase after that point.
Erika Jo
Melissa, I take my shower at night as well and had the same problem. Right now I plop for 20 minutes and then let my hair air dry without touching it. When I go to sleep my hair is still in the hard gel cast. I do not sotc! When I wake up my curls have already scrunched themselves out. The biggest problem I have is when to part my hair?! I can’t seem to find anyone mentioning it in any tutorials. Any ideas?
Pooja
Hey Erika,
I do had the same issue. I tried left side parting for a long time that just made my hair look a bit flat from the top. Now I dont part them straight I just pick them by my fingers and move them to the left it’s a bit tough to explain in the text, this creates a more natural look. In general they are parted but in a more natural looking way. Hope this helps.
Heidi
Erika Jo,
Have you ever tried clipping your curls while they air dry? I recently started doing this and it adds so much volume to my roots! I also put mousse on my roots (or root booster) before I clip and once dry just kind of work between my fingers until soft again.
You can get alligator clips from Walmart or Sally’s. What I do to start is take my natural part and clip on either side (so it should look like your clip is ‘eating’ your part.) You should have hair clipped together from both sides of your part. Then I pin the next several layers ‘up’ so the clip isn’t laying flat, but up-on both sides. Sounds weird but I have naturally curly hair so long I can almost sit on it so it’s super heavy. This clipping business has been a life saver!! Hope this helps:)
Rachel
I’m just clarifying… so are you supposed to use shampoo or no shampoo at all?
Kaila Ruan
I use shampoo but everyone’s hair is different. Some only co wash which would mean only using conditioner when you wash your hair. It’s so much about trail and error and seeing what works for your hair.
G. M
Can we use hair cream instead of gel or mousse?
Amanda
I LOVE my recipe for “magic curl spray” for refreshed next day curls. In a small spray bottle I add a dollop each of leave in conditioner and mousse/gel. Then I fill the bottle with water. Give it a shake and spritz over my hair until it’s just slightly damp. NOT wet, just misty. Scruch, air dry or diffuse. Lastly SOTC. My curls look day 1 fresh even after day 5.
Alisha Morton
I have fine 2b hair so it is really sensitive to products, meaning I have to be really careful about putting in too much product. My concern with the curly girl method is how many different products that people tell you to put in your hair. Also I dont feel like my hair needs moisture, its naturally oily as it is. I am struggling with stringy ends in my curls, the hair from the crown of my head is straight so covers the curls and frizz. Any suggestions?
Helen
About to embark on CGM but not sure how long to leave it between Cowashing it? I think i’ll definitely have to use a lopoo (lol) as I just know my hair will get too greasy otherwise
Gina
Do you have a recommendation for hair dryer and diffuser? I usually shower at night and air dry but I think I could get better curls by diffusing.