Beauty

[Shanus]

I’ve been following the Curly Girl Method ( w/ a few cheats) since the original book came out. My curls have never looked better, especially since I stopped coloring my hair and my silver curls are less damaged.

Here’s the rub. I started using DEVACURL products just to be safe...wasn’t trusting myself, at that time, to scout out alternative approved products and there were few others to choose from. Whoa, DEVACURL was expensive and the fragrance is quite strong...citrus overload.

The drugstore shelves began filling up w/ curly hair shampoo, conditioners, gels, leave ins, deep conditions, mousses. The name of the chemical ingredients have become impossible to understand whether they’re the “no” sulfate types or the “no” silicone ingredients. The manufacturers have come out with water soluble silicones that may have a “PEG + a #”  which makes it approved. The ingredient decks now could be 2” long. 

I went to Pinterest looking for recommendations. Everyone just loves 4 different products and have long, involved routines. My curls did just fine for 60 years on their own. Now I’m doubting whether this method is more of a “Curly Cult” & really an attempt to just sell products to us. 

Anyone else feel like they’re drinking the Curly Kool Aid?

[Witchy Woman]

@Shanus 

I think we've talked about our curls before.

I'm the one that was having her hair smoothed, then stopped, now trying Dream Coat to keep the frizz down.

This is what I have come to believe.

While, I think the CGM works for some, it does not work for all.  When I was younger, I used a modified version.  But, my hair was naturally beautiful, naturally curly and likely would have been no matter what.

Fast forward to now.  I'm 68.  My hair is color treated and, while the Dream Coat helped with the frizz, it didn't give as good a smoothing as the Salon treatment.

Not to mention it needs to be reapplied every 3 shampoos.

My curls that I'd been trying to grow out are unruly, unformed and unattractive!  It would help to have a perfect haircut.  That has become impossible.

I'm still fighting the good fight to get my curls back, but it's the frizz that kills me.

My doubts are that my once beautiful curls are gone forever.  If I opt to not have my hair "smoothed" I'm going to have to learn to live with the frizz.

As to all the steps that some methods require....well, I've just lost patience with them.  I've spent a small fortune on a million products without much change, including the Devacul products.

What I don't want is to spend hours trying to get my hair to do something it won't.  I tried WEN and that was the thing that sent me running....all the steps, etc.  

I know it works for many, as does the CGM, but I don't have the time or patience.

Still pondering how to best handle it at this point.

[Shanus]

@Witchy Woman   It’s quite difficult to analyze someone else’s hair w/o seeing it, but after being convinced by TV, magazines, etc., that curls were not as attractive as straight, smoothe hair, I was on the flat iron, hot roller, silicone train. My curls took years to recover. 

I remember an interview w/ Oprah who said that in her early days on tv, she was asked to smoothe her hair or wear a wig. America was not ready to accept a black newsperson or host w/ natural hair. She wanted to advance her career and succumbed. After her popularity gave her freedom to decide what to do with her hair, she went curly. 

 Curls are not easy. It is involved and frizz is the issue until proper products or haircut are discovered. Some make the journey, some just don’t have the will or can’t find a solution. I’ve been lucky, but it’s been a long, rocky road. I’ve thrown in my microfiber towel many times along the way. I will still straighten my hair with hot tools occasionally and my curls don’t seem the worse for it. I think I’ve said here, I spend as much time deep conditioning my hair as I do on skincare. The top layer of my hair may still frizz. After all, that’s the layer exposed to the elements, rubs against my pillow, clothing, I twirl in my fingers and receives more products even though I make every effort to achieve even distribution. I’ve just learned to accept it and add more conditioner and gel.

It’s definitely each woman’s choice to embrace their curls as much as it is to go silver. Good luck with your quest. 🌸

[LexaMom]

Interesting that you brought up this topic, since I just decided to try the Curly Girl method this weekend.  This is the time of year that I shampoo a lot more often and I am just tired of having to spend so much time with a hair dryer.

I am 70 and still have good curls on the side and back of my head.  I'm having problems on the top which lies flat.  I think it is just a lot more damaged after so much heat.   

I also have a bathroom filled with WEN products and I'm still debating - from what I've read - if I can keep using them.

I don't think that CGM is necessarily just for younger women but there are a lot of younger women on Youtube and Facebook with gorgeous curls.  I am jealous and I am just going to try a few new products and techniques (root clipping??)  at a time.    Not sure what I want to do with my grey hair - unfortunately it is in clumps - not pretty at all.  I am considering trying a demi-permanent instead of a permanent color.

Wanted to mention that last Saturday I washed my hair with sulfate free shampoo,  then used WEN Fig,  then used a lot of Sebastian Potion No 9 (apparently not CGM approved).   Let it air dry - it was crunchy - Scrunched it to get rid of the crunches - and it wasn't frizzy.  I was amazed.  I think the protective gel helped.

[Ms tyrion2]

Choosing to embrace curly hair is not for the faint hearted!

There is a lot of information out there. Some good and some terrible. Bottom line is that there will be a lot of experimentation with products necessary until you find what works for your unique curl pattern. 

Overwhelmingly,  there is consensus that proper moisture is key. This means good quality conditioners and regular deep conditioning.  A good haircut is also key.

From there, styling products are varied and confusing. There is a website called curlsbot where you can copy and paste the ingredient deck to find out if the product is CGM approved.

It's not an overnight fix. Depending on the damage you have, it could take months to see results.

[dsw503]

I have fine wavy hair and have used the Deva products for 10 years. I've tried other shampoos that are recommended for curly hair and have been disappointed. My waves/curls change with the season and the length of my hair. I vary the Deva styling products that I use. I've decided to stop getting highlights and expect that the texture of my hair will change again! I agree, it takes time to work with curly hair and it's not a simple wash and go process for me. I like the way it looks, so I do it!

[Caffeina]

Of course they're trying to sell products, and a lot of expensive ones too. NC has an affiliate program, so there's lots of people with the incentive to try to convince you to buy.

I have curly, frizzy, unruly, color treated gray hair. I like being low maintenance and let my hair dry naturally. I either use a shampoo and conditioner, and sometimes just a conditioning shampoo. After washing, I put on a microfiber hair towel for probably no more than two minutes, just long enough to get the excess dripping out. Then I apply mousse and I'm done. Mousse holds the curls and keeps my hair from getting frizzy and poofy. Currently I'm using Tresseme Flawless Curls or Dippity Do Girls With Curls.

[Witchy Woman]

@Shanus 

Understand completely!

My biggest problem is, my curls WERE effortless when I was 30.  Seriously, I got it cut every 6-8 weeks and no special products.

Just wash, shake out, wear.  A little Redken Spin Control kept the curls in shape on humid days.

I ran during lunch at work and showered daily, just wetting my head and shaking it out.  Same at night.  No special treatment....and they were beautiful.

My point being, once you've had that kind of curl without working for it, it is very hard to go through all the hoops to get them just to stay formed.

It's not that I'm lazy about my hair, but I got used to wash and wear, so anything less seems time consuming.

When it is smoothed, it's wash and wear again.

As I said, I'm not sure what the outcome will be, but I'm going to keep trying for now.

I'm sure aging and coloring do NOT help.

I remind myself that at least I still HAVE hair 

[HSB1204]

I was born with stick straight hair. I actually used to get perms because I wanted curls. Eventually I stopped that and then my hair turned wavy on its own so for me it has certainly been a process to figure out since my naturally wavy hair does not behave like permed hair.

I do think that the Curly Girl Method can be pretty overwhelming. I watched so many hair tutorials on YouTube and I'll admit that I got roped into the long, complicated wash and styling routine. Since I wasn't really familiar with a lot of the products that I needed I would buy whatever people were using in the videos which sometimes turned out to be a mistake.

I'm only about a year into the process. I don't follow the Curly Girl Method 100%. I do whatever gets me the best results with my hair. I'm certainly not an ingredients expert but if there's one I'm not sure about I'll do a quick Google search. I've gotten to the point where I've simplified my routine quite a bit but it takes a lot of work and you really need to experiment before you can get even half decent results.

[HSB1204]

@Shanus   I know you don't like products with strong scents. Have you tried any of the Giovanni products? I tried the 50:50 Balanced Hydrating-Clarifying shampoo and 50:50 Balanced Hydrating-Calming conditioner. Both had a very light scent that didn't linger at all. I was pleasantly surprised since I also don't like products with super strong scents.