How to do the curly girl method — find what works for you!!
From much trial and error, I have found that what works for one curly girl will not work for another. Everyone has a different method to the madness when it comes to their curly girl methods. The order of products, the wetness of your hair, the products that you use, the order you use them in, the technique, whether you diffuse or not — it’s so personalized.
The journey to finding your own curly girl method is not for the faint of heart. There are so many products, methods, and people to follow when it comes to curly hair. My girlfriend and I were joking back and forth about our curly hair experience and how it’s a deep dark hole on TikTok and Instagram. You could spend hours — days!! — digging into all of your options.
Here’s what we’ll cover about my experience:
- The first curly girl method I tried out and the products I used
- What I do now in my current routine
- A list of the products I have used and loved
- Some TikTok and Instagram curly girls to follow to find a routine that works for you!
What is the curly girl method?
Legend has it (not really, this is just what I learned on TikTok) the curly girl method is a term originally coined by author Lorraine Massey. It’s a general term for the hair care strategy to avoid common damaging products and activities that hurt curls (like harsh products or using heat hair tools for styling). The curly girl method focuses on three steps:
- Cleansing
- Conditioning
- Natural hair styling (ditching the heat tools!)
How to do the curly girl method – the first routine I tried out
When I first decided to do my hair curly again I asked a few curly girls in my life for their tips and dipped my toe into the pool of curly girl social media. My sister-in-law was so helpful and gave me a list of the things that she used and walked me through her steps. That combined with what I found online lead me to my first curly girl hair routine.
The products for curly hair I started with
- Kinky Curly clarifying shampoo
- Kinky Curly leave-in conditioner
- Kinky Curly custard
- Miele deep conditioner
The curly hair process I tried first
- Cleanse hair
- Add leave-in conditioner
- Brush out my hair with a wide tooth comb (We’ll get into the details of that process later, it’s a whole thing!)
- Scrunch hair
- Add in custard
- Add in gel
- Once a week use clarifying shampoo and do the deep conditioning process
How to do the curly girl method – my current routine
After some trial and error, many deep dives into curly girl TikTok, and a couple of conversations with other curly girls, I decided my routine might be too heavy for my curls and I needed to try a method with less product.
I found two videos on TikTok from the same curly girl mastermind, @BrittCurls, that inspired this change. The first is a video about the mousse-gel-mousse approach. The second is a video on the best way to comb your hair before styling. The video on how to comb your hair correctly is worth a save. It’s really hard to explain and she does a great job. I watched it so many times and I’m confident I would have been really frustrated with the curly girl process if I hadn’t stumbled across this by now.
I’m really happy with how my curls behave using this method and I think I’ll be sticking with this for a while. Here’s the scoop!
My curly girl hair products
- Herbal Essence bio:renew curl shampoo and conditioner
- Herbal Essence bio:renew curl gel
- Herbal Essence mousse
- Kinky Curly clarifying shampoo
- Miele deep conditioner
My curly girl method process
- Cleanse hair with Herbal Essence shampoo
- Condition hair with Herbal Essence conditioner
- Use a wide tooth comb to brush out hair, flip head over to add product in the shower (see that video I told you about for how to comb!)
- Scrunch out water, add mousse
- Add gel to hand, rub together, add a little water to hand, rub together again, scrunch into hair
- Add mousse, scrunch hair
- Use the ploop method to wrap hair in a microfiber towel for 10-30 minutes (while I get ready)
- Sometimes I use a diffuser for 2-7 minutes after I take my hair out, but most days I just let it air dry. I have noticed it has more volume when I diffuse, I just don’t always care enough to add the extra time
- Once a week use clarifying shampoo and do the deep conditioning process
- Once every few weeks I switch it up and use a different shampoo and conditioner. I’m not sure what it is, but my hair starts to get weird when I use the same shampoo too many weeks in a row and that seems to help!
Other curly girl hair products that I use and love
Check out all of my curly girl hair products on my Amazon Storefront.
I also really love this drying towel. I hate having wet hair sticking to my back when I’m trying to get ready. And I hate it even more when you’re supposed to be not touching your hair. This microfiber towel called Turbie Twistie has a loop on the top so you towel can secure and not move around, plus it helps to dry your hair without creating more frizz.
I started to sleep on a satin pillow case and use satin scrunchies to help reduce the frizz from day one hair to day two hair. Kitsch is a great brand for both of these!
I have a few wide tooth combs, I haven’t found anything special about one over the other!
Some curly girls to follow on TikTok and Instagram
As you’re looking for inspiration for your curly girl method, check out these wavy curly and curly influencers. They try out tons of product and methods and run through the pros an cons. This is the deep dark hole of the internet I was telling you about so beware! You might get stuck in here.
- @BrittCurls on TikTok – This is the account where I learned the mousse, gel, mousse and the hair flip thing!
- @wavycurly on Instagram – Ali’s hair is UNREAL. My hair is much closer to hers than @BrittCurls so I like to follow her content too.
- @wavydiede on Instagram
- @sophiemariegraf on TikTok
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