Image by: @curly.paty
The Curly Girl Method is a gentle and moisturizing strategy for revamping your hair washing and styling regimen to give your curls the best opportunity to glow and thrive. Invented by curly hair guru Lorraine Massey, the Curly Girl Method asks you to exclude the harsh and drying steps common to most of our hair care regimens: drying sulfates present in most shampoos, fragrances and alcohols; non-water soluble silicones that coat the hair shaft; heat treatments; and combs and brushes. Minimizing breakage and increasing moisture levels does wonders for most curls, but it can also make your hair less curly. Here are some suggestions for how you can get your curl back while also achieving curl peace.
Scrunch Scrunch Scrunch!
The extra moisture in your curls might leave your hair a little heavier and flatter than you’re accustomed to. While a diffuser can increase hair and root volume, the heat treatment is also damaging to your hair and a definite no-no in the Curly Girl Method.
Instead, take advantage of your hands and fingers! Scrunching your curls as they dry is a great way of encouraging your curls to spring up and coil. Give yourself a long scrunching session after you’ve put in all of your hair products. And then repeat with shorter scrunching sessions as your hair moves from soaking to wet; wet to damp, and damp to nearly dry. Flip your head over and scrunch with those added anti-gravity effects for some extra oomph. If you’re feeling especially impatient, you can invest in microfiber towels or even microfiber gloves which will help gentle absorb extra moisture from your hair while also encouraging your hair to curl.
Reconsider Your Product Regimen
Your hair may be trying to signal to you that though it loves the extra moisture that you’re retaining by excludes drying and damaging steps in your routine, that you’re actually really over moisturizing it! You may want to take a closer look at your product regimen and ask yourself if some of the products you’re using are too heavy. That hair oil that you absolutely needed when you were still using sulfates and heat might just be coating and weighing down your hair now that you’ve excluded drying treatments. You might want to consider swapping your thick leave-in conditioner for a serum-textured leave-in. But always remember to keep an eye out for drying alcohols, silicones, and fragrances as you play with your products.
Try the Occasional Shampoo
If you’re really desperate and nothing has worked, it’s possible that you’re suffering from some product buildup that not even your No Poo or Low Poo shampoo can get rid of. Consider giving your hair the occasional deep cleanse by using a regular shampoo once a month or every two months. You can even use a special anti-residue shampoo. Keep in mind that while this will give your hair a fresh start and strip all of the product build-up, it will also strip all of your hair’s natural oils and moisture! Consider deep conditioning your hair overnight before you wash with regular shampoo, or leaving the conditioner in your hair longer for an intensive moisturizing treatment after you shampoo.
Do you have any other techniques that work wonders to lift your curls? Have you tried out any of these strategies? How did they work? Let us know! Get yourself started on revamping your regimen with this list of Curly Girl Method friendly products.
