The Curly Girl Method (CGM)

In general, girls with curly hair don’t like it very much and try to fight it, for example by straightening it frequently.
However, once you’ve accepted your hairstyle and feel comfortable with it, it’s time to think about caring for it and styling your curls.

The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence, especially when it comes to your hair.
Women with straight hair often dream of a storm of curls, while those with unruly afros would give anything to have straight hair!
But it turns out that to get natural curls, you don’t need to spend hours with a curling iron or perm.
Sometimes, all it takes is the right care.

The CGM method in practice is an effective way to care for curly hair, invented and made famous by American curly hair expert Lorraine Massey.
Today, the CGM method is increasingly popular and, combined with an awareness of the characteristics of curly hair, delivers excellent results in bringing out curls, defining them and improving their condition.

It may seem that the recommendations of the CGM method are very complicated.
The truth is, there are many rules for caring for curly hair, but once you get the hang of it, most people get used to this style of care.
How do you shampoo your curly hair, what should you consider when choosing products, what accessories bring out curls and what ingredients should you exclude from products for your curly hair?
Find the answers to these and other curl care questions below.

What ingredients should I avoid in my hair care products?

By its very nature, curly hair is fragile, prone to breakage and tends to be dry and frizzy.
Consequently, without proper care, curly hair won’t stay in place and causes many problems for its owners.
Proper care of curly hair, using the Curly Girl method, not only brings out curls and highlights them without resorting to hot styling, but also improves the condition of the hair, making it soft, bouncy, less prone to damage and easier to style.

Curly hair care should include the use of nourishing ingredients that curls love, but those who want to use the CGM method should eliminate cosmetics containing certain ingredients.

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Hair care for curly hair

Cosmetics for curly hair must be free of drying “bad” alcohols.
These include the following: Denatured alcohol, isopropyl alcohol, SD alcohol and SD 40 alcohol.
Hair care products for curly hair should be free of silicones, which build up on the hair’s surface.
These include: Dimethicone, Amodimethicone, Trimethicone, Simethicone and other substances ending in thicone.

Cosmetics for curly hair should also avoid mineral oils and waxes, which overload the hair structure and have a smoothing effect.
These include substances with the following names: Mineral oil or Paraffinum Liquidum, Lanolin, Cera Alba, Petrolatum, as well as all cosmetic ingredients whose name contains the word Wax.

What are the best accessories for curly hair?

For optimal results with curly hair, it’s worth getting a few accessories to help you practice the CGM method:

Replace your plastic brush with one that won’t break your hair, order silk accessories (which prevent static electricity, help smooth cuticles and also hold twists in place.
These can include silk sponge cloths, but also silk sleeping caps or pillowcases.

Read more: why sleep on a silk pillowcase?

Replace an ordinary towel with a microfiber one, and use a wide-tooth comb to start combing your hair with conditioner.
This makes it easier to work the conditioner into your hair and style it, as strands will no longer tangle or frizz.
A “reset” wash for curly hair, also known as a final wash, is a treatment that should be performed at the beginning of your Curly Girl adventure, and can be repeated if necessary (the final wash is usually performed every 2-3 weeks).

Hair loses its curl

With the conventional hair care products we use every day, various substances accumulate on our hair from both cosmetics and the environment.
These include silicones and waxes, as well as all kinds of impurities.
Hair weighed down by these substances becomes untangled, loses its natural curl, can become greasy right from the roots on the scalp and frizzy at the ends, making styling impossible.

A powerful final wash shampoo gets rid of all these elements and “resets” the entire hair care routine.
What should a Final Wash shampoo look like?
First of all, it should contain powerful detergents, the kind you absolutely must avoid on a daily basis.
These are Sodium Laureth Sulfate (SLES), Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (SLS), Sodium Myreth Sulfate (SMS) and Sodium Coco Sulfate (SCS).

Wash hair with conditioner

Daily washing of curly hair, i.e. between Final Wash treatments, must be very gentle, which is why shampoo for curly hair can and should in most cases be replaced by conditioner.
Few people realize that conditioners contain cleansing agents in their ingredients.

So, not only do they condition the hair, they also wash it gently.
Washing hair with conditioner is the same as washing with shampoo for curly hair: you dilute and lather a little of the product in your hands or in a specially prepared cup, then apply the mixture to your hair and wash as usual.

If you find that washing your hair with conditioner makes your hair greasy or causes scalp problems, dandruff, pimples or other changes, you can replace conditioner with a gentle shampoo for curly hair similar to Final Wash choose formulas without waxes or silicones, but also without powerful cleansing agents such as SLES, SLS or SCS) or with what’s known as co-wash, which is a product that combines the functions of a shampoo and a conditioner.

Which mask and conditioner for curly hair?

Shampoo and conditioner for curly hair must not contain ingredients that make hair frizzy, which means the same criteria apply as for a cleansing conditioner or mild shampoo.

Conditioner for curly hair, in a rinse-out formula, should be part of our hair care routine every time we shampoo.
Apply from the ears downwards, wait a few minutes, then rinse.
A nourishing hair mask for curly hair can be used once or twice a week to moisturize your hair.
It should be applied for half an hour or more under a microfiber towel, then rinsed out.

How do I get beautiful curls?

One of the biggest challenges for users of the Curly Girl, method is styling curly hair.
There are a few steps to follow, which may seem time-consuming at first, but once you’ve done them a few times, you’ll get the hang of it.
So, how do you style your curly hair, step by step?

First, after rinsing out the shampoo, conditioner or co-wash, apply a leave-in conditioner.
Once the conditioner is in your hair, run it through your hair in small sections, preferably upside down and grabbing a section of hair.
Repeat this process until the entire style is “compacted”.

Then rinse off the conditioner, or don’t if it’s a leave-in product, and grab a microfiber towel.
Now do a little kneading, using the same movements as before, but with a water-absorbent material.
Once you’ve worked all over your hair, you can move on to applying your styling product.

Styling products for curly hair, whether gel, mousse or cream, should be applied to the hair in a squeezing motion, as when applying conditioner.
First rub a little curl styling product into your hands and then apply it only to your hair.

The CGM method dries hair naturally

The next step after styling curly hair is blow-drying.
The CGM method allows you to dry your hair naturally or with a diffuser, which is obviously faster and more comfortable.
If you don’t use a diffuser to dry your curls and instead use the nozzle of your hairdryer, the curls you’ve managed to achieve with proper care may come undone.

Once your hair is dry, you’ll see tightly twisted spirals.
Hairdressers call these spirals “rusks”.
However, this is not the end result.
A softening product, a Myla Bella hair oil (without silicones or other additives), should be applied to these dry curls.
By working the oil into the “biscottes”, you’ll achieve beautiful waves or soft, fluffy curls, depending on your hair type.

Also read: what’s your hair type?

Remember, the Curly Girl method is designed to be fun to use, and the beautiful curls you’ll get will make up for all the effort you’ve put into caring for your curly hair.
Good luck discovering and bringing out the curl in your own hair!