The Curly Girl Method or CGM has become increasingly popular given that it is the holy grail of hair care routines for beautiful, perfect, fresh out of the salon curls! Every curly girl has had to experience frizz, uneven texture, damage, and even a loss of curl over time. While properly treated and styled curly hair looks stunning, you must know that in order to achieve that, you need to give your hair the time, love, and attention it needs and the CGM is exactly that!
Give this hair care routine a try and we promise that not only will your curls thank you forever, but your hair care routine will become easier and your curls will ALWAYS look effortlessly perfect. Isn’t that every curly girl’s dream? Well, let’s dive in step-by-step into the Curly Girl Method.
STEP 1: Clarifying Wash OR “Final Wash”
This first wash will prep your hair to start the CGM. You want to use a clarifying shampoo to thoroughly cleanse your hair before conditioning. Make sure you wash your scalp really well to remove any product build-up. Once you rinse out the shampoo, you are ready for conditioner. Make sure you only use your fingers to detangle your hair, do not use a comb or a brush since that will only stretch out your curls even more. This process is done once or twice a month.
STEP 2: Co-Wash
Once you have completed your Clarifying wash, you are ready for the Co-Wash. This is how you will wash your hair from this point forward until it’s time for a “Reset Wash” with clarifying shampoo again. Co-washing is basically washing your hair with a clarifying conditioner instead of shampoo. Simply massage the conditioner throughout your scalp just like you would shampoo using your fingertips.
STEP 3: Conditioning (If needed)
After Co-Wash, if you feel that your hair needs additional moisture, you can condition your hair with a thicker and richer conditioner than the one you used for Co-Wash. Yup, that means you need two different conditioners. Use this step to moisturize your hair and detangle your hair using your fingers. Rinse out the conditioner and you are ready to move on to the styling step!
Step 4: Styling Your Curly Hair
Begin your hairstyling in the shower! Applying your curling products with soaking wet hair will yield the best results. It sounds crazy, but we promise it makes all the difference. At the salon, we use a variety of products prescribed for your specific curly needs. If you have more questions about curly girl recommended products, we have a whole blog about that too, simply Click Here.
Step 5: Drying
Once you have applied your hair styling products use a microfiber towel or a cotton t-shirt and squeeze the excess water out of your hair and wrap your hair. Then, you can air dry or use a diffuser to dry your hair. Do not play with your curls! We get it, they look so pretty it’s hard not to want to touch them but leave them alone.
Refreshing Your Hair
You may be wondering how to keep your curls looking beautiful for more than one day. It’s pretty simple, use a refreshing product to avoid rewetting your curl. It’s all about refresh, not rewet and we have a variety of next day curl refreshing products available at the salon.
Continue Co-Washing your hair until you feel it is time for a “Reset Wash” and simply repeat Step 1. For wavy hair, you will probably need to cleanse about twice a month, while for coily hair it will be strictly when you really must (maybe once a month).
Like any new routine, give your hair time to adapt! It might be a little weird at first since the thought of ditching shampoo can be a little scary. Trust the process and we promise the results are life-changing!
Let us know if you gave this a try! Tag us on social media @salonnirvana954. We would love to follow your curly girl journey J Remember we are always available for a complimentary consultation.