Curly Girl Method

What is the Curly Girl Method?

The Curly Girl Method (CGM) is comprised of a set of rules which people follow to enhance their natural wave, curl, or coil pattern and reduce frizz, damage, breakage and dryness. In simple terms, the CGM centres around avoiding ingredients that can negatively affect curls, and adding ingredients that can hydrate, condition, repair and enhance.

The method revolves around a few key pillars, which drive the exclusion of those ingredients:

1. Not using ingredients that build up on the hair, or require 'harsh' soaps or surfactants to remove them. This brings to mind the typical silicones that can build up on the hair, but can also include a range of other ingredients, such as waxes and mineral oils, that individuals may avoid based on the degree to which they follow this method. These are avoided as CGM does not use sulfates to remove these products.
2. Not over cleansing the hair with traditional shampoos that can dry out or strip the hair, via surfactants such as sulfates. This can also include avoiding the use of surfactants that are traditionally labelled as gentle in the hair care community. The reasoning behind this difference of opinion comes from the basis that Curly Girls do not apply any products that build up on the hair, so only need very gentle cleansing to wash and refresh the hair, rather than cleansing agents that aim to remove product build up, styling agents, silicones, waxes etc.
3. Hydration, hydration, hydration! This method praises the scalp's natural oils, and focuses heavily on hydrating hair that is textured or dry inherently. This is yet another reason that drying ingredients, such as drying alcohols and cleansing agents, are strictly avoided.

Origins of the Curly Girl Method

The CGM was created by hair stylist and curl expert Lorraine Massey. In her book Curly Girl: The Handbook she details the intricacies of this method, why certain products and actions are bad for the hair, and what you can do to get the absolute most out of your curls. Curly girls around the world have taken this method and tweaked it to suit their own needs, lifestyle and desired outcomes. There are many, many iterations of the CGM, but this book is commonly seen as a starting point for most, and a curly-bible for some.

Not All Alcohols Are Created Equal

While the avoided drying alcohols, often found in styling products, aerosols etc, can dehydrate the hair, there are also a range of fatty alcohols, such as Cetearyl Alcohol, Cetyl Alcohol & Stearyl Alcohol, that condition and hydrate the hair.

Minimising Drying and Damaging Factors

The original CGM (as detailed by Lorraine Massey) also prohibits the use of any thermal tools, such as blow dryers, straighteners, curling irons etc, as well as potentially mechanically damaging actions such as brushing or combing dry hair, and towel drying.

Many Curly Girl ranges denote products being best suited to one of the main 12 curl types (ranging from 1A–4C); as none of our products are particularly specialised, they are all recommended for all curl types.

If you or your customers have any questions about the CGM or our products, please don't hesitate to ask us; it can be a very overwhelming topic to wrap your head around so we want to ensure we are passing on the correct information.