My "Curly Girl" Experience

Earlier this year I was introduced to the Curly Girl Method for Curly Hair and I decided to give it a try, here are my thoughts.

Quick Background Info:

My hair has a interesting history. All throughout childhood, up until my pre-teen years, I had stick straight hair. In middle school it was very frizzy and fro-y, bad memories :( Around 10th grade, I discovered that it was curly, so I'd just apply a bit of gel or mousse after washing and scrunch. About two years ago, my hair changed yet again, to wavy. Not quite sure why I've gone through so many transformations during the past 25 years...hopefully it won't change too much in the future!!

My take on the Curly Girl Method:

- No 'poo: I went shampoo free only once...and I kinda messed that up :P I made a brown sugar scrub, but I used a silicone conditioner by accident. Using brown sugar was interesting, but I felt like I needed to use a lot to properly cover my scalp as my hair was getting in the way. Afterwards, my roots felt very oily and weird...this may be because I didn't use a silicone-free conditioner. 

- Sulphate-free shampoo: I went in search of a sulphate-free shampoo and came back home with a big bottle Tresemme Naturals Moisture Shampoo which boasts lower sulphates and was on sale! I used this exclusively for about 3 weeks and I wasn't pleased with the results. I normally wash my hair every two or three days, but with this shampoo, I felt oiliness early on the day after washing and started washing more frequently. The Curly Girl Method recommends waiting for up to 6 weeks for your hair to adjust, but I was fed-up with over washing my already dry hair and not looking my best! I am still using it in conjunction with sulphate shampoos to finish it off, ugh!

- Silicone-free conditioner: I bought the Tresemme Naturals Moisture Conditioner and really love it! I have dry ends and this product has really been helping with that! I will definitely repurchase this conditioner :)

- Plopping: Besides as a way to amuse my family members, I really see no other benefit to plopping, for my hair at least. Added to my frizz factor and didn't define my waves!

Now, as I said before, I no longer have curly hair...its more wavy, so take my opinions with a grain of salt. I do, however, have family members with super curly hair who tried this method with me, and though they may have had more success with some aspects, stopped following it after a month or so. I will stick to using silicone-free conditioner and I am open to trying new sulphate-free shampoos if they are reviewed well. Being a true "Curly Girl" is a very time consuming process and I don't recommend it for the busy career woman/student.