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I have been doing the curly girl method for 3 years now. I’ve gone from feeling my hair was just a bit wavy, never straight and never curly, so I decided to try and embrace my curls. I also think by changing my products I have made my hair so much healthier in the process.
If you haven’t come across the curly girl method before, it is a method of looking after your hair to encourage your natural curls that was invented by hairstylist Lorraine Massey. At the heart of the method is giving up shampoo and washing your hair with conditioner (co-washing), taking ingredients out of your hair care routine that contains silicones, sulphates, waxes and alcohols. Not using towels on your hair and instead, switching to microfleece towels or an old t-shirt in order to encourage your natural curl formation. A great place to start is The Curly Girl Handbook by Lorraine Massey book.
For people that have been doing the method for a while, the hunt to find the very perfect products to fit your hair is something all of us go through and I think it depends on your routine. So I thought I would ask some bloggers to share what their favourite products are.
My Favourite Curly Hair Products
Here is a picture of my hair before and after I started the curly girl method.
I don’t have good hair days every day, this is life. But I think the health of my hair has improved so much and it looks so much better. After playing around with products, I actually found that co-washing didn’t work for me at all. My hair in texture is quite fine and gets build up, very quickly and co-washing just made it limp and lack-lustre. So I have found ‘low-poo’ works better for me. Low-poo is simply washing your hair with shampoos that do not contain any of the chemicals I have listed above. Here are my favourite products:
- Noughty Wave Hello Shampoo and Conditioner – I have tried others, but at the moment these work best with my hair
- Boucleme Curl Gel – this is my absolute favourite must-have curly girl item. I love this gel, it’s not the cheap (about £15 per bottle), but it works so well with my hair
- Boucleme Curl Cream – I ordered this as a deal with the gel ages ago, and at first I really didn’t like it and thought it made my hair greasy. The key is you only need a very small amount and not anywhere near the roots and it really helps with curl formation. Again, it’s costly but it lasts a long time
- Pantene Pro-V Styling Mousse Defined Curls No 5 – my go-to hair mousse which is pretty good value too
These 5 are my day to day, everyday products.
Blogger’s Favourite Curly Girl Method Products
Elena Cid – Loved By Elena
Elena from Loved From Elena has been doing The Curly Girl Method for a number of years. She has written lots of posts on her blog about it and a whole blog post on her favourite products for 2020 but here is a list:
- As I Am Coconut Co-Wash
- Jessicurl Hair Cleansing Cream
- Bumble and Bumble Sunday Shampoo
- Mielle Organics Babassu Oil Mint Deep Conditioner
- Only Curls Hydrating Curl Cream
- Pantene Pro-V Styling Mousse Defined Curls No 5
- Jessicurl Spiralicius Styling Gel
- Jim & Henry Five
Read Elena’s full blog post on her favourite curly girl products of 2020.
Samantha Rickelton – North East Family Fun
Samantha has only been doing The Curly Girl Method for 4 weeks, and you can already see a massive difference in her hair the photos above. Here are her favourite products:
- Garnier Banana Hair Food
- Microfibre towels
- Eco Styler Olive Styling Gel
Sarah Hurst – Arthur Wears
Like me, Sarah uses shampoo because she found conditioner only didn’t work for her. Here are her favourite products:
- Shampoo: Cantu Shea Butter for Natural Hair Sulfate-Free Cleansing Cream
- Conditioner: Touch of silver colour care conditioner
- Gel: Cantu Shea Butter for Natural Hair Define & Shine Custard
- Refresh: Wella shockwaves ultra strong power hold gel
Visit www.arthurwears.com
Katy Flint – What Katy Said
Katy is another blogger who has been using the method for a little while and talks about it regularly on Instagram. do you check out her feed for some gorgeous photos. Her favourites are:
- Pantene cleansing shampoo
- Garnier papaya mask
- Poundland banana conditioner
- Cantu curling custard
- Pantene Pro-V Styling Mousse Defined Curls No 5
Read about Katy’s experience of the Curly Girl Method so far.
Donna Vallance – Like Love Do
I have total hair envy for Donna’s curls. Her blog is another great place for curly inspiration. Here are favourite products:
- As I Am Coconut Co-Wash and shampoo is Cantu Shea Butter for Natural Hair Sulfate-Free Cleansing Cream
- Conditioner is any of the noughty range
- For styling, go-to favourite Cantu curling custard
- Love Pantene Pro-V Styling Mousse Defined Curls No 5
- For a reasonably priced deep conditioner, opt for the Aloe Vera ultimate blends
Donna has a complete guide to the curly girl method on her blog.
There you are a selection of blogger’s favourite and as you can see there are some ones that pop up time and time again. The Pantene Mousse and Cantu products being the obvious ones.
Do you have any favourites that aren’t listed here?