The Curly Girl Method: The How-To To No-Poo

So you want to go full on curly girl, eh?  Well, before you go on and jump right in, there are a few things that you need to understand.  Here, I have made a brief introduction about the Curly Girl Method.  Want to know more, check out the website Naturally Curly or the book Curly Girl by Lorraine Massey.

What are some of the things that you need to know about the Curly Girl Method?  It is a method which is meant to condition and make your curls more manageable.  With this method, you will also not be shampooing your hair as often as most people often do.  For me, I shampoo my hair one to twice a week.  Nothing more.  My hair really doesn't require that much cleansing and therefore, I leave it alone.   I will put a note of warning though that this method may not work for everyone and therefore, research is required in order to do this method correctly.  Also, don't give up in a week, it takes about two weeks to a month to notice a difference within your hair.  Your scalp might also get oilier in the beginning however, give it time for your oil production to balance itself out.  It will - it might just take some time.

1. No Sulfates: Yep, you heard me correctly, you need to find a shampoo with no (no minimum) sulfates.  Sulfates can actually be very harsh towards not only the hair but to the scalp, stripping away its natural oils. The one main sulfate to look after is sodium laureth sulfate. However, there are others which can cause damage, including the following: ammonium laureth sulfate, ammonium lauryl sulfate, sodium lauryl sulfate.  One thing to notice is look at a bottle of dish soap.  For the majority of the dish soap brands, one of the first few ingredients is sodium laureth sulfate. Yikes!  Also, by using no sulfates, it should help you to increase the amount of time between shampoos (I can go up to a week without shampooing, you can too!)
2. No Silicones: Believe me, it can be hard in order to find a product without any silicones in it however, if you do a google search or look on naturally curly, you can find a list of silicone free products.  What silicones do is coat the hair, providing a smooth and shiny appearance to the scalp.  However, it also prevents moisture from entering the cuticle, making the hair dryer and thus - in curly hair - creating frizz.  Removing silicones from your hair care can provide the same humidity resistance but without the frizz.
3. Avoid Heat: Hair should be air dried in order to help preserve the manageability of the hair and limit damage.  If you do use a blowdryer, make sure you use a finger diffuser with it and put a silicone free heat protector in your hair.  Also, hair should only be dried up to 80%, in order to prevent frizz from popping up. Also, do not touch your hair when it is wet.  If your hair is crunchy, wait until it is completely dry before scrunching out the crunch.
4. Before Beginning the Curly Girl Method, do a clarifying wash: This will remove any unwanted silicones from the hair and prevent product buildup.
5. Haircut every 4 to 6 weeks: This will help keep your hair in good shape and health.  Depending on the length of your hair and the amount of things you do to it, depends on how often you should get your hair cut.  If your hair is shorter and you wish to maintain the style, I would recommend going in every 4 to 5 weeks.
6. Use a microfiber towel: Or an old t-shirt in order to dry your hair.  Don't rub or ruffle your hair to get out the moisture.  Instead, scrunch it in order to remove the majority of the water without causing frizz.
7. Do not brush your hair: Please, whatever you do, do not brush your hair, for it will cause more tangles and split ends for you. Instead, use a wide tooth comb or your fingers (I prefer this method) in order to comb out your hair.  This will help maintain the health and decrease the damage that could be done.

Hopefully, this was helpful to someone out there.  If you have any questions, please feel free to post below and I will answer them to the best of my abilities!