Curly Girl Method | How To Get Started

Curly Girl Method Steps

Curly Girl Steps

All products must be sulfate or silicone free. Silicones end in xane, conol, and cone.

This is a link to the method with pictures:
 http://www.wikihow.com/Follow-the-Curly-Girl-Method-for-Curly-Hair

Step 1: CLARIFY: Clarify twice with sulfate shampoo for the last time, make sure it is silicone free...save it just in case you accidentally use cones.

Step 2: CLEANSE: Do NOT use regular shampoo. Use a CG approved cleanser only: Use a sulfate free shampoo (low poo) if you are extremely oily or a silicone free conditioner to cowash (conditioner washing the scalp, instead of using shampoo.) Cowash with a light conditioner if you are more oily or a thicker more moisturizing one if you are dry, put it on your finger tips, massage the scalp well, then rinse. Just do the scalp, the cleanser will rinse the tips and pull the impurities off of the hair.

Step 3: CONDITION: Use a thicker more moisturizing conditioner (called a rinse out conditioner), let sit while washing the rest of your body, detangle with your fingers or a wide toothed comb only, then rinse out completely or not if hair is drier and curl type is stronger. If you cannot detangle, add more conditioner. You should have slip when you are detangling. I rinse mine out halfway until the point that my hair feels like seaweed still.

Step 4: LEAVE IN: Use leave in conditioner. It can be any conditioner. If you're dry use the moisturizing one, if it's too heavy use the lighter one. Skip this step if you are fine, get weighed down easily or don’t have dry hair. You should have enough leave in to have slip and should be able to rake your ringers through with slip and no resistance. Smooth it on or rake it in.

Step 5: Smooth or rake, and then scrunch stylers into hair: Gel, mousse (I do not like it at all), curl enhancing gel, cream gel, cream or butter. Smooth the products in for a more curly look and rake them in for a more elongated or wavy look.

Step 6: Air dry, plop, or diffuse. Diffusing may give more volume, less frizz, and tighter curls. Plopping may not work on shorter hair types or tighter curl patterns.


Keep it simple in the beginning.

Four steps: cleanse (cowash or low poo), rinse out, leave in, styler (gel or cream or butter.)

Use only one cleanser. Use only one conditioner as a rinse out and the same one as a leave in. Use only on gel/cream.

Example: Suave naturals cowash, thicker rinse out like GVP conditioning balm, and La looks sports gel (or herbal essence totally twisted if you're nervous of hard gel) or Shea Moisture Smoothie if you need a cream if you are a tighter curl pattern.

POROSITY and DENSITY HELPS YOU PICK PRODUCTS:

Use Shea Moisture if you are higher porosity from heat, dye, or bleach damage. Your hair may not look dull and feel rough and dry. You may also just have naturally higher porosity hair.

If you are low porosity you GVP Matrix conditioning balm from Sally’s, As I am, or Kinky Curly. Your hair may look shiny and feel smoother than higher porosity.

Only change on thing at a time, including technique, so you know what's working.

Products
Most sulfate and silicone products are in the natural hair or natural cosmetic/body area of Wa-lmart, Sally's, Target, TJMax, Whole Foods and Marshall’s. You can find them on amazon and Curlmart.com.

Sulfate shampoo to clarify, use twice, then never again, unless you accidentally use silicones: Suave naturals is good.

Cowashes: Suave naturals (the cheap one for a dollar, not suave professionals), Tresseme naturals (heavier), vo5 (lighter), As I Am cowash

Sulfate free shampoo: Shea moisture retention (moisturizing doesn't strip, lathers but can build up on low porosity hair), eden tea tree or gud to help oily hair transition it’s not CG approved but has a milder sulfate (from Sally's, deeper cleanse, may strip if not careful, only use on roots if used daily)

Rinse out: The thicker, the more moisturizing: Tresseme naturals (light), GVP Matrix biolage conditioning balm (from Sally's, thicker), Shea moisture conditioner (most moisturizing, pick the gold or pink one to start. May build up on low porosity.)

Leave in: High porosity: Shea moisture milk. Low porosity: Kinky Curky Knot Today or As I Am leave in.

Curl enhancing gels/creams: Ecostyler, Flax Seed Gel (home made), Kinky curly Knot Custard (Target), Camille Rose Curl Maker, Shea Moisture Smoothie (better for second day hair, porous hair or curlier hair types), eden curl cream, cantu curl cream.

Gels: La Looks Sports gel (best affordable strong hold), Aussie insta freeze (moderately strong hold), Biosilk rock hard gel (extreme hold), Herbal essence totally twisted (medium hold)

Best all purpose conditioners: Tesseme naturals (cowash, rinse out, leave in), Sauve Naturals Cowash and refresher.

I'm not a fan of mousse anymore like I was, so I don't have a lot to say other than if you want to use it try herbal essence totally twisted. It doesn't give me the hold and curl definition I am looking for. It feels heavier with more product residue.

The more you move up in curl type the dryer the hair, usually, so you need more moisture. Add oils.


Styling:

The basics: Leave in and gel or just leave in if you are curlier

Type 2 Waives
Fine wavies:
LEG- L-liquid (water), E-Curl enhancer, and harder gel
LOG- L-Leave in/liquid, O-Oil, G-Gel (add just a couple drops of a light oil like joboba or sunflower if you are very dry)

Porous or curly wavies:
LEG- L-liquid (water), E-Curl enhancer, and harder gel
LOG- L-Leave in/liquid, O-Oil, G-Gel
LOEG- L-leave in/liquid (water), O-oil, E-Curl enhancer, G-hard gel (summer)
LOCG- L-leave in/liquid (water), O-oil, C-Cream, G-hard gel (winter)


Type 3/4 Curlies
Condidtioner only
Leave in and gel
Leave in and oil
LOG- L-Leave in/liquid, O-Oil, G-Gel
LOC-L-leave in/liquid, O-oil, C-cream
LCO- L-Leave in/liquid, C-cream, O-oil (packs in moisture for lower porosity under the oil)
LOCG-L-leave in/liquid, O-oil, C-cream, G-gel (G gives definition) LOC- L-Leave in/liquid, O-oil, C-cream (Lock method to Lock in moisture) LCO- L-Leave in/liquid, C-cream, O-oil (packs in moisture for lower porosity under the oil)
LCOG- L-leave in/liquid, C-cream, O-oil, G-gel (G for definition)

Lock in your moisture with oils over your leave in: joboba, sunflower and grapeseed are lighter options. Coconut is heavier.


Deep conditioning
Use to jump start your transition to silicone and sulfate free. The sulfates dry and strip your hair of all moisture and without the silicone blocking the hair from the moisture in the air, your hair will frizz up to the moisture in the air. When your hair is moisturized it will stay down and not frizz. Lock in your moisture using penetrating oils in you deep conditioner.

Low porosity: Mix GVP conditioning balm, coconut, olive oil and/or sunflower oil and honey (moisture and shine)
High porosity: Mix coconut oil, olive oil, shea moisture retention masque, honey

More add ins: aloe vera juice (moisture), agave (moisture), yogurt (protein)

Add a shower cap or walmart bag, add heat if you want (good for low porosity), leave in at least 20 min. but best at least an hour or longer if you can avoid hydral fatigue.

You may have to low poo the oils out of your hair after deep conditioning.


Technique:

No towel drying, use t-shirts or a micro fiber towel. Towels suck the moisture out of your curls and create frizz. Curls need moisture. The towel creates friction and frizz. No brushes.

Apply products when hair is soaking wet, unless you are a finer type. If so, dry the hair first, then add stylers so you don’t get weighed down. Tilt head over for more body on top. Rake product with fingers for more of a wavy look, smooth products over hair with your hands like you are praying for a more curly look. Then scrunch all stylers into hair. After stylers are in scrunch water out of hair gently with a t-shirt or microfiber towel. Stop if it begins to frizz. If your hair has no slip and snags when raking and feels dry, add more leave in. If it’s frizzing, wet add more leave in, water, or gel. Frizzing wet hair could also be build up. If the hair isn’t clumping, add more leave in, gel or curl enhancer. If the hair is weighed down and not curling up when wet, it’s weighed down and something is too heavy in the technique. If it doesn’t set, right it, it won’t look right.

Plop to soak water out of hair and decrease dry time and create volume on top, plop for just 5-15 minutes if you get weird curls. Put a microfiber towel inside the t-shirt to absorb more water faster. Change t-shirts after the first one is damp to absorb even more water out. Can sleep in a plop if you don't get wonky curls when you plop. It may not work on very tight curls or short hairstyles.

Don't touch hair while it's drying!!! Use a diffuser and pixie diffuse just air dry. Once gel cast starts to form, push diffuser into hair for more body flip head over for more volume on top.

No brushing hair! Comb only with a very wide toothed comb or finger comb when conditioner is in wet hair. Finger combing allows best curl formation and is best for preventing breakage.

Pineapple: Go to bed with a loose scrunchy holding your hair on the top front part of your head to wake up to volume on top and intact curls just wet hair with water in a spray bottle and scrunch. Satin pillowcases reduce frizz also. I sleep on it without pineappling sometimes and my hair looks fine. You may have to refresh a little more for second day hair.

Refresh your curls with water, spray gel (mix gel and water in water bottle), conditioner, curl cream or a combo depending on your hair. A great spray combo is equal parts conditioner, water, and gel. I get frizzy from spraying the hair, so I just wet my hands, then add leave in, oil, and gel as needed. Refresh them in them in the morning, evening or if you style you hair and it didn't work out the way you wanted and it isn't curly and is frizzy.

Trouble shooting
If your curls aren't looking right, you may have not got all the silicone out of your hair. Try another sulfate shampoo and start from step one.

You will be very dry in the beginning from stripping sulfate shampoo and silicone blocking your moisture and may look worse before you look better because CG leaves the hair naked and it is no longer covered up by silicone (it’s synthetic oil and acts like rubber caulking) so you see the hair in its true state. Deep condition a lot. If you have damage, after deep conditioning a lot to restore moisture into your parched stripped hair, you can add protein and do a protein treatment if needed if you have heat, bleaching, or dye damage. Some people are protein sensitive, so be careful and experiment with protein before doing one because too much protein can cause brittle dry hair and breakage.

Also, clarify with sulfate free shampoo once a week or month as needed to remove build up from heavier products. If your hair is frizzing wet, it may be build up.


Have fun and play with it!!!

 Raquel

How to Oil Curly or Wavy Hair!

 Contrary to popular belief, oil does not actually moisturize the hair, water does. An oil seals in the moisture, which is what moisturizes the hair. Oils can be used as pre-shampoo treatments or over leave in conditioners (or regular conditioner used as a leave in) to seal in the moisture in the hair. They can also be added to regular conditioner to make a deep conditioning treatment. Some people use the oil only directly applied to the hair as a deep conditioning treatment. A deep conditioning oil treatment and a pre-shampoo oil treatment are the same process, but the reason for doing the treatment may be different. Any time you are deep conditioning, adding heat will always increase the treatment's ability to work better. If oiling only, you can oil even overnight or all day with no issues. However, if deep conditioning using conditioner; I recommend no more than an hour to avoid hydral fatigue. The minimum for deep condition to get a decent effect is about 15 to 30 minutes. Tips for deep conditioning are using a beanie cap over a shower cap, a hooded dryer, or a towel thrown in the dryer so it gets hot and then wrapping the hair up in it like a turban. Pre-shampoo (pre-wash or pre-poo) treatments are excellent if you need to clarify your hair from build up, shea butter, or hard water that can cause limp curls, flakes or itchy scalp; but you don't to want to end up with dried out frizzy hair. Also, pre-wash treatments can help with protein loss. The oils trap the proteins in your hair, so you don't lose them after washing. 

When looking at ingredients in your conditioners and stylers be aware of the properties and heaviness of these oils. It can help you pick the correct product for your hair type or the correct oil for the time of year when doing the LOC or the LOCG method. Oils that are added over a leave in or included in a leave in conditioner help soften the crunch in a hair gel. If you are having trouble with crunchy hair from gel, try a little oil or a leave in containing oil. Start with just a few drops or less, depending on your hair thickness, of a light oil. You can use a light oil to SOTC as well. Listed below are oils that are locally found in your grocery store in the cooking oil aisle or at your health food store. 

Penetrating Oils

These oils soak into the hair. They are usually better for deep conditioning or pre-shampoo treatments because the oils sink down into the hair and remain in the hair after the hair has been washed, locking the moisture into the hair. They are best for pre-shampoo treatments because they penetrate into the hair and decrease water's ability to enter the hair during the washing process, which causes the hair to swell and over time can cause hydral fatigue. Hygral fatigue is usually a direct result of high porosity in hair. It is the weakening of hair caused by the strands swelling during the uptake of water and contracting when the water is lost. The swelling and contracting of the strands weakens them substantially and increases the likelihood of breakage. Penetrating oils seal moisture the hair on the inside. Some oils have both sealing and penetrating properties. Some have more penetrating properties and less sealing or vice versa. 

Deep Penetrating Oils

• Coconut Oil - medium weight oil (Penetrates and seals, the only oil that truly penetrates deep inside the hair shaft, acts as a protein and prevents protein loss, helps with breakage and is great for length retention, may be heavy for fine wavies, make not work for protein sensitive hair types)
• Sunflower Oil - very light oil (Penetrates, but not as deeply as coconut oil, excellent for adding shine)

Mostly Penetrating Oils (heaviest to lightest)

• Olive Oil - heavy oil
• Avocado Oil -heavy oil 
• Canola Oil - medium weight oil (can be very oily)
• Sweet Almond Oil - light oil

Make a DIY deep conditioner with any of these oils, honey and your favorite conditioner! Try adding a teaspoon or less, depending on your hair thickness, to start. Mix the oil and honey into your conditioner.

Sealing Oils

These oils do not penetrate and coat the outer layer of the hair. They seal and lock in the moisture that is already in the hair. They form a film on the exterior of the hair and seal it, whereas penetrating oils sink down into the hair. They add shine, lubrication (so the hair is more easy to manipulate), and increase softness. 

• Jojoba Oil - light oil (Plant wax that is very similar to our own hair sebum, adds shine)

Mostly Sealing Oils (heaviest to lightest) (These penetrate somewhat)

• Castor Oil - very heavy oil (great heavy sealer, provides great shine, great for hot oil scalp massage treatments, stimulates hair growth and hair strength at the follicle, but not able to remove with conditioner only methods, must use low poo or must be a PEG-Castor which is water soluble)
• Shea Butter - heavy oil ( butter is just an oil in solid form, great sealer especially on porous types, may build up in the hair and need occasional low poo to remove, too heavy on many fine, wavy or low porosity types and can weigh the hair down and make it look greasy)
• Grapeseed oil - light oil (can get oily if using too much, penetrates somewhat, so good for some low porosity types to pre-poo or deep condition)
• Safflower oil - light oil (light shiner)

Penetrating and Sealing Oil

• Argan Oil - very light (adds shine to the hair, but also can deeply moisturize)

You must experiment with all these oils to see what works best on your hair type. You can use either a penetrating or sealing oil as the O step in the LOC or LOCG styling method. If you have low porosity hair, try the LCO or the LCOG method with a light oil, so you don't seal out the moisturizing properties in the cream. For porous types, LOC works because it traps in the moisture as soon as possible and layers the cream over it. It is really is all trial and error, but these are some good experienced guesses based on my hair type (2c/3a, porous and coarse) and research. 

Suggestions Based on Hair Type:

Low Porosity and/or Fine Hair

• Coconut oil pre-poo, if too heavy, try sunflower or grapeseed oil 
• DIY deep conditioner  -
•  Sunflower oil, honey and conditioner
• Oil to seal (your leave in conditioner)
• Argan (lighter)
• Joboba (light)
• Grapeseed (light-medium, heavy on some wavies)

Medium Hair 

• Coconut oil pre-poo, if protein sensitive, try olive oil
• DIY deep conditioner  
• Olive oil, honey, and conditioner
• Any penetrating oil, honey, and conditioner
• Oil to seal (your leave in conditioner)
• Argan (lighter)
• Joboba (light)
• Grapeseed (light-medium, heavy on some wavies)
• Sweet almond oil (medium-light)
• Coconut Oil (medium, heavy on many wavies, good in the winter to penetrate and seal, good for curlier or coarser wavies, light for high density/coarser types)

High Porosity and/or Coarse/Thick Hair

• Coconut oil pre-poo, if protein sensitive, try olive oil
• DIY deep conditioner  
• Olive oil, honey, and conditioner
• Any heavy penetrating oil, honey, and conditioner
• Oil to seal (your leave in conditioner)
• Argan (lightest)
• Sunflower (lighter)
• Joboba (lighter)
• Grapeseed (light)
• Sweet almond oil (light)
• Coconut Oil (medium, heavy on some finer types, good in the winter to penetrate and seal, good for curlier or coarser wavies, light for high density/coarser types, does not work well for protein senstive types)
• Shea Butter (medium-heavy, great sealer, heavy on some, seals out the humidity, I don't seal with it, but it acts as a sealer in my stylers and conditioners)
• Castor Oil (very very heavy, awesome sealer, can get oily or heavy, good for porous hair or winter, too heavy for me, I don't seal with it, but it is great in lower amounts in my stylers when I need extra moisture)
• Olive Oil (very heavy, only for higher density very coarse hair, too heavy for me, I don't seal with it, but it is fine in my conditioners or stylers when I need extra moisture)

http://www.blackhairinformation.com/growth/deep-conditioning/porosity-and-hygral-fatigue-two-problems-one-solution/

http://www.curlynikki.com/2015/05/is-your-favorite-oil-moisturizer-or.html

http://science-yhairblog.blogspot.com/2013/06/oils-which-ones-soak-in-vs-coat-hair.html

http://www.hairboutique.com/tips/tip000453.htm

Porosity- Learn What Your Hair Wants

Porosity- Learn What Your Hair Wants

Knowing your porosity is helpful for picking product. For instance, Shea butter may be heavy and not penetrate the hair shaft for many low porosity hair types. Glycerin is a strong humectant and can be a problem for porous type 2-3 curlies and may cause frizz in the summer and dryness in the winter because it can cause the hair to swell up to the moisture in the air and frizz in the summer and pull the moisture out of the hair in the winter when the air is very dry. Low porosity hair loves humectant based product to draw moisture into the hair. High porosity loves oils and butter to trap the moisture into the hair, unless you are very fine or wavy.

If you are unsure of your porosity, there's easy tests. These are guidelines and don't always work on everyone. 

Easy version:

1. Run your fingers down a strand of hair, if it's rough it's porous. If it's smooth it's low porosity.

2. Put your hair that has no product on it in water, if it sinks all the way it's high porosity. If it floats it's low or medium. If it's in the middle, it's medium.

3. Squeeze your index and thumb finger tightly and run backwards up the hair by pulling the hair down through your fingers, if it squeaks it's low porosity.

4. How quickly does your hair get wet in the shower? If it gets wet quickly and sucks up water, it is high. If it's hard to get the hair wet it, it's lower.

5. If your hair dries slowly, it is probably low porosity. If it dries quickly, it is probably high, unless it's very thick.

More info:

Test 1: When washing your hair notice how long it takes for your hair to become saturated and fully wet. Hair that wets easily is porous, much like a new sponge. There is also a possibility that you hair could be covered with to many hair care products such as oils and conditioners. Additionally consider how long it takes your hair to dry, hair that dries quickly is porous as the cuticle layers are open and allow air flow.

Test 2: Wash and condition your hair as normal. Towel dry (do not add any other products). Gather one strand of hair and run your index finger and thumb along the shaft starting from the end of the hair strand to the root. Low porosity will feel slick, normal porosity will feel smooth, and high porosity you will feel catches as you move your fingers down the shaft.

Test 3: Take a few strands of hair (from comb or hair brush) and place in a bowl of water. If the hair sinks to the bottom of the bowl in less than a minute or two, it is porous. If only a part of the strand sinks your hair is porous in certain areas and this is quite common.

Low porosity like humectants to draw water into the hair. High likes oils to seal moisture into the hair. Unless you are very fine or wavy.

Curls need moisture, it creates hydrogen bonds in the shaft to help the curls, like tightening a spring. Unless you are finer, wavy, or overconditioned. In that case, there's too much water weight on the spring weighing the spring down.

High porosity needs to be sealed with antihumectants (natural oils) or it will lose moisture and frizz. Too much humectants (which attract water into the hair) on porous hair will cause it to swell, frizz up, and become tangled. That's why some porous people can use heavier shea products to help seal. I use a humectant gel, but I use it over my sealed hair. Before when I used it without the natural oils under, my hair was a dry frizzy crispy mess. 

Medium porosity can use products with both anti humectants and humectants sometimes.

Low porosity needs humectants to help draw the water into the hair because the cuticle scales lie flat and aren't open. Usually, the heavier oils block water from going into the hair...you can seal with a lighter oil if you need to seal in the the moisture but since it's a lighter oil it allows water to still pass into the hair slightly...the hair is sucking in water from the air more than it's letting it out. Also, since low porosity won't let anything in or out, you need conditioners and humectants to draw the moisture into the hair if it is dry and lighter oils or ones in milk form to allow moisture into the hair.

This doesn't always work, but it's a starting place. Also if your hair feels smooth it's low, rougher is high. I did protein treatments to rebuild my hair gaps. It's making my hair shinier, less frizzy, and curlier (strengthening my natural curl pattern). My hair has bleach, brushing, straightening, and heat damage, thus creating gaps in the hair cuticle (surface area). I'm also noticing I'm needing less condish and less Shea because my cuticles aren't needing as much sealing and they're retaining moisture better.  After being CG for  year, I have have some hair that is low porosity in the unbleached healthier areas and the dyed and bleached hair is higher porosity. I am finally able to use more humectants and glycerin in my products and leaving all my condition in is helping seal the porous areas of my hair much better.

http://ezinearticles.com/?Do-You-Know-How-to-Check-Your-Hair-Porosity%3F&id=6207835

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/ist/?next=/science-nature/why-humidity-makes-your-hair-curl-21127724/

http://www.chocolatehairvanillacare.com/2012/05/humectants-what-they-are-and-when-we.html

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN-ivZiv_QOIbdmVQQ3TC0R9NMmO57422YS34AwIv08vqCPu9NDIxLAlAcIuGyhgUEjH28uXyWjP9voD6S47b42wb9YU9akPaGssaWjfiE19yg7paIbqmUAs4zXlYLyUVHtvOlnSAwWxuH/s1600/hairporosity.jpg

http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=pic+of+porosity&view=detailv2&&id=68BCB3CF5C21D6E5A8C28272C9D5EAEC58D72D3C&selectedIndex=125&ccid=U7AoC%2bAc&simid=608015246417003804&thid=OIP.M53b0280be01c2f73e751c132f611881do0&ajaxhist=0

Product Suggestions and Styling Based on Porosity, Thickness and Curl Pattern

Product Suggestions Based on Porosity and Density

A lot of curlies and wavies struggle with CG because they are picking the wrong products for their hair type. You must take the time to learn you hair properties. If you are a fine haired wavy loading your hair up with Shea butter, heavy conditioner and oil constantly, you are going to eventually have product build up and greasy limp waves or curls. Here's my suggestions based on your hair type. Of course, CG is all trial and error and I cannot guarantee they will work for you, but I can give you an experienced guess.

These are listed in order of lightest to heaviest based on my research.

Cowashes (using conditioner to cleanse the hair): 
Vo5
Suave Naturals (the one for a dollar)
Your regular conditioner
Yes to Carrots
Eden BodyWorks Cowash
DevaCurl No Poo
Devacurl Decandence No Poo
As I Am Cowash (has castor cil, could build up)
Camille Rose Caramel Cowash

You can use ANY conditioner to cleanse the hair, but conditioners advertised as cowashes have more cleansing properties.

Low Poo (occasional use for build up)
All Shea Moisture Shampoos
DevaCurl Low Poo
Eden Tea Tree Tingle (clarifying, use sparingly)
Kinky Curly Come Clean (very clarifying)
Ion Hard Water Shampoo (for those with hard water)

Conditioners (Rinse Out):

All hair types
Tresseme Undone (May be too light for coarser/porous types)
Tresseme Naturals
Yes to Carrots
Nature's Gate Pomagrante and Sunflower
Generic Value Matrix Biolage Conditioning Balm from Sally's (has parabens)Tresseme Naturals
DevaCurl One Condition

For higher porosities and densities, leave in all the conditioner and do not rinse it out or just rinse the roots. Finer/wavy types can rinse it all out or rinse out or add more ears down or away from the roots down.

Fine/Thin Hair or Low Porosity

Suave Naturals
Tresseme Undone
Tresseme Naturals (the avocado oil in it may weigh down very fine haired wavies)
Generic Value Matrix Biolage Conditioning Balm from Sally's (has parabens)
DevaCurl One Condition

Coarse/Thick Hair or High Porosity

Tresseme Naturals
Yes to Carrots
DevaCurl One Condition
DevaCurl Decadence One Condition
All Shea Moisture Conditioners and Masques
Shea Moisture Raw Shea Butter Restorative Conditioner Conditioner

Leave in Conditioners:

You can leave your regular conditioner in as a leave in or after you rinse it all out, you can use it as your leave in. Or you may have better results adding a leave in to your routine, after rinsing out all the conditioner or adding more on top of your regular conditioner if you left it all in.

Medium Thickness or Normal Porosity
As I Am Leave In
Kinky Curly Knot Today Leave In
DevaCurl B' Leave In
Your Rinse Out Conditioner
Shea Moisture Milk (can be heavy on some textures)
Shea Moisture Jamaican Black Castor Oil Leave in  (can be heavy on some textures)


Fine/Thin Hair or Low Porosity 
As I Am Leave In
Kinky Curly Knot Today Leave In
DevaCurl B' Leave In (can be heavy on fine wavies)
Camille Rose Coconut Water Leave in
Your Rinse Out Conditioner

If you are a fine wavy, you may not need a leave in. especially if your hair looks weighed down.

Coarse/Thick Hair or High Porosity
As I Am Leave In (may be too light)
Kinky Curly Knot Today Leave In (may be too light)
DevaCurl B' Leave In
Your Rinse Out Conditioner
Camille Rose Coconut Water Leave in (may be too light)
Shea Moisture Milk (lighter)
Camille Rose Moisture Milk
Shea Moisture Jamaican Black Castor Oil Leave in

Creams (not needed for fine wavies...except possibly in the extreme cold, apply over your leave in)
DevaCurl Styling Cream (light, good for low porosity or finer types but also good for thick/porous)
DevaCurl Supercream (a little heavier, very volumizing)
Camille Rose Whipped Aloe Butter Gel
Eden BodyWorks Coconut Shea Curl Defining Curl Creme
Camille Rose Almond Jai Twisting Butter
Camille Rose Coconut Water Style Setter (has castor oil, great shine, can get heavy with too much)
Shea Moisture Curl Enhancing Smoothie (heavie, forms up the curls and stops frizz)

Curl Enhancing Gels or Custards (use over leave in or creams)
Flax Seed Gel (FSG)- (homemade, can freeze and can customize with additional ingredients, awesome definition)
Jessicurl Rocking Ringlets (Similar to FSG, with lots of salt for curl enhancement)
Ecostyler (not exactly a curl enhancer, but gives good definition and curl clumping if your hair loves protein, it will tighter the curls)
Kinky Curl Custard (wavies love this stuff for curl enhancement tighter curlies love the definition)
Mop Top Custard (many like it better than Kinky Curly)
Shea Moisture Curling Souffle (heavier than Kinky Curly and too heavy for fine wavies good definition)

Gels (used over leave ins, cream, or curl enhancing gels, listed lighter to harder hold)
Ecostyler (protein heavy, light hold, type 2-4 hair)
DevaCurl Light Defining gel
GVP Sebastian Wet (great for finer hair that gets crunchy or weighed down easily type 2-3 hair)
Jessicurl Spiralicious (good for fine to normal types)
La Looks Nutra Curl (light hold)
La Looks Mega (medium hard hold, may be crunchy if you're very fine, or don't use much/very moisturizing leave in, mix (cocktail) with a lighter gel if you like, type 2-3 hair)
La Looks Sports gel (very hard hold, type 2-3 hair)
La Looks Extreme Spikes Gel (very very hard hold gel, type 2-3)
Beyond the Zone Bada Bing Gel (this feels like a mixture of La looks sports gel and Biosilk Rock Hard Gelee, clumps well)
Biosilk Rock Hard Gelee (extreme hard hold, wavies love this cocktailed with kinky curly custard for ultimate lightweight curl enhancement, hold and volume, it has protein which fine hair loves and holds the waves up, apply with wet hands and mix with another clumping or curl enhancing gel if you can't get it to clump well)

Mousse (not a huge fan of them because they don't have much hold so they don't provide much definition and don't fight frizz as well, but many fine wavies that do not have much frizz love them)
Herbal Essence Totally Twisted
DevaCurl Foam
Tresseme Sea Foam
Shea Moisture Fruit Fusion Coconut Water Mousse (has a drying alcohol, but is so moisturizing it didn't affect me...it's the only product I use with an alcohol and not often...this is the best mousse I have tried actually)

You can use mousse alone, over leave in or under gel for more volume without being weighed down by a cream.

You can layer products in these methods:
CO - Conditioner only (one product for cowash, leave in and styler)
M - Mousse
LG - Leave in and gel (the basics of the curly girl method, can leave all your regular conditioner in)
LM - Leave in and mousse
LC - Leave in and curl cream
LCG - Leave in, curl cream and gel
LCEG - Leave in, curl cream, curl enhancing gel and hard hold gel.
LO - Leave in and oil
LOC - Leave in, oil and curl cream
LOCG - Leave in, oil, curl cream and gel
LOG - Leave in, oil, gel
LEG - Leave in, enhancing gel, and hard hold gel
LMG - Leave in, mousse and gel
E- Enhancing gel (fine wavy types)
EG - Enhancing gel and hard hold gel (fine waives wanting curl enhancement and volume)

CG Acronyms and Abbreviations

CG Acronyms and Abbreviations

Common terms:

CG - Curly girl method, by Lorraine Massey based on her book Curly girl, a method for caring for curly/wavy hair

CO - Conditioner only washed or styled

Cowashed – Washed with conditioner instead of using shampoo

RO - rinse out conditioner (use and rinse out like you normally use conditioner after cowashing or low pooing, some curlies leave it all in as a leave in conditioner)

Condish - Conditioner

DIY - Do it yourself

EO - Essential Oil

HHG - Hard hold gel

HG - Holy Grail (the ONE product that won’t let you down)

LI - Leave in conditioner

Low poo- Mild sulfate Free Shampoo

SOTC - Scrunch out the crunch, scrunch the hair after the gel dries and the cast hardens, wil reveal gorgeous curls

Conditioners:

AO - Aubry Organics

CJ - Curl Junkie

Cure Care (Sally's)

CRCLI - Camille Rose Coconut Leave In

DB - Darcy's Botanicals

GF PC - Garnier Fructis Pure Clean

GVP CB - GVP Conditioning Balm (Sally's, generic Biolage)

KCKT- Kinky Curly Knot Today (leave in)

Renpure- Renpure Organics

SM - Shea Moisture

SN - Suave Naturals

SNES - Suave Naturals Everlasting Sunshine

SNTC - Suave Naturals Tropical Coconut

Too Shea - Jessicurl Too Shea! Conditioner

TN - Tresemme Naturals

VO5

YTC - Yes To Carrots, Yes to Cucumbers or Yes to Coconuts

YTB - Yes to Blueberries

Stylers:

AIA CJ - As I Am Curling Jelly (Sally's)

AIF- Aussie Instant Freeze

ABSHG - Alba Botanica Strong Hold Gel

Arc Angel- Diva Care Arc Angel

AVG- Aloe Vera Gel (all natural AVG only)

B-Leavin – Deva Curl B-leavin

BRHG - Biosilk Rock Hard Gel

BTZBBG - Beyond the Zone Bada Bing Gel

CK - Curl Keeper

CR - Camille Rose

CR CM - Camille Rose Curl Maker

CRLMM - Camille Rose Love Moisture Milk

CRWAG - Camille Rose Whipped Aloe Butter Gel

ECO - Ecostyler Gel

FFVF - Deva Frizz Free Volumizing Foam

FSG - Flax seed gel (homemade)

Gelebration - Jessicurl Gelebration Spray

GFPC - Garnier Fructis Pure Clean Gel

Got 2B SU - Got 2B Spiked Up Gel

HE SMU - Herbal Essences Set Me Up

HEBE - Herbal Essences Body Envy

HE TMS - Herbal Essences Tousle Me Softly, usually the mousse

HETT - Herbal Essences Totally Twisted

KCCC - Kinky Curly Curling Custard

KCSS - Kinky Curly Spiral Spritz

KY- KY Jelly (dupe for Curl Keeper)

JCRR or RR - Jessicurl Rockin Ringlets (Rockin Ringlets)

LALM – La Looks Mega Hold Gel

LALNC - LA Looks Nutra Curl

LALES – La Looks Extreme Spikes gel

LALSG- LA Looks Sports Gel

Lube – KY jelly or other personal lubricant  

MJMC - Miss Jessie's Multicultural Curls

OMHUS - Original Moxie Hold Up Defining Serum

Recoil- AG Recoil

SMCM- Shea Moisture Curl Milk

SMCES- Shea Moisture Smoothie

SMCGS- Shea Moisture Curling Gel Souffle

SCC- Suave Captivating Curls Spray Gel

UDF- DivaCurl Ultra Defining Gel

Treatments:

ACV - Apple cider vinegar (clarifier)

BS - Baking Soda (clarifier)

CJ RM - Curl Junkie Repair Me

CJ Rehab - Curl Junkie Rehab

DC – Deep conditioning treatment (also could mean Deva Curl)

DT - Deep (conditioning) treatment

EVCO - extra virgin coconut oil

EVOO - extra virgin olive oil

Gelatin PT- Homemade gelatin protein treatment

IEC - Ion Effective Care Treatment (Sally's) (Protein)

NPF - Neutral Protein Filler

PT - protein treatment

SMSBDT - Shea Moisture Raw Shea Butter Deep Treatment Masque

Rehab - Curl Junkie Rehab

Brands:

AIA - AS I AM

BB- Burt's Bees

BTZ – Beyond the Zone

CK - Curl Keeper

CR or CRN - Camille Rose Naturals

DB - Darcy's Botanicals

DC - DevaCurl/DevaCare (could also mean deep conditioning treatment)

Deva - Deva Care or Deva Curl

GF - Garnier Fructis

HE - Herbal Essences

KC - Kinky Curly

KMF- Kiss My Face

LAL - LA Looks 

MJ - Miss Jessie's

JC- Jessicurl

KC- Kinky Curly (Target, Whole Foods)

OM- Original Moxie

SM - Shea Moisture

SN - Suave Naturals

TN - Tresseme Naturals

UFD- Uncle Funky's Daughter

YTB – Yes to Blueberries

YTC - Yes to Carrots

Misc terms:

APL- Arm pit length
AVG- Aloe vera gel (natural kind)

AVJ- Aloe vera juice

BSL- Bra strap length hair

Clipping- Using clips to add volume to hair

FCOTD- Favorite Curl of the day

FWOTD- Favorite Wave of the day

LHC- The Long Hair Community

NC- NC.com- Naturallycurly.com, usually referring to the curl talk forum

Pineapple- A high, loose ponytail with a scrunchie worn at night (looks a little like a pineapple)

Pixie or Pixie Diffusing- Pixie Curl Diffusing (see link below)

PJ - product junkie, somebody who can’t stop buying curly girl products

Prepoo or prewash - something applied to hair before shampooing or cleansing, usually an oil

STC - Squish to condish (cup your hands with water and scrunch out your rinse out conditioner, while leaving some of it in, adding more conditioner as needed and rescrunching if not clumping and not feeling like seaweed. http://www.thereoncewasacurl.com/blog/squish-to-condish)

WHC- Wavy Hair Community

Oils:

AO – Argan Oil

CO - Coconut Oil (could mean castor oil too)

EVOO - Extra Virgin Olive Oil

GO - Grapeseed Oil

OO - Olive Oil

SO – Sunflower Oil

Bottom of Form

CG Ingredients: Sulfates and Silicones, etc.

Print this out for when you shop.  Have fun playing with your hair!!

Remember, sulfates are ingredients that contain "sulfate" or "sulfonate"; silicones end in -cone, -conol, -xane or include the word -silane but PEG modified silicones (PEG-,  PG- or PPG-) are acceptable; waxes contain the word "wax"; and drying alcohols often contain propyl, prop, eth, or denatured in the name. 

Modified CG information is included as well. If it’s not on the list assume it is CG friendly.

• Here is a list of sulfates to avoid: (“sulfate" or "sulfonate”)
  • Alkylbenzene sulfonates
  • Alkyl Benzene Sulfonate
  • Ammonium laureth sulfate
  • Ammonium lauryl sulfate
  • Ammonium Xylenesulfonate
  • Sodium C14-16 Olefin Sulfonate
  • Sodium cocoyl sarcosinate
  • Sodium laureth sulfate
  • Sodium lauryl sulfate
  • Sodium lauryl sulfoacetate
  • Sodium myreth sulfate
  • Sodium Xylenesulfonate
  • TEA-dodecylbenzenesulfonate
  • Ethyl PEG-15 cocamine sulfate
  • Dioctyl sodium sulfosuccinate
• Here is a list of gentle cleansers to look for:
  • Cocamidopropyl betaine
  • Coco betaine
  • Cocoamphoacetate
  • Cocoamphodipropionate
  • Disodium cocoamphodiacetate
  • Disodium cocoamphodipropionate
  • Lauroamphoacetate
  • Sodium cocoyl isethionate
  • behentrimonium methosulfate
  • disodium lautreth sulfosuccinate
  • babassuamidopropyl betaine

• Here is a list of silicones to avoid: (end in cone, -conol, –xane or include the word -silane)
• Dimethicone
• Bisaminopropyl dimethicone
• Cetearyl methicone
• Cetyl Dimethicone
• Cyclopentasiloxane
• Stearoxy Dimethicone
• Stearyl Dimethicone
• Trimethylsilylamodimethicone
• Amodimethicone
• Dimethicone
• Dimethiconol
• Behenoxy Dimethicone
• Phenyl trimethicone
• Aminopropyl Triethoxysilane

• Here is a list partially soluble silicones to avoid, but that could possibly be shampooed out with a sulfate free shampoo (use with caution, may build up and need a sulfate to remove)
• Cyclomethicones (cyclo-silicones, evaporating silicones, leave residue that must be shampooed out)
• Cyclopentasiloxane
• Cyclotetrasiloxane
• Cyclohexasiloxane
• Octamethyl cyclotetrasiloxane
• Water Soluble, but not water rinsable (must shampoo out)
• Silicone Quaternium-17 
• Lauryl Methicone Copolyol

• Water soluble silicones. These are exceptions that are OK: (The raw ingredients dissolve in water and rinse off with plain water. Shampoo may or may not be necessary to remove products containing these ingredients).

• Anything with a PEG-,  PG- or PPG- in the name: PEG-Dimethicone, or any other 'cone with "PEG-" suffix (water soluble)
• Dimethicone Copolyol (water soluble)
• Dimethicone-PG Diethylmonium Chloride
• Silicone Quaterniums 1-21 and more: (Quaternium-80, Quaternium 86, PEG-8 Distearmonium Chloride PG-Dimethicone, Silicone Quaternium-1, Silicone Quaternium-2, Silicone Quaternium-2 Panthenol Succinate, Silicone Quaternium-3, Silicone Quaternium-4, Silicone Quaternium-5, Silicone Quaternium-6, Silicone Quaternium-7, Silicone Quaternium-8, Silicone Quaternium-9, Silicone Quaternium-10, Silicone Quaternium-11, Silicone Quaternium-12, Silicone Quaternium-15, Silicone Quaternium-16, Silicone Quaternium-16/Glycidoxy Dimethicone Crosspolymer, Silicone Quaternium-18, Silicone Quaternium-19, Silicone Quaternium-20, Silicone Quaternium-21, Dimethicone Hydroxypropyl Trimonium Chloride, Hydroxyethyl Acetomonium PG-Dimethicone, Stearalkonium Dimethicone PEG-8 Phthalate, Steardimonium Hydroxypropyl Panthenyl PEG-7 Dimethicone Phosphate Chloride, and combinations thereof,
• Hydrolyzed Wheat Protein Hydroxypropyl Polysiloxane (water soluble)
• Hydrolyzed Wheat protein/hydroxypropyl polysiloxane and cystine/silicone co-polymers
• Hydrolyzed Wheat Protein PG-Propyl Silanetriol

Silicone look alikes, but are they not silicones, they are OK: (end in –one)

• Methychloroisothiazolinone - preservative
• Methylisothiazolinone – preservative
• Benzophenone-2, ( or 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10) – sunscreen
• Silicates: Inorganic minerals (Water soluble)

• Here is a list of waxes and non-natural oils to avoid:
  • Castor oil (Not CG friendly, but ok in the modified CG method and can be removed using a stronger low poo or a cleanser with Cocamidopropyl betaine or Coco betaine)
  • Mineral oil (parrifidium liquidium)
  • Petrolatum
  • Waxes: bees wax, candelia wax, etc.

• Waxes/Oils that are OK
  • Emulsifying Wax
  • PEG-Hydrogenated Castor Oil
  • Natural oils: Avocado oil, Olive oil, Coconut oil, etc.

• Here is a list of drying alcohols to avoid: (propyl, prop, eth, or denatured in the name)
  • Denatured alcohol
  • SD alcohol 40
  • Witch hazel
  • Isopropanol
  • Ethanol
  • SD alcohol
  • Propanol
  • Propyl alcohol
  • Isopropyl alcohol
• Here is a list of moisturizing alcohols to look for:
• Behenyl alcohol
• Cetearyl alcohol
• Cetyl alcohol
• Isocetyl alcohol
• Isostearyl alcohol
• Lauryl alcohol
• Myristyl alcohol
• Stearyl alcohol
• C30-50 Alcohols
• Lanolin alcohol
• Here is a list of miscellaneous alcohols:

• Benzyl alcohol (mostly used as preservative & has no effect on how hair looks and feels)
• Propylene Glycol (This type is often used as humectants in products) 

• Here an alcohol look alike, but is not an alcohol:

• phenoxyethanol (preservative)

Proteins (Some is good for the hair diet, especially damaged hair. However, normal hair, or protein sensitive hair could begin feel stiff, frizzy, and dry, then your hair is getting to much protein.)

• Here is a list of proteins that you can avoid or look for, depending on your hair type (anything that says hydrolyzed, silk, protein, collagen, keratin)
  • Cocodimonium hydroxypropyl hydrolyzed casein
  • Cocodimonium hydroxypropyl hydrolyzed collagen
  • Cocodimonium hydroxypropyl hydrolyzed hair keratin
  • Cocodimonium hydroxypropyl hydrolyzed keratin
  • Cocodimonium hydroxypropyl hydrolyzed rice protein
  • Cocodimonium hydroxypropyl hydrolyzed silk
  • Cocodimonium hydroxypropyl hydrolyzed soy protein
  • Cocodimonium hydroxypropyl hydrolyzed wheat protein
  • Cocodimonium hydroxypropyl silk amino acids
  • Cocoyl hydrolyzed collagen
  • Cocoyl hydrolyzed keratin
  • Hydrolyzed keratin
  • Hydrolyzed oat flour
  • Hydrolyzed silk
  • Hydrolyzed silk protein
  • Hydrolyzed soy protein
  • Hydrolyzed wheat protein
  • Hydrolyzed wheat protein
  • Keratin
  • Potassium cocoyl hydrolyzed collagen
  • TEA-cocoyl hydrolyzed collagen
  • TEA-cocoyl hydrolyzed soy protein

Polyquats (Could build up on finer, thin hair)

• Polyquaternium 4
• Other polyquats

Parabens (ok if you want to use them. There is nothing in them that will build up in your hair. Some believe they are a higher cancer risk and choose to avoid them. It's a personal choice)

• Preservatives

Build up

Build up can happen from water soluble cones, cyclmethicones, polyquats, shea butter even oil or hard water. Fine, thin, or low porosity hair is more sensitive to this. So I mostly low poo to prevent this. Some people even need to clarify once a month or so with a sulfate or diluted sulfate.

What does product build up look like? Heavy and coated, less curls and volume, dull, some have frizz. Weighed down, greasy, flat curls, no volume at the roots. I get an itchy scalp and white flakes that look like dandruff at my roots along the hair line. I have had to use a clarifying sulfate on occasion to get the build up out. You can prepoo with coconut oil so it shouldn't affect your curls much. I also use a hard water shampoo.

Check out these sources below, where I got the information from. 

Sources

http://www.naturallycurly.com/curlreading/products-ingredients/silicate-silicone-hair-products-the-real-dirt/
http://science-yhairblog.blogspot.com/2014/04/silicone-ingredient-solubility-list.html

http://iknowotherstuff.blogspot.com/2012/01/which-ingredients-to-avoid-with-curly.html

http://pedaheh.blogspot.com/2012/04/which-ingredients-to-avoid-in-curly.html

http://science-yhairblog.blogspot.com/2014/04/silicone-ingredient-solubility-list.html

http://www.google.com/patents/US7700530#v=onepage&q&f=false

http://m.wikihow.com/Determine-if-a-Hair-Product-is-Curly-Girl-Approved

http://www.naturallycurly.com/curlreading/curl-products/curlchemist-cyclomethicones-a-different-category-of-silicones/

http://www.chemcas.com/msds112/cas/4693/919-30-2.asp
http://www.naturallycurly.com/curlreading/curl-products/all-about-alcohols/