Styling Curly Hair

Your curls have a life of their own - and that's great! Nevertheless, it can sometimes be difficult to tame them, let alone find out what your hair needs to be healthy and strong. In this blog post, we'll show you how to give your locks the care routine that will make your hair irresistible in just 5 steps.

The Curly Girl Method
Developed by American hairstylist Lorraine Massey in the early 2000s, the Curly Girl Method is a 5-step hair care routine designed to support the natural shape of curls without stressing or damaging the hair. Very curly hair is extremely sensitive and tends to break easily. The Curly Girl Method is therefore essential for this hair type. However, the care routine is not only recommended for thick curls, wavy curl patterns also get their money's worth thanks to the gentle approach.

The method is based on 5 steps and a list of products to avoid in future. And this is how it works:

Avoid using the following:

Heat
Chemical substances
Silicones
Sulphates
Brushing/combing when the hair is dry
Perfume
Alcohol

The 5-step Curly Girl Method

The first step is to restore the curls to their natural state. Wash the hair with a silicone-free shampoo beforehand to restore it to its original state. Afterwards, the hair may appear extremely dry before starting the care routine, but that's not a bad thing.

Step 1: Cleansing
Wash the hair with conditioner or a silicone and sulphate-free shampoo. Originally, the Curly Girl Method did not use shampoo at all, only conditioner. This is recommended daily to provide the lengths with sufficient moisture. Try out a few variations here and decide for yourself how often you want to cleanse the hair.

Sulphate and silicone-free shampoos

Be Curly™ Co-Wash by Aveda
Keratin Tin by Biolage

Step 2: Condition
After cleansing the scalp and hair, nourishing conditioners provide the extra portion of moisture to revitalise damaged hair and provide it with important nutrients.
The following products are particularly suitable for this:

Nordic Berry Leave-in Spray Conditioner by Urtekram
Bio Leave-In Conditioner for Curly Hair by Hands on Veggies

Step 3: Detangling
Once the nourishing conditioner has been applied, it's the perfect time to detangle the hair. To do this, use a wide-toothed comb or your fingers and carefully run them through the locks. Then rinse the conditioner with cold water.

Step 4: Define
Start styling the curls while they are still wet! Apply curl creams or gels as desired and knead the products into the hair. Make sure that the hair is still saturated with water.

Step 5: Drying
Heat is an absolute no-go when following the Curly Girl Method. Either all the hair dry naturally or use the "plop" method. Tilt the head upside down and use a microfibre towel or t-shirt to gather the hair and gently press it against the head. Wrap the towel around the head as you would a turban or allow the hair to air dry. This will give the curls added definition. If you need to dry the hair quickly with a hairdryer, make sure to use the cold setting and diffuser attachment. Tilt the head upside down and diffuse the hair from the ends towards the scalp.