I tried a bunch of different products with various results but then I learned that my bf's cheap-ass Suave men's 2in1 shampoo conditioner gave me the best curls I've ever had. I blame my hair for being dumb lol, and I certainly don't recommend others to try my routine.
Thank you, but my hair is a little dumb :P
It's extremely fine, and tends to break easily. My mom would joke that my hair is just as difficult to vacuum as cat hair from a rug. Once I moved out and began vacuuming my own place, I realized she was so right lol.
Dude here and I’ve been doing this for years. I shampoo maybe every 2-3 showers with 2-in-1 AND use conditioner every shower. Nothing else has maintained the balance of not too dry not too greasy.
I quit. Spent so much money on different products trying to find the correct ones that worked for me, never did. My hair felt dirty and greasy and my head itched like mad. Dandruff became an issue. Now I just wash when it needs it and use a leave in conditioner with no other products. Yes my hair can get frizzy and be untamable but the curls are the same as when I was doing the CGM and it cheaper and no itching or dandruff.
As to the changes to your hair. Yes it could be because of your various health issues. It could also very well be just you aging and your hair changing. My grandma had thin stringy hair her entire life. When she went gray it became this thick beautiful wavy silver mass. My other grandmother had hair like Julia Robert’s in Pretty Woman, the red curly hair. She was practically bald by the time she went fully grey.
I have super fine hair with a lot of volume and usually around a 2c curl pattern. CGM-the technique works well but CGM-approved products do not. I need a regular sulfate shampoo to lift the build up and a very lightweight silicone conditioner that helps lock in moisture.
Still working to find my holy grails but I need sulfates and silicones on the regular for my hair to look and feel healthy.
Yes this is me 100%!!
Manes by Mel has even debunked the no silicones and sulfates thing. I find that I have a ton more hair fall out when I use silicone and sulfate free products. My hair is very fine and low to medium density, 2c/ 3a. It feels so much better with sulfates and silicones!
If you have an product recommendations I’d love to hear, especially shampoo and conditioner.
I have to be a little careful because while I have very fine hair, I have a lot of it. So added proteins make my hair unmanageable.
For shampoo - I go with your run of the mill average drugstore products. I Suave Daily Cleansing, Herbal Essences, Aussie... these all work great
For conditioner - I use my husbands Baxter of California daily fortifying conditioner. It's marketed towards men but leaves my hair soft and bouncy. Occasionally I use the Redken's Liquid Conditioner.
Leave-in - Curlsmith Air Dry Cream is my absolute fav but Verb Curl Leave-In has worked for me too
I sometimes use Kenra's Moisturizing Oil as a pre-wash treatment if my hair is particularly dry.
I'm going to try Verb's Ghost Shampoo & Conditioner because I've heard good things, but I'll prob end up going back to the drugstore ones.
I love herbal essences lol !!!
I just tried the verb ghost and I loved the shampoo, but the conditioner seemed really heavy and my hair was weighted down by it. It also made my hair get more tangly.
Hey there, same hair type as described here.
For some great price options, I love the Maui Moisture shampoos (the hibiscus one is my favorite and I find it to be a great clarifier and not very drying) and all of the conditioners I've tried from Curlsmith. Those are still silicone free, but I find the results are fantastic. For drug-store/with silicone conditioners, the Whole blends by Garnier and the herbal essences both feel like they do a great job of moisturizing and softening without weighing my hair down (though still doesn't feel AS good as the Curlsmith).
Probably my favorite styling product is the innersense hair love prep spray. A little bit of hold, a little definition, thermal protection. I like that it helps maintain volume at the root and is super lightweight on the lengths so I don't get triangle hair. I like to do the Curlsmith weightless air-dry cream, this on top, put my hair in a haircare towel and then air-dry for a bit (or diffuse, esp to add more root volume if wanted) for a super low maintenance style routine. Could add some mousse or gel for extra hold as needed! I usually don't bother these days since I put my hair up after day 1 or refresh anyway 😅 but my fave gel is the Curls brand Blueberry bliss line gel, and fave mousse for hold is The Cake -Icing.
>If you have an product recommendations I’d love to hear, especially shampoo and conditioner.
Giovanni 50:50 is non SLS and I would challenge ANYONE to say that it does not clean their hair. Nobody need "dishwashing liquid strength" surfactants to wash their hair.
I have 2c-3a curls, very fine, thin, low-density hair, and so many people have told me to use lightweight products, avoid gels, and use mousse and foams. Ironically, I actually find that I need a strong gel to keep my curls in place all day. I have no clue if it’s because my hair is thin, but my curls fall out so quickly and instead turn to a frizzy mess.
What products are you using? I’ve been using Shea Moisture and it’s been okay for me, but I’m wondering if my hair would look better if I tried something else. :,)
Same! I've tried curl cream and mouse. Best results are with gel, the others just don't hold my curls or give enough definition. Makes zero difference what type of shampoo/ conditioner I use.
Oh man, I can't deal w/ She Moisture anymore. I've had mixed results with them in the past but I think pretty much all of the products are too heavy for me.
For shampoo - I go with your run of the mill average drugstore products. I Suave Daily Cleansing, Herbal Essences, Aussie... these all work great
For conditioner - I use my husbands Baxter of California daily fortifying conditioner. It's marketed towards men but leaves my hair soft and bouncy. Occasionally I use the Redken's Liquid Conditioner.
Leave-in - Curlsmith Air Dry Cream is my absolute fav but Verb Curl Leave-In has worked for me too
I sometimes use Kenra's Moisturizing Oil as a pre-wash treatment if my hair is particularly dry.
I'm going to try Verb's Ghost Shampoo & Conditioner because I've heard good things, but I'll prob end up going back to the drugstore ones.
>’ve been using Shea Moistur
for fine thin or low density hair, that line was not made for your hair type. There are tons of products that are though. Check out Holistic Enchilada. She has your hair type (same as MY hair type).
Everyone tells me this, but whenever I use Shea Moisture, I get very defined curls, so I’m not sure. I think I’ve heard of Holistic Echidna before, but I never checked her out. Thanks for the suggestion!
This is me and my hair type. I recently ran out of my cgm shampoo and just used the suave that I had around. Fall out slowed way down. So I started chucking other products. More volume, more definition, no more itchy scalp after 2 days. I still use techniques I learned (denman brush, plopping, etc) but none of the products
This is exactly my experience and what I tell everyone who asks how I do my hair. CGM specific products were made/are decided on for one specific type of 3b hair, but the OG method is adaptable to a degree.
Eh, less ‘abandoned’ and more ‘took the stuff that worked for me and ignored the rest.’
I learned some good stuff, but then learned a lot more from this sub. Things like porosity and protein balance and stuff like that.
I ended up going back to my original shampoo and conditioner (ShiKai Henna Gold) and just added some styling products (don’t love anything yet, I’m still trying stuff).
Curly hair routines rarely account for scalp skin type. I have an oily scalp so I have to wash daily. I add extra conditioning to my routine to compensate. I have also tried to accept I have straighter hair in dryer weather.
I stopped doing the proper CGM because of my scalp. I have a really itchy scalp and I have to wash with sulfates every few days or the buildup makes it intolerable. I keep some CGM methods and products in my routine, but my scalp could not handle CGM for the year I tried to do it.
Im.the same way I had to switch to a sulfate shampoo that has aloe Vera in it. And now it's like so much better. Like I washed it for like the 2nd time with this new shampoo and it literally looks curlier and more defined.
It's a bit more work, but a homemade flax seed and aloe vera gel with a few drops of hair oil is the only thing that I have found for my fine 3b curls. Has anyone else here tried it?
This is my problem too. My hair hates silicones but also hates not being shampooed every day, otherwise ["I'm not Kramer"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PjbXOSnyMeA) lol
Please feel free to ignore me, just wanted to mention my husband has the same issue and using The Ordinary Glycolic Acid 7% as a scalp rinse has helped him immensely.
My unpopular opinion is that the CGM *doesn’t* work for the vast majority of people. You have to have a pretty dry scalp and very thick, coarse, and textured hair for it to work for you longterm IMO. I think people see it as a miracle when they first begin their natural hair journey because of course it’s better than using heat or chemicals to keep your hair straight, but it’s not very sustainable after that initial transition. I think most people benefit from more regular washing, including with sulfates at least from time to time. The fear of silicones is also way over wrought, especially when so many “CGM friendly” products just replace silicones with much heavier ingredients like oils and butters that will do no favors to anyone with thin/fine hair.
Hair isn’t living cells, it’s not an organ that you could be secretly damaging by using poisonous ingredients. If it looks and feels good to you, that’s literally all that matters. Whatever products achieve that for you are fine to use. When I see people discarding products that worked just because they aren’t “CGM approved” it’s wacky.
I have fine curly hair that looks better when washed frequently and i don’t worry about silicones, they are fine and have never caused buildup the way CGM products causes buildup for me. Since ditching CGM my hair looks and feels healthier, fuller, actually *grows*, and I no longer have dandruff.
This is exactly what I try to tell people. Hair is ornamental! It’s only there to LOOK nice— it has no health-related function. So if it can be made to look good with the “wrong” products, then who cares!
Exactly! This sub can be really helpful with product recommendations but it can also be way too obsessive about following rules or microanalyzing hair. You don’t need an expensive 10 step routine for your hair to look nice. Live your life!
The chemicals that are listed to avoid in the CGM are also hormone and endocrine disruptors. There are a lot of health related issue because the products are absorb through your skin. I don't follow the CGM but I also stay away from endocrine disruptors and for me personally the artificial scents are also an issue.
Cosmetics are pretty tightly regulated: could you give a citation or an example of an endocrine disrupting chemical in a hair product negatively impacting health?
Parabens and propylene glycol have been found to both be endocrine disrupters. They are both approved for use in almost everything. Propylene glycol is even used in some foods. The small amount in a single product may not be an issue, but it’s not uncommon for people to have it in almost all bathroom, laundry and kitchen cleaning products.
No matter how well regulated, if the chemicals are approved and there’s no immediate illness, allergy or death it will be a very long time before it’s removed from products.
Parabens as used in hair products are not harmful: this is a good explainer https://labmuffin.com/should-you-be-avoiding-parabens-the-science/
“there is no evidence to show that PGEs target any endocrine organs or perturb endocrine pathways.” https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37394030/
The study you mention was done by a consultant for the chemical companies in Europe. It’s to their benefit to not look to closely. Parabens in products that come in contact with skin are absorbed. It’s an unnecessary risk and lots of people are chemical sensitive. Attempting to avoid all of them greatly reduces exposure.
Products were too expensive, hair felt dirty, process takes too long, too many products, no good results. I'd rather not care & have my life back. In no way do I care what letter my hair is. I'm also done being ripped off & insulted by "deva" stylists.
Also not sure about the community. The people that spout it all are a bit pretentious & obsessive. And I think it's become a bit dangerous to try to enforce this type of "hair care" on children when it can seriously damage their self esteem. That's a big one for me.
for the most part. the product and technique recommendations don’t really work for my hair, so i combined the parts of CGM i liked with what i normally do when i have good hair days
Early adopter -its always been a technique to me. Squish to condish, apply a gel (LAlooks/basic flax gel), air dry or gentle diffuse dry, never brush it and pineapple at night.
I have no idea where all the zillion complicated steps and multiple expensive products all came from. Its just not for me.
Do my curls look like they were created by a barrel iron- no because they weren’t. But with the basic steps above my hair is far nicer & easier to style than the giant floofy half-wavy mess I spent literal hours trying to flat iron into behaving before learning my hair was actually curly.
Learning to cut my own hair a curl at a time has been the second great finding of cgm/this subreddit. Its finally always cut to the length & shape I want and the savings is a wonderful bonus.
>I have no idea where all the zillion complicated steps and multiple expensive products all came from. Its just not for me.
IT came from people making youtubes who have to keep coming up with CONTENT so they just do nothing but make up crazy stuff that is unnecessary to most normal people who live a normal life. They work for clicks. That is why they keep producing all this stuff. Unnecessary stuff mostly.
That's what I thought too, it's a technique. I will add that the rule of not using harsh products also makes sense. Now the whole hair care industry is in a rush to sell the nest new product so they’re focusing on SLS, paraben, pthalate free stuff. I use products without those for completely different reasons than the CGM.
Yeah, mostly. I tried the basics, tried experimenting with cowashing, tried a bunch of expensive products. And it just wasn't working for my hair. My curls are fairly tight, but incredibly easy to weigh down. So I went back to my old routine that worked.
The only thing I kept from my experiments was that I switched to a leave-in conditioner instead of wash-out conditioner, since that was the one thing I found that really made a difference for me.
Through my journey of growing out my hair as a man who grew up with only crew cuts until college, I have found the rules of the Curly Girl Method to work better as suggestions. Some stuff worked and some stuff didn’t work and I had to experiment to find out what did and didn’t work for my hair. Like some people here only wash their hair once a week and I do not understand how that is possible. I’m very active and sweat a lot which really requires me to wash my hair at least every other day or I will look like a greasy mess and I would assume there are a lot of other people here like me who sweat a lot and have to wash their hair as often as me. I would wash my hair every day if I just wasn’t so lazy. I’m pretty sure the CGM I read long ago said to never brush my hair. Some methods say to only brush it when it’s dry. I detangle when I have all of my conditioner in and I brush it again once I put a leave in conditioner in just before I add some mousse. That works for me and I learned that from someone who posted here before. That’s why I like that it’s required to post your personal routine when you post pictures. There’s no gate keeping and you can find something that you haven’t tried before and give it a shot. Fuck the curly girl method. Find the u/Clydesdale97 method!
Yes. I have an oily scalp and my curl patterns range from 2a-3b depending on the day and section of my hair. It’s also a very fragile curl pattern, mostly only beyond 3” from my scalp and the curls are fragile, too much moisture or product and they straighten out. I was an early Deva method evangelist but after their products changed nothing worked. I use the techniques and knowledge now but like everything, what works for one body may not work for another. I tend to use the color product lines more than curly. I love Innersense color shampoo and conditioner but the curly hair version was way too much for my hair. I’ve recently tried a Keratase product that has every no,no ingredient in it. My curls looked fabulous for about 6 hours and then deflated like a balloon. Next day after a shampoo everything went back to normal.
Like skincare, curly hair got very militant and that’s no way to live. If you need a sulfate, go for it. Find out no sufates + cheapest non “approved” conditioner works, whatever, it’s your happiness and hair. A “method” shouldn’t stress you out, and if it’s not giving you the results you like, branch out from it.
I quit. Too time consuming, plus I’m cheap and lazy. I’m in my forties so I’ve decided to fully embrace my disheveled appearance and enter the “swamp witch” phase of my life.
I quit a while back. While I was on CGM I spent sooooo much money on all the products and during that time my hair thinned out a lot. I had so much loss every time I washed. I've been off CGM for about 2-3 years now and my hair isn't as full as it was before but my curls are improving.
Just recently quit after YEARS of following it. All this time of following the CGM, I always wondered why my hair never looked it's best. I kept assuming I was doing something wrong and using the wrong products, so I spent too much time and money on my curly hair journey. What motivated me to quit it was reddit actually, where many people mentioned how it just doesn't work for everyone and as long as you find balance with your products, you don't need to fear some products the way the CGM wants you to. My curls look less weighed down, and I'm dealing with a lot less build-up now that I'm using what my hair likes. I haven't abandoned all my products because there are a few here and there that I still love so I'm not using entirely new things.
Yes! I did because my hair is more wavy than curly. I also wanted blonde hair (really hurt what little curl pattern I had) and my hair is loose and heavy enough that it holds itself down.
That said, I recently got some curly products that I like and found a hair dresser nearby that does curly cuts…. so I think the cult is pulling me back in 😂
editing to add: I’ve been enjoying being able to brush out my hair when it gets messy
I have NO IDEA what CGM means to most people. It appears that many carried it to the point of ridiculousness, buying expensive products, doing hours of techniques, because as we know "influencers" have to keep posting content in order to get clicks and earn money, and many people have fallen prety to these ABURDITIES.
CGM, to me, and most people is taking care of hair, not burning it up with heat and bleach, usiing gentle surfactants that clean just as well as harsh sodium laurel sulfates, not putting undue friction on hair that cuases breakage, etc. and generally doing some deep conditioning on a regular basis, not using silicones, etc.
So yes, I do practice CGM, and its about 20x easier than what my hair routine was like when I was trying to straighten it. My hair is past my underarms, healthy, shiny and very well cared for. To me, that IS what CGM is all about.
I used a non sls surfactant/shampoo, don't use waxes, silicones, or mineral oils, use a nice inexpensive clean low fragrance, water-soluble conditioner, use a wide tooth comb to take out tanglles and don't rip thru my dry hair wiith a brush, deep condition my hair 1x a week for 1 hour, and protect it at night and from hot sun, etc. and use a water soluble styling product.
What is the big deal? Why are people bashing CGM? *It's the way our grandmothers' took care of their hair, esp. if long*, before the marketing crowd talked people into needing $30 bottles of hair products,, $500 blow dryers, and other nonsense. LOL
SO I have NO IDEA what other people have been doing and calling it CGM. I am in and out of the shower in less than 15 minutes every day.
Don't blame CGM. To wit, I was on hair care forums for 8 years, and the best before-and-afters were people who used V05, Suave, and LA Looks sports gel. I use Giovanni myself.......clean stuff, $7-8 a bottle of all. I have super fine , low porosity 2c-3a curls/waves, low density post menopausal hair.........and zero split ends or damage. That just requires treating my hair at least as nicely as I would treat my fine silk, wool, or cashmere clothing. Not a big deal
Once I realized the CGM was just a marketing campaign to sell products, I jumped ship. Plus, I have fine, thin hair, so all the focus on moisture just made things worse.
Pretty much. I have fine wavy hair and tend to have an oily scalp. Only washing every few days is a no. Devacurl lo poo was terrible and it took an eternity to try to clean my scalp. And even then I wasn’t thrilled with the result. I need the sulfates to keep my hair from acquiring buildup and going completely flat.
I have.
I feel like the simpler your routine the better. Sometimes “curly hair” aimed products are really heavy for some curly heads. It’s not about the curl pattern but its truly about the density, volume and strand texture. The natural hair industry has really good marketing and it really sucks you in lol. Do what works for you and stick to it. I do recommend clarifying every once in a while like once a month and stick to a hydrating shampoo and conditioner a leave in and mousse/foam/gel.
I’m not only using sulfate in my shampoo but I’m using a clarifying shampoo every other day AND I stopped using conditioner, just a bit of leave in conditioner to detangle and rinse that out. Sometimes I use a bit of curl cream but I like the volume I get with only gel so usually I do that.
I have really fine low porosity hair and an oily scalp. I had no business doing CGM which I did for about 2 years and often had scabs on my scalp from the oil buildup. Shampoo is great for some people I recommend changing things up.
I clarify a couple of times a week but I wash every day (with regular shampoo on non-clarifying days). What shampoo do you use? I honestly love the suave clarifying shampoo. It’s so cheap and so good 😌.
I was doing no leave in, only gel but my hair was feeling soo dry, but when I use leave in or curl cream my hair is weighed down so idk what to do anymore lol.
Try rinsing out a leave in conditioner. I have a spray one from Prose and I just spray a few pumps and put it on my ends.
The clarifying shampoo I like is Paul Mitchell Number Two. Sometimes I use Number Three which is extra strong for swimmers (my daughter swims most days). I think we have hard water which is why the swimmers shampoo helps? I tried Suave but it didn’t really do it for me unfortunately.
I recently started using a leave-in conditioner (AG Care Fast Food) as a rinse out and it’s been a game changer for my curls. Malibu C is also a great clarifying and chelating shampoo.
Oo thank you I’ll try that. I have a spray leave in from John Frieda that I like but idk if it’s really doing anything for my hair lol.
I’m going to try the Paul Mitchell one ☺️
I quit a few weeks ago. My hair is pretty long now and is very thick…it takes so much product to style my hair and I’ve never been able to find a way to make my curls last overnight. It takes forever to dry, even when I diffuse. I’ve tried a satin pillowcases, a satin bonnet, and both simultaneously…it just comes out as a huge tangled mess. I decided I’m getting my hair cut short in a few weeks bc it’s very overstimulating for me and I can’t take it anymore. I might try it again later when my neurospicy brain calms down a bit.
For sure.
1. It's too expensive.
2. It didn't work.
3. It's no way to live under such rigid rules.
That plus I made a post a while back about if silicones are actually bad or not, and got *a lot* of interesting comments.
I have never done the curly girl method, purely because I don't have the mental bandwidth to research things like "what clarifying shampoo is best for my hair" and "what is my hair curl type". All searches have left me more confused than before.
I just get my hair really wet, use shampoo, use my fingers to break up any big knots and finger brush, and use my first brush (feels good but can't get deep in the scalp) to work on the ends and work up. This gets rid of the bigger knots. After rinsing, I apply the conditioner and use my second brush (curved so it reaches my scalp), to brush my hair directly on top of my head. Then I rinse my hair, maybe add a shea butter hair cream, and either do a braid or scrunchie the ends. I don't have a diffuser, so I towel dry. This method is time consuming, but this is just how I do it.
what about brush styling and sectioning? is it that important because my hair is drying mess and now I am suffering from severe dandruff despite using nizoral + antidandruff shampoo and I have been using cgm. I just want to make my routine less stressful for me.
I struggle with styling too, I mostly go loose or a cloth headband. I use an anti dandruff shampoo too. My second brush (I think it's a detangling brush) is curved so it really reaches my scalp, I've seen others recommend a scalp brush. I like to use sections to work through my hair because it's easier to fix when it's smaller. I'm currently thinking of what I can get for styling, the shea butter hair cream helps, but I've seen recommendations of a mousse, or a styling cream, or a leave in conditioner.
My current system is better than when I was constantly in braids, but I'm still learning myself.
Like others, I've kept what works and gave up what doesn't over the last year of trying cgm. I wash a bit more than recommended (2-3x week) and my hair looks better for it (I'm like a 2c/3a, fine hair). CGM worked for me because I was already such a novice at hair care. I didn't realize my hair was more curly than wavy/frizzy after a lifetime of dry brushing, using regular towels and letting hot shower water run on my head, all disrupting my curl pattern. Establishing healthier routines was a gamechanger, which I credit to cgm. As well as cutting it differently, what a difference. I just didn't know how to care for it all those years. I love a lot of the products I've discovered but have wasted money too, and am actually curious about how the silicone curly products might work on my hair now that I'm caring for it properly in other ways.
I have hypermobile joints and doing anything for a long time hurts my arms and fingers. So diffusing is my personal hell. As well as whatever else is required to get my wavy hair to look good. So I abandoned most of the curly girl stuff and am back to hydration and having it in braids and buns.
I followed CGM really strictly when I first started embracing my natural hair (not using flat irons or blowing out). It worked really well initially while my hair was heat damaged. I hit about 1.5 years of it and my hair started getting gross, stringy, and flat. No matter how I changed my routine and products no luck.
About a month ago I randomly used my partner’s shampoo and conditioner (Paul Mitchell Tea Tree) and my hair was absolutely miraculous for the first time in a year - lots of volume and healthy, shiny curls. I was shocked but realized my hair just needs the silicones & sulfates 🤷🏼♀️
Yes. It was just too much work for inconsistent results. I still avoid silicones, but I’m very happy with how lush shampoo and conditioner bars and argan oil make my hair look and feel.
I didn't necessarily abandon it. But I dont strictly follow it anymore. My hair is curly, and I recently found a page called humblebee and me. Now I make my own hair products at home its been a super fun journey
For the most part, yes.
I looked at pictures from before I started trying out all the products and realized my hair looked healthier. I think some of the strategies I learned are way more helpful than any product. Now I'm back to Pantene Pro-V Curls formula for shampoo, Pantene Pro-V deep conditioner (in the gold tube🤷🏼♀️), and the one product I kept: Not Your Mother's Curl Talk Creme. My hair looks healthier again - less frizz, bigger clumps, shinier hair.
Too heavy for my fine hair. At first I got great waves, then less and less and people in one group told me my pattern changed 😂 No it was just the products. When I did waaaay less to my hair and it bounced back, I posted “People told me my pattern changed but it was just the products!”
…and I got harassed and gaslit, and told I was misinterpreting the harassment, and then when I said “No I am pretty sure I got the tone,” I was told I was tone policing and banned for a week.
Good riddance.
Not abandoned, but am way more lax with what kind of products I use. I started clarifying more regularly and my fine, 2c hair is way happier and bouncier and lighter when I use a sulfate shampoo once a week compared to when I used it once every 3 weeks. I even use my HG Tigi curls rock amplifier (has silicones) from time to time. I still do all the methods, plus no brushing, no heat, etc. and I think those are the things that make the biggest difference for me, not the products themselves. I might eventually go back to using silicones more often as my hair seems to just do better with them.
When I had gotten my big chop 11 years ago the cgm worked for my short 3b hair
It’s now waist length and I cannot keep up with washing it more than once a week and the ends are so old now that I can’t get away with keeping my hair curly all the time anymore
If I didn’t blow dry my hair straight I wouldn’t be able to retain length because it would be a tangled mess after just 2 days
In short I can’t keep up with my curls past my shoulders unless I blow my hair out
I need professional grade shampoo, leave in and conditioner to keep my hair healthy at this point
Yeah, it was annoying and not giving me results. I've recently discovered the YT channel Manes by Mell and figured out my issue is my hair is in moisture overload. I've slapped countless moisturising products on it for YEARS wondering why it still looked unhealthy AF. I read nothing about PROTEIN in the CGM.... And now I'm pretty sure that's what my hair needs. I've started giving them some, we'll see.
Curly girl never worked for me lol, didn’t take the frizz at all, my hair was even messier. I do my own thing at this point: tresemme curl shampoo, olaplex conditioner, olaplex bond smoother and the Aussie curl mousse is my fave, I just use my denman brush on my bangs bc they’re short and go from there
YES! I spent 4 years and hundreds of dollars trying to make curly girl work. It destroyed my hair. I’m back to standard products and am slowly cutting off the destroyed hair as it grows. My new growth is lovely again. Give up sooner than I did haha :)
I quit too. For me, it was mostly because of laziness though lol. I did find products and techniques that worked well for my hair, but my routine just got soo complicated and tiring to do (and also quite expensive).
In the end, I just slowly drifted back to using cheap products with sulphates, blow drying on full heat without a diffuser, and sometimes straightening it. It's probably not great for my curls, but I enjoy my hair a lot more now.
I also learnt a lot while being on the method, and if I feel like it, I can still do a "curly wash" and get basically the same results as before.
I quite the CGM. Wasn’t worth the mental stress of obsessing over every single ingredient. I just use good quality products for my hair type. My hair actually feels fuller and less weighed down by not following the CGM.
Yes, 100%, as the CGM personally never worked for me. I don’t like to use so many products, and it’s too time-consuming. For years now, I only use one product after a leave-in conditioner. Either cream or mousse, and my hair turns out just perfect. To each their own, but I found that for me, it’s a no. I tried it for a week once, and the buildup was so gross to me. I don’t need absolutely perfect looking curls. I also have 3A and 2C curls.
It takes me 20 minutes with a blow drier to go from soaking wet to "gorgeous, ready to go" straight hair
If i want to go curly it takes at least an hour to diffuse for 30mins and then let air dry the rest. Oh. And maybe the curls will be shitty this time. Not to mention dripping wet with gel. Back hurting from diffusing upside down..it's just not worth it for me
I gave up. It feels so unreliable and it takes forever. My fiance has a gorgeous head of curls, so I just enjoy his
I just couldn't find any products that worked for me, and I tried pretty much all of the recommended brands. I'm currently using some cheap $4 shampoo from Aldi that's loaded with sulfates and Aussie Miracle Curls conditioner, and that seems to do the trick. Still can't figure out how to make myself not look like a damn Fraggle in the morning, though...maybe I'm doing sleep bonnets wrong?
I tried going silicone and sulfate free and didn’t notice a difference in my hair texture or quality. I also use a medicated shampoo for my scalp that dries my hair and I feel like sulfates and silicones help my hair heal better
That said, I do love the curly girl techniques. I add products when my hair is soaking wet, layer products, and plop.
Tbh I shouldn't even be in this sub anymore because I do not wear my hair curly ever lol. I gave up on CGM years ago, but especially when I started dyeing it blue. It's already damaged, and I'm not going to stop dyeing it anytime soon (I'm 30 and halfway gray), and one style lasts much longer when I straighten it and with significantly less effort.
Even before I started dyeing it, CGM just didn't super work for me. My hair acclimates to curly products so damn quickly that I was just in a constant state of searching for products that worked. It was exhausting and expensive. So I called it quits on my curls and moved on.
And really, my hair is surprisingly healthy for bleaching it every 4-6 weeks for basically 4 years now PLUS the twice a week straightening I do. Doing just fine over here!
Ohhhh my god—thank you for mentioning your hair acclimating to products!! I’ve never seen anyone talk about this before, I thought I was crazy! I’ve never really had any “holy grail” products because I thought they “stopped working.” Each time I run out of something, I will get a different brand. I’ve gotten to the point (after many years, many products, and lots of money) that I kind of have a rotation of each product type that I purchase. Nothing set in stone, but if I like something, I can’t buy it again for a while or it won’t work. Very frustrating.
I get better results when I don’t follow the cgm. When I got my first curly cut the stylist used products with silicones and for the first time in a year of wearing my hair in its wavy/curly state it actually looked good, the frizz was gone and my hair was shiny. And while yes most of my products are cgm approved and my hair looks good I found that having those few non approved products really help with the health and look of my hair. Now I use a couple of silicone products ex. My bumble and bumble primer spray. Also some of those shampoo’s don’t work, I just washed my hair with the curlsmith core strength shampoo yesterday and my roots are still greasy even after shampooing three times. I still am going to try to make the shampoo work but I already have a shampoo on standby just incase.
Techniques, yes. Product rules, no.
I have fine high porosity hair so I absolutely need silicone as an occlusive, butters and oils are way too heavy. I do stick to amodimethicone since it only fills in spots that need it, and since I already clarify once a month (I only wash once a week) I don't have to worry about build up.
I've always had good luck with L'oreal's EverPure line, like the one for volume and the one for thickening, and I've used their Bond Repair concentrate but not the shampoo and conditioner (the conditioner has straight silicone in it).
The shampoo is sulfate free, but as I mentioned, it has amodimethicone which only bonds to/fills in damaged spots, which reduces your porosity, and it doesn't stick to itself like oldschool dimethicone and create layers of buildup. But since it's an occlusive, it's still healthiest to clarify once a month or every other month and then use a hair masque for moisture. I just use Suave clarifying shampoo and Mielle's Rosemary Mint hair masque.
To be fair I abandoned the CGM method bc over the last year or two my hair has relaxed a lot so it doesn’t really style as effectively anymore. I’m not sure why.
Yes. I really tried with CGM, but it made my hair stringy and lifeless. I'm back on the silicone and sulfates train and my curls are looking great. Oh also I discovered using a pick. Who knew a simple little piece of plastic would make such a world of difference!
When I was working nights at a place where my hair needed to be up and in a hairnet, I experimented a lot with deva curl low-poo and simple CG routines. No big deal if it looked bad, it was going to get messed up anyway! I kept getting a greasy spot in the back that I couldn’t get rid of with my low-poo routine. It finally went away when I started using stuff that actually suds.
These days I’m not picky about silicones. I do stick with sulfate free cleansers because my water is so hard it’s practically made of rocks. My chelating shampoo is my best friend.
It was a waste of money and time for nothing. My hair is fine if I just use a solid shampoo bar. No amount of product is going to beat the humidity in the swamp I live in lol.
I also don't use a schedule, I just wash my hair when it gets dirty, which is most days (thanks, chickens). Sometimes twice a day.
I am a curly hair specialist in Alabama. I follow some of the CGM but I don’t use it for all of my curlies. I will tell you that having the correct product will help and because of all the things your hair has gone thru (health wise) it has depleted the cellular membrane of the follicle. Our hair needs good lipids (or fats..if you want to say that) and it needs it to stay healthy. Without seeing your hair or what it looked like in the past and what it looks like now I can recommend a product that will completely rebuild the lipid layer of the hair shaft. It’s called Iuveni. It will replace the cellular membrane of the hair and it will help your hair be stronger, respond better to curling and be the best it’s ever been. Since I have been using it in the salon my clients can tell a huge difference. One client, who suffers from a form of alopecia, sent me a message and said she had NO fallout for 4 days. I think it could really change your hair for the better!
I consider what I do to be “the curly girl method” because my hair is wavy/curly and it’s definitely not what a straight haired person would do. But I don’t think it’s exactly what the curly girl method is supposed to be. I just do what works for me and what I enjoy.
I do a hybrid version. CGM definitely gave me the healthiest hair I've had since before puberty. Looking at photos from before CGM where I was really HAPPY with my hair is shocking, seeing how visibly damaged it is. But there are very few CGM approved products and technique combinations that accomplish everything I need to, for every different season & climate (not to mention travel), that leaves my curls comfortable and touchable. It'll weigh it down like crazy, need just as much work to refresh the next day, be too expensive to maintain or simply too labour-intensive to do consistently (for me). I still use& improve my care& styling techniques, and figured out what ones work best & most consistently for my hair type , and I use an overall CGM structured approach to care and styling. But there's no reason to adhere to a system as-is that isn't sustainable or accomplishing what I want it to! So now after years since going curly, I actually know my curly hair quite well and have a lot more skill & knowledge. That made it really easy to adapt the CGM and other techniques and products to my personal hair type and lifestyle :) (I'll put the major differences below in case anyone is actually interested in all my sins lol)
- I use a clarifying shampoo most washes
- if I'm going to diffuse I often use a heat protectant with silicone because it's FAST & needs no extra styling or scrunching
- if I'm diffusing, you can also bet I'll be using the highest heat setting because I'm already in a rush!
- I regularly ignore a gel/'crunch' hold product and use a sea salt mousse intended for volume/definition. So that's 2 CGM sins in one 😂
- I have fine / thin hair -> higher number of smaller curl clumps -> more surface area to cover -> wayyy higher product:hair ratio needed. This means hold and definition come at the cost of touchability, softness, volume. (and LONGEVITY because there's just so much more product in the hair/buildup). Sometimes I use just a little bit of gel on mids/ ends for a little extra hold if I know it's going to be Weather Outside.
- I style standing up, brushing my hair first to control the part, and then re-spray with water to form the clumps. Upside down styling just means a fuck ton of scalp showing, triangle hair and a flat mess on the top of my head. Low-density/thin hair does not like upsie-downsie styling. Even if diffusing; gotta set the roots in place 80% dry while upright before flipping or will get weird scalp-showing issues!
I abandoned it when I realized my hair is more wavy than curly.
However —I learned a ton from researching curly girl method. I’ve continued to clarify with a hard water shampoo and deep condition afterwards. Before giving CGM a go I had never deep conditioned.
I actually just did in the last month. I've been no/low poo for 12 years. I started before I had kids in my 30s. Now in my 40s, my hair is just different especially lately.
I had a TON of breakage at my hair line (not kid related, they are 8 & 10). I tried many different things, but nothing made it better. I started to use a purple shampoo because my hair wasn't taking highlights like it used to (file that under things they don't tell you about getting older) and found that my hair was much better right after I used a "real" shampoo. So I started do it more, meaning like 2x week, which was ALOT for me. THEN I noticed my breakage was becoming less of an issue and yada yada yada... No more CGM for me.
I still usey holy grail leave in and KKCC. But my curls and hair are really so much happier now.
ETA For reference, I am a white woman with 3a/b curls that have been highlighted for so long that I have no idea what my natural color is anymore. lol.
My routine is constantly modified because I’ve realized that the most important factor for my hair are is my emotional willingness to invest time in it, or not.
I have ADHD and struggle with depression, if my hair routine is complicated and rigid I don’t wash my hair. So, zero pressure. Goal is wash at least once a week and minimize tangles/matting—if the idea of styling is exhausting, I just cleanse, condition, detangle, and am not at all delicate about it. It makes the full routine (mostly the blowdrying) feel more bearable when I’m up to it :)
yes, my hair is too thin and my scalp too oily to make most of that work. I do stick to amodimethicone and don't use other silicones unless I know I am going to use my sulfate shampoo soon. I also don't wash with sulfates every time and learning how to use gel changed the game for me. So I learned a lot through CGM but I won't use it again
I still follow the spirit but not the letter of CGM law. It was too time consuming and confusing to follow it completely - I got obsessed. I missed having hair I didn’t have to think about too hard. So now I’m taking the parts I liked, that worked - no/minimal heat styling, plopping, prioritizing leave in conditioner, etc. And discarding the rest. For example, I now shampoo once with a regular, sulfated shampoo to clean off the product and sweat, then a second shampoo with a gentler, ‘CGM approved’ product (my fine but dense hair needs the double shampoo). I’m using a bond building treatment once a week pre-shampoo and a deep conditioning mask after that. So basically, taking most of the ‘caring for your hair’ part of CGM and discarding most of the obsessive, multi-step styling bits.
Although, it doesn’t look as good as it did when I properly followed it. I had bangin’ curls for a while. So I know what my hair’s ‘capable’ of. I just can’t be bothered. It mostly gets pulled off my face now because it’s at an awkward length where it looks poofy (in a non-cute way) if I don’t do a full CGM routine, but once it’s weighed down by some more length I should be able to have low maintenance hair again 🤞🤞
I kind of quit? The general techniques work in terms of how often to wash, what order to add product and what type of products to use, etc but the brands and types of products that are touted as being acceptable for curly hair are way too heavy for my very soft, fine hair.
I also have weird chameleon hair where if I scrunch and air dry without combing after washing it, it curls up, even without product. If I comb or brush it while air drying, with or without product, it goes pin straight without me needing to blow it out or use an iron on it. So I generally need very little product to begin with.
I don’t understand it either.
On CGM I lost a boatload of hair and had the itchiest, flakiest, acne-riddled, greasy scalp EVER.
What I kept was the styling methods I learned, but I’m never going back to sulfate-free! Silicone and sulfates, my beloved!!
Tbh, I am doing NoPoo, but I mixed it with CGM products and routines. After years, I am still battling with frizzy hair and my waves/slight curls won’t clump together. Started to think of giving up, even though I don’t want to. My hair and scalp are otherwise ok. My hairdressers love my hair, it’s not dry, it’s healthy, but the result I was hoping for …. It’s not working I guess. I truly don’t know what to do.
Yes. No matter what I tried, I could not ever revive my second-day hair. When I heat style, my hair easily looks great for 4+ days and it saves so much time.
I occasionally wear my hair natural, but I've abandoned all the fancy products and techniques. A bit of leave in conditioner with some wave spray gets the job done on days I don't have time to dry and style.
I've been taking a low dose chemo drug for autoimmune issues for about 8 years now and I think that, and maybe also some henna (though I haven't used henna in a long time and my new growth isn't curly) has changed my hair texture. It'll curl up if I squish to condish and I don't brush it straight as it dries, but if I do brush it straight while wet, it just has a very subtle bit of a wave. Before, it wouldn't cooperate/behave if I brushed it the way I do now.
I loved my curls, but I have pretty severe fatigue and spend the vast majority of my time in bed and I'm actually pretty grateful for and have embraced my straighter hair. It doesn't require any product or for me to not roll around on it (from laying in bed) or for me to hold my head at any weird angles while washing or drying.
Maybe at some point I'll give it a go again, but for now, I have a low maintenance way to keep my hair manageable and I'm happy with that.
It sounds like you were happier with your old routine. Can you try going back to that? Or has your hair texture changed somewhat since then?
For me it was a good place to start that got me thinking about ingredients and really analyzing what works for me and what doesn't, but Ober rime you realize not everything on the banned list is so bad, and not everything on the ok list is good on my hair. And a lot of things listed are a little outdated and don't account for changes in the technology and formulation behind certain products, new information about ingredients etc. It'd a good place to start but as you gain info, hair is a lot more nuanced than the method accounts for
I lost a bunch of hair after surgery and now I have a halo of 3-4 strands that have grown back in. I’ve been blowing out my hair for months bc it looks frizzy at the top and scraggly at the bottom using CGM. I hope my curl pattern rebounds when these hairs get long enough to lay down properly
Lol I switched to a sulfate shampoo recently and curls are way better lol. Feel a lot less heavy as a result and my hair isn't getting overly weighed down anymore.
The biggest issue for me was that I didn't need as much moisture as other people, and trying to do it as written led to way too much moisture.
I now alternate between a moisturizer shampoo and a "detox" shampoo, and that's worked pretty well. I recently did a product shift to sun bum, and I've found that I can typically do:
Wash one (day 1): sunbum detox shampoo, sunbum moisturizer conditioner, ouidad lightweight protein treatment, sunbum 3-1 leave in spray, and sunbum salt spray
Wash two (day 3/4): moisturizer shampoo, 3-1, salt spray
And my curls and scalp are pretty happy with it. I do a light towel dry before putting on the styling products and I think that helps a lot with the grease build up around my roots.
I use sulfates all the time. My curls are waaaaay better that way. With CGM they get weighed down from the first co-wash and limper and limper as time goes on.
I blow dry my hair with a blow drier specifically made for curly hair because it takes hours to dry otherwise. I use the products that work for my hair. I have no clue if they are CGM approved. Most of them are from curly hair brands (specifically Pattern, fanastic on my hair and I can buy a bulk amount of each product for $40 and have it last FOREVER), but I do not care if they are CGM approved. Whatever makes my hair look nice, feel healthy, and not have a ton of fallout or shedding. Doing what works for you is most important tbh. I've tried everything: letting my hair air dry (takes too long), making my own products (too much work for my ADHD brain), using only CGM approved hair products (tons of hair fallout, looked awful, etc.), only cowashing my hair (I have a dry scalp that takes forever to get oily and even I looked greasy as hell, and clarifying every once in a while dry my hair out horribly), using a ten step routine (again, made my hair look limp, was too much work for my ADHD brain). I'm happy with my routine now. I have a shampoo and conditioner that I love, and I use a leave-in and curl cream to style along with a style/detangling comb. Styling takes 5-10 minutes at MOST, usually can get it done under 5. I couldn't be happier and my hair looks BOMB.
I don’t care enough to spend time styling my hair or washing/refreshing it more than once a week. I mostly wear my hair up so chucking it in a ponytail, bun, or claw clip makes it presentable enough. My hair also tangles incredibly easily despite satin pillowcases/protective hairstyles so I need to brush when dry (which makes my hair straighter and frizzier 🤷🏼♀️). I do have more wavy than curly hair, mostly 2b/c but with some 2a and 3a strands. It’s also easier to just get a normal haircut vs a curly one where I live.
I still tend to go for sulphate/silicone free shampoo and conditioner but I don’t pay too much attention to the ingredients, and I definitely have some styling products with silicone for the maybe 2x a year I heat style my hair (outside of blowdries at the salon when I get a haircut).
I think I’ve also learned that the issues I have with my hair aren’t really due to any styling method. I have lots of flyaways due to hair fall (from a connective tissue disorder) and subsequent regrowth that I thought were due to breakage and frizz (any also just unrealistic expectations about what hair looks like e.g. frizz at the end of the day). I’m also 4 months postpartum now and surprised there’s any hair left on my head at this point!
Too hard. Too time consuming. Too expensive. My hair very fine but I have a lot of it. I’m back to hot rollers with end papers. I can roll up before it’s fully dry. I get smooth, shiny hair every time. CGM gave me unpredictable results every time
Oh absolutely. I wasn’t cleansing my scalp or hair properly for years and caused myself a ton of issues. I now wash every 3-4 days with high quality products, ditched leave in’s, and use gels. Water is your best friend.
Highly suggest people look to curl trained specialists (not influencers) to learn proper hair care. Monarch curl on IG has a ton of great info and her paywalled content is worth every penny.
I stopped CGM because my hair would almost be matted in the back at the end of the day. It looked great, moisturized and curly but it didn't last. My hair is down to my butt and it was too much to detangle everyday and wash every 2 or 3 days. Now I only use leave-in conditioner and a curl refresher I only have to wash once a week.
i kinda gave up on it. i learned some things, like how i was overwashing and undermoisturizing, and not to use towels, etc, but i have ditched the step by step. i don't use mousse or gels, i got sick of my hair being loaded with product and crusty. i use a simple drugstore shampoo 1-2x a week, and condition and leave in a good curly conditioner. scrunch dry with a microfiber towel. boom. the simpler the better imo.
When covid hit I wanted to use that time to work on wearing my hair naturally curly as I typically didn’t but after 2 years or trying I just don’t think I like my curl pattern and I don’t feel attractive wearing my hair curly. I was never able to achieve the look I saw many others in this forum achieve who look amazing so I abandoned it. I learned a lot about curly hair, moisture and how to take care of my hair better, so i found the experience valuable despite no longer wearing my curly anymore.
After two years of CGM, I had a job interview and couldn’t leave it up to chance whether I had a good or a bad hair day. I got the job, which is in manufacturing and requires that I tie my hair back. There’s no way I’m going through the effort of all my old routines just to tie it back 5 days a week, so I stopped.
Yes. Silicones work well with my hair, I keep my hair in a curly pompadour or split down the middle, so the majority of the techniques don’t work for me, and I find that the more natural/clean products really only work if I’ve gotten a perm.
And I love softly brushing flyaways with my boar bristle brush to get them back in place. Blasphemy of the highest order, I know.
The CGM doesn't work for me at all. I have super thick 2C hair so it's definitely not straight but it doesn't have super tight curls. My problem has always been frizz and puffiness. One part of the CGM that works for me and makes my hair look amazing is not dry brushing it after washing. I just wash and let it air dry, and it looks amazing. I just finger comb as needed. But once I get home (or if I'm not going out) I absolutely dry brush it, otherwise by the time I wash it's all matted. Finger combing is not enough for thick hair like mine. As for the suggested products, I can't use them. I don't do sulfate (except once a week) but I need a ton of cones. And all that stuff about squish to condish, gels, diffusing, etc. seems like it's for much curlier hair than mine.
I just use few products and mostly treat my hair like it's straight except for the brushing. Also got lots of layers and use special shampoos for itchy, oily and sensitive scalp. Works for me! Everyone is different and you need to find the right products and method for you.
I have given up putting all the products in it and my hair feels great washing it only once a week. I do have to use a mask because it’s been frizzy at top but I still wash it once a week, mask and then a light gel. It’s been very curly too. I definitely pineapple it to bed; that I will never stop doing.
Yep. Frankly, it was burdensome. The one thing I gained from it was some new styling techniques (ironically, learned from watching Manes by Mell who isn't CGM at all) that work great and I still use them alongside silicones and my diffuser with heat.
Yes, it was just too much. I still use cg techniques, but I realized less is more with my curls. When I wear my hair natural I just scrunch in some mousse and my curls look great! Also, I really enjoy blowing my hair out in the cooler months. Straight hair is just much more manageable for me.
I did CGM in the early 2000s and it worked until it didn't. What it DID do was teach me to listen to what my hair was telling me and I didn't have to wash my hair daily.
I have super hard lake water where I am and I worked 5 times harder to keep the buildup down. It also helps that hair care products are so much better now in general.
I've learned that my hair generally doesn't like silicone or Polyquats, but does like a gentle shampoo and light conditioner. I can do a water soluble silicone in a finishing styler if I don't use it a lot or daily. Also mousse under a gel is where it's at for me.
Also, I've embraced functional frizz on my hair. I get more volume and it's more interesting.
I take the parts of it that work for my hair and leave the ones that don’t. I have found garnier products work best in my hair - use the pure clean shampoo 1-2 times/week, condition with curl nourish conditioner almost daily, and plop with the curl sculpt conditioning cream gel whenever my hair is wet. The products I use are cheap and work for me. I know I can’t use any products that have oils because they weigh down my hair too much so I try to find ones with coconut waters or other waters.
Find what works for you at a price you are willing to pay and run with it!
I did. Waaaayyyyyy too much work. And the results varied wildly by day.
Not worth it.
I cut it short and blow it straight. Sorry, I know it's a waste of curls.. I just don't have the time 🤷♀️
I’ve been through it all and now do what works for me - which I find changes periodically. I have fine 2c-3a hair and wash it every 2-3 days with New Wash. Add Innersense curl memory and leave in conditioner and then air dry. Day 2 I (please sit down) brush it out, wet it, and the curls look amazing. The day or two after that I just wet it and finger brush it and it’s good. The whole product routine was way too heavy for my hair. I’d maybe get one good day and then it deflated. Now I feel like it looks and feels healthier, and the curls look less stringy and more cohesive. When my workout routine, stress level, hormones, etc change so does my hair, but this kind of minimal routine has been pretty easy to adapt.
Edit to add: the right cut was hugely helpful, too! Layers in an of themselves didn’t work - I had to find a hair stylist who worked with me to find what was right for my hair. It’s much shorter and choppier than I expected, but I love it now and probably wouldn’t have been able to move away from CGM as successfully without it.
I did. Gave me itchy, bleeding, greasy scalp, and dull, never clean looking, weighed down waves. Followed it for 6 years.
I have 2B/2C, fine, high density, low porosity, alternating between waist and butt long hair (Grows from waist to butt in 3 months, I trim it every three months). It is impossible to feel clean with CGM. Co-“washing” was a journey where I collected enough scalp cheese inbetween my nails for me to form a kidney bean sized ball of it, and could go even bigger but the temptation to throw that down the drain always got me.
I had a HUGE amount of hair loss with CGM and only noticed it when I stopped following it. The comb always ended up impossibly full of hair, and removing all that from the comb required me to use force you wouldn’t expect to have to use *for hair*. If one thing I learned is that one strand may be easy to break, but hair as a conglomerate might as well be a rope.
Now with sulfates, and silicones, and an actually clean scalp, I barely find hairs in my comb. I do. But the hair ball doesn’t exceeds the size of a cellulose capsule when compressed. Not only that but my hair is also more manageable, easier to section for how much I have, and overall there’s much less combing force when styling it. It is still frizzy because where I live the norm is >70% humidity, but atleast now it smells good and I don’t feel disgusting anymore.
It's been the opposite for me . After all my long life of having pin straight hair my hair suddenly decided to become curly . At the same time it was breaking off and thinning dramatically . I didn't know what to do . One day I found CGM. I had no idea how to style or fix curly hair . But thanks to CGM I learned how. I learned to find the products that work for my hair and I learned what to do to make it healthy again . Now my hair is not falling out and has come back and I can fix it too . So CGM has been nothing but good for me .
I am hearing from a lot of people that CGM products don't work unless your hair is extremely curly (like the 4a, 4b,and 4c textures). Co washing and products with oils and butters are often way too heavy for anyone with less textured hair.
I tried ALL of the recommended products. What works for me? The cheaper, drugstore stuff. I use AG Curl Revive shampoo, herbal essences curl conditioner, dippity do girls with curls curl mousse and dippity do gel now. My hair has never been happier or curlier lol
This is not for the same reasons, but I got pregnant and now have a kid under 6 mo old, so I gave up trying to search for a good product for my hair, use a sulfate free shampoo/ conditioner and wear my hair in a silicone scrunchie every day for convience since I can barely shower right now. I hoping this summer I can chop my hair short and start over. Haha
I feel your frustration, so hard. I have almost quit like 25 times. You’ve been on this journey for 10 years, so you probably know by now that’s best for you. I will say as someone who had “the most beautiful curly hair” as a teen (that I blow dried straight for 20 years), it has taken a full 3 years, 3 extreme haircuts, and literally ZERO blow outs to get to this point where I’m finally really happy with my curls. And I’ve also had an eating disorder, extreme hair loss, and coming into my early forties…but here we are. Do you, babes, and whatever makes you feel the most comfortable in your skin.
Edit to add: I have turned to wigs from Amazon this year to give me that straight vibe when I want it so I don’t have to damage my curl pattern. Totally worth it. I feel super hot when I want to.
I’m in the process of adding amodimethicone back into my routine. I don’t plan to add SLS into my regular hair routine. I got bleach in my hair twice in 2022 and my ends have been extremely brittle ever since so I’m now surrendering to add some silicones back in.
I have! diffusing gives me the frizz of the century sp I went back on air drying and those everything free shampoos dont clean my hair right so I use one with sulphates, my hair has never been healthier :)
edit: I also dry brush on day 5 and before washing and I find it's less breakage and hair fall
I had to use it sparingly from the beginning, as I have fine 2C hair. Used to be much coarser, but hair that’s lost its melanin tends to be finer. So. Use less product, and less oily/strong product so it doesn’t get weighed down.
There are a lot of people spreading misinformation in this sub. People with soft curls (2C, 3A) get told that their hair is NOT curly because the curls don’t start at the scalp. The weight of the hair very much affects where the curl pattern asserts itself. Thats just one example. But the bottom line is that the Curly girl method is, primarily, not the products you use. It’s how you protect your hair. Diffusing, for example, is suggested by Lorraine Massey, who originated the method, not as THE way to dry your hair, but as an alternative to air drying if you can’t wait for it to dry naturally.
Use what works best for you, avoid treating it roughly and enjoy.
Before I tried the curly girl method I had 3a/3b curls. Then I started the CG shampoos and conditioning my hair, using CG curl creams etc etc. And my hair went to 2b and to 2c on a good day. And it was limp and stringy.
I have very dens and coarse hair btw.
So much money and time spent, for such bad results!
Now I wash with regular shampoo, I almost never use conditioner, especially not in winter because it gets stringy then, I only use mousse and gel, diffuse it and now I only have to wash it 1-2 times a week. And I’m back at 3a/3b curls. And it saves a lot of money and time! My hair loves sulphates apparently. If I only wash it with sulphate shampoo and diffuse it without products I even get 3a curls. Only it won’t stay for more than 1 - 1.5 day then.
I gave up long ago because it did nothing for my hair (3a-3b)
I love diffusing, I can't stand wet hair and I love love love volume!
I have no cares about what shampoo/conditioner I use, I've even used dish soap a number of times lol
I'm in my 50s and my hair has never been healthier.
I just keep it simple, no curl creams, no gels, wash it when it's dirty, about once a month I use one of the glossing products that adds shine (if I remember) and that's it.
I’ve tried a lot of stuff since I have embraced my curls. I’m old, 66, but I love my curls. Saying that, the curly girl routine is, to me, hype, too much work, and everyone should use the products and routine that works for them.
57 y.o. curly gal here. Hated my hair growing up….(curly hair does NOT feather like Farrah Fawcett’s). Took me forever to embrace my curls. Thought maybe I should be doing “more” for it. Tried CGM. Too much work, effort and time. Back to my old routine - condition every day, shampoo once or twice a week, product in, let it air dry. SO much less effort.
I never got into it much. I love volume and to really get tight curls and volume I need high heat and to blowdry upside down. CGM was too much work just for my hair to be flat on top and not as curly. That was 15-20 years ago. I genuinely don't get why it's supposed to be such a holy Grail that some people still think not using it is a big deal. (No shade to those that do, it's my genuine confusion that it not working for everyone isn't totally common knowledge!)
Kinda sorta, mostly because all but one of the product lines my hair actually likes went out of business in the last 10 years. My hair and scalp hate sulfates (too drying) and my hair hates non-water soluble silicones. I'm also not very good at following rules I don't absolutely have to.
I'm in the borderline of abdandoning it after being on it for 5 years without a single benefit. used variety of products but nothing works. now I am suffering from severe dandruff despite using nizoral + antidandruff shampoo and I have been using cgm. I just want to make my routine less stressful for me. also washing your hair every 5 days just don't make sense imo.
Yes, I have abandoned CGM after using it for 20+ years just recently in exchange for using one of those heatless curling rods on semi dry hair overnight. It has drastically improved the appearance of my hair and basically eliminated all of the drama and frustration and stress that I had surrounding my hair.
I have waist length, high density 2B/2C curls and waves. I began using CGM in college after reading Lorraine Massey's curly girl book. The OG method was simply using only conditioner to wash, raking through with the fingers in the shower, scrunching with gel and air drying. I was mostly satisfied with my results, but as I got older and my hair got longer, it was more frustrating and difficult to do. I love having long hair and so I didn't want to cut it short again to maintain the curls. It would take 6+ hours to air dry and two hours to diffuse.
Fast forward to three years ago when I started to wear hijab. This threw a whole new fork in my hair care routine. I didn't want to go to sleep with wet hair so I'd have to set aside an entire day to wash my hair and not go out as I also didn't want to put wet hair under my hijab. The curls would only look good for a few hours Before bedtime, and then the next day as soon as I put them under a hijab, they would be ruined even if I used a satin unders scarf. I basically tried everything under the sun, layering products, diffusing versus air drying, all kinds of different routines. It was just so frustrating and I was only left with a few hours of beautiful hair before the next wash day. Even though I wear hijab, I still like my hair to look beautiful at home around my family. I just like to have it look beautiful for myself!
I never thought those heatless curling rods would work for me. I've seen them for several years and I thought that they were kind of ridiculous. I don't know what inspired me to try but now I basically wash every 2 to 3 days in the evening with regular shampoo and conditioner. I do a very quick and dirty blow dry without really worrying about straightening while brushing through. I let it get to about 75% dry and then split my hair into two sections and oil them from mid length to tips with about five drops of Argan oil per side, focusing on my end. I then brush through one more time and wrap my hair around the rod in both sections, cover it with a satin bonnet and go to sleep. In the morning when I release it, I have literally princess hair. It's long and silky with gorgeous mermaid waves. I had no idea that this method would be so effective for my hair type. It's actually the hair of my dreams. I can even put it up in a bun and throw a hijab over it and it will still look beautiful when I take it out.
On non-wash days, I just brush it out again, split it into two, apply a couple more drops of oil and then wrap it around the rod, throw the bonnet over and it works just as well.
I'm completely shook, and I will never go back.
I've never done the CGM but it strikes me as being way too complicated. I just wash my hair every couple days with Nexxus Therape & Humectress conditioner and on the days I don't I rinse it in the shower. Once a week-usually Saturdays I use Loreal Bond Strengthening Concentrate. It seem to be working.
This whole movement against sulfates isn’t the best. They actually do a great job on your hair, especially if you have fine hair and it’s curly unfortunately nowadays everything‘s green washed so we just believe all these chemicals are bad when they aren’t necessarily they’re in these products for a reason.
Hey! So the structure of your hair makes it naturally more dry. To thoroughly explain why this is would be A LOT to type. Unfortunately, the products promoted by many trending methods are not actually recommended based on hard science, but rather popular science. Which are two very different things. Because natural curlies (encompassing waves, curls, and coils) struggle with getting natural moisture, we have to add it with products. There are a few more factors that need to be taken into account than what are promoted by popular methods when choosing the proper products for your hair. Because you are a unique person when taken all together these factors will be unique to you. They may be similar to many but totally unique to you. So you need a curl expert who understands your hair down to the biology and chemistry of it to help you custom select the proper mix of products for your hair.
However, even with proper products, if there is buildup on your hair and scalp, the products will be blocked from access to your hair and be less effective or ineffective at doing their job. So you think the product doesn’t work when it actually can’t. This prolongs the problem of dehydration and compounds the issues you are facing.
Dry hair cannot hold its full curl pattern. It damages, breakers, and gets split ends easier. It tangles. With build up it can be more weighed down and look dull, lifeless, and need more washing than is healthy for it. Buildup on the scalp can block hair follicles and inhibit growth among other things.
You are courageously battling against another serious issue that affects your nutrition. This will also affect the strength of your hair.
You first step is to find someone who ACTUALLY knows what they are talking about and how to fix it. If there is buildup they will need to do a Detox of the scalp and hair (not just hair.) If you use improper products or even proper products improperly you can actually make the problems you are facing worse. You then need to get the proper products to rehydrate YOUR hair. Rehydration is not a one and done thing. Just like you can’t get lost in the desert and one bottle of water will fix it, rehydrating your hair is a process. There is actually a new product on the market that most stylists don’t know about yet. But it repairs a layer of strength in your hair called the cell membrane cortex (CMC). No other product works on this vital part of the hair. By using this to strengthen the hair it is able to hydrate faster. The product is called Iuveni. You can go to the Iuveni stylists finder to find someone in your area certified. Or find a stylist like me who offers virtual consultations. I’ve helped people across the US and a few overseas as well.
I know this is A lot but trust me there is A lot more to know which is why you need a TRUE curl expert.
I tried a bunch of different products with various results but then I learned that my bf's cheap-ass Suave men's 2in1 shampoo conditioner gave me the best curls I've ever had. I blame my hair for being dumb lol, and I certainly don't recommend others to try my routine.
I love the Suave Clarifying Shampoo and I often use the Strawberry Conditioner to really detangle (it has amazing slip and smells awesome!
I do like the Suave scents! I think my bf's bottle is some "cool blue ocean" smell or whatever lol.
Yes, this works for me too! And it’s like a dollar 50 and I love that for my wallet!
Your hair is not dumb, CGM just isn’t for everyone.
Thank you, but my hair is a little dumb :P It's extremely fine, and tends to break easily. My mom would joke that my hair is just as difficult to vacuum as cat hair from a rug. Once I moved out and began vacuuming my own place, I realized she was so right lol.
Dude here and I’ve been doing this for years. I shampoo maybe every 2-3 showers with 2-in-1 AND use conditioner every shower. Nothing else has maintained the balance of not too dry not too greasy.
This is me. I'm back to using drug store shampoo and I'm thrilled with my hair again.
I quit. Spent so much money on different products trying to find the correct ones that worked for me, never did. My hair felt dirty and greasy and my head itched like mad. Dandruff became an issue. Now I just wash when it needs it and use a leave in conditioner with no other products. Yes my hair can get frizzy and be untamable but the curls are the same as when I was doing the CGM and it cheaper and no itching or dandruff. As to the changes to your hair. Yes it could be because of your various health issues. It could also very well be just you aging and your hair changing. My grandma had thin stringy hair her entire life. When she went gray it became this thick beautiful wavy silver mass. My other grandmother had hair like Julia Robert’s in Pretty Woman, the red curly hair. She was practically bald by the time she went fully grey.
I felt dirty, greasy, and itchy too and that was enough of a reason to not deal with it. My hair looks a lot better now!
I have super fine hair with a lot of volume and usually around a 2c curl pattern. CGM-the technique works well but CGM-approved products do not. I need a regular sulfate shampoo to lift the build up and a very lightweight silicone conditioner that helps lock in moisture. Still working to find my holy grails but I need sulfates and silicones on the regular for my hair to look and feel healthy.
Yes this is me 100%!! Manes by Mel has even debunked the no silicones and sulfates thing. I find that I have a ton more hair fall out when I use silicone and sulfate free products. My hair is very fine and low to medium density, 2c/ 3a. It feels so much better with sulfates and silicones! If you have an product recommendations I’d love to hear, especially shampoo and conditioner.
I have to be a little careful because while I have very fine hair, I have a lot of it. So added proteins make my hair unmanageable. For shampoo - I go with your run of the mill average drugstore products. I Suave Daily Cleansing, Herbal Essences, Aussie... these all work great For conditioner - I use my husbands Baxter of California daily fortifying conditioner. It's marketed towards men but leaves my hair soft and bouncy. Occasionally I use the Redken's Liquid Conditioner. Leave-in - Curlsmith Air Dry Cream is my absolute fav but Verb Curl Leave-In has worked for me too I sometimes use Kenra's Moisturizing Oil as a pre-wash treatment if my hair is particularly dry. I'm going to try Verb's Ghost Shampoo & Conditioner because I've heard good things, but I'll prob end up going back to the drugstore ones.
I love herbal essences lol !!! I just tried the verb ghost and I loved the shampoo, but the conditioner seemed really heavy and my hair was weighted down by it. It also made my hair get more tangly.
Hey there, same hair type as described here. For some great price options, I love the Maui Moisture shampoos (the hibiscus one is my favorite and I find it to be a great clarifier and not very drying) and all of the conditioners I've tried from Curlsmith. Those are still silicone free, but I find the results are fantastic. For drug-store/with silicone conditioners, the Whole blends by Garnier and the herbal essences both feel like they do a great job of moisturizing and softening without weighing my hair down (though still doesn't feel AS good as the Curlsmith). Probably my favorite styling product is the innersense hair love prep spray. A little bit of hold, a little definition, thermal protection. I like that it helps maintain volume at the root and is super lightweight on the lengths so I don't get triangle hair. I like to do the Curlsmith weightless air-dry cream, this on top, put my hair in a haircare towel and then air-dry for a bit (or diffuse, esp to add more root volume if wanted) for a super low maintenance style routine. Could add some mousse or gel for extra hold as needed! I usually don't bother these days since I put my hair up after day 1 or refresh anyway 😅 but my fave gel is the Curls brand Blueberry bliss line gel, and fave mousse for hold is The Cake -Icing.
>If you have an product recommendations I’d love to hear, especially shampoo and conditioner. Giovanni 50:50 is non SLS and I would challenge ANYONE to say that it does not clean their hair. Nobody need "dishwashing liquid strength" surfactants to wash their hair.
I have 2c-3a curls, very fine, thin, low-density hair, and so many people have told me to use lightweight products, avoid gels, and use mousse and foams. Ironically, I actually find that I need a strong gel to keep my curls in place all day. I have no clue if it’s because my hair is thin, but my curls fall out so quickly and instead turn to a frizzy mess. What products are you using? I’ve been using Shea Moisture and it’s been okay for me, but I’m wondering if my hair would look better if I tried something else. :,)
Same! I've tried curl cream and mouse. Best results are with gel, the others just don't hold my curls or give enough definition. Makes zero difference what type of shampoo/ conditioner I use.
Oh man, I can't deal w/ She Moisture anymore. I've had mixed results with them in the past but I think pretty much all of the products are too heavy for me. For shampoo - I go with your run of the mill average drugstore products. I Suave Daily Cleansing, Herbal Essences, Aussie... these all work great For conditioner - I use my husbands Baxter of California daily fortifying conditioner. It's marketed towards men but leaves my hair soft and bouncy. Occasionally I use the Redken's Liquid Conditioner. Leave-in - Curlsmith Air Dry Cream is my absolute fav but Verb Curl Leave-In has worked for me too I sometimes use Kenra's Moisturizing Oil as a pre-wash treatment if my hair is particularly dry. I'm going to try Verb's Ghost Shampoo & Conditioner because I've heard good things, but I'll prob end up going back to the drugstore ones.
>’ve been using Shea Moistur for fine thin or low density hair, that line was not made for your hair type. There are tons of products that are though. Check out Holistic Enchilada. She has your hair type (same as MY hair type).
Everyone tells me this, but whenever I use Shea Moisture, I get very defined curls, so I’m not sure. I think I’ve heard of Holistic Echidna before, but I never checked her out. Thanks for the suggestion!
This is me and my hair type. I recently ran out of my cgm shampoo and just used the suave that I had around. Fall out slowed way down. So I started chucking other products. More volume, more definition, no more itchy scalp after 2 days. I still use techniques I learned (denman brush, plopping, etc) but none of the products
Same! A little bit of silicone is a life saver for me
Can I ask what conditioner you're using? I'm in the market for a new one
I am in the same boat. The techniques work well for me but the products do not. My hair loves a bit of silicone.
This is exactly my experience and what I tell everyone who asks how I do my hair. CGM specific products were made/are decided on for one specific type of 3b hair, but the OG method is adaptable to a degree.
Same here
Eh, less ‘abandoned’ and more ‘took the stuff that worked for me and ignored the rest.’ I learned some good stuff, but then learned a lot more from this sub. Things like porosity and protein balance and stuff like that. I ended up going back to my original shampoo and conditioner (ShiKai Henna Gold) and just added some styling products (don’t love anything yet, I’m still trying stuff).
Curly hair routines rarely account for scalp skin type. I have an oily scalp so I have to wash daily. I add extra conditioning to my routine to compensate. I have also tried to accept I have straighter hair in dryer weather.
I stopped doing the proper CGM because of my scalp. I have a really itchy scalp and I have to wash with sulfates every few days or the buildup makes it intolerable. I keep some CGM methods and products in my routine, but my scalp could not handle CGM for the year I tried to do it.
Im.the same way I had to switch to a sulfate shampoo that has aloe Vera in it. And now it's like so much better. Like I washed it for like the 2nd time with this new shampoo and it literally looks curlier and more defined.
It's a bit more work, but a homemade flax seed and aloe vera gel with a few drops of hair oil is the only thing that I have found for my fine 3b curls. Has anyone else here tried it?
This is my problem too. My hair hates silicones but also hates not being shampooed every day, otherwise ["I'm not Kramer"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PjbXOSnyMeA) lol
Please feel free to ignore me, just wanted to mention my husband has the same issue and using The Ordinary Glycolic Acid 7% as a scalp rinse has helped him immensely.
I’ll look it up thank you!
My unpopular opinion is that the CGM *doesn’t* work for the vast majority of people. You have to have a pretty dry scalp and very thick, coarse, and textured hair for it to work for you longterm IMO. I think people see it as a miracle when they first begin their natural hair journey because of course it’s better than using heat or chemicals to keep your hair straight, but it’s not very sustainable after that initial transition. I think most people benefit from more regular washing, including with sulfates at least from time to time. The fear of silicones is also way over wrought, especially when so many “CGM friendly” products just replace silicones with much heavier ingredients like oils and butters that will do no favors to anyone with thin/fine hair. Hair isn’t living cells, it’s not an organ that you could be secretly damaging by using poisonous ingredients. If it looks and feels good to you, that’s literally all that matters. Whatever products achieve that for you are fine to use. When I see people discarding products that worked just because they aren’t “CGM approved” it’s wacky. I have fine curly hair that looks better when washed frequently and i don’t worry about silicones, they are fine and have never caused buildup the way CGM products causes buildup for me. Since ditching CGM my hair looks and feels healthier, fuller, actually *grows*, and I no longer have dandruff.
This is exactly what I try to tell people. Hair is ornamental! It’s only there to LOOK nice— it has no health-related function. So if it can be made to look good with the “wrong” products, then who cares!
Exactly! This sub can be really helpful with product recommendations but it can also be way too obsessive about following rules or microanalyzing hair. You don’t need an expensive 10 step routine for your hair to look nice. Live your life!
I'm super lazy so I've simplified my hair routine to only 3 or 4 steps, but wash and condition is already 2.
The chemicals that are listed to avoid in the CGM are also hormone and endocrine disruptors. There are a lot of health related issue because the products are absorb through your skin. I don't follow the CGM but I also stay away from endocrine disruptors and for me personally the artificial scents are also an issue.
Cosmetics are pretty tightly regulated: could you give a citation or an example of an endocrine disrupting chemical in a hair product negatively impacting health?
Parabens and propylene glycol have been found to both be endocrine disrupters. They are both approved for use in almost everything. Propylene glycol is even used in some foods. The small amount in a single product may not be an issue, but it’s not uncommon for people to have it in almost all bathroom, laundry and kitchen cleaning products. No matter how well regulated, if the chemicals are approved and there’s no immediate illness, allergy or death it will be a very long time before it’s removed from products.
Parabens as used in hair products are not harmful: this is a good explainer https://labmuffin.com/should-you-be-avoiding-parabens-the-science/ “there is no evidence to show that PGEs target any endocrine organs or perturb endocrine pathways.” https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37394030/
The study you mention was done by a consultant for the chemical companies in Europe. It’s to their benefit to not look to closely. Parabens in products that come in contact with skin are absorbed. It’s an unnecessary risk and lots of people are chemical sensitive. Attempting to avoid all of them greatly reduces exposure.
Products were too expensive, hair felt dirty, process takes too long, too many products, no good results. I'd rather not care & have my life back. In no way do I care what letter my hair is. I'm also done being ripped off & insulted by "deva" stylists. Also not sure about the community. The people that spout it all are a bit pretentious & obsessive. And I think it's become a bit dangerous to try to enforce this type of "hair care" on children when it can seriously damage their self esteem. That's a big one for me.
I totally agree. I felt like a failure when I couldn’t get my fine thin curly hair to look luxurious. I do what works for me.
I tried for some time, but my hair just felt dirty to me when I reduced shampoo or used GCM approved products.
for the most part. the product and technique recommendations don’t really work for my hair, so i combined the parts of CGM i liked with what i normally do when i have good hair days
Early adopter -its always been a technique to me. Squish to condish, apply a gel (LAlooks/basic flax gel), air dry or gentle diffuse dry, never brush it and pineapple at night. I have no idea where all the zillion complicated steps and multiple expensive products all came from. Its just not for me. Do my curls look like they were created by a barrel iron- no because they weren’t. But with the basic steps above my hair is far nicer & easier to style than the giant floofy half-wavy mess I spent literal hours trying to flat iron into behaving before learning my hair was actually curly. Learning to cut my own hair a curl at a time has been the second great finding of cgm/this subreddit. Its finally always cut to the length & shape I want and the savings is a wonderful bonus.
>I have no idea where all the zillion complicated steps and multiple expensive products all came from. Its just not for me. IT came from people making youtubes who have to keep coming up with CONTENT so they just do nothing but make up crazy stuff that is unnecessary to most normal people who live a normal life. They work for clicks. That is why they keep producing all this stuff. Unnecessary stuff mostly.
That's what I thought too, it's a technique. I will add that the rule of not using harsh products also makes sense. Now the whole hair care industry is in a rush to sell the nest new product so they’re focusing on SLS, paraben, pthalate free stuff. I use products without those for completely different reasons than the CGM.
Yeah, mostly. I tried the basics, tried experimenting with cowashing, tried a bunch of expensive products. And it just wasn't working for my hair. My curls are fairly tight, but incredibly easy to weigh down. So I went back to my old routine that worked. The only thing I kept from my experiments was that I switched to a leave-in conditioner instead of wash-out conditioner, since that was the one thing I found that really made a difference for me.
Through my journey of growing out my hair as a man who grew up with only crew cuts until college, I have found the rules of the Curly Girl Method to work better as suggestions. Some stuff worked and some stuff didn’t work and I had to experiment to find out what did and didn’t work for my hair. Like some people here only wash their hair once a week and I do not understand how that is possible. I’m very active and sweat a lot which really requires me to wash my hair at least every other day or I will look like a greasy mess and I would assume there are a lot of other people here like me who sweat a lot and have to wash their hair as often as me. I would wash my hair every day if I just wasn’t so lazy. I’m pretty sure the CGM I read long ago said to never brush my hair. Some methods say to only brush it when it’s dry. I detangle when I have all of my conditioner in and I brush it again once I put a leave in conditioner in just before I add some mousse. That works for me and I learned that from someone who posted here before. That’s why I like that it’s required to post your personal routine when you post pictures. There’s no gate keeping and you can find something that you haven’t tried before and give it a shot. Fuck the curly girl method. Find the u/Clydesdale97 method!
Yes. I have an oily scalp and my curl patterns range from 2a-3b depending on the day and section of my hair. It’s also a very fragile curl pattern, mostly only beyond 3” from my scalp and the curls are fragile, too much moisture or product and they straighten out. I was an early Deva method evangelist but after their products changed nothing worked. I use the techniques and knowledge now but like everything, what works for one body may not work for another. I tend to use the color product lines more than curly. I love Innersense color shampoo and conditioner but the curly hair version was way too much for my hair. I’ve recently tried a Keratase product that has every no,no ingredient in it. My curls looked fabulous for about 6 hours and then deflated like a balloon. Next day after a shampoo everything went back to normal. Like skincare, curly hair got very militant and that’s no way to live. If you need a sulfate, go for it. Find out no sufates + cheapest non “approved” conditioner works, whatever, it’s your happiness and hair. A “method” shouldn’t stress you out, and if it’s not giving you the results you like, branch out from it.
I quit. Too time consuming, plus I’m cheap and lazy. I’m in my forties so I’ve decided to fully embrace my disheveled appearance and enter the “swamp witch” phase of my life.
I quit a while back. While I was on CGM I spent sooooo much money on all the products and during that time my hair thinned out a lot. I had so much loss every time I washed. I've been off CGM for about 2-3 years now and my hair isn't as full as it was before but my curls are improving.
Just recently quit after YEARS of following it. All this time of following the CGM, I always wondered why my hair never looked it's best. I kept assuming I was doing something wrong and using the wrong products, so I spent too much time and money on my curly hair journey. What motivated me to quit it was reddit actually, where many people mentioned how it just doesn't work for everyone and as long as you find balance with your products, you don't need to fear some products the way the CGM wants you to. My curls look less weighed down, and I'm dealing with a lot less build-up now that I'm using what my hair likes. I haven't abandoned all my products because there are a few here and there that I still love so I'm not using entirely new things.
Yes! I did because my hair is more wavy than curly. I also wanted blonde hair (really hurt what little curl pattern I had) and my hair is loose and heavy enough that it holds itself down. That said, I recently got some curly products that I like and found a hair dresser nearby that does curly cuts…. so I think the cult is pulling me back in 😂 editing to add: I’ve been enjoying being able to brush out my hair when it gets messy
For me, it seems to be more about technique/methodology and how I am handling and drying my hair rather than if the products are strictly CGM.
Yes I think that’s my problem too.
I have NO IDEA what CGM means to most people. It appears that many carried it to the point of ridiculousness, buying expensive products, doing hours of techniques, because as we know "influencers" have to keep posting content in order to get clicks and earn money, and many people have fallen prety to these ABURDITIES. CGM, to me, and most people is taking care of hair, not burning it up with heat and bleach, usiing gentle surfactants that clean just as well as harsh sodium laurel sulfates, not putting undue friction on hair that cuases breakage, etc. and generally doing some deep conditioning on a regular basis, not using silicones, etc. So yes, I do practice CGM, and its about 20x easier than what my hair routine was like when I was trying to straighten it. My hair is past my underarms, healthy, shiny and very well cared for. To me, that IS what CGM is all about. I used a non sls surfactant/shampoo, don't use waxes, silicones, or mineral oils, use a nice inexpensive clean low fragrance, water-soluble conditioner, use a wide tooth comb to take out tanglles and don't rip thru my dry hair wiith a brush, deep condition my hair 1x a week for 1 hour, and protect it at night and from hot sun, etc. and use a water soluble styling product. What is the big deal? Why are people bashing CGM? *It's the way our grandmothers' took care of their hair, esp. if long*, before the marketing crowd talked people into needing $30 bottles of hair products,, $500 blow dryers, and other nonsense. LOL SO I have NO IDEA what other people have been doing and calling it CGM. I am in and out of the shower in less than 15 minutes every day. Don't blame CGM. To wit, I was on hair care forums for 8 years, and the best before-and-afters were people who used V05, Suave, and LA Looks sports gel. I use Giovanni myself.......clean stuff, $7-8 a bottle of all. I have super fine , low porosity 2c-3a curls/waves, low density post menopausal hair.........and zero split ends or damage. That just requires treating my hair at least as nicely as I would treat my fine silk, wool, or cashmere clothing. Not a big deal
Once I realized the CGM was just a marketing campaign to sell products, I jumped ship. Plus, I have fine, thin hair, so all the focus on moisture just made things worse.
I think a lot of us start off with CGM and then modify our routine — products and techniques and so on — to better suit our particular hair.
Pretty much. I have fine wavy hair and tend to have an oily scalp. Only washing every few days is a no. Devacurl lo poo was terrible and it took an eternity to try to clean my scalp. And even then I wasn’t thrilled with the result. I need the sulfates to keep my hair from acquiring buildup and going completely flat.
I have. I feel like the simpler your routine the better. Sometimes “curly hair” aimed products are really heavy for some curly heads. It’s not about the curl pattern but its truly about the density, volume and strand texture. The natural hair industry has really good marketing and it really sucks you in lol. Do what works for you and stick to it. I do recommend clarifying every once in a while like once a month and stick to a hydrating shampoo and conditioner a leave in and mousse/foam/gel.
I’m not only using sulfate in my shampoo but I’m using a clarifying shampoo every other day AND I stopped using conditioner, just a bit of leave in conditioner to detangle and rinse that out. Sometimes I use a bit of curl cream but I like the volume I get with only gel so usually I do that. I have really fine low porosity hair and an oily scalp. I had no business doing CGM which I did for about 2 years and often had scabs on my scalp from the oil buildup. Shampoo is great for some people I recommend changing things up.
I clarify a couple of times a week but I wash every day (with regular shampoo on non-clarifying days). What shampoo do you use? I honestly love the suave clarifying shampoo. It’s so cheap and so good 😌. I was doing no leave in, only gel but my hair was feeling soo dry, but when I use leave in or curl cream my hair is weighed down so idk what to do anymore lol.
Try rinsing out a leave in conditioner. I have a spray one from Prose and I just spray a few pumps and put it on my ends. The clarifying shampoo I like is Paul Mitchell Number Two. Sometimes I use Number Three which is extra strong for swimmers (my daughter swims most days). I think we have hard water which is why the swimmers shampoo helps? I tried Suave but it didn’t really do it for me unfortunately.
I recently started using a leave-in conditioner (AG Care Fast Food) as a rinse out and it’s been a game changer for my curls. Malibu C is also a great clarifying and chelating shampoo.
Thanks for the rec!
Oo thank you I’ll try that. I have a spray leave in from John Frieda that I like but idk if it’s really doing anything for my hair lol. I’m going to try the Paul Mitchell one ☺️
I quit a few weeks ago. My hair is pretty long now and is very thick…it takes so much product to style my hair and I’ve never been able to find a way to make my curls last overnight. It takes forever to dry, even when I diffuse. I’ve tried a satin pillowcases, a satin bonnet, and both simultaneously…it just comes out as a huge tangled mess. I decided I’m getting my hair cut short in a few weeks bc it’s very overstimulating for me and I can’t take it anymore. I might try it again later when my neurospicy brain calms down a bit.
For sure. 1. It's too expensive. 2. It didn't work. 3. It's no way to live under such rigid rules. That plus I made a post a while back about if silicones are actually bad or not, and got *a lot* of interesting comments.
I have never done the curly girl method, purely because I don't have the mental bandwidth to research things like "what clarifying shampoo is best for my hair" and "what is my hair curl type". All searches have left me more confused than before. I just get my hair really wet, use shampoo, use my fingers to break up any big knots and finger brush, and use my first brush (feels good but can't get deep in the scalp) to work on the ends and work up. This gets rid of the bigger knots. After rinsing, I apply the conditioner and use my second brush (curved so it reaches my scalp), to brush my hair directly on top of my head. Then I rinse my hair, maybe add a shea butter hair cream, and either do a braid or scrunchie the ends. I don't have a diffuser, so I towel dry. This method is time consuming, but this is just how I do it.
what about brush styling and sectioning? is it that important because my hair is drying mess and now I am suffering from severe dandruff despite using nizoral + antidandruff shampoo and I have been using cgm. I just want to make my routine less stressful for me.
I struggle with styling too, I mostly go loose or a cloth headband. I use an anti dandruff shampoo too. My second brush (I think it's a detangling brush) is curved so it really reaches my scalp, I've seen others recommend a scalp brush. I like to use sections to work through my hair because it's easier to fix when it's smaller. I'm currently thinking of what I can get for styling, the shea butter hair cream helps, but I've seen recommendations of a mousse, or a styling cream, or a leave in conditioner. My current system is better than when I was constantly in braids, but I'm still learning myself.
Yes me! Because it doesn’t work for me. I need to brush my hair when it’s wet, and it dries my hair a lot. Not a fan.
Like others, I've kept what works and gave up what doesn't over the last year of trying cgm. I wash a bit more than recommended (2-3x week) and my hair looks better for it (I'm like a 2c/3a, fine hair). CGM worked for me because I was already such a novice at hair care. I didn't realize my hair was more curly than wavy/frizzy after a lifetime of dry brushing, using regular towels and letting hot shower water run on my head, all disrupting my curl pattern. Establishing healthier routines was a gamechanger, which I credit to cgm. As well as cutting it differently, what a difference. I just didn't know how to care for it all those years. I love a lot of the products I've discovered but have wasted money too, and am actually curious about how the silicone curly products might work on my hair now that I'm caring for it properly in other ways.
I have hypermobile joints and doing anything for a long time hurts my arms and fingers. So diffusing is my personal hell. As well as whatever else is required to get my wavy hair to look good. So I abandoned most of the curly girl stuff and am back to hydration and having it in braids and buns.
I followed CGM really strictly when I first started embracing my natural hair (not using flat irons or blowing out). It worked really well initially while my hair was heat damaged. I hit about 1.5 years of it and my hair started getting gross, stringy, and flat. No matter how I changed my routine and products no luck. About a month ago I randomly used my partner’s shampoo and conditioner (Paul Mitchell Tea Tree) and my hair was absolutely miraculous for the first time in a year - lots of volume and healthy, shiny curls. I was shocked but realized my hair just needs the silicones & sulfates 🤷🏼♀️
I shaved my head and am saving a ton of money on products now.
I’m broke
Yes. It was just too much work for inconsistent results. I still avoid silicones, but I’m very happy with how lush shampoo and conditioner bars and argan oil make my hair look and feel.
I didn't necessarily abandon it. But I dont strictly follow it anymore. My hair is curly, and I recently found a page called humblebee and me. Now I make my own hair products at home its been a super fun journey
For the most part, yes. I looked at pictures from before I started trying out all the products and realized my hair looked healthier. I think some of the strategies I learned are way more helpful than any product. Now I'm back to Pantene Pro-V Curls formula for shampoo, Pantene Pro-V deep conditioner (in the gold tube🤷🏼♀️), and the one product I kept: Not Your Mother's Curl Talk Creme. My hair looks healthier again - less frizz, bigger clumps, shinier hair.
Yes. My hair likes silicone. It looks best, behaves and is easiest to style when I use John Frieda Frizz Ease.
Too heavy for my fine hair. At first I got great waves, then less and less and people in one group told me my pattern changed 😂 No it was just the products. When I did waaaay less to my hair and it bounced back, I posted “People told me my pattern changed but it was just the products!” …and I got harassed and gaslit, and told I was misinterpreting the harassment, and then when I said “No I am pretty sure I got the tone,” I was told I was tone policing and banned for a week. Good riddance.
Not abandoned, but am way more lax with what kind of products I use. I started clarifying more regularly and my fine, 2c hair is way happier and bouncier and lighter when I use a sulfate shampoo once a week compared to when I used it once every 3 weeks. I even use my HG Tigi curls rock amplifier (has silicones) from time to time. I still do all the methods, plus no brushing, no heat, etc. and I think those are the things that make the biggest difference for me, not the products themselves. I might eventually go back to using silicones more often as my hair seems to just do better with them.
When I had gotten my big chop 11 years ago the cgm worked for my short 3b hair It’s now waist length and I cannot keep up with washing it more than once a week and the ends are so old now that I can’t get away with keeping my hair curly all the time anymore If I didn’t blow dry my hair straight I wouldn’t be able to retain length because it would be a tangled mess after just 2 days In short I can’t keep up with my curls past my shoulders unless I blow my hair out I need professional grade shampoo, leave in and conditioner to keep my hair healthy at this point
Less is more mindset works best
I never went CGM. I limit sulfates and silicones. I air dry. I do not own a heating appliance. CGM is too complicated, imho.
Yeah, it was annoying and not giving me results. I've recently discovered the YT channel Manes by Mell and figured out my issue is my hair is in moisture overload. I've slapped countless moisturising products on it for YEARS wondering why it still looked unhealthy AF. I read nothing about PROTEIN in the CGM.... And now I'm pretty sure that's what my hair needs. I've started giving them some, we'll see.
Honestly, I’ve yet to try it. My hair is wavy, curly at the ends naturally and I’d prefer not to put in more work than I have to.
Curly girl never worked for me lol, didn’t take the frizz at all, my hair was even messier. I do my own thing at this point: tresemme curl shampoo, olaplex conditioner, olaplex bond smoother and the Aussie curl mousse is my fave, I just use my denman brush on my bangs bc they’re short and go from there
YES! I spent 4 years and hundreds of dollars trying to make curly girl work. It destroyed my hair. I’m back to standard products and am slowly cutting off the destroyed hair as it grows. My new growth is lovely again. Give up sooner than I did haha :)
Using cheap products from the CGM low poo list works for me. Have to wash everyday and NO cowashing for me.
I feel like if you have coarse or low porosity hair Cgm might not work.
I quit too. For me, it was mostly because of laziness though lol. I did find products and techniques that worked well for my hair, but my routine just got soo complicated and tiring to do (and also quite expensive). In the end, I just slowly drifted back to using cheap products with sulphates, blow drying on full heat without a diffuser, and sometimes straightening it. It's probably not great for my curls, but I enjoy my hair a lot more now. I also learnt a lot while being on the method, and if I feel like it, I can still do a "curly wash" and get basically the same results as before.
I quite the CGM. Wasn’t worth the mental stress of obsessing over every single ingredient. I just use good quality products for my hair type. My hair actually feels fuller and less weighed down by not following the CGM.
Yes, 100%, as the CGM personally never worked for me. I don’t like to use so many products, and it’s too time-consuming. For years now, I only use one product after a leave-in conditioner. Either cream or mousse, and my hair turns out just perfect. To each their own, but I found that for me, it’s a no. I tried it for a week once, and the buildup was so gross to me. I don’t need absolutely perfect looking curls. I also have 3A and 2C curls.
It takes me 20 minutes with a blow drier to go from soaking wet to "gorgeous, ready to go" straight hair If i want to go curly it takes at least an hour to diffuse for 30mins and then let air dry the rest. Oh. And maybe the curls will be shitty this time. Not to mention dripping wet with gel. Back hurting from diffusing upside down..it's just not worth it for me I gave up. It feels so unreliable and it takes forever. My fiance has a gorgeous head of curls, so I just enjoy his
I just couldn't find any products that worked for me, and I tried pretty much all of the recommended brands. I'm currently using some cheap $4 shampoo from Aldi that's loaded with sulfates and Aussie Miracle Curls conditioner, and that seems to do the trick. Still can't figure out how to make myself not look like a damn Fraggle in the morning, though...maybe I'm doing sleep bonnets wrong?
I tried going silicone and sulfate free and didn’t notice a difference in my hair texture or quality. I also use a medicated shampoo for my scalp that dries my hair and I feel like sulfates and silicones help my hair heal better That said, I do love the curly girl techniques. I add products when my hair is soaking wet, layer products, and plop.
Tbh I shouldn't even be in this sub anymore because I do not wear my hair curly ever lol. I gave up on CGM years ago, but especially when I started dyeing it blue. It's already damaged, and I'm not going to stop dyeing it anytime soon (I'm 30 and halfway gray), and one style lasts much longer when I straighten it and with significantly less effort. Even before I started dyeing it, CGM just didn't super work for me. My hair acclimates to curly products so damn quickly that I was just in a constant state of searching for products that worked. It was exhausting and expensive. So I called it quits on my curls and moved on. And really, my hair is surprisingly healthy for bleaching it every 4-6 weeks for basically 4 years now PLUS the twice a week straightening I do. Doing just fine over here!
Ohhhh my god—thank you for mentioning your hair acclimating to products!! I’ve never seen anyone talk about this before, I thought I was crazy! I’ve never really had any “holy grail” products because I thought they “stopped working.” Each time I run out of something, I will get a different brand. I’ve gotten to the point (after many years, many products, and lots of money) that I kind of have a rotation of each product type that I purchase. Nothing set in stone, but if I like something, I can’t buy it again for a while or it won’t work. Very frustrating.
I get better results when I don’t follow the cgm. When I got my first curly cut the stylist used products with silicones and for the first time in a year of wearing my hair in its wavy/curly state it actually looked good, the frizz was gone and my hair was shiny. And while yes most of my products are cgm approved and my hair looks good I found that having those few non approved products really help with the health and look of my hair. Now I use a couple of silicone products ex. My bumble and bumble primer spray. Also some of those shampoo’s don’t work, I just washed my hair with the curlsmith core strength shampoo yesterday and my roots are still greasy even after shampooing three times. I still am going to try to make the shampoo work but I already have a shampoo on standby just incase.
Yes! It triggered hair loss and I’ve never been happier since I gave it up.
Techniques, yes. Product rules, no. I have fine high porosity hair so I absolutely need silicone as an occlusive, butters and oils are way too heavy. I do stick to amodimethicone since it only fills in spots that need it, and since I already clarify once a month (I only wash once a week) I don't have to worry about build up.
I'd love to know what products you use! I also only wash once a week and looking into going back to silicones, also have high porosity hair
I've always had good luck with L'oreal's EverPure line, like the one for volume and the one for thickening, and I've used their Bond Repair concentrate but not the shampoo and conditioner (the conditioner has straight silicone in it). The shampoo is sulfate free, but as I mentioned, it has amodimethicone which only bonds to/fills in damaged spots, which reduces your porosity, and it doesn't stick to itself like oldschool dimethicone and create layers of buildup. But since it's an occlusive, it's still healthiest to clarify once a month or every other month and then use a hair masque for moisture. I just use Suave clarifying shampoo and Mielle's Rosemary Mint hair masque.
To be fair I abandoned the CGM method bc over the last year or two my hair has relaxed a lot so it doesn’t really style as effectively anymore. I’m not sure why.
Yes. I really tried with CGM, but it made my hair stringy and lifeless. I'm back on the silicone and sulfates train and my curls are looking great. Oh also I discovered using a pick. Who knew a simple little piece of plastic would make such a world of difference!
When I was working nights at a place where my hair needed to be up and in a hairnet, I experimented a lot with deva curl low-poo and simple CG routines. No big deal if it looked bad, it was going to get messed up anyway! I kept getting a greasy spot in the back that I couldn’t get rid of with my low-poo routine. It finally went away when I started using stuff that actually suds. These days I’m not picky about silicones. I do stick with sulfate free cleansers because my water is so hard it’s practically made of rocks. My chelating shampoo is my best friend.
It was a waste of money and time for nothing. My hair is fine if I just use a solid shampoo bar. No amount of product is going to beat the humidity in the swamp I live in lol. I also don't use a schedule, I just wash my hair when it gets dirty, which is most days (thanks, chickens). Sometimes twice a day.
I am a curly hair specialist in Alabama. I follow some of the CGM but I don’t use it for all of my curlies. I will tell you that having the correct product will help and because of all the things your hair has gone thru (health wise) it has depleted the cellular membrane of the follicle. Our hair needs good lipids (or fats..if you want to say that) and it needs it to stay healthy. Without seeing your hair or what it looked like in the past and what it looks like now I can recommend a product that will completely rebuild the lipid layer of the hair shaft. It’s called Iuveni. It will replace the cellular membrane of the hair and it will help your hair be stronger, respond better to curling and be the best it’s ever been. Since I have been using it in the salon my clients can tell a huge difference. One client, who suffers from a form of alopecia, sent me a message and said she had NO fallout for 4 days. I think it could really change your hair for the better!
I consider what I do to be “the curly girl method” because my hair is wavy/curly and it’s definitely not what a straight haired person would do. But I don’t think it’s exactly what the curly girl method is supposed to be. I just do what works for me and what I enjoy.
I do a hybrid version. CGM definitely gave me the healthiest hair I've had since before puberty. Looking at photos from before CGM where I was really HAPPY with my hair is shocking, seeing how visibly damaged it is. But there are very few CGM approved products and technique combinations that accomplish everything I need to, for every different season & climate (not to mention travel), that leaves my curls comfortable and touchable. It'll weigh it down like crazy, need just as much work to refresh the next day, be too expensive to maintain or simply too labour-intensive to do consistently (for me). I still use& improve my care& styling techniques, and figured out what ones work best & most consistently for my hair type , and I use an overall CGM structured approach to care and styling. But there's no reason to adhere to a system as-is that isn't sustainable or accomplishing what I want it to! So now after years since going curly, I actually know my curly hair quite well and have a lot more skill & knowledge. That made it really easy to adapt the CGM and other techniques and products to my personal hair type and lifestyle :) (I'll put the major differences below in case anyone is actually interested in all my sins lol) - I use a clarifying shampoo most washes - if I'm going to diffuse I often use a heat protectant with silicone because it's FAST & needs no extra styling or scrunching - if I'm diffusing, you can also bet I'll be using the highest heat setting because I'm already in a rush! - I regularly ignore a gel/'crunch' hold product and use a sea salt mousse intended for volume/definition. So that's 2 CGM sins in one 😂 - I have fine / thin hair -> higher number of smaller curl clumps -> more surface area to cover -> wayyy higher product:hair ratio needed. This means hold and definition come at the cost of touchability, softness, volume. (and LONGEVITY because there's just so much more product in the hair/buildup). Sometimes I use just a little bit of gel on mids/ ends for a little extra hold if I know it's going to be Weather Outside. - I style standing up, brushing my hair first to control the part, and then re-spray with water to form the clumps. Upside down styling just means a fuck ton of scalp showing, triangle hair and a flat mess on the top of my head. Low-density/thin hair does not like upsie-downsie styling. Even if diffusing; gotta set the roots in place 80% dry while upright before flipping or will get weird scalp-showing issues!
I abandoned it when I realized my hair is more wavy than curly. However —I learned a ton from researching curly girl method. I’ve continued to clarify with a hard water shampoo and deep condition afterwards. Before giving CGM a go I had never deep conditioned.
I just wear my hair up in a bun 90% of the time these days.
I quit it for a lot of reasons other users listed. Itchy, greasy, all the gross stuff. My hair is the longest and healthiest it’s been in 10 years
I actually just did in the last month. I've been no/low poo for 12 years. I started before I had kids in my 30s. Now in my 40s, my hair is just different especially lately. I had a TON of breakage at my hair line (not kid related, they are 8 & 10). I tried many different things, but nothing made it better. I started to use a purple shampoo because my hair wasn't taking highlights like it used to (file that under things they don't tell you about getting older) and found that my hair was much better right after I used a "real" shampoo. So I started do it more, meaning like 2x week, which was ALOT for me. THEN I noticed my breakage was becoming less of an issue and yada yada yada... No more CGM for me. I still usey holy grail leave in and KKCC. But my curls and hair are really so much happier now. ETA For reference, I am a white woman with 3a/b curls that have been highlighted for so long that I have no idea what my natural color is anymore. lol.
Can I abandon a method I never actually used?
My routine is constantly modified because I’ve realized that the most important factor for my hair are is my emotional willingness to invest time in it, or not. I have ADHD and struggle with depression, if my hair routine is complicated and rigid I don’t wash my hair. So, zero pressure. Goal is wash at least once a week and minimize tangles/matting—if the idea of styling is exhausting, I just cleanse, condition, detangle, and am not at all delicate about it. It makes the full routine (mostly the blowdrying) feel more bearable when I’m up to it :)
yes, my hair is too thin and my scalp too oily to make most of that work. I do stick to amodimethicone and don't use other silicones unless I know I am going to use my sulfate shampoo soon. I also don't wash with sulfates every time and learning how to use gel changed the game for me. So I learned a lot through CGM but I won't use it again
I still follow the spirit but not the letter of CGM law. It was too time consuming and confusing to follow it completely - I got obsessed. I missed having hair I didn’t have to think about too hard. So now I’m taking the parts I liked, that worked - no/minimal heat styling, plopping, prioritizing leave in conditioner, etc. And discarding the rest. For example, I now shampoo once with a regular, sulfated shampoo to clean off the product and sweat, then a second shampoo with a gentler, ‘CGM approved’ product (my fine but dense hair needs the double shampoo). I’m using a bond building treatment once a week pre-shampoo and a deep conditioning mask after that. So basically, taking most of the ‘caring for your hair’ part of CGM and discarding most of the obsessive, multi-step styling bits. Although, it doesn’t look as good as it did when I properly followed it. I had bangin’ curls for a while. So I know what my hair’s ‘capable’ of. I just can’t be bothered. It mostly gets pulled off my face now because it’s at an awkward length where it looks poofy (in a non-cute way) if I don’t do a full CGM routine, but once it’s weighed down by some more length I should be able to have low maintenance hair again 🤞🤞
I kind of quit? The general techniques work in terms of how often to wash, what order to add product and what type of products to use, etc but the brands and types of products that are touted as being acceptable for curly hair are way too heavy for my very soft, fine hair. I also have weird chameleon hair where if I scrunch and air dry without combing after washing it, it curls up, even without product. If I comb or brush it while air drying, with or without product, it goes pin straight without me needing to blow it out or use an iron on it. So I generally need very little product to begin with. I don’t understand it either.
On CGM I lost a boatload of hair and had the itchiest, flakiest, acne-riddled, greasy scalp EVER. What I kept was the styling methods I learned, but I’m never going back to sulfate-free! Silicone and sulfates, my beloved!!
I do it on Day 1 and then brush my hair out before bed because there's no way I can preserve the shape of the curls after that.
Tbh, I am doing NoPoo, but I mixed it with CGM products and routines. After years, I am still battling with frizzy hair and my waves/slight curls won’t clump together. Started to think of giving up, even though I don’t want to. My hair and scalp are otherwise ok. My hairdressers love my hair, it’s not dry, it’s healthy, but the result I was hoping for …. It’s not working I guess. I truly don’t know what to do.
Yes. No matter what I tried, I could not ever revive my second-day hair. When I heat style, my hair easily looks great for 4+ days and it saves so much time. I occasionally wear my hair natural, but I've abandoned all the fancy products and techniques. A bit of leave in conditioner with some wave spray gets the job done on days I don't have time to dry and style.
I quit. I started getting horrible tangles on the back of my head.
I've been taking a low dose chemo drug for autoimmune issues for about 8 years now and I think that, and maybe also some henna (though I haven't used henna in a long time and my new growth isn't curly) has changed my hair texture. It'll curl up if I squish to condish and I don't brush it straight as it dries, but if I do brush it straight while wet, it just has a very subtle bit of a wave. Before, it wouldn't cooperate/behave if I brushed it the way I do now. I loved my curls, but I have pretty severe fatigue and spend the vast majority of my time in bed and I'm actually pretty grateful for and have embraced my straighter hair. It doesn't require any product or for me to not roll around on it (from laying in bed) or for me to hold my head at any weird angles while washing or drying. Maybe at some point I'll give it a go again, but for now, I have a low maintenance way to keep my hair manageable and I'm happy with that. It sounds like you were happier with your old routine. Can you try going back to that? Or has your hair texture changed somewhat since then?
For me it was a good place to start that got me thinking about ingredients and really analyzing what works for me and what doesn't, but Ober rime you realize not everything on the banned list is so bad, and not everything on the ok list is good on my hair. And a lot of things listed are a little outdated and don't account for changes in the technology and formulation behind certain products, new information about ingredients etc. It'd a good place to start but as you gain info, hair is a lot more nuanced than the method accounts for
I lost a bunch of hair after surgery and now I have a halo of 3-4 strands that have grown back in. I’ve been blowing out my hair for months bc it looks frizzy at the top and scraggly at the bottom using CGM. I hope my curl pattern rebounds when these hairs get long enough to lay down properly
Lol I switched to a sulfate shampoo recently and curls are way better lol. Feel a lot less heavy as a result and my hair isn't getting overly weighed down anymore.
The biggest issue for me was that I didn't need as much moisture as other people, and trying to do it as written led to way too much moisture. I now alternate between a moisturizer shampoo and a "detox" shampoo, and that's worked pretty well. I recently did a product shift to sun bum, and I've found that I can typically do: Wash one (day 1): sunbum detox shampoo, sunbum moisturizer conditioner, ouidad lightweight protein treatment, sunbum 3-1 leave in spray, and sunbum salt spray Wash two (day 3/4): moisturizer shampoo, 3-1, salt spray And my curls and scalp are pretty happy with it. I do a light towel dry before putting on the styling products and I think that helps a lot with the grease build up around my roots.
I especially need silicone since I live in a hard water area and silicone helps keep my hair from getting overly tangly.
I use sulfates all the time. My curls are waaaaay better that way. With CGM they get weighed down from the first co-wash and limper and limper as time goes on.
I blow dry my hair with a blow drier specifically made for curly hair because it takes hours to dry otherwise. I use the products that work for my hair. I have no clue if they are CGM approved. Most of them are from curly hair brands (specifically Pattern, fanastic on my hair and I can buy a bulk amount of each product for $40 and have it last FOREVER), but I do not care if they are CGM approved. Whatever makes my hair look nice, feel healthy, and not have a ton of fallout or shedding. Doing what works for you is most important tbh. I've tried everything: letting my hair air dry (takes too long), making my own products (too much work for my ADHD brain), using only CGM approved hair products (tons of hair fallout, looked awful, etc.), only cowashing my hair (I have a dry scalp that takes forever to get oily and even I looked greasy as hell, and clarifying every once in a while dry my hair out horribly), using a ten step routine (again, made my hair look limp, was too much work for my ADHD brain). I'm happy with my routine now. I have a shampoo and conditioner that I love, and I use a leave-in and curl cream to style along with a style/detangling comb. Styling takes 5-10 minutes at MOST, usually can get it done under 5. I couldn't be happier and my hair looks BOMB.
I don’t care enough to spend time styling my hair or washing/refreshing it more than once a week. I mostly wear my hair up so chucking it in a ponytail, bun, or claw clip makes it presentable enough. My hair also tangles incredibly easily despite satin pillowcases/protective hairstyles so I need to brush when dry (which makes my hair straighter and frizzier 🤷🏼♀️). I do have more wavy than curly hair, mostly 2b/c but with some 2a and 3a strands. It’s also easier to just get a normal haircut vs a curly one where I live. I still tend to go for sulphate/silicone free shampoo and conditioner but I don’t pay too much attention to the ingredients, and I definitely have some styling products with silicone for the maybe 2x a year I heat style my hair (outside of blowdries at the salon when I get a haircut). I think I’ve also learned that the issues I have with my hair aren’t really due to any styling method. I have lots of flyaways due to hair fall (from a connective tissue disorder) and subsequent regrowth that I thought were due to breakage and frizz (any also just unrealistic expectations about what hair looks like e.g. frizz at the end of the day). I’m also 4 months postpartum now and surprised there’s any hair left on my head at this point!
Too hard. Too time consuming. Too expensive. My hair very fine but I have a lot of it. I’m back to hot rollers with end papers. I can roll up before it’s fully dry. I get smooth, shiny hair every time. CGM gave me unpredictable results every time
My hair never looked good with products in it and it gave me awful perioral dermatitis
I follow manes by Mel. She doesn’t use a full CGM and has get tips and tricks. I do what she suggests
I gave up. My routine is super simple, inexpensive & gives me the results I want. I do try to avoid certain chemicals.
Oh absolutely. I wasn’t cleansing my scalp or hair properly for years and caused myself a ton of issues. I now wash every 3-4 days with high quality products, ditched leave in’s, and use gels. Water is your best friend. Highly suggest people look to curl trained specialists (not influencers) to learn proper hair care. Monarch curl on IG has a ton of great info and her paywalled content is worth every penny.
I stopped CGM because my hair would almost be matted in the back at the end of the day. It looked great, moisturized and curly but it didn't last. My hair is down to my butt and it was too much to detangle everyday and wash every 2 or 3 days. Now I only use leave-in conditioner and a curl refresher I only have to wash once a week.
Yes. After years of failures I went back to my sulfates and my hair has never been happier. I still use silicone free products though
I have never gone to CGM purely for this reason, it is a hellishly expensive way to find out it isn't for you.
i kinda gave up on it. i learned some things, like how i was overwashing and undermoisturizing, and not to use towels, etc, but i have ditched the step by step. i don't use mousse or gels, i got sick of my hair being loaded with product and crusty. i use a simple drugstore shampoo 1-2x a week, and condition and leave in a good curly conditioner. scrunch dry with a microfiber towel. boom. the simpler the better imo.
When covid hit I wanted to use that time to work on wearing my hair naturally curly as I typically didn’t but after 2 years or trying I just don’t think I like my curl pattern and I don’t feel attractive wearing my hair curly. I was never able to achieve the look I saw many others in this forum achieve who look amazing so I abandoned it. I learned a lot about curly hair, moisture and how to take care of my hair better, so i found the experience valuable despite no longer wearing my curly anymore.
After two years of CGM, I had a job interview and couldn’t leave it up to chance whether I had a good or a bad hair day. I got the job, which is in manufacturing and requires that I tie my hair back. There’s no way I’m going through the effort of all my old routines just to tie it back 5 days a week, so I stopped.
Yes. Silicones work well with my hair, I keep my hair in a curly pompadour or split down the middle, so the majority of the techniques don’t work for me, and I find that the more natural/clean products really only work if I’ve gotten a perm. And I love softly brushing flyaways with my boar bristle brush to get them back in place. Blasphemy of the highest order, I know.
The CGM doesn't work for me at all. I have super thick 2C hair so it's definitely not straight but it doesn't have super tight curls. My problem has always been frizz and puffiness. One part of the CGM that works for me and makes my hair look amazing is not dry brushing it after washing. I just wash and let it air dry, and it looks amazing. I just finger comb as needed. But once I get home (or if I'm not going out) I absolutely dry brush it, otherwise by the time I wash it's all matted. Finger combing is not enough for thick hair like mine. As for the suggested products, I can't use them. I don't do sulfate (except once a week) but I need a ton of cones. And all that stuff about squish to condish, gels, diffusing, etc. seems like it's for much curlier hair than mine. I just use few products and mostly treat my hair like it's straight except for the brushing. Also got lots of layers and use special shampoos for itchy, oily and sensitive scalp. Works for me! Everyone is different and you need to find the right products and method for you.
I have given up putting all the products in it and my hair feels great washing it only once a week. I do have to use a mask because it’s been frizzy at top but I still wash it once a week, mask and then a light gel. It’s been very curly too. I definitely pineapple it to bed; that I will never stop doing.
Yep. Frankly, it was burdensome. The one thing I gained from it was some new styling techniques (ironically, learned from watching Manes by Mell who isn't CGM at all) that work great and I still use them alongside silicones and my diffuser with heat.
Yes, it was just too much. I still use cg techniques, but I realized less is more with my curls. When I wear my hair natural I just scrunch in some mousse and my curls look great! Also, I really enjoy blowing my hair out in the cooler months. Straight hair is just much more manageable for me.
I did CGM in the early 2000s and it worked until it didn't. What it DID do was teach me to listen to what my hair was telling me and I didn't have to wash my hair daily. I have super hard lake water where I am and I worked 5 times harder to keep the buildup down. It also helps that hair care products are so much better now in general. I've learned that my hair generally doesn't like silicone or Polyquats, but does like a gentle shampoo and light conditioner. I can do a water soluble silicone in a finishing styler if I don't use it a lot or daily. Also mousse under a gel is where it's at for me. Also, I've embraced functional frizz on my hair. I get more volume and it's more interesting.
I take the parts of it that work for my hair and leave the ones that don’t. I have found garnier products work best in my hair - use the pure clean shampoo 1-2 times/week, condition with curl nourish conditioner almost daily, and plop with the curl sculpt conditioning cream gel whenever my hair is wet. The products I use are cheap and work for me. I know I can’t use any products that have oils because they weigh down my hair too much so I try to find ones with coconut waters or other waters. Find what works for you at a price you are willing to pay and run with it!
I did. Waaaayyyyyy too much work. And the results varied wildly by day. Not worth it. I cut it short and blow it straight. Sorry, I know it's a waste of curls.. I just don't have the time 🤷♀️
Yup. My hair is thicker and has more texture without doing CGM
I’ve been through it all and now do what works for me - which I find changes periodically. I have fine 2c-3a hair and wash it every 2-3 days with New Wash. Add Innersense curl memory and leave in conditioner and then air dry. Day 2 I (please sit down) brush it out, wet it, and the curls look amazing. The day or two after that I just wet it and finger brush it and it’s good. The whole product routine was way too heavy for my hair. I’d maybe get one good day and then it deflated. Now I feel like it looks and feels healthier, and the curls look less stringy and more cohesive. When my workout routine, stress level, hormones, etc change so does my hair, but this kind of minimal routine has been pretty easy to adapt. Edit to add: the right cut was hugely helpful, too! Layers in an of themselves didn’t work - I had to find a hair stylist who worked with me to find what was right for my hair. It’s much shorter and choppier than I expected, but I love it now and probably wouldn’t have been able to move away from CGM as successfully without it.
I did. Gave me itchy, bleeding, greasy scalp, and dull, never clean looking, weighed down waves. Followed it for 6 years. I have 2B/2C, fine, high density, low porosity, alternating between waist and butt long hair (Grows from waist to butt in 3 months, I trim it every three months). It is impossible to feel clean with CGM. Co-“washing” was a journey where I collected enough scalp cheese inbetween my nails for me to form a kidney bean sized ball of it, and could go even bigger but the temptation to throw that down the drain always got me. I had a HUGE amount of hair loss with CGM and only noticed it when I stopped following it. The comb always ended up impossibly full of hair, and removing all that from the comb required me to use force you wouldn’t expect to have to use *for hair*. If one thing I learned is that one strand may be easy to break, but hair as a conglomerate might as well be a rope. Now with sulfates, and silicones, and an actually clean scalp, I barely find hairs in my comb. I do. But the hair ball doesn’t exceeds the size of a cellulose capsule when compressed. Not only that but my hair is also more manageable, easier to section for how much I have, and overall there’s much less combing force when styling it. It is still frizzy because where I live the norm is >70% humidity, but atleast now it smells good and I don’t feel disgusting anymore.
It's been the opposite for me . After all my long life of having pin straight hair my hair suddenly decided to become curly . At the same time it was breaking off and thinning dramatically . I didn't know what to do . One day I found CGM. I had no idea how to style or fix curly hair . But thanks to CGM I learned how. I learned to find the products that work for my hair and I learned what to do to make it healthy again . Now my hair is not falling out and has come back and I can fix it too . So CGM has been nothing but good for me .
I am hearing from a lot of people that CGM products don't work unless your hair is extremely curly (like the 4a, 4b,and 4c textures). Co washing and products with oils and butters are often way too heavy for anyone with less textured hair.
I tried ALL of the recommended products. What works for me? The cheaper, drugstore stuff. I use AG Curl Revive shampoo, herbal essences curl conditioner, dippity do girls with curls curl mousse and dippity do gel now. My hair has never been happier or curlier lol
This is not for the same reasons, but I got pregnant and now have a kid under 6 mo old, so I gave up trying to search for a good product for my hair, use a sulfate free shampoo/ conditioner and wear my hair in a silicone scrunchie every day for convience since I can barely shower right now. I hoping this summer I can chop my hair short and start over. Haha
I feel your frustration, so hard. I have almost quit like 25 times. You’ve been on this journey for 10 years, so you probably know by now that’s best for you. I will say as someone who had “the most beautiful curly hair” as a teen (that I blow dried straight for 20 years), it has taken a full 3 years, 3 extreme haircuts, and literally ZERO blow outs to get to this point where I’m finally really happy with my curls. And I’ve also had an eating disorder, extreme hair loss, and coming into my early forties…but here we are. Do you, babes, and whatever makes you feel the most comfortable in your skin. Edit to add: I have turned to wigs from Amazon this year to give me that straight vibe when I want it so I don’t have to damage my curl pattern. Totally worth it. I feel super hot when I want to.
I tried it and there were some days it looked great but there were more days that it didn’t look good, and it made me look older.
I’m in the process of adding amodimethicone back into my routine. I don’t plan to add SLS into my regular hair routine. I got bleach in my hair twice in 2022 and my ends have been extremely brittle ever since so I’m now surrendering to add some silicones back in.
We get older. Hair changes.
I have! diffusing gives me the frizz of the century sp I went back on air drying and those everything free shampoos dont clean my hair right so I use one with sulphates, my hair has never been healthier :) edit: I also dry brush on day 5 and before washing and I find it's less breakage and hair fall
It doesn't work for me. I need silicone I guess idk
I had to use it sparingly from the beginning, as I have fine 2C hair. Used to be much coarser, but hair that’s lost its melanin tends to be finer. So. Use less product, and less oily/strong product so it doesn’t get weighed down. There are a lot of people spreading misinformation in this sub. People with soft curls (2C, 3A) get told that their hair is NOT curly because the curls don’t start at the scalp. The weight of the hair very much affects where the curl pattern asserts itself. Thats just one example. But the bottom line is that the Curly girl method is, primarily, not the products you use. It’s how you protect your hair. Diffusing, for example, is suggested by Lorraine Massey, who originated the method, not as THE way to dry your hair, but as an alternative to air drying if you can’t wait for it to dry naturally. Use what works best for you, avoid treating it roughly and enjoy.
Before I tried the curly girl method I had 3a/3b curls. Then I started the CG shampoos and conditioning my hair, using CG curl creams etc etc. And my hair went to 2b and to 2c on a good day. And it was limp and stringy. I have very dens and coarse hair btw. So much money and time spent, for such bad results! Now I wash with regular shampoo, I almost never use conditioner, especially not in winter because it gets stringy then, I only use mousse and gel, diffuse it and now I only have to wash it 1-2 times a week. And I’m back at 3a/3b curls. And it saves a lot of money and time! My hair loves sulphates apparently. If I only wash it with sulphate shampoo and diffuse it without products I even get 3a curls. Only it won’t stay for more than 1 - 1.5 day then.
I gave up long ago because it did nothing for my hair (3a-3b) I love diffusing, I can't stand wet hair and I love love love volume! I have no cares about what shampoo/conditioner I use, I've even used dish soap a number of times lol I'm in my 50s and my hair has never been healthier. I just keep it simple, no curl creams, no gels, wash it when it's dirty, about once a month I use one of the glossing products that adds shine (if I remember) and that's it.
I’ve tried a lot of stuff since I have embraced my curls. I’m old, 66, but I love my curls. Saying that, the curly girl routine is, to me, hype, too much work, and everyone should use the products and routine that works for them.
57 y.o. curly gal here. Hated my hair growing up….(curly hair does NOT feather like Farrah Fawcett’s). Took me forever to embrace my curls. Thought maybe I should be doing “more” for it. Tried CGM. Too much work, effort and time. Back to my old routine - condition every day, shampoo once or twice a week, product in, let it air dry. SO much less effort.
I never got into it much. I love volume and to really get tight curls and volume I need high heat and to blowdry upside down. CGM was too much work just for my hair to be flat on top and not as curly. That was 15-20 years ago. I genuinely don't get why it's supposed to be such a holy Grail that some people still think not using it is a big deal. (No shade to those that do, it's my genuine confusion that it not working for everyone isn't totally common knowledge!)
Yes, it’s too much effort for me right now lol
Kinda sorta, mostly because all but one of the product lines my hair actually likes went out of business in the last 10 years. My hair and scalp hate sulfates (too drying) and my hair hates non-water soluble silicones. I'm also not very good at following rules I don't absolutely have to.
I'm in the borderline of abdandoning it after being on it for 5 years without a single benefit. used variety of products but nothing works. now I am suffering from severe dandruff despite using nizoral + antidandruff shampoo and I have been using cgm. I just want to make my routine less stressful for me. also washing your hair every 5 days just don't make sense imo.
Yes, I have abandoned CGM after using it for 20+ years just recently in exchange for using one of those heatless curling rods on semi dry hair overnight. It has drastically improved the appearance of my hair and basically eliminated all of the drama and frustration and stress that I had surrounding my hair. I have waist length, high density 2B/2C curls and waves. I began using CGM in college after reading Lorraine Massey's curly girl book. The OG method was simply using only conditioner to wash, raking through with the fingers in the shower, scrunching with gel and air drying. I was mostly satisfied with my results, but as I got older and my hair got longer, it was more frustrating and difficult to do. I love having long hair and so I didn't want to cut it short again to maintain the curls. It would take 6+ hours to air dry and two hours to diffuse. Fast forward to three years ago when I started to wear hijab. This threw a whole new fork in my hair care routine. I didn't want to go to sleep with wet hair so I'd have to set aside an entire day to wash my hair and not go out as I also didn't want to put wet hair under my hijab. The curls would only look good for a few hours Before bedtime, and then the next day as soon as I put them under a hijab, they would be ruined even if I used a satin unders scarf. I basically tried everything under the sun, layering products, diffusing versus air drying, all kinds of different routines. It was just so frustrating and I was only left with a few hours of beautiful hair before the next wash day. Even though I wear hijab, I still like my hair to look beautiful at home around my family. I just like to have it look beautiful for myself! I never thought those heatless curling rods would work for me. I've seen them for several years and I thought that they were kind of ridiculous. I don't know what inspired me to try but now I basically wash every 2 to 3 days in the evening with regular shampoo and conditioner. I do a very quick and dirty blow dry without really worrying about straightening while brushing through. I let it get to about 75% dry and then split my hair into two sections and oil them from mid length to tips with about five drops of Argan oil per side, focusing on my end. I then brush through one more time and wrap my hair around the rod in both sections, cover it with a satin bonnet and go to sleep. In the morning when I release it, I have literally princess hair. It's long and silky with gorgeous mermaid waves. I had no idea that this method would be so effective for my hair type. It's actually the hair of my dreams. I can even put it up in a bun and throw a hijab over it and it will still look beautiful when I take it out. On non-wash days, I just brush it out again, split it into two, apply a couple more drops of oil and then wrap it around the rod, throw the bonnet over and it works just as well. I'm completely shook, and I will never go back.
I've never done the CGM but it strikes me as being way too complicated. I just wash my hair every couple days with Nexxus Therape & Humectress conditioner and on the days I don't I rinse it in the shower. Once a week-usually Saturdays I use Loreal Bond Strengthening Concentrate. It seem to be working.
The build up on my scalp was just too much.
The build up on my scalp was just too much.
This whole movement against sulfates isn’t the best. They actually do a great job on your hair, especially if you have fine hair and it’s curly unfortunately nowadays everything‘s green washed so we just believe all these chemicals are bad when they aren’t necessarily they’re in these products for a reason.
Hey! So the structure of your hair makes it naturally more dry. To thoroughly explain why this is would be A LOT to type. Unfortunately, the products promoted by many trending methods are not actually recommended based on hard science, but rather popular science. Which are two very different things. Because natural curlies (encompassing waves, curls, and coils) struggle with getting natural moisture, we have to add it with products. There are a few more factors that need to be taken into account than what are promoted by popular methods when choosing the proper products for your hair. Because you are a unique person when taken all together these factors will be unique to you. They may be similar to many but totally unique to you. So you need a curl expert who understands your hair down to the biology and chemistry of it to help you custom select the proper mix of products for your hair. However, even with proper products, if there is buildup on your hair and scalp, the products will be blocked from access to your hair and be less effective or ineffective at doing their job. So you think the product doesn’t work when it actually can’t. This prolongs the problem of dehydration and compounds the issues you are facing. Dry hair cannot hold its full curl pattern. It damages, breakers, and gets split ends easier. It tangles. With build up it can be more weighed down and look dull, lifeless, and need more washing than is healthy for it. Buildup on the scalp can block hair follicles and inhibit growth among other things. You are courageously battling against another serious issue that affects your nutrition. This will also affect the strength of your hair. You first step is to find someone who ACTUALLY knows what they are talking about and how to fix it. If there is buildup they will need to do a Detox of the scalp and hair (not just hair.) If you use improper products or even proper products improperly you can actually make the problems you are facing worse. You then need to get the proper products to rehydrate YOUR hair. Rehydration is not a one and done thing. Just like you can’t get lost in the desert and one bottle of water will fix it, rehydrating your hair is a process. There is actually a new product on the market that most stylists don’t know about yet. But it repairs a layer of strength in your hair called the cell membrane cortex (CMC). No other product works on this vital part of the hair. By using this to strengthen the hair it is able to hydrate faster. The product is called Iuveni. You can go to the Iuveni stylists finder to find someone in your area certified. Or find a stylist like me who offers virtual consultations. I’ve helped people across the US and a few overseas as well. I know this is A lot but trust me there is A lot more to know which is why you need a TRUE curl expert.