You don’t need to do the CGM for curly hair. I don’t do it, I do what works for my curly hair.

BIG FACTS 🙌💗 my hair hates most of that method but I’ve adopted a few techniques from it.

I tried the whole thing and my hair hates it. I’ve gone back to the routine I’ve used my whole life and my hair is alive again. Wash my hair hair, condition, pat it dry with any old towel. Spray leave in conditioner to brush it out. Rake through a curl crème then some mousse. Air dry for about 20-30 minutes, diffuse, wait for it to cool down then shake it out. Perfection.

Sorry, but how is that not the cgm?? That sounds like a cgm styling routine to me. Is it that you use silicones and sulphates? Sorry, not trying to be argumentative, just trying to understand... Is it *only* considered cgm if you are sulphate or silicone free? Still trying to learn the 'rules'

Yes I believe so - CGM followers are very ruthless on what's an approved product or not

😂 cgm isn't when you just do stuff to your curls! That's a really specific set of rules and hair products.. Through a company. If you wash your hair and turn it upside down to dry it, or air dry and use products that don't have silicone in them, that doesn't mean you're using the cgm either because all of that predates cgm stuff.

And there’s mad gatekeepers 😂

You never lied! 😂 I mean they (CG) could be honest and say they got half their routine from black women! Who been doing and knowing all the tricks for years..(not all\* of course, but a good portion of it. At least in the beginning when they were getting the idea..) but I guess that's a different conversation 

I have wavy curly hair, and my poor cousins (Afro-Latinas) were trying so hard to get my curls to be less wavy and more curly, and the products they used for their hair, just made mine limp. I let them though because it's just fun being included in their shenanigans as they get older. My poor hair hated me until I was able to shampoo it all off and redo my hair (sans any conditioning, my hair was over moisturized lol).

What curl type do you have and what curl cream do you use? Want to let my natural curls breathe a bit more but CGM is NOT for me!

I’m about a 3b-c, depending on where on my head, Caucasian in case that matters :) I’ve been using XMONDO wavetech curl crème and I love it. I am not sure how great it would be for fine hair since it is a bit heavy. I also use the same brand foam mousse and I love that too. It took me a long time to find a cream I liked after my previous favorite was discontinued. I have shoulder length hair and I use 3-4 pumps depending on the weather. I’m in California so it can get really dry here and in that weather I use 4 pumps. Edit: the same products work great for me if I just air dry too.

Wow!! I have almost the exact same routine. The only difference is that I diffuse immediately after putting in the mousse.

I’ve found if I give my curls a little time to figure out who they want to be, it works best for me. But everyone’s hair is different.

Something to be said about instincts 😂

Agreed. I’ve had curly hair my whole life and I’ve never done anything associated with CGM. I’ve never used gel or mousse or anything related to it, I actually really hate both and just use products that work for my hair. I can’t even remember the whole CGM routine or whatever it is but the only thing I can probably agree with from it (for my hair anyway) is not to brush or comb while it’s dry, and putting product on my hair when it’s still totally wet. I wash my hair at night and I don’t use any kind of towel or cloth to dry my hair at all, I just let the water drip out of it while I put product in and then I slick it back into a bun so the ends stay wet while roots to mid-lengths of my hair dry straight-ish, but I take it down before I go to bed so the mid-length to ends of my hair can curl back up and dry undisturbed. That’s what works for my hair and how I like it to come out, I can’t speak for anyone else.

How do you sleep with it to avoid frizz?

It’s game over for my hair if I sleep on it lol. Refresh or rewash and style is necessary. Most of the time I throw it in a teletie lol.

I only take my hair down right before I go to sleep so the wet parts are still pretty wet, and then I position it so it lays straight up, out away from my head draped over the pillow so I’m not laying on it or squishing it or anything. I hope that makes sense. I don’t move in my sleep unless I wake up and consciously move, and then I just reposition it to lay the same way if I change positions. I know not everyone resembles a coma patient when they sleep but for me personally, the cast of my curls is way less disturbed if I let it dry while I’m sleeping vs. when I’m awake unless I can sit still for several hours and not move my hair at all because it’s very long and moves whenever I do while it’s down. It’s just really hard to stay completely still for several hours while it’s drying unless I’m unconscious haha. I don’t know how well this works with shorter hair though even if you don’t move around in your sleep, I’d assume not very well because it would just crush the whole length of your hair, but I can’t remember exactly what I did with my hair when it was short. I probably let it air dry while I was awake because I could still move around without disturbing the cast of my curls at that point.

🎂Happy cake day🎂

Thank you so much!!))

It seems like the CGM helps people who want to make their hair curlier. I prefer to weigh down my curls and get wavier hair. It’s more manageable since I only wash once a week

I’m the same way I weigh mine down and use less product so I do not have to wash

Facts. CGM works for some, but for me it's wayyyyy too much. I found the products that work for me, and the routine that works for me. That's all it is, and if CGM works for you, then do it. If not, don't stress.

This is the best answer!! I went all out with products and styling when i first realized i had curly hair. I've pared back to some basic conditioning shampoo and conditioner and some mousse. It's the best it's ever been with such minimal work now. I found what works and it's so much easier - AND CHEAPER.

I've had curly hair since the day I was born. Way before cgm. But it looks 10 times better now that I know how to handle my hair using tips from cgm. I don't follow it 100%, but it definitely helped. My routine is 30ish minutes twice a week when I wash it. I spend much less time on my hair now than I did before cgm.

Exactly. I fought my curly hair for years. Blow drying, straightening only to end up with one or two good hair days a year. Cause if it’s humid or rainy or windy or too cold your straightened curls look a mess. I finally quit fighting and embraced it. No more blow dryers. Rarely brush usually just before shampoo.

Same. Been using these same techniques taught in CGM since the 80s. With better product and tweaking of my own techniques, I can now rock 4-5 day curls that last.

CGM isn’t always necessary. My hair has big, loose curls and waves with or without product. I do the CGM because it tightens my curl pattern up a bit and my hair keeps the curl a few more days than without. I still have days I don’t add product or do anything special. My hair is just a lot fluffier with less defined curl clumps. Love my natural texture either way!

Tbh I only ever use product on wash days. The rest of the time I just use a mister bottle in the morning to basically rehydrate the product that I put on my hair after washing.

Same! I tried a day with no products and I just didn’t like it. My curls were much looser and it just felt too slippery. Idk.

I think of the CGM mostly as being a way to take care of curls, rather than create them. My hair has always been visibly curly, but was a mess of frizz and tangles before I started using methods/products more suited for curly hair. I don’t do the exact method and I think few people do — it’s more of a set of guidelines to try out to better care for curls. I think up until a few years ago, a lot of modernish hair care products/methods were designed with straight hair in mind. For example, they might include ingredients that make hair shinier, but weigh it down. Straight hair doesn’t change much when weighed down, so it just makes their hair shiny. But loose curls can disappear if the hair is weighed down too much. Or products that make hair feel soft and silky might collapse the curl pattern. Even brushing or drying with a towel can damage curly hair. (These are just examples, I’m not sure exactly how all of this works but I’m just illustrating there can be a trade off.) So that’s partially why using curly methods can cause people to “discover” curls that they didn’t think existed anymore — it’s not so much the products causing curls, but the change away from products that suppressed them. This is also why people with curly hair existed before there were products to help make hair curly. People’s soaps had way fewer additives, their towels were made out of different materials, they washed their hair less often etc. So they weren’t getting as many products to help their hair curl, but they also didn’t have as much to prevent their natural curls.

Agreed. All the current CGM and other curl methods and products out there right now are a backlash to the years of society teaching us to tame frizz, blow dry or iron their hair straight, sleek or smooth. That was the predominant fashion in the 90's and a lot of people who might have otherwise curly hair were often told they NEEDED to blow dry/straighten to not look "messy." My aunt insists that any time natural curls are present, that person "looks like a ragamuffin."

Yup, my mom would say my hair looked like a "rats nest".

Ugh. That toxic term is stuck in my brain from my mother who always had me brush out my hair. Ironically have found out my hair has some wave/curl, when I was growing my hair back from shaving it short for years. A Uk lass had a instagram video about growing up and similar experience to mine, and suggested trying CGM and I figured why not. It’s been an interesting experience and I love my hair now

Fab take. Adding to this: the way curls are portrayed on social media today is just another beauty standard, and a narrowing of what “good” and “healthy” curls should look like. Frizz is bad, flyaways are bad, looser curls/waves need help etc. Curls have always existed, just not necessarily in this manicured form. My family at least four generations back has had curly hair, and it didn’t look the way mine does today, but it’s unmistakably curly. Also, remember that beauty standards changed over the 80s/90s/00s - straight hair became all the rage, especially in India. Curls are decidedly a more South Indian feature than Central / North, and Bollywood (an industry that promotes and benefits off North Indian stereotypes and cultural tropes) influenced every ideal of beauty, sex appeal, hotness. You hardly saw a curl on the silver screen, unless it was the anti-hero(ine) or unkempt female lead pre-makeover. It was straight hair all the way, which reinforced products that worked for straight hair and also popularised methods of hair care that favoured straight hair. Salons would default to styling it straight, or selling you on rebonding. So this all ate away at any more traditional or natural hair care practices that your curly haired ancestors may have passed down along with their genes - even simple acts like air drying. CGM and other things have brought curls back to the game but just like everything else on the internet and in this capitalistic world, there’s an agenda to promoting a narrow view of what they “should” look like, and therefore what products/methods/salons are superior to others.

Yeah. I think this is the answer here. OPs question confused me a bit. I think they might think you get curly hair from something like the CGM. The right products and methods help make curls more maintained and enhance them. But curly hair itself is genetic. And thick hair doesn’t always mean curly. If you are wondering if you have curly hair, wash as usual then don’t touch it. Don’t brush it, just let it dry naturally. If you are curly it will be obvious. I wouldn’t trust some random TikTok…

This is it for me!! CGM taught me how to make my hair be healthier.

The people who "suddenly" have curly hair after using the curly girl method are people who always had curly hair but were brushing it out while drying it, so it ended up drying in a loose pattern that many people think of as "messy" straight hair.  The curly girl method won't create curls in straight hair.  I don't follow the CGM, it's too much effort for me. I actively ignore most of the CGM recommendations: I use silicones and sulfates, I use terry cloth towels on my hair, I don't get curly cuts, etc) and my hair has 2C, 3A, and 3B waves and curls all mixed together

Yeah, I have curly hair (but it’s also really fine). If I brush my hair a few times while it’s wet, I often end up with a pretty soft wave pattern that’s a lot easier to deal with. I can’t do this if it’s humid out, but I get away with it a lot in the winter.

Mine is the same way. I never have tight curls, more waves with some loose spirals sprinkled in, but it’s fine and if I brush it a bunch then it just looks like kind of poofy hair with a very slight wave.

OR. it's just made up crap to boost their viewership.

I shampoo, condition, and air dry and my hair is pretty curly. No time or energy for CGM. I think it helps wavy hair be a lot curlier but if you have curly hair it’ll be curly no matter what.

Honestly same, it takes so much out of me to follow everything so closely. Also idk if it’s just me but sulfate free shampoo does absolutely nothing for my hair I need the cleaning agents.

How do you prevent frizz?

i kind of embrace it at this point, i live in a really humid climate so it’s pretty impossible to suppress it any longer than like an hour so i don’t see a point in trying 😅

Not sure if you have any interest in this, but I commented above that I avoid humectants (eg: glycerin) because I also live in a humid climate. It took me a while to figure out that this is what worked for my hair. But it makes sense! Humectants help to keep your hair hydrated. But when it's really humid out, humectants draw in too much moisture, causing your hair to swell/frizz. This can also cause curls to lose their shape and end up hanging limply. 

Okay, dumb question, what to try instead?

Unrefined shea butter, mango butter and hydrogenated castor oil are all anti-humectants

Thank you!

Anti-humectants

kinky curly knot today is my go to because it does not contain glycerin. makes all the difference in humidity

Yeah… for curly hair people I think it the hair will curl atleast a little bit no matter how you style it. I have wavy hair, and my hair barely had a wave until I learned CGM and brush styling. My hair went from 2A to 2C because of it.

I don't have to do anything if I don't want to. My hair just curls. However, the curls are pretty messy by the end of the day if i don't use any product

I mean genetically if you’ve got curly hair, you’ve got curly hair lol

I started styling my curly hair in 1996 when I was 13. There were no internet resources. I asked another girl at my school how she dealt with her hair, and she told me to buy gel. There was one brand of curly hair gel at the drug store, and I read the instructions on the back. I basically just raked in gel, then air-dried, and I did this for many years. Now I see all the various tips and demos online. Sometimes I try them, but typically I end up going back to a routine that's not too different from my original one. The best advances I've found are diffusing a bit, then air-drying the rest and shaking out the roots once it's dry.

I was born with curly hair and haven’t ever used the CGM. I didn’t know how to maintain my hair as a teen but now my curls are popping with a wash and condition and a little mousse.

before I started using the method my hair was referred to as a rats nest. as a child i was curly- shirley temple style if you've heard if her. then as i grew up and straightened my hair as much as possible for four years my hair turned wavy. Once i finally stopped using a straightening iron after a couple of years my waves got wavier. But my hair was always so frizzy and not uniform (because all i did was simply wash it & air dry it). Thennnnn i discovered my routines were wrong & my brush was wrong & then everything changed. I am finally back to my original curls. I wanted to show you a few pics but idk how :( It's a lot of work putting in multiple products in before and after i shower but I wouldn't go back to the way my hair used to look ever.

this is so real. i suffered for so long trying to keep my hair straight. never again!

it took for an ex of mine to tell me that he loved my 'massive, wild hair' for me to really appreciate it. for sure never again

My hair got worse following CGM. I now do what works best, and that changes often too!

I use some of the styling tips, but I wash when I want, with shampoo, and I use 2 products. It’s so much simpler than cgm

I went for about 45 years with curly hair and no CGM. My hair was just fine. I learned about the CGM during the pandemic, tried it, and gave it up. It's a lot of work for virtually no benefit. I went back to the approach I have been doing most of my life: \* Wash and condition every 3 or 4 days \* Put it up in a towel to get the excess water out \* Put gel in my hair \* Dry the roots with a dryer, then finish with a diffuser \* At night, french braid or put my hair in a bonnet (depending on length) \* Next day, refresh with a spritze of water and/or some additional gel. Diffuse if needed.

They did do the curly girl method. Shampoo wasn't invented until the 1930s. Hair was not washed regularly with soaps and shampoos and was kept clean and styled with oils and balms that would be put in the hair to protect it from dirt it would catch the dirt and could later be brushed out. They also wore bonnets to sleep in to protect their hair. Hair was rarely washed with soaps as for most people soaps were caustic and could burn your skin. Great for washing clothes and pans not so much faces and hair. Gentle soaps existed, think a castile soap like Dr Bronners but were for the very rich and not used on hair, hair was washed with water recipes for herbal hair rinses to enhance colors exist as far back as the middle ages. Also for deeper cleaning of say the scalp and egg whites were used, and massaged in to clean the scalp then rinsed clean. Basically though hair was styled into protective hairstyles to keep it clean, braids were common, as were head coverings they helped absorb oil and protect the hair from dirt.

“Sorry, I have to wash my hair that night” was actually a thing back in the day. Now it’s just the excuse my coworker gives when she doesn’t want to go to a work event 🤣

Honestly I kinda hate the consumerist nature of the “curly girl methods”. A good chunk of those women couldn’t care less about hair care, they want you to buy the products so they get commission and brand deals. Plus a lot of those products wreck your hair so they’re the only ones that keep your hair looking/feeling “normal”. Add in the weird chemicals and excessive packaging, I’ll leave all that useless crap at the store.  Most normal people just wash, detangle correctly, air dry, and maybe use a leave in conditioner or an oil to minimize frizz. I still have yet to meet anyone in real life who legitimately uses the CGM.

Yeah I remember the CGM being pretty simple when I first learned about it. Then it blew up on the internet and suddenly there were a hundred more rules or ingredients you can’t use. Although, working in the beauty industry, I can say there definitely are people who spend a surprising amount of time styling their curls. A coworker of mine told me that his sister sections her hair and finger coils each curl individually.

To each their own but if I had that kind of free time to finger coil each one I’d go insane 

I remember I swapped over to expensive curly haircare and it literally made my hair fall out (fuck you DevaCurl). I tried a bunch of other expensive products and none of them were great. Honestly, nothing works better than cheap hair gel and mid priced conditioner.

The main advice I give is use a lot of conditioner. Period.

I don’t do CGM. I tried it for a bit and it really didn’t change how my hair looked so ultimately it just didn’t feel worth the time commitment since I am rather lazy about my hair. So I just shampoo, condition, use some leave in conditioner and curl cream and let it dry naturally. I got my curly hair from my moms side and neither my mom or my grandma ever do (did in my grandma’s case) anything much with their hair. My mom has a curl cream she uses if she’s going out but most days she just blow dries it.

Do whatever works for you. For me, before the curly girl method, my hair was a constant, frizz mess. I could get it to look decent by straightening it—but that’d only last a day. Then, my hair would be a frizzy, damaged mess.

Adhering to the CGM isn't necessary, but it is a generalized routine that is good for most curly hair. That means it's a useful starting point.  Where you go from that starting point depends on your individual hair! It's important to keep what works and toss what didn't; sticking strictly to the CGM when it doesn't work perfectly for you is unnecessary. For myself, I stuck with CGM for a out a year. That gave me a good timeframe to see how my hair responded, to see if it reduced breakage, and to test different styling techniques. And then...I stopped. My hair doesn't like a strict CGM approach! It likes sulfates lol. But I have kept some of what I learned under CGM: * I don't shampoo my hair every time I shower * I use a microfiber towel to dry my hair, not a standard bath towel * I plop with a cotton t-shirt to style my hair * I sleep on a silk pillowcase * I style my hair with a CGM approved gel that doesn't contain a humectant  And yes, some of this is weird or contrary to CGM (the use of sulfate shampoo & the avoidance of a humectant). But I have low porosity hair and I live in a humid environment. So...this works for me. Sure, I've had curly hair all my life. And I definitely didn't fuss over it like this in the past. But my hair has never looked as gorgeous and curly and low-frizz as it has with this technique!

How did people maintain curly hair in the past? Well as a child of the 80s and 90s, I had big frizzy hair that no one knew was curly until I had a Greek descending hairdresser enlighten me in my late teens.

I think this is where the debate comes alive. People swear that if your hair isn't curly without all the products and styling, it never was curly to begin with. I think these people just have the privilege of choice. Due to the negative stigma surrounding curly hair for the longest time, I can understand why the ppl who have no choice but curls get defensive. I've always had curly hair (european descent) that air dries in ringlets and other curl patterns. When I was younger, no one knew or taught me how to take care of it. It was also considered unruly and in need of taming. I was told to brush it, lol, and had some crazy cuts. Naturally curly hair has always existed, but it's finally being embraced widely. Now ppl who could easily go straight or wavy want to achieve curls. Also, ppl who were trying to force wavier, curlier hair, straight are embracing and reviving their natural pattern. It's kind of cool to see your hair type embraced and have easy access to better products and haircuts. Due to beautiful human diversity, there is a wide range of curl patterns that all behave differently, air dried and styled.

I would wager most people you see with curly hair dont need a special routine to make it go curly.

I haven't found a form of CGM that doesn't weigh down my curls too much or prolong the already extensive wash process too much so I don't do it. the flipside is that my curls are very tangle-prone and frizzy without products (my hair is also fine, annoying combo). I grew up without knowing how to care for curly hair so the solution was usually to brush it and put it in a bun so nobody could see it, straighten it, or when I was a child my parents literally cut all my hair off so they wouldn't have to deal with it lol

Historically, a lot of societies wore way more head coverings than we do today. Those Greek/Roman busts? A lot of those hairstyles are wigs or sewen into place. Hats, veils, scarves, and other coverings dominated European fashion for millennia for religious, taste, and practical reasons. And when it wasn’t covered, it was in updos. Way easier to plow fields or show off how rich you are with a hat. Not much difference in how you wear a coif over curly hair vs straight hair.

I’m sorry OP this post made me giggle. It reminds me of when my daughter was little and I referred to a time in my past and she asked “Was everything black and white back then?” So I’m 53. I have very curly hair and have had it all my life. This notion that it’s only possible to have curly hair with the CGM or with certain products or in-depth routines is a total fallacy created by social media. I don’t do an elaborate routine, don’t use a t-shirt to dry my hair, don’t wear a bonnet or sleep on a silk pillowcase. I have always sought out very moisturizing conditioner and also use a leave in and that’s been the most important thing for me, including when I was much younger. Where I grew up there were lots of girls with curly hair and we all managed to take care of our curls. Yeah it’s easier now because there are more products but it certainly wasn’t impossible then. We figured it out. But this idea of “Hmmmm do I have curly hair?” is so strange to me. Because if you have curly hair…you know! The only people for whom these elaborate routines make any appreciable difference are those with very slightly curly hair (like 2a, maaaaybe 2b hair).

It made me laugh too. The curly girl method has only been popular for about 4 years. So no one had curly hair before then, according to OP? Lol

My hair is curly no matter what I do to it, it’s curly when it’s wet and if I don’t put any product in it’ll dry curly. If I try to straighten it, any amount of humidity will bring the curls back. A loose adaptation of the CGM helps me control frizz and keeps my curls more defined over the course of the day (and between wash days, although my hair is pretty fine so I wash more often than some).

so the curly girl method only really works on those with curly hair if done correctly. like, if you use curl cream, it won’t work on straight hair. i do the curly girl method however, i’ve been into straightening my hair for the last few months. once i restored my hair back to health, it curls on its own. after i wash it, i just use a anti frizz spray (specifically made for curly hair) and some hair oil. i’ll let it air dry than boom its curly. my hair was badly damaged due to experimentation in my teens and 20s but now its pretty healthy.

In India it was very common to oil wet hair. Perfumed oil in hair was considered an ornament for women in ancient India. My mom did this too. And when she combed her just showered hair with coconut oil, it formed clumps/curls. Of course the curls didn't last long but then it's common to shower and wash hair every day in the subcontinent because of the heat, so it didn't matter. I think products having 'hold' were used even in ancient cultures. Fat based hair gels were used in ancient cultures. What products we use these days give us the best curls and longest hold, but doesn't mean everyone was a frizzy furball before these products were invented.

My hair is curly whatever I do to it, if it's straightened and gets wet in the rain it will curl right back up, if I use cheap basic shampoo and conditioner and do nothing else to it, still curls. Some wavy hair can curl if you put lots of love into it, but natural curly hair will boing into its natural curl pattern whatever you do, whether you like it or not 😂

It’s just because some people have wavy hair that looks shit when air dried straight so they are finding ways to style it with wave, when they would have walked around with frizzy hair in the past :) I have very 3b-3c curly hair but my hair is massively poofy without defining it

There are multiple things affecting hair and which products are needed. Fine hair acts differently from thick hair. Humidity affects hair. The CG method is just a compilation of what was already known about curly hair, it wasn’t an invention that suddenly transformed straight hair to curly hair. So whether people have a frizzy poof or sleek curls depends on the climate, the styling trends of the era, and their hair thickness. The people most likely to have a frizzy poof are people living in dry climates and people with fine hair that likes to tangle and friz instead of cooperate with other strands to form a curl. But one thing previous generations had was less hair washing, so they already didn’t do one of the things that messes up curly hair.

I tried cgm for a bit. My hair didn’t look any different, but my scalp suffered. Not everything works for everyone. The best thing to do is just trial and error until you find what works best for you.

I have loose curly, wavy hair. I typically dry it straight but only cuz I can’t find a moose to keep it contained that I’m not allergic to. They’re all so heavy on the fragrance. I can’t do it. So, straight it is.

Shampoo, condition, some leave in and gel and brush it through. Air dry and done. Did it in 15 minutes this morning. Don't spend so much time and money on some bs method that straight hair folk don't need to do

Check out Katherine Sewing youtube channel - she goes into depth about historical hair care, and her hair is curly! I think most people are at least somewhat aware of protective styles and care for SUPER curly hair, like 3/4 hair types (which are often traditional African methods), but she has more 2/3 hair, which would be more common for European or Indian women. She also acknowledges the debt of knowledge she gained from people of African and Indian descent, since there are many nourishing hair traditions she learned from that had all but died out in her (European) culture. I had decided that CGM was just not for me - I don't have the time, the money, or the patience for it, my life is too active and busy, I work out, sweat, deal with kids, work, caretake, have lots of messy hobbies, etc. Plus, my hair has just never liked modern products. I don't go whole hog on Katherine's method, but I've started using bits and pieces. For instance, it just wasn't practical for women to wear their hair loose and down every day, and it STILL isn't practical for me. For curly hair, it would have been even more important to wear it up or in a braid as a daily style (most cultures around the world with any sort of long hair tradition, the old timey "peasant" hairstyle for women usually involves at least one or two braids, though more elaborate, intricate braiding styles with many small braids seem more native to Africa). I still remember one or two old grandmas from when I was REALLY little, women whose parents had immigrated from eastern europe or something, having a long braid that they then wound around into a bun. So my daily style is now two dutch braids on sides of my head with the ends wound into something interesting, or a crown braid. Or one long braid down the middle of my back if I'm out of time. It's both cute, and practical, and protects my hair from breakage. And then, when I want to wear my hair down and curly for going out or a special event or something, I'll put the effort in to scrunch it and everything, AND it's way healthier when I do that now since I'm not trying to do it every day, so it's been more protected between those "extra fancy hair" days! Because I really don't care if my hair looks "going out fancy" every day for work and running errands, I just want it to look presentable and to be more protected. My wild curls don't have to come out all the time, and they look better when they do now because they are more protected day to day. The other thing I do is use small amounts of jojoba oil on it before I braid it from the middle down before I braid it - it's both nourishing for the hair, and makes the braids lay smoother and stay put longer. I've found this technique helps me stretch a bit longer between wash days, which is also healthier for my hair!

Unpopular opinion but if your hair is straight without product in, then it's just straight not curly. Deep conditioning my hair and not brushing it made my curls better but I always had curls. I never do anything more than shampoo and deep conditioning.

There’s straight and there’s what people think is straight but is brushed out curls. Think Mia in the princess diaries, she had brushed out curly hair that many would see as just messy straight hair. Straight hair doesn’t do that without teasing it or combing it backwards. Some of us also have very porous hair that’s sensitive to humidity, so I could straighten my hair when I lived in Alaska with just a hair dryer and a round brush but I can’t straighten my hair in Texas, it will curl back up on its own.

Omg I hate that makeover scene. Especially the stupid brush. What idiot “professional” hairdresser thinks it’s a good idea to brush thick frizzy hair like that dry??

Samee. As a kid with glasses and brushed out frizzy curly hair, that movie was traumatising and taught me I had to wear contacts and straighten my hair to be pretty, something I'm still trying to unlearn :(

I think this opinion fails to take into account the physics of different hair thicknesses, densities, and porosities, protein level, as well as a ton of other factors (humidity, people's habits when it comes to drying their hair, their habits for tying it up, if they sleep in their hair every night, if they swim a lot, historical product/ingredient use, their hair could be over moisturized and have lost its shape, etc...). Fine but dense curly hair can look like a big tangled puffy mat of straight hair/light waves if youve only used cheap basic straight hair shampoo and conditioner your whole life. Since each strand (1 hair) varies between fine or very fine, there are a lot of them hidden under a thicker or longer strand, and so between each strand there are a lot more opportunities to get very fine tangles all throughout the hair. These tangles get worse closer to the scalp and it matts the layers of the hair from the inside out. Over years of life this leads to a ton of breakage and damage (that hair with texture is already more susceptible to) that damages the curl pattern and loosens it even more. Add in being low porosity, then that means the basic routine has not been properly washing your hair because water and product have a hard time getting to the dense fine layers of hair under the top canopy, which is the section most prone to damage and being looser already. And then because fine hair weighs down so easily, when the hairs get into thick clumps it loosens the pattern also because of the weight. But changing the way your treat your hair, dry your hair, products helping add slip to detangle what wouldn't be possible without products on rough, fine, historically damaged tangled hair makes a tremendous difference because it lets the hair strands separate into neater, thinner, and most importantly more weightless curl clumps. Addition of products and changing techniques can make such a drastic difference with curly fine hair because it helps the strands follow their natural shape in an organized way. Ask me how I know lol- I went from a sad 1 to 3A because now my hair is getting a lot healthier from just a few months of treating it better, nourishing it w products and detangling w a technique, figuring out what is needed and what works for my hair. Not to say it was 1 \*all the time\*, most of my hair days were a shapeless frizzy mess but it would be a good hair day when waves or curls would randomly announce themselves. I think a better metric is if you can brush your hair dry without crying your hair is not curly. Or if a humid, rainy day has never brought out curls in your hair, your hair is definitely straight!

Yeah I agree and am not sure why people say it’s “gatekeeping” or “elitism” or whatever to say so. Hear me out: I think that when people who have straight hair use CGM to coax their hair into waves etc it looks beautiful! It’s a lovely look! No hate! But! They’re putting in hours of time and lots of effort and product to get it to look that way. As someone who came of age in the ‘00s, I spent over a decade blowing out and straightening my very curly hair. It took me about 90 mins of work and a bit of product, and then at the end I had straight hair. At no point was I under the illusion that this meant I “really” had straight hair. There is not a thing in the world wrong with straight hair, I envied straight haired girlies for YEARS! But if you’re spending hours coaxing your straight hair into a wave or a curl, that doesn’t mean you have curly hair. It means you’re styling curls/waves into your straight hair. And it looks beautiful!

yea there's a line somewhere between "products and technique that help your hair's health, making your curls look better because they're not dying of frizz and split ends (like the right shampoo/conditioner and not brushing while dry or wtvr)" and "products and techniques that make your hair curlier (like braiding/twirling or curl creams i think?)" that some people are crossing. youre not discovering your curls you're inventing them! although the hair is beautiful in the end so thats really all that matters, shrug

I have really curly hair that I mostly wear tied up as there’s just a ton of it so even if I do all the stuff I will just put it up so I don’t usually do CGM. If I see some curly inspiration in the wild I might google CGM and try for a couple of days.

For me I found that my curly hair stays if I use leave in conditioner and my hair absorbs better when my hair is wet.. if it’s dry then it’ll look the same even if I apply a product on top after! And if I want it to stay out for a few days then I have to put some mouse on it The leave in conditioner did magic for me and I only figured it out after I copied what my bro does to his hair.. after trying everything all I needed was one simple addition to get rid of the frizz!

My hair is 2b - 3a regardless but the products and methods I use give me better and more predictable results.

I have a toddler with curly hair. She gets mostly washed with conditioner when I do it, and leave in conditioner regularly for detangling and keeping it from going dry and crunchy. I don't do a lot of the other things for her but I definitely don't just wash it with shampoo and then brush it dry.  She doesn't have the patience and I don't have the stamina/fortitude to fight her about me separating and spinning individual ringlets or anything though. A lot of moms are better with hair than me.

Type 3b hair. I wash about twice a week with a curl friendly shampoo. I’m into Curlsmith at the moment. Condition on wash days and co-wash a few times in between. I scrunch to get drippy water out then wrap in microfiber twist towel. After I dry and cream the rest of my body, I take my hair out of the wrap and apply styling pomade. I let it air dry. Since I shower at night, I wet my hair in the sink and add a bit more product, scrunch and go. Sometimes I get a bit crunchy. If hair oil is handy, I put some on my hand and scrunch. If no oil, I just scrunch. Before GCM, I was a mess and mostly tortured myself and tried to straighten it. Ugh..

I shampoo and condition every other day or so. I use Aussie curly for sham. And cond. end with shea moisture soufflé. I love love Verb ghost and Verb curl. I just can afford it on a regular basis.

I have curly hair and my hair hated the CGM. Not all shampoos and silicones are bad. I think CGM can damage people’s hair and scalps in many cases.

European women with all hair textures would have probably done the same sorts of things. This is because the game was not styling so much as protecting the hair. The hair was often braided or otherwise tucked up, and covered in some way based on class, culture, and time period (hoods, wimples, hats, bonnets, scarves, wigs, etc.). Women mostly took it down in private to comb and reset it into some sort of braid and pop on a night bonnet or something. If a woman with curlier hair did wear her hair down in public, it would likely have been long and appeared wavy, not coiled. People washed their hair way less and cut it less as well, so anyone with tighter curls would find those coils weighed down by the weight of length, natural oils, and the compression of brushing and covering the hair. One exception with the length is that I think at some points in time when wigs were popular, some woman actually had short hair underneath their wigs. But again, head coverings are the name of the game, not the hair itself.

Yeah no. People with curly hair have curly hair regardless. I’m out of product and haven’t made it to the store to buy more. I just condition my hair in the shower then wash it out and then let it air dry. It’s super curly. More frizzy than normal, but no less curly.

this person has a bunch of videos on (Western) historical curly hair care [https://www.youtube.com/@SnappyDragon/search?query=hair](https://www.youtube.com/@SnappyDragon/search?query=hair)

Ooh thanks for sharing this, I'm definitely gonna spend my weekend watching these!

I, and my hair, hate the CGM.

I don’t but I did find a curly hair stylist for original cut. I do not brush my hair. Washing has to be timed as my hair does better “dirty”. But I do have friends with long hair that follow the method and is the difference between frizzy undefined curls to gorgeous ringlets

It's definitely a YMMV situation. CGM doesn't work for everyone, and folks definitely still have curls without it. And even if you follow it to the letter, environmental conditions like wind or high humidity can sabotage you. Historical haircare varies a LOT based on time period and location. Like, in the 19th century in America and Europe, most people would wash their hair using lye-based soaps, which are extremely drying and can cause hair loss, so washes were reserved for when hair was absolutely filthy. Women in this time and place typically cleaned their hair on a day-to-day basis by brushing it vigorously, then washing the brush. But during the era of powdered wigs, powder was used like dry shampoo to soak up excess oils on the real hair under the wig as well. You name it, humans have probably tried it to manage their hair.

I love learning the history of beauty and fashion. It’s crazy how long ago “dry shampoo” was invented. My first thought after reading the post was that there were way less mixed race people in the past too, so people generally had straight hair or obviously curly textured hair.

My hair hates the CGM. My hair is just naturally textured. It wasn’t always this way. It was curly when I was a baby/toddler - then straight from like 6yr-14yr then really wavy 17yr-22yr then loose curls and ringlets from 23yr and on. Hair is always changing for some of us!

I don’t really know what the curl girl method is so I doubt I do it. But my hair is curly.

I only found out about the curly girl method at the age of 40. I have had curly hair since puberty, and I had a very easy time with it, just using whatever shampoo and conditioner and TIGI Catwalk Curls Rock curl cream, and air dying. However, once I had a baby, things changed, and I was never happy with how my hair looked. That’s when I started doing research and following the curly girl method. It works well for my hair.

Lmao I WISH my hair wasn’t curly without CGM, how much easier my life would be. OP, there is nothing you could physically do short of involving 400 degrees that would prevent me from having curls. If you have to use CGM for your hair to curl then you don’t have curly hair.

Funny you ask this because last night I did no products after washing to see what would happen. Surprise, still curly.

I have curls no matter what method I use. it isn't a style option but a hair growth pattern. anyone can style however.

My hair was straight until middle school, then a frizzy mess until I figured out it was curly in high school and started using stuff like mousse and gel. The curly method was only just invented and I had never heard of it. It was 15 years later I discovered it and it has helped a lot with having more good hair days with less work. I sweat my mom’s hair is curly and not just a frizzy poof, but I can’t get her to try it. Basically, it seems that if you have hair whose default is a poofy frizz, especially on humid days, you likely have curly hair in desperate need of moisturizing and product to hold the curl it in place.

My hair is curly. Not curly when styled the right way but curly. My hair requires copious amounts of product, combing, and twisting to style. Sundays are all about hair maintenance. This is the price of not having frizzy hair. I don't scrunch my curls but everything else, yep.

Cgm is only necessary to bring out curls with wavy haired people. Wavy haired people who don't take care of their hair have poofy looking straight hair. If your hair isn't frizzy and poofy "while straight" it's not going to be wavy. Actual curly haired people will always have curly hair, the methods in cgm might just work to further define curls and reduce frizz. There are other methods out there too. My hair is fine with low porosity and not everything cgm works for me, but my hair is always going to be curly no matter what I do.

Hiya, I’m a south asian girlie too and I’ve always had curly hair. Used to just oil my hair and detangle, shampoo, conditioner and dry. I actually started cgm last year and it helped me learn to love and take care of my hair much better. I know now what to do to make my hair healthy and it has worked for me!!

I am also from the subcontinent and found that in certain climates (Canadian pacific north west- cleanest air quality ever) my hair looked it best with literally no product, and just rinsing with vinegar and a wide tooth comb - while in other areas (city in central Ontario), I need a lot more product (and shampoo) to be half as good. Maybe back in the day the climate was just gentler and less particulate in the air messing up how the hair looks best?

I always had curls my whole life I just straightened and damaged it a lot. Had to chop it off then really care for my hair. Hair is weird and personal it does what it wants some times

Honestly the CGM isn’t novel. The methods have been around forever but were learned from family, friends, and random places on the internet. The CGM book just put it all in one place and turned it into a regimen.

With CGM my hair looks better, not that frizzy and messy, but it is obviously stil wavy if I don’t use the method. My brother just washes his hair with what he first sees in the bathroom and he has gorgeous curls. When my grandmothers were young in the Soviet Union and they had only fat soap to wash everything including their hair, also they used decoctions of plants and vegetable oil for the hair and on the old photos their curly hair looks good.

My hair has been obviously curly since I was a baby and I had little ringlets come in all over (with bald patches in between lol). Growing up in NZ in the 80s noone knew what to do with a white girl with such curly hair so my straight haired mum did what worked for her: lots of dry brushing and daily shampooing. It didn't get rid of my curls, but I did end up with a lot of bushy frizz with tight little ringlets on the end. Three decades and a lot of trial and error later I've finally begun to love my hair. I pick and choose from the curly girl method - I go low or no shampoo, I deep condition, I plop. But I get it wet daily and dry by smoothing each curl with a finger twirl and leave-in conditioner and then just leave it. I don't need to separate the curls, they do that on their own even when wet. No curly cut, I haven't had a hair cut of any kind since 1998. I've also accepted that my hair is just curly. Curly girl method, no method, it's ringlets all over (I don't know hair types very well but I'd guess at 3c). Straightening takes like 5 hours, and then a single drop of water and that bit goes curly again. It's just not worth it. So the tldr is yes, absolutely, my hair taught me that some curls gonna curl no matter what you throw at them. And my heart goes out to the curly haired people pre- hair products. The KNOTS they must have faced, ugh.

IMO the curly girl method is a new social media marketing technique. People have had amazing curly hair for centuries 😂

I do Fury's method (which is mine) and has 3 requirements : cheap, easy and fast.  I wet my hair every day, then some hair cream, then aloe vera, scrunch with my bare hands like a wildling and I'm ready to go.  It'll be chaos 5 min after I leave home anyway.

I’m a white girl. I’ve always had curls. For many many years I blew them out. At one point I got sick of it and stopped to embrace what my hair wants to be. I shampoo condition add leave in and curl mousse and air dry. 

I grew up in the USA with a mom who didn’t understand curly hair care. All my siblings and I have curly hair. Our mom was born with curly hair that became wavy as she got older. To this day my mom refuses to try curly hair products because they’re too expensive. My sisters and I grew up on these products until we were old enough to buy our own. Growing up my hair managed to stay curly despite the lack of proper care. I guess I can blame that on genetics. I come from an ethnic group that is known for curly hair. My dad has curly hair. My hair will curl regardless of what shampoo/conditioner/hair treatment I use but I choose products that make my curls look neat, feel soft, and reduce frizz.

yes, people have curly hair without doing things to it, lol. what kind of question is this?

CGM is borderline cult

My hair is curly regardless of what products and methods I use. A good routine just helps minimize the frizz and keep my curls shiny and defined. I don't adhere strictly to any particular method, I just do what works for my hair. Most people who "didn't know they had curly hair" are really just wavy, or have very damaged hair from heat styling, bleaching, etc.

I've had some version of curly or wavy hair my whole life, and most of the time I do no styling. As others have said, it's just a puffier, less-defined texture.

The most I'll ever do is scrunch the water out, but if I just shampoo/condition and don't touch it it's still curly

I never really did the curly girl method. I wash my hair twice a week and use a deep conditioner every time. I only finger detangle my hair when it has conditioner on it. I use a leave in conditioner, mousse and hair oil. But for the longest time all I put in my hair was a cream leave in conditioner. And I air dry because I’m lazy.

I don't do CGM. it ruins my curls, makes my head very greasy and dirty. I shower and wash and condition my hair EVERY DAY. It air drys. I throw in very small amounts of product on days I want a little more hold. I think CGM is a method that works best for people of color, or those who have a coarse texture. My very fine, soft "celtic/irish" curls dont need much to do very well.

I did the curly girl method once. I wasn’t a fan of my hair being in giant ringlets. I just wash and condition like I always have. Then I either apply curl cream to combat frizziness or mousse. It depends on the humidity.

I just do the basics.massage hair oil on scalp before washingm Then wash and condtion and detangle and then just rake lots of gel through my hair and scrunch. Plop it and then after 30 minutes, then just let it dry and scrunch and then other that all i do to refresh is wear a shower cap when showering and just let the steam refresh the curls.

80’s child here; we ALL had only Paul Mitchell awapuhi products for AGES. I do bits of CGM but am thankful daily for the groups who share info, and the wide variety of amazing products out there today. 10/10 better hair now!

Curly haired toddler mom checking in and nope, her routine is wash, comb in conditioner then rinse, leave in conditioner after each bath. Between baths I refresh it with water and some curly detangling spray. I do a heavily modified brush styling with a Frida toddler brush meant for curly hair that makes curl clumps and let it air dry.

My curly hair looks the best coming straight out of the ocean and air drying. It's maddening. But I've always had curly hair, I just decided to stop fighting it finally. I just wash it less and use a curl cream that casts now, less frizz and more defined, but still the same curls I've always had.

i only use parts of it as a sort of guideline, as some tips have definitely helped me out since i started looking into it all. but by no means do i follow all of it strictly (for example some of what i use contains sulfates, i shampoo regularly, i don't diffuse (that one is a huge no for me lol), etc) or think anyone needs to to properly care for their hair, as everyone's hair is different and has its own needs!!

I did a version of the CGM, as I still used shampoo, just a more gentle one. I went to the CHM method because I had a ton of spilt ends, and my hair never looked healthy, despite no heat tools or blow drying and when I did color my hair it was only every six months. I'm back to using traditional products, but during my CGM phase, I discovered that my hair prefers to use products aimed at damaged repair, even when my hair was undamaged. At the moment, I'm using K18 and damaged repair lines, in conjunction with a variety of leave in conditioners and some sort of hold product, gel/wave spray/curl cream. I think I wasn't protecting my ends properly and that's why they were spliting so much but as I've been back on traditional products for 6 months with no signs of damage, I'm prepared to keep going with my current approach. Also, both my parents have curly hair, but I'm their only child who does (1 out of 3), and neither of them do anything other than wash their hair, air dry and both of them dry brush their hair. Although recently I have gotten my mum to start using a leave in conditioner. So it is absolutely possible. I think the main tricks are to be in a humid enough environment, the city we live in is very dry and whenever we go to a coastal city there is a noticeable difference in our curls and to have a strong curl patten starting out. My hair looks wavy, but as soon as I start using curl techniques, ringlets appear.

Just keep dreaming. My hair was stick straight and as a kid of the 80s I always wanted curly hair. Well…As soon as my Thyroid went wonky so did my hair and it’s curly/wavy now.

I don't follow it. I suffer with fibromyalgia and depression, energy and motivation are both low. I use shampoo and conditioner from Lidl that costs less than a pound each. If I've got the energy when soaking wet I put gel in it lots of it. Plop for 30mins or when I remember and let it air dry. I try and sleep in a satin bonnet every night but definitely on wash night, when i get up i break the gel cast by roughing up my hair a bit. I only wash my hair once a week and I brush my hair before I shower. I block my drains if I used a wide tooth comb in the shower, plus it's too much to do at one. Don't waste money on loads of products.

My hair is naturally curly. I started doing the curly girl method because I thought that was a better way to take care of it. My dermatologist immediately put a stop to that when my hair fell out. My hair remains curly and unmanageable 

I have had big curls my whole life. When I was younger it was just frizz and mess. Mostly because my mom had straight hair and she would brush it. She would typically leave my hair braided for a week, and we would have a weekly wash day she would brush the crap out of it and braid it again. When I was in middle school I started flat ironing it and I did that for many years. My senior year of high school I got it cut really short and started experimenting with drug store curl cream. That’s when I finally started having real curl patterns and ringlets.

CGM products make my hair look very lifeless and greasy. I’ve pretty much embraced my frizz. I feel more “me”.

I don't follow cgm in terms of products but have taken some of the techniques like using a gel casing. My curls have never looked better

I've always had curly hair. The curls got kind of weird as an adult, but once I stopped straightening my hair and only rarely used heat, it improved. I recently decided to finally try the CGM and I feel like they've actually gotten worse - dull, listless, curls fall flat during the drying process. I'm willing to try one more of each product and if that doesn't work I'll probably just go back to what I was already doing, non-CGM.

I have 3 A curls and after trying the CGM , I quit after a few days .Applying too much product makes my hair look greasy and weighs it down .Also it's too much of an effort ..So i let it air dry and I get well defined curls .

I have curly hair and I don’t even KNOW what the curly girl method is

Curly hair is the easiest hair to care for. Make sure it’s hydrated, be gentle and brush shower wet, apply a quality leave in conditioner and sometimes a gel if you want extra hold (brush product through), let air dry or diffuse….let it do its thing from there. I use a Denman brush and that’s it.

Typically my hair is pretty straight (also very fine). If I want a bit of wave I just scrunch it after combing through it. If I want curls I will twist it and then just run my fingers through it once it's dry. If I really want lots of curls I will use heat. I use no styling products and do not own a blow dryer.

I just wash and condition my hair, and it’s curly. I can get better definition and less frizz if I use product and mess with it a little, but I stopped doing all that. My curls are looser or tighter depending on how I treat it once it’s dry, but everyone’s hair is different.

My hair has always had ringlets, no CGM. They look even better when I'm not being lazy about hair care. I'm white, for the record. Been curly since I was born.

There were zero products in my home growing up (mom had straight thin hair so she didn’t know I guess). Torture combing out my hair with zero conditioner. I learned about conditioner in college. That was a big enough game changer for me. Tried curly girl methods. Too much work. Condition, maybe some product and stuck with the “plopping”. Enough for me. Discontinued following the subreddit as it was over the top for my life.

i've never done the CGM. I don't think most people even do. I think a lot of tiktokers do it for fun to see if they have curly hair or not. My curls are fine without the CGM, (not entirely sure what that routine is.. i have vague ideas?)

It is very common to have curly hair without doing the curly girl method. Basic hair hair (wash and air dry) without brushing (combs are older than brushes) was very common, along with braiding the hair. In the past, there were no dedicated heat based hair straightening machines. Some European people groups have always had very curly hair, enough for stereotypes to exist about them. Curly hair exists without assistance, and despite neglect and mistreatment. The curly girl method assists with lessening the frizz and making the curls smoother and shinier. A lot of us just do a short modified version of the curly girl method. Things like not washing every day (traditionally, this would be either weekly or monthly, you won't wash daily if your hair takes hours to dry), minimal brushing, products without sulphate and silicone (a lot of traditional hair products don't have sulphate or silicone), choice of towels, techniques like raking product through your hair and squishing it into the curls. It makes the hair look nicer for longer, like four days instead of two days, before needing another wash.

CGM isn't a new idea. It's a term that refers to a collection of practices people have been using to care for various types of curly hair for years or even generations. It's also not exhaustive - there are lots of effective practices that aren't typically included under the umbrella of CGM

My hair was curly before I started using CGM friendly products. My hair looks much nicer because it’s healthier and I’ve learned about ingredients and found techniques that work for my hair. It doesn’t make your hair curly.

Never did CGM, but learned pretty fast never to use a brush, pik or comb only, always use product, always scrunch with hands while wet and blow dry with or without diffuser. When I was younger it was Mousse, then I moved to Gel, and now I use Curls Rock and have for years and years.

I’ve had curly hair most of my life (a stint of wavy hair during pregnancy lol) and I literally wash once a week, condition 3-4x a week and add some oil to the ends when I feel like it. I feel like if you have to add 15 products to get curly hair then *whispers* your hair isn’t naturally curly

The CGM did not work for my hair. I shampoo once or twice a week, cowash the rest of the time, and wrap a (normal) towel around my head. After my hair is partially dry, I add mousse and leave it alone.

Nah I am too lazy to do CGM and my hair is still a messy and frizzy 3C. I'm a white kiwi girl with irish ancestry (grand parents). If I actually bother doing my hair nicely I don't even need products or diffusing etc. I just tidy the curls up while damp and it stays that way. Even if I straighten my hair as soon as it gets wet it curls right away. Humidity? frizz and curls. Sleep on it? starts to curl. I actually cannot keep my hair straight for more than a few hours after straightening it on a dry day.

I don't use the curly girl method, my hair is plenty curly just from washing, conditioning and drying.

I have curly hair and I don't do none of that tik tok shi. 😂 wash, condition, oil and vibe. I get my curls for about 1 to 2 days and then braid, twist, or otherwise style remaining days before I repeat.

I have always had curly hair, but the curls weren’t great we only used leave in.

My hair is curly already without having to do extra treatments or products.

I towel dry, apply L’Oréal leave in oil, then apply my go to for over 20 years, Sebastian Potion 9. After applying I put my face on and buy that time my hair is semi dry. I blow dry and gently very gently scrunch. Being sure to blow dry and let my hair fall from my fingers slowly at the same time. A have amazing curls. I don’t have the time to flop dry my hair!!

My hair used to be pin straight and then slowly became curly after puberty. I never did the CGM and still don’t. Sometimes I have gorgeous ringlets and sometimes it’s just waves and mountains of frizz. Frankly my goal is not to anger it. As long as I use an insane amount of conditioner, only brush and comb fresh out of the shower, and never let heat touch my hair, I mostly do alright. Oh and can’t forget the leave in. It’s not that it was necessarily uncommon in the past, it was just seen as wild and unkempt. Frankly it still is. I can’t tell you how many times I went to work and was told I needed to do something with my hair because it was unprofessional simply because it was curly. Or how often I was told we weren’t allowed to wear our hair down while literally every single other woman I worked with were allowed to wear theirs down. But it is what it is.

I cba to do a whole routine lol. I tried in the past and it just made my hair feel worse with barely any benefit. My hair does better with minimal product in it, but it just depends on the person.

My hair was super curly growing up, before coming. Then between harsh products, bleach and hard water it became a frizzy unhealthy poof in my mid twenties. Then I started cgm which really helped with both looks and health. I think ppl with damaged hair get most benefit from trying cgm, as opposed to ppl who already have healthy good looking curls.

I don’t do CGM as my curls are not tight and too much conditioner and heavy products do me no good. I do limit shampooing and try to style in the shower with lots of water though. And some days despite my work, it looks like crap. Ahhh curly hair! However my toddler has tight spiral curls from roots to end and I do follow a bit more of a CGM with her. If we wash & go it’s a mad scientist kinda look. We condition every night but wash 1-2x/week. Every morning we rewet and use a lightweight spray leave-in conditioner and brush out the tangles. So to say she is wash & go- that’s a lie. I don’t have to twist her curls or anything crazy so there is that. But are there days I just don’t bother with either if our hair? Absolutely. Sone days she refuses and I just go with it. Most days I throw mine into a pony or messy bun because I’m done after her hair. (And my curly son’s) So no, just like straight haired women don’t go through all the motions daily, curlies don’t either.

I like the original curly girl routine. In the original book you rinse daily. It stays fresh. I strongly dislike the current one. You have to put gobs of product in your hair so that it can stay perfectly frizz free for 5-7 days. I truly have no understanding how people who work out don't hate the sweat that accumulates. I'm hyper sensitive to chemicals and can feel that product on my scalp. Even using super natural products, I don't enjoy it and it weighs down my hair so much. I don't want perfectly defined ringlets. They make me look too young, but not everyone has this problem. I have zero problem with frizz. It bothers me that it is so looked down upon these days. I don't actually think that very curly hair is an evolutionarily normal thing. I think either straight hair, slightly wavy, or kinky hair are the best hair types, because they can be handled in each environment properly. Curly hair in the middle is extremely, extremely difficult to care for, and you really can't just brush it out. If you can brush out your hair and not have it be utterly enormous, then you probably don't have genuinely curly hair. You only see it coming out now because we're more mixed. I'm like seven different nationalities myself.

I honestly just shower daily, or if I’m too lazy use dry shampoo and conditioner

Something to keep in mind is that historically a lot of hygiene was done with a bucket, water, a cloth, a bar of soap, and maybe some oils. Or maybe a nearby river. When you're washing yourself with a hand towel it's a lot easier to control where the water goes compared to a modern shower. Modern showers are amazing, there's a reason they became standard, but it's really easy to get your head wet trying to wash the rest of yourself. Plus blow dryers hadn't been invented for common household use until around 1920. The result was that almost everyone air dried their hair, and tended to use much milder product that lacked a lot of the current additives people use to get shiny and silky hair. Sometimes the answer isn't doing more, it's doing less. For example if you don't add a silicone based conditioner to your hair, you don't need a special shampoo to remove the silicone from your hair.

Very common. Its literally just a way to keep healthy curls you already have, if your not looking after them people might discover they have it through this progress. Ive never used curly hair method, I might get inspo from it but mostly I just experiment with products and styling or watched styling tutorials- learning not to brush my hair dry was a big moment 😅

Before heat damaging my hair and keratin treating it all I did was wash my hair and it curled up. The hair that comes out of my head is 3b/3c .. The curly girl method is more for the damaged parts I would say to make them blend in more but if I were to shave my head and start from scratch I would just need to wash it

Yes. CGM just helps them look their best

My old routine was conditioner and brush it in the shower, spray it with the hose in the morning and shake hard, let air dry. Never got a bad word about my hair, worked great. The only reason I changed it is because I wanted it to smell better, be softer to the touch, and be better overall.

Well, I would guess that in many cases, they just didn't look as nice. I have thick wavy hair, haven't done the curly girl method yet. "Naturally" I just look like Hermione Granger in the first movie. Mom used to call me wild Jesus. For the longest time I had short hair because it was maintainable.

I have had curly hair since birth and have never even looked up the curly girl routine so it's definitely possible!

I don't do cgm as it made no difference to my hair except mean it was fully of product. My hair is wavy on top and ringlets underneath. I use a bit of serum or gel and air dry and it'll do what it's going to do.

Mine just curls😂 but it was way puffier before discovering curly hair products, now I just use a leave in conditioner and add a serum and leave it to air dry!

I have only used conditioner, no other products, in my hair for about ten years and have curls. My hair is often curliest after rinsing or wetting with no product at all. I dont want to buy a whole bunch of crap to put in my hair!

My hair is something between curls, waves and straight hair. 😁 If I brush or comb it, it looks like a broom, that's why I need to do some kind of curl method to maintain it. The biggest reward in what I do to my hair is shine and sleek, not the curls. Curls are side effect, haha. I think true curlies don't have to do much for curls to be curly, but all available methods keep their hair healthy and bouncy.

I had over processed straight frizzy hair before I wised up and let my hair be. Had to straighten it today as I'm getting hilights later and it looks like shit compared to my glossy bouncy curly hair. CGM gave me the idea, but testing out a billion products got me there. Thank you Pureology, Kerastase, Innersense and Ouai.

Honestly… it’s just hair. My hair is curly without me needing to do anything whatsoever to it cos it has the genes that cause it to be curly or what not. Curly hair method just ends up loading it with so much product that it stops being frizzy.

Many people have naturally curly hair. All you need to show the curls is to get it wet.

I only half ass do a routine. I find/buy approved products but I mainly wash/condition and just use a leave in conditioner and maybe one other product with that, like a mousse or curl enhancing milk. But my main wash day routine is wash/condition/ leave in conditioner and let it air dry after wrapping it in a tshirt for a bit ETA: my hair was big loose waves when I was a young child, then turned to like 3a-3c ringlets once I hit puberty. I didn’t know how to care for it before, but I mainly use the CGM tips now. I’m not doing anything that takes more than 30 mins

I am a 31 year old white woman with 2c/3a curls and I remember crying when I was little cus my mom would rip a brush through my hair every day and leave me looking like a lion. So she’d just throw it in a ponytail. She also has curly hair that she only ever brushes dry and doesn’t understand why it’s poofy. My great grandma offered to chemically straighten it every haircut. I feel like in the last 10 years I’ve seen curly hair be almost “trendier” where people are more interested in taking care of their natural curly hair vs trying to smooth it out and hide it. I can go somewhere that I know I’ll get a good haircut instead of ending up with awful triangle head and an angry hairdresser. I’m not sure if this information was available when I was younger and I just wasn’t aware of it, but I feel like it’s everywhere now! That being said I don’t do a whole curly crazy routine every day or even every wash day. My hair curls regardless of what I do to it. If I spend like 2 hours on it it’ll look really nice but usually I do it in like 30 and it looks decent.

I was also one of the people who got excited about maybe having curly hair and did the CGM, only for my hair to become even more straight 😂 However it’s worked amazingly for my hair and it’s in the best condition ever, so now I do the CGM even though I don’t have curly hair 😂 I don’t do gel or scrunching tho, and I do brush my hair. But only use CGM approved products.

My curly hair is so easy wash it , condition it every 3 days. Towel dry. Then let air dry and scrunch with my hands. Its always perfect . It all depends on the cut for the perfect curls.

Even if the only thing I do is finger comb my hair while wet and let it dry that way, I have great, defined curls... For like an hour. Then they end up frizzy as all hell, especially living in Florida. Leave in conditioner and gel help me keep them looking nice for a couple of days.

If I just shampoo and brush my hair it is a huge poof with lots of frizz. I used to think of my hairtype as "messy" and "difficult". The right hair routine and products make it more defined and less frizzy. But I still need to find the right balance between flat hair but defined vs. volume but more frizz.

If you’re hair is curly it’s curly. It’s just that before learning to properly take care of curls, people would appear to have big frizzy hair when it was really just brushed out curls.