One thing I’ve learned over the last couple years of paying more attention to my curls and the curls of others is that everyone’s curls are different and therefore no one plan will work for all the curly girls in the world. With that said, there are certain techniques and approaches that work for most of us. The variety comes in finding the products that work best for you.

I’ve been following a fairly strict curly girl routine for 8 months now (I will admit to straightening my hair on a couple random occasions just for variety, which most curly girls see as one of the deadly sins of hair care). If you look at the image above, the top picture is one week of curly girl method. The middle pic is one month, and the bottom image was just this past week. The change is slowly taking place. My curls are looking healthier. They curly better and have more volume.

How I Use the Curly Girl Method:

1. Cleanse hair. I fill a squeeze bottle with 2 ounces of water a little bit of cleanser, shake it and then apply it to dripping wet hair from the roots. After applying it all over the scalp area, I massage the product into my hair and pull it through to the end. I do this with my head flipped upside down. Bend at the waist, flip your head down, tuck your chin to your chest and cleanse your hair that way. Rinse well.
2. Condition hair. Using that same squeeze bottle I fill it with water and the conditioner and the apply it more to the ends and strands than to the root area. I will take one pump of conditioner in my hands and apply it directly to the ends. When applying it - with water or with your hands - rake the conditioner through your curls from scalp to ends. This will work our the knots and keep the curls moving in the natural pattern.
3. Twice a month deep condition hair. This step replaces step 2. Instead of the usual conditioning method, twice a month I will use a nourishing hair mask instead, applying it liberally to my locks and then leaving it in for 10-15 minutes as I go about shaving, eyebrow plucking, etc… Rinse well.
4. Add leave in conditioner. Your curls need moisture and a lot of it. I tend to fuill a spritz bottle with water, spray it all over my locks (with my head still tipped down) and then scrunch in leave-in conditioner from the tips to the roots. The combo of water from the spritz bottle plus conditioner helps make sure everything is evenly coated.
5. Apply gel/mouse. Still keeping my head tipped down, I will apply gel in a scrunching motion, making sure to cover all areas of my head.
6. Diffuse. Yes, still upside down. Start with the front section of your head, place the diffuser at the tips of your hair and slowly move it up allowing the curly to twist into the diffuser until it is pressed against your head. Leave it in this position for several minutes before lowering the diffuser in the same direction and repeating the process all over your head. The less you move the diffuser around the better put-together and less frizzy your locks will look.
7. Spray on a moisture blocker. This is the newest step to my process, but I’ve found this helps my hair look curly for longer. It blocks out the moisture in the air and stops my curls from loosing their form and getting frizzy.