Curly Girl vs. Tightly Curly method

[faithVA]

I'm still reeling from the cut But I have to keep moving. My hair looked extra horrible today with my almost bun and my short puffy twists.

I separated my hair in 3 sections and cowashed with Tresemme Naturals. And I used Tresemme Naturals as my leave-in. I finger detangled in the shower and then finger combed after I got out of the shower. Finger detangling was much easier. My roots are really softening up. Even after the trim though, my ends still give me some issue. And I can already feel the SSKs forming on the ends.

I usually apply an oil or something for a sealant. I skipped that part tonight. I mixed water/conditioner and some glycerin for my mist and sprayed that on my ends. I am going to use a glycerin spray for my ends to try to retain moisture in them.

This is week 4, wash 2.

 

[jamaica68]

I did a modified version of the CG method on Saturday.

I was wearing a twistout so I sprayed my hair w/ aloe vera juice and put a plastic cap on for about 30 minutes; this helps to detangle my hair.

Deep conditioned and finger detangled w/ Bask's Cacao Bark Deep Conditioning Hair Treat; I didn't do this in the shower I needed to see if this finger detangling would work. The dc had great slip and smells delicious. I thought finger detangling would be harder but thankfully it wasn't, I trimmed my hair during my last wash and I believe that helped with detangling.

Washed my hair w/ Tresseme Naturals then a second wash w/ Deva Curl's One Condition in the shower; slip is amazing but the smell is very strong, I didn't leave any conditioner in. I then did a acv/herbal hair tea rinse(Chagrin Valley's Hair Rinse). I added my kimmaytube leave in and twisted my hair w/ shea butter. My hair feels good, I would definitely do this again.

 

[faithVA]

Tonight was Week 4, wash 3. I sectioned my hair in 3 sections. I wet each section and applied the Tresemme Naturals and let it sit. It didn't feel the same as when i wet my hair fully in the shower. I then rinsed out the conditioner and finger detangled under the water. I put Tresemme Naturals in as my leave-in.

I finger combed each section out of the shower. I found out that alternating raking annd smoothing keeps my ends from tangling. In my crown area I only smooth this hair I don't finger comb it because my roots still tangle and it causes too much breakage.

I spent a lot of time finger combing to work the conditioner in and working on defining more of my curls. After I finished finger combing, I combed my ends with a wide tooth comb before twisting my hair up.

My roots are so much better. I am hoping over the next few weeks that my ends get better too. Right now I am still getting SSKs on my ends and they still tangle a bit even though I did a big trim. The conditioner is soaking into my hair much quicker. I am using less conditioner. And when I twisted my hair up I had a nice shine.

My softness has improved. My moisture has improved but my hair hasn't reached max hydration yet. When dry my roots are soft and smooth and I can move my fingers through them.

 

[faithVA]

Tonight is Week 5, Wash 1.

I rinsed my hair with warm water and cowashed with Tresemme Naturals. I let it sit while I showered. My hair was very soft when I went to detangle. I did a combination of finger detangling with conditioner and under the running water. My hair continues to tangle while I am finger detangling so I remove as many shed hairs as possible and don’t worry about my hair being completely finger detangled. I rinse the conditioner and loaded my hair with Tresemme Naturals as my leave in. I separated each section into smaller sections and smoothed it in.

Out of the shower I finger combed each section starting with my crown. My roots are 80% moisturized now with just small sections of my crown being dry and tangled. I am able to easily finger comb most of my hair from the root. The right crown section, I smoothed more than I finger combed to reduce breakage in that area. My ends are still tangling but not in all sections. I am using a combination of raking and smoothing and my ends loosened up in some areas. I am adding more conditioner to my ends to see if that makes any difference. It did seem to make a difference for me this time.

I am starting to see more curl definition and more clumping. My crown and my right front section are 4b, dry and have very little definition. I am using these areas as my gauge for my progress. My back is curling nicely and most of the left side of my hair. Even though I am seeing some clumping and definition, I don’t think I could maintain the curls as my hair dries. I think my hair would have to maintain more moisture to hold the curl.

I am still experiencing a lot of breakage even after the trim. This may be inevitable because my ends may still be damaged. I am hoping over the next 4 weeks that I can turn this around.

The shine of my hair is good. My roots are wavy. It is much easier to detangle my roots even in my crown. I am hoping that even if doing this method does not allow me to do a WNG, I am hoping that my hair is conditioned enough to be able to cowash my hair in mini twists. I would consider that a major accomplishment.

 

[Giselle685]

I am now one of those that can say I experience 2-3 strands of shedding thanks to doing non sulfate conditioner washes daily

 

[faithVA]

Today was Week 5, wash 2

I Dcd with heat for 30 minutes with Blue Chamomile.
Rinsed and washed my scalp with diluted Lemon Mudwash.
I cowashed with Tresemme naturals and let it sit while I showered.
I finger detangled, rinsed and applied Tresemme Naturals as my leave-in.
I finger combed outside of the shower.

Finger combing through my roots is getting better and better where in some sections I don't even think about it. I am alternating raking and smoothing. My ends in most sections still stick and have some SSKs. My hair was fuzzier today. Not sure if it was the oils I used when I DCd or the mudwash.

No real changes today. Detangling, finger combing, curl definition and puffiness were about the same. I did notice that the conditioner soaked in almost immediately. By the time I got out of the shower you couldn't see the conditioner in my hair. That's a first. I am adding more conditioner to my ends and smoothing while I am finger combing.

 

[Vintagecoilylocks]

faithVA Are you using anything between CW to seal in the moisture? That might be the extra you need yto combat the breakage. I have no breakage that can be seen if any and i contribut that to using butters and oils to sealing. I also use pre poos that add moisture and oil. Occasionally, I oil rinse. That has been the major break through for my daughter. The Conditiners were never just enough for me. Just a thought.

 

[faithVA]

Vintagecoilylocks[/USER];16150255]@faithVA Are you using anything between CW to seal in the moisture? That might be the extra you need yto combat the breakage. I have no breakage that can be seen if any and i contribut that to using butters and oils to sealing. I also use pre poos that add moisture and oil. Occasionally, I oil rinse. That has been the major break through for my daughter. The Conditiners were never just enough for me. Just a thought.

Thanks Vintagecoilylocks. So far I've not found anything that works to seal my hair. I think part of the issue is that my hair is low porosity. When I use oils my hair frizzes. I've tried shea butter, shea moisture smoothie, unpetroleum jelly, sunflower oil, grapeseed oil, castor oil. This weekend I put Shea Moisture Smoothie on my hair mixed with a blend of oils. And a blend of castor oil, wheat germ oil and some other oils on my ends. My hair still feels dry to me and my ends are crispy.

I used grease one time and it worked well But then of course my hair just felt greasy.

It is possible that it may be the key but I haven't figured out any combination so far that works for me. I refuse to buy any more oils though

 

[faithVA]

Last night was Week 5 Wash 2. I had my hair in twists. As a prepoo I coated my hair with Yes to Carrots, baggied and let it sit during dinner. I took out the twist and separated my hair into 5 sections, added a little more Yes to Carrots and let it sit for a few more minutes. I didn't try to detangle during the prepoo.

I rinsed, cowashed with Tresemme Naturals and let it sit while I showered. I put more conditioner on my ends and finger detangled which is getting much easier. Letting the conditioner sit really softens my hair. I rinsed and didn't apply any conditioner while in the shower.

I applied Deva One Conditioner on the front and right sides of my hair. I applied Tresemme Naturals on the left and center sections of my hair. I baggied and let that sit for 30 minutes while doing something else. Depending on how the section felt I applied a little more conditioner and water and finger detangled/finger combed each section. My roots are 500% better even in my crown. I can run my fingers easily through the roots of 80% of my hair. My crown is getting there. My ends are still a work in progress.

I can definitely tell the difference between using Deva One as a leave-in versus using Tresemme Naturals. Deva One is heavier and hydrates my hair better, smoothes it and makes finger combing a bit easier. It smells like something you clean your shoes or the house with though So I am going to switch to using Tresemme as my cowash conditioner until its gone. I will try Deva One on one side and the Yes to Carrots on the other side. I can see that I definitely need a heavier product to clump my curls. Since I have quite a few conditioners I am not ready to go buy a large bottle of Deva One. But I will try the conditioner I already have to see if they work. If none of those work, I will get a bigger bottle of the Deva One.

I think finger combing my hair on damp hair probably works better than doing it on wet hair because of high elasticity of my hair. Pulling my hair wet, causes the hair to spring back into tighter and tighter curls. When it starts to dry, the spring reduces a bit, and the hair holds a form a bit better.

This wash, roots are better, ends are the same, detangling is easier. Softness and moisture is moderate. Conditioner is soaking in well. I have a fairly decent sheen. Curl definition improving but still a long way to go.

Breakage is still the same. I'm thinking with the protein overload of my hair there probably is no saving my ends. I will probably loose at least another inch to breakage no matter what I do. Hopefully the rest of the hair will be moisturized enough to counter the previous protein.

Not sure how much longer I have until max hydration. But I am thinking I will need to go to at least week 12. This is the end of Week 5 for me.

 

[HanaKuroi]

faithVA what product caused the protein overload?

I think I am going to start using a modified cg/tcm next week.

 

[faithVA]

@faithVA what product caused the protein overload?

I think I am going to start using a modified cg/tcm next week.

Shall we say products. I am low porosity so more protein sensitive than others, so keep that in mind.

I probaby have had protein overload since I started my hair journey. I started my hair journey with HydraThermal Naturals which has a lot of protein and I think I never recovered. I was applying henna to my hair every 4 to 6 weeks. I tried AO GPB over a few weeks. I tried a prepoo with coconut oil and AVG There is no telling what else I was using.

Don't think this is a short term thing I think I have been killing my hair for the past 2 years and it has just been putting up with me.

 

[HanaKuroi]

Can you help me figure out low porosity without sending in hair for analysis?

I was using henna every week and a half but after using red rahj with a high lawsone amount back to back I will wait longer. My hair was heavier but also more difficult to get feeling right.

I am afraid to use gpb, curl junkie hair rehab or anything containing protein.

 

[faithVA]

Can you help me figure out low porosity without sending in hair for analysis?

I was using henna every week and a half but after using red rahj with a high lawsone amount back to back I will wait longer. My hair was heavier but also more difficult to get feeling right.

I am afraid to use gpb, curl junkie hair rehab or anything containing protein.

There is a low porosity support forum if you want to read further beyond what I'm saying here. None of the symptoms apply to 100% of heads.

Lots of people do the strand test. Take a clean strand of hair right after you shampoo and place it in a glass of room temperature water. Low porosity hair floats.

Thing low porosity heads notice
1. It takes a while for the hair to get wet

2. Products sit on the hair vs. being absorbed. This is definitely true for things like butters and heavy creams.

3. It is resistant to chemical processes. Usually it takes a while to relax the hair.

4. For some color doesn't take easily. For rinses this is true for me. It was the same for henna. I use a permanent.

5. It takes a while for hair to dry, especially if product is applied.

6. Tends to be hard to moisturize. But once moisturized the hair will hold onto it.

7. Tends to like more alkaline products.

8. Cuticles open better with heat.

That's what I can think of off the top of my head.

 

[faithVA]

Can you help me figure out low porosity without sending in hair for analysis?

I was using henna every week and a half but after using red rahj with a high lawsone amount back to back I will wait longer. My hair was heavier but also more difficult to get feeling right.

I am afraid to use gpb, curl junkie hair rehab or anything containing protein.

How does your hair feel? What is going on with your hair that's bothering you?

 

[HanaKuroi]

Thanks for information. I will look at those threads.

I am going to buy my cj/tcm conditioners this weekend. My daughter started last week.

 

[thetall1]

Sent from my iPhone using LHCF

 

[faithVA]

Proudnapps[/USER];16184955]Wash N go...week 5....I fell back in love with my hair!! I never thought I would do another wash n go...



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ETA: I finally was able to finger detangle!!!

It's been a while since your last update. I am glad things are going better for you. on the finger detangling.

What products are you using now? How often are you cowashing?

 

[thetall1]

It's been a while since your last update. I am glad things are going better for you. on the finger detangling.

What products are you using now? How often are you cowashing?

I know I've been in hiding...lol...I still use the tresseme's naturals conditioner for co-washing, and I rinse 90% of it out. I then will use the long aid CAG to style ( I used Eco-styler gel w/ argon oil in the pic). I co-wash once a week and I may rinse in between co- washing. I also like to seal with sweet almond oil my hair is happy! Yay!!

Sent from my iPhone using LHCF

 

[faithVA]

Tonight is the start of week 6, wash 1. I was reading Deva Curl instructions an it says to cowash 1 to 3 times. So this week I decided to do that

I prepooed with Yes To Carrots and let it sit for a while. I rinsed and my hair felt hard when I rinsed which is unusual. I let the water run on it for a long time and it never softened up. I cowashed with Yes to Carrots and my hair went poof. It started to shrink and tangle. I realized that the Yes to Carrots is too alkaline and my cuticles opened up too much

I sort of panicked. So I rinsed out the Yes to Carrots. I had a bottle of Tresemme Naturals and water mixed. I poured this offer my hair and massaged it in. That helped a little but my hair was still big. I rinsed that out. I cowashed with Tresemme Naturals and let that sit while I showered. I didn't even try to detangle in the shower because I could just feel the tangles waiting for me. I rinsed with warm water to get all of the conditioner out and then rinsed with cooler water.

My hair was not hanging as much as it usually is. I had more Deva One than I thought I had so I put that in my hair as a leave-in. I piled it on. I put on my plastic cap and then put on my hot head cap and let it sit for 15 minutes. I went through each section and smoothed the Deva One into my hair in smaller sections. I put on my plastic and put my hot head cap back on and let it sit for a while. After it sat for a while, I took each section and smoothed the conditioner into smaller sections both horizontally and vertically. I then finger detangled and finger combed. It was not as nice as usual but it could have been far worse. The heat helped my hair to calm down a bit.

I put in a lot of product. I can see curls starting to clump with all of that product. Instead of twisting the sections, I put a clamp at the top and bobby pin at the bottom and middle of the section to try to reduce drying time and to see if I have any curls or waves once it starts to dry.

I will either braid the sections up when they are dryer or just slip in the clamps.

I am definitely going to go 12 weeks instead of 8. I think my hair needs more hydration and its just getting started.

 

[Love Always]

Question for those that use the Curly Girl Method, does anyone's curls hang more? I've seen before and after pictures and it appears that the hair hangs down, is this the result of the finger detangling?

 

[faithVA]

Question for those that use the Curly Girl Method, does anyone's curls hang more? I've seen before and after pictures and it appears that the hair hangs down, is this the result of the finger detangling?

I'm just starting week 6 and so far not really. They hang a bit more when wet and loaded with product but as it dries my hair shrinks up as usual. I have not tried gel yet to reduce the shrinkage.

I would think for some the curls hanging would be a combination of the hair being more hydrated as well as any help received from finger combing.

 

[Love Always]

faithVA, thanks for answering. I'm going to start finger combing and see...I'm getting nervous .

 

[faithVA]

@faithVA, thanks for answering. I'm going to start finger combing and see...I'm getting nervous .

Why are you getting nervous LOVE_Always?

 

[Love Always]

I've never finger detangled before, I'm so use to the comb. I'm willing to try anything that will make my curls plump and to have super hydrated hair .

Why are you getting nervous LOVE_Always?

 

[faithVA]

Last night was Week 6, wash 2. I started late so everything was rushed.

I put my hair in 4 sections and rinsed with warm water. I used AO Blue Chamomile as my DC and sat under my heat cap for 45 minutes. I put Tresemme Naturals over that and smoothed it in. I did a very quick finger detangle. I rinsed and reapplied the Tresemme Naturals and let it sit while I showered. I needed to let it sit longer but it was late. I finger detangled and rinsed.

Out of the shower I used Tresemme Naturals as my leave-in. I put it in using small sections trying not to get it on my scalp. I didn't finger comb as usual. I took small sections, smoothed the conditioner, put oil on my ends and twisted.

The roots at my crown still need a lot of work. Since I twisted in small sections I didn't really evalute my ends. My twists looked nice and moisturized with nice hold. I didn't use much conditioner so it soaked in quickly.

This morning my hair looked fuzzy. Not sure why. Still that in between hard and soft feeling. Not as much moisture as previous weeks. Sprayed my hair with Sta Sof Fro and let it soak in. Wore a twist out which has great definition. I was able to further separate the twists without frizzing except for my crown area.

Tonight I am going to retwist and see if I can get a decent twist out with 30 twists. Usually I can't.

Going to take pictures on Wednesday. It will be the end of week 6. Don't think I will see much difference in visual comparison but want to have a record.

 

[faithVA]

I've never finger detangled before, I'm so use to the comb. I'm willing to try anything that will make my curls plump and to have super hydrated hair .

Just take your time. I alternate between raking and smoothing. It helps my hair to tangle less. Or I rake with one hand and smooth with the other.

It may take some trial and error to find the right time to finger detangle but it gets better with each cowash.

My hair is softest and easiest to detangle after I have rinsed my hair and then let the conditioner sit on it for 5 or more minutes. You will also find your timing as well.

 

[YaniraNaturally]

Now that I have been natural for almost an entire month grin I think I'm going to give CG a try. I've been wearing a lot of buns and twist-outs and while they look great, I'd like to start wearing my curls and kinks a little more.

Plus I'm going to Brazil in few weeks and I want to go and enjoy my vacay. I don't want to have to wait for my twist-outs to dry and then be afraid of getting my hair wet because of the time that I invested in my TO

I will also be going to a wedding while I'm there and I was sitting here thinking, "How am I going to do my hair? I fly in on Friday and the wedding is on Sunday. . .maybe I can twist my hair at home before I leave? Or Friday night when I'm in Brazil? But I don't want to be in my hotel twisting my hair while everyone is exploring/limeing. Plus then on Saturday I'll have to wear a beanie since my twists are huge and look so juvenile. . . what if we go to the beach that day? I'm not getting in the water with a beanie erplexed

I'm not expecting CG to be my HG method, but I won't know unless I try.

 

[faithVA]

I tried to pineapple my twistout last night which was a fail I ended up with a puff this morning. A nice puff but there was no moving past it. So I put Deva Curl No Poo on dry hair according to some online instructions. I rinsed. My hair felt weird in a way I can't describe. It felt hard and rough. So I put on some more No Poo to get a good wash. Next time I will prepoo with Tresemme Naturals because it is wetter. Then I will rinse and prepoo with Deva Curl No Poo.

I rinsed and put on the Deva One Conditioner. I let it sit while I showered. I then split each section into smaller sections to smooth it in. It did calm my hair down a bit from the No Poo. I rinsed and reapplied the Deva One, smoothed again. Deva One doesn't feel like it has any slip but when I started to finger detangle I noticed it had enough slip to finger detangle. I rinsed and finger detangled some more under running water.

The instructions say to apply Deva One as a leave-in sparingly. I had been apply the conditioner heavily to saturate my hair. Outside of the shower I applied the Deva One sort of sparingly I am a bit heavy handed. I let the conditioner sit on each section while I worked on other sections. I took down each section and applied the Deva Curl Angel and smoothed it in.

A Paul Mitchell brush came with my Deva Curl products. So I used it to comb through my hair. And I am not ashamed It worked better than the denman which just pulls my hair out. And after I combed through my hair I finger combed a bit. I may resume finger combing again later but for right now I'm cool with this brush.

I twisted each section into 2 to 3 twists. I put on my hot head cap and let everything soak in for 30 minutes. I will try to do 7 twists per section to see if I can get a decent twists out with 28 twists.

Not sure if I like the No Poo. I still like the Deva One Conditioner. I like the way the Angel goes on. It makes my hair feel smooth. It's hard to really rate them yet because they just aren't like other products. I will have to see how my hair feels in the morning when it dries.

This is week 6, wash 2. Going to use the Deva Curl products until I run out. Doubt if they make it 6 weeks.

 

[faithVA]

I put my hair in 40 twists and pulled them back in barrettes. My hair was completely dry this morning. My hair was soft and moderately moisturized. I sprayed with the Deva Curl Set It Free. I separated each twist into 4 sections and I have a decent twist out. My hair is soft, my roots are manageable and my ends didn't stick together.

So far I am pleased. Can't wait to try the Heaven In Hair DC this weekend.

 

[FindingMe]

I put my hair in 40 twists and pulled them back in barrettes. My hair was completely dry this morning. My hair was soft and moderately moisturized. I sprayed with the Deva Curl Set It Free. I separated each twist into 4 sections and I have a decent twist out. My hair is soft, my roots are manageable and my ends didn't stick together.

So far I am pleased. Can't wait to try the Heaven In Hair DC this weekend.

faithVA: Cool- I still haven't tried the Heaven in Hair yet. Let me know how it turns out. Recently I have just been co-washing with Tresemme Naturals and leaving that in and it's been enough without needing any gels for my WnGs. Me likey