Thinking about starting Curly Girl Method

rkersen

My hair is fine and thin. It is halfway between 2a and 2b. Most products weight my hair down. My hair is shoulder length (I cut it off a year ago and I'm trying to grow it out) and it is finally to a length that allows me to get my waves to work with me.
I have been researching the Curly Girl Method and it seems like it makes waves/curls enhance naturally. I would like to try it, but I don't know where to start. I can't spend lots of money on products. I need to either find some that are inexpensive to try out until I find the right one or find one that is awesome and is a little more than drugstore prices. I'm worried that co-washing would weigh down my hair. As it is, when I use conditioner my hair is very limp and looks oily quickly if I use more than a light leave in or blow dry it straight after a rinse out.
So where do I start? What do I do first?
I know about using t-shirts/microfiber towels, no sulfates, and no heat. I'm looking for some guidance and suggestions. Thank you!

curlyannie80

Hi I've been doing the curly girl method for a few years now, and I remember at first being SO confused, and feeling like I was going to have to completely change everything I was doing, in order to follow it. Over time, though, I've learned that you can use inexpensive products, and that you don't necessarily need to spend crazy amounts of time &energy obsessing over everything.
I'd say the first thing is, a lot of us fine haired girls have a hard time with cowashing, since it can really weigh your hair down. So I'd clarify one last time with a sulfate shampoo that has no silicones.
Then I would start using a low poo, shampoo that has cocobetaine or cocomidopropyl betaine as the cleansing agent. I'd also get a conditioner with NO silicones, OR one with water soluble ones only. Aussie Moist is really nice, cheap, and has a water soluble cone only. I can even use that one as a leave in & it doesn't weigh me down. OK, then if you want to use a whole separate condish as a LI, you of course can, but lots of times the same rinse out can be used.
After you're done showering/washing your hair, just put in a little leave in /conditioner, and then a gel or a mousse. Using ones that have no silicones (or only water soluble ones) is key. I LOVE LA Looks Sport Gel (blue), I also really like making my own flax seed gel and topping it off with LA Looks. If you prefer mousse, you could use that instead of gel.
And that's pretty much it. Oh, when I first started, I also stopped using brushes and combs, and only use my hands. It was weird at first, and I didn't think I could get every tangle out with my hands, so I'd go back in with a brush to check if there were tangles, and there never were any! So it's easier than it sounds, and I know this is long, but this is my advice for what to do I hope something here helps you. Have a good one, and GOOD LUCK!

Sent from my XT1254 using CurlTalk App

curlyannie80

Oh, sorry, forgot to mention my properties. I've got fine to medium, normal density, low porosity @roots, norm porosity on the rest, curl type is 3b, with some 3a,, norm elasticity mid back length hair

Sent from my XT1254 using CurlTalk App

Babyfine

I also have very fine/thin winter s'wavy/summer wavy(2b) hair.
My hair is also color treated so I may need more protein in my products.
Some good inexpensive products I've tried:
V05 Kiwi lime conditioner( good for Co wash as well) very cheap can get it for 99 cents at my local grocery store.
Organix Coconut Shampoo(sulfate Free)very good my hair really likes this. Mane and tail original( use from the ears down no silicones my hair likes the protein)
the next products are a bit more expensive but can still be picked up in a Walgreens or Walmart:
Giovanni-Smooth as Silk Shampoo and conditioner, plus the More Body Hair thickener gel. The Gel tends to build up on me, though. I do seem to get lots of curl when I use all three together.
Even though the shampoo is supposed to be moisturizing it doesn't seem to weigh down my hair.
Yes to Cucumbers Color care shampoo, another one my hair and scalp like. the Giovanni and Yes to do a good job of cleaning without stripping which my scalp really seems to need.
I also have used more expensive stuff as you see in my signature but I can't afford to keep buying them, so I resort to the above a lot.
Well, actually I do use Deva gel as I can get more than 1/1/2 year out of a bottle so actually works out to be economical.
I get the best second day hair with that.
Also my hair is far healthier since I quite heat styling, too.

ETA strict Co washing did not work for me, either. I had scalp buildup. I tried full CG and wound up with patches of buildup(cradle cap) on my scalp and limp hair.
so for me I do low poo most of the time and use the Nioxin(which is an antifungal) about once every 7-10days.

Babyfine

Oh I wanted to add the my favorite inexpensive Mousse is Herbal Essences Totally Twisted.
Leave-ins are problematic for me. I have a hard time finding a balance where my hair doesn't look stringy with one. So I generally don't use one.
I'm still searching. Ouidad Moisture lock leave-in is good, but very expensive of course.
Deva B'leavein is good for finey's too, but also costs money and I'm out of it.
My hair has a tendency to look stringy anyway, so I have been seriously thinking about cutting a few inches off, even though I have been growing out.

Mei

Alaffia's Beautiful Curls Leave In Conditioner is good for wavies with fine hair if you apply it to the length of the hair only in the shower when the hair is sopping wet. And apply it sparingly. It is my go-to for leave-in conditioners. I have a lot of hair but the strands are fine. It is around $13 a bottle and will last a long time.

Shampoo bars are fairly cheap and last about 100 washes on average depending on bar size. I swear by them now. I pay no more than $5 a bar for my specialty ones and $2/bar for my regular ones. If you are in the USA, Chagrin Valley has some great CG friendly shampoo bars but I don't buy from them as I am in Canada so don't know their prices.

Organic Skin Care & Natural Hair Care Products | Chagrin Valley Soap & Salve is their website

FYI don't be fooled by the sodium hydroxide (lye) on the ingredient list in soap bars - the saponification process eliminates the lye completely making it not damage hair. Info here: Is there Lye in your Soap? Won't it harm my skin?

Therese1

My hair is 2a/2b and fine, though it is of average density. I use the Beautiful Curls leave-in that Mei recommended. You don't have to use a lot of it. I like it because the shea butter provides a bit of friction (it sits on top of the hair), which gives me a little bit of volume. I apply it over very wet (not damp) hair also, which I think is key, because then the shea butter seals in the moisture.

As far as co-washing goes, you'll just have to try it and see what you think. I started out with water-only washing (lots of manual labor here, lol), then moved to co-washing, then moved to alternating low poos and co-washing, then moved to just low poos. I am now back to water-only washing because the low poos dried my hair and scalp out. After I balance things out, I will probably return to co-washing with a low poo once every 2-4 weeks. My hair was a little greasy with the water-only washing, but I don't remember it being too bad with the co-washing, although I did get some build-up. For me, I think that a combination of water-only washing, co-washing, and a low poo every now and then is probably best.

For co-washing, you could try a conditioner that has cleansing agents in it. There is a thread here that discusses the cleansing agents to look for. Using a conditioner with some cleansing agents might help stave off (but not eliminate) build-up.

Therese1

By the way, my hair always used to look greasy and weighed down with conditioner too. In retrospect, I think that that happened because of the silicones in the conditioners. Once I removed them all, as in the CG method, I found that my hair actually benefited a lot from conditioner. The silicones had been leaving a film over my hair that made it difficult for me to truly moisturize my hair. So I would just be open to trying new things and going slow.

Do make sure to do one last shampoo with a sulfate shampoo to get rid of all the silicones in your hair before you start co-washing or going low poo.

rkersen

Thanks for the advice everybody! I went shopping for about three or four days in a row. I had to return some things because, once I got them home, I realized they had silicone.
I now have:
Loreal Sulfate-free Volumizing shampoo
Garnier Fructice Pure Clean Fortifying conditioner for my daily

For co-washing I'm going to try:
Shae Moisture Coconut & Hibiscus Co-Wash Conditioning Cleanser
Suave Essentials Daily Clarifying Conditioner

For a leave in I am trying Shea Moisture Age Defying & Color Protect Leave In Conditioner (it has proteins)

For stylers I have Miss Jessie's Jelly Soft Curl,
Herbal Essences Set Me Up Spray Gel
LA Looks Mega Mega Hold

I think overall I spent about $35 getting everything (I had a coupon too) and these items aren't too expensive to replenish once I run out. I'm going to go with alternating the sulfate-free shampoo and co-washing for a little while and see how it works out. I'm clarifying for the last time tonight with Nutrogena Clarifying shampoo. Wish me luck!

Therese1

Wow, you got a nice haul for a good price! Have fun.