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“no such thing as a bad hair day”

by Adornabelle 6 Comments

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For the curly girl, “there’s no such thing as a bad hair day.”

That’s what I read in the Curly Girl book, and it sounded too good to be true. My life up until halfway into college had been made up of a series of bad hair days. My hair was always what I called “foofy”—a frightening combination of poofy and frizzy. I thought it was just the way my hair was. I couldn’t imagine it was because I was abusing my hair by brushing, blow drying, and shampooing it. Or that I had curls! My hair? Curly?

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I always knew I had some wave. I would blow dry my waves out after my every-other-day washing (complete with hot water and lots of shampoo lather). My wavy and curly friends encouraged me to let my hair experience its natural wave, but whenever I tried, my hair would get huge after I brushed it, and if I didn’t brush it at all, it would look messy, unkempt, and frizzy. What was a girl to do?

Then I found out about Curly Girl by Lorraine Massey. The moment I heard about it from Gretchen, I ordered the book to be sent to my library. When it arrived, I picked it up and read it in one sitting. It was enthralling! I immediately went out and bought the only supply I didn’t have: gel, and tried the wavy girl method the next day.

I had a head of ringlets!

Where did all these come from?

I was amazed to realize that I had curls all my life yet had always yanked and blow-dried them out.

The no-shampoo idea was hard for me to fathom. My roots always started looking greasy after a day and a half, and that was with using shampoo. What would happen without it? But I decided to give it a try.

The first few days produced great curls, and my roots did not get greasy as quickly as they had before. As my hair adjusted to this new routine, my scalp began to produce less extra oil. Now my scalp only starts getting greasy around day five—and when that happens, I don’t reach for my shampoo. I just cleanse my scalp with conditioner or the exfoliating scrub (see below)! When I find that my curls have some build up from conditioner or gel, I just pour some diluted vinegar over my hair in the shower, and the build up is gone.

In those early days my hair got curlier and curlier until it leveled off around week three. I now have a head of Botticelli ringlets that I’m so happy with!

But the best thing that I found about the Curly Girl Method is not the curls; it is having healthy hair. I feel that I am doing what is the best for my hair, and my hair responds quite happily.

My hair isn’t perfect every day. On dry days, my hair is less curly, and when we have sudden humidity, my hair still goes a bit frizzy. Since I don’t brush my hair anymore, yet my hair still gets tossed around by the wind or pulled on by little children or tousled when I pull a sweater over my head, my hair is never really in “place.” But I’ve learned that with curls, “messy” is good! Curls are fun and can fly free and still look great.

My hair can look different every day depending on how much conditioner or gel I use or what the weather is like or if I go running out the door in the morning with my hair still wet or wait for it to dry, but no matter how my hair looks that day, I do believe that there really is no such thing as a bad hair day!

I’ve now gone 10 years without shampooing or brushing my hair.

The nightmares have finally stopped—those dreams where I find myself brushing or shampooing my hair by accident and freak out, not wanting to hurt my curls. I’m that committed because the Curly Girl method WORKS. I’ll never go back! I’ve worn my curls all the way down to my waist, and I’ve cut them about as short as they can go and still be curls, and through it all, I’ve hardly had to vary my cleansing and care methods. My hair is always so happy, so healthy.

If you think you just might be a wavy or curly girl, I highly recommend you get this book before you set out to try the method. Then purchase the right supplies, bury your hair brushes in the backyard, use your curling iron as a letter holder, give your shampoo to your enemies, and get ready to love your curls!

My favorite Curly Girl recipe

  • Boy Bait Exfoliating Cleanser —I use this about once a month. It’s great for cleansing the scalp, and it makes the hair at my roots so soft. It’s also good for getting rid of flaky, dry skin at the scalp. I use either white sugar or brown sugar for this recipe.

My favorite Curly Girl supplies

  • Aussie’s Miraculously Smooth gel—It has a flexible hold, so it let my curls move freely, while keeping the frizz factor down.
  • Trader Joe’s Nourish conditioner—It has a wonderful selection of botanical ingredients (some even organic!), and this thick, luxurious conditioner really does nourish my hair, leaving it soft and unfrizzy.
  • Curls Like Us curl cloths  (If you want to order from Amazon, Deva Curl has one available too!)— I have used one for years, and it’s just fabulous! Not only has it held up extraordinarily well, but—day in and day out—it helps me scrunch-dry my fresh-from-the-shower curls without much friction that could make curls go frizzy. A cheap alternative would be a T-shirt made from thick material.

About the Author

Melinda Meuser lives in rural Maine with her curly-headed pastor husband and her two curly-headed young children. They do not own a hairbrush among them. Nor do they allow shampoo to cross their threshold.

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Filed Under: Curly Hair Tagged With: hair tales

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Ruth says

    November 1, 2013 at 12:32 am

    I LOVED Lorraine Massey’s book! Changed my life. I used to straighten or blow-dry my curls every day, just because everyone said it looked good that way. I feel like since I started doing the curly girl method and letting my hair be itself, I’m a lot less concerned about how my hair looks. Very freeing 🙂

    Reply
  2. Lois says

    October 26, 2013 at 11:49 pm

    I have newly wavy hair (since my daughter was born) that I’m trying to figure out. If I brush it, it turns into a huge disastrous mess and takes forever to actually brush out all the tangles. Even if I use a wide-tooth comb, it gets huge.

    If I use gel, it tames it for the day, but then trying to brush it out or detangle it with a wide-tooth comb the next day, is a disaster unless I get it totally wet and start all over. I tried using mousse instead of gel, but it’s still a nightmare to detangle. I don’t want to actually WASH it every day (even wetting it down totally is a hassle) because I’m used to only washing it 2x/week.

    Do you have any advice? Is it possible to do the Curly Girl method without starting with wet hair every morning?

    Reply
    • Lesley says

      November 19, 2013 at 8:30 am

      Hi Lois, I think you should ditch the brush and comb altogether. When your in the shower and you have conditioner on your hair, finger comb your hair (start from ends work your way up) to get out all the tangles and knots, be gentle and take your time. When you get out, scrunch your hair lightly to get rid of excess water, then scrunch in your CGF (curly girl friendly) gel. I scrunch it in with hands then use microfibre towel and keep scrunching to help it dry a bit. Clip your hair at roots (optional) and either air or diffuse. If you use pixie diffuse method this helps with frizz.

      For your 2nd day hair, do not comb or brush (please throw these away) and spray and scrunch water to revive your curls and reactivate gel already in your hair. You might want/need to put more product i.e. conditioner or gel etc in your curls but this depends on hair type etc. If you follow this method, over time you will notice a difference in your hair/less tangles etc. Make sure your not using a sulphate shampoo and your conditioner is silicone free – they are so bad for curls and contribute to tangles and knots. I’ve been doing CGM for about 4 woks now and have noticed diff in my hair although it is due for a cut, getting knots at ends. I’ve started using a silk pillowcase and I have noticed big difference in tangles/frizz next day. Also, regular trims will help with tangles. HTH.

      Reply
  3. Erin says

    October 19, 2013 at 2:20 am

    I am still trying to make friends with my wavy hair, and have been for a couple of weeks, now. I don’t want to spend time drying or straightening my hair, nor do I want the damage. Mine lays flat on the crown, but if I try the clipping that Lorraine Massey recommends, after my hair is dry, it just looks messy and frizzy. Plus, I have the added benefit of the hair on the right side of my head is not as wavy as the rest. Not one person has said anything about my hair, so I’m pretty sure it does not look very good. In fact, some mystery person left a mirror on my desk at work – sounds pretty bad, doesn’t it! So, I’m not real sure what to do at this point. 🙁

    Reply
    • Chantel says

      October 20, 2013 at 12:02 pm

      Erin,

      I was one of those people who never felt like she had those pretty, awesome curls. My hair always felt and looked a bit messy! I think us wavy girls have the hardest struggle in finding what works. I found I needed to use a wide tooth comb, needed to use a natural shampoo (I used a shampoo bar) and needed to rinse out more conditioner and use less gel.

      Frustratingly and slowly I got a little less mess and a little better feeling bout what I saw in the mirror. Sorry you’ve had such a hard time (and that’s awful about the mirror. I can’t imagine!) but keep experimenting. Don’t be afraid to give it a tiny break and try a murcodified approach. I am working on getting some more wavy girl resources up here in the near future…

      Reply
  4. Gretchen Louise says

    October 1, 2013 at 3:29 pm

    10 years! My, has it been that long? Oh what adventures our curls have been on since!

    This was so fun to read!

    Reply

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