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Coined by Lorraine Massey, the Curly Girl Method (CGM, or CG Method) is often the starting point for a lot of people with curly or wavy hair who have no idea how to look after it. And although it’s hugely popular, you shouldn’t feel bad if it doesn’t work for you. I’ve talked before about how the Curly Girl Method is not the one-size-fits-all method that it claims to be; it’s restrictive, it’s not very scientific, and it doesn’t take into account a lot of important variables for curly hair, such as hair texture and even climate.

I first came across the Curly Girl Method in 2011, after deciding that I needed to stop straightening my hair so much. Sadly, back then there weren’t as many sulphate-free shampoos on the market as there are now, so I attempted to wash my hair with apple cider vinegar and baking soda (I don’t recommend that, either). The end results were a greasy mess and a very funky-feeling scalp! When I revisited looking after my curls in 2020, I was quick to start tweaking my routine until I found what worked for my hair (and scalp).

What I realise now, though, is that I had never actually followed the official step-by-step Curly Girl Method Instructions – lots of websites that describe the CGM actually have a rather distorted version of the instructions, with additional rules that were not in the original method. Luckily, on Massey’s website curlyworld.com, there is a detailed step-by-step routine for every curl type! I decided to try the instructions properly, and see how it differed from my usual routine.

The quotes in bold italics below are paraphrased from the CurlyWorld website – if you like, give it a go yourself!

Figuring out my curl type

The first thing I needed to do was identify my curl type. While André Walker’s styling chart is the most recognised way of curl typing (categorising hair as type 1, 2, 3 or 4), Massey has created her own categories: Wavy, Swavy, Cherub, Botticelli, Corkscrew, Corkicelli, and Fractal.

After looking through them, I concluded that I must have Botticelli curls: curls that vary in size and shape, with some S waves combined with tighter curls, and hair that seems to wilt if it gets too long. I didn’t fit every criterion, but it was the closest match.

For what it’s worth, I don’t believe that the shape of your curls should dictate your routine too much – there are more important factors to consider, like your texture and porosity – but in the spirit of following the method fully, I needed to know my curl type so I could follow the recommended routine for that type.

Cleansing

The routine for Corkscrew, Corkicelli and Botticelli curls is the same, and it starts with: wet your hair thoroughly by letting your shower water run through your curls – without scrubbing your head or disturbing your curls’ basic shape.
This would be the first of many instances where I am instructed to not actually touch my hair – both unexpected and surprisingly difficult.

The two biggest rules in the CGM are to avoid sulphates and silicones, so the next step was to take a palmful of your sulphate-free cleanser.
Massey’s own range is more of a co-wash than a cleanser, as she doesn’t believe that cleansers that lather are good for curly hair.

I cleansed with: JSL Essentials Soothing Shampoo (use code COAST15 for 15% off).

Glaze the cleanser over the outer layer of your hair, then add a little more cleanser to your fingertips to start massaging the scalp with circular motions for a few minutes.
I usually add more cleanser (or shampoo) to my scalp and less on my lengths, and it didn’t feel like the shampoo I’d added to my lengths really did much, but I did what it said!

Rinse your hair by letting the water spray through it to dislodge whatever your scalp massaging has loosened.
It felt like I shouldn’t touch my hair for the rinsing, so I tried not to…although I’m not sure how easy that would be for higher-density hair.

Conditioning

Next, take a generous palmful of silicone-free conditioner and glaze it over the outer layer of the hair, making sure every curl is coated.
A palmful is a lot more conditioner than I usually use – I tend to use about a quarter-size for my whole head – but then again, my hair is only shoulder length and lower-density.

Add more at the nape of your neck if it’s prone to tangles. Then, use your fingers to gently detangle your hair from underneath.
Brushes and combs are also not allowed in the CGM – it’s finger detangling during the conditioner stage only. I hate raking my hair and getting hair stuck between my fingers, but luckily detangling was very easy for me at this stage thanks to the copious amounts of conditioner.

I conditioned with: Bouclème Seal + Shield Curl Conditioner (use code COAST15 for 15% off).

Before rinsing, cup your hands and fill them with water, then splash it over your hair a couple of times. You can either leave the rest of your conditioner in, or let your shower water fall over your head for just a few seconds to distribute the conditioner evenly without removing it.
I much prefer to rinse out all of my conditioner, because my hair gets over-conditioned quite easily (a concept that isn’t mentioned in the CGM). So here, I rinsed as much as I dared, but tried to leave some in. Once again, I’m not touching my hair while rinsing!

Styling

Take a bamboo towel, paper towel or an old t-shirt. Regular terry towels can cause frizz with their raised loops (I do agree with this, and like to use old t-shirts myself!).
Tilt your head forward and gently squeeze your fabric up towards your scalp to remove some water – if you want more full curls, do this until your hair doesn’t drip, but if you want more definition, leave it wetter.
I prefer not to style on soaking hair, so I tried to squeeze some water out.

With your head still tilted forward, let your hair hang freely and get a palmful of gel. Apply it throughout your hair, making sure you cover all your curls. Scrunch sections of hair up towards the scalp to enhance curl formation.
I do find it very hard to style my hair without brushes – I like to comb my hair before styling to lift my roots – but here I just had to wiggle and shake my hair into the right position. I wasn’t sure what “apply” the gel meant (raking or glazing?) so I stuck to glazing, as I know I’m meant to disturb my curls as little as possible.

I styled with: Bouclème Seal + Shield Curl Defining Gel (get 15% off with code COAST15).

Slowly raise your head, look up, and shake your hair back so that your curls fall into their natural position. Glaze a little more gel over the top of your head if you are prone to halo frizz, to smooth the cuticle.
Incidentally, I was surprised that there was no curl cream mentioned in this routine – presumably because by now, with the gentle cleanser and lots of water/conditioner, your hair should be pretty well-conditioned and hydrated.

To give your roots some volume, use [Massey’s] volumising piks to lift your roots while they dry.
I don’t own anything like this, so I did what I normally do and put a claw clip perpendicular to my parting while it dried. I actually only added it after diffusing, though – so this was the one deviation I made from the routine!

Drying

I would usually microplop after styling (scrunching my hair carefully with my t-shirt to remove excess water and speed up drying time), but this routine has us going straight to drying.

If you don’t have time to air-dry, you can use a low temperature device like a diffuser, hooded dryer, or, if you’re on the go, just put the heater on in your car.
I ended up diffusing for about 5-7 minutes (not on high heat, as that is to be avoided in the CGM) and air drying the rest, but it did take a long time to dry thanks to the extra water in my hair.

I diffused with: Laifen Swift Special (get $10/€10 off with code NATALIELF)

When your hair is completely dry, lean over, place your hands under your hair and on your scalp and spread your fingers. Very lightly shake your hair at the roots to open up the curls.
This motion did not really remove a lot of my crunchy cast (it also said you can skip the step if you’d like to preserve the cast, but most people don’t like walking around with crunchy hair). So I deviated again and “scrunched out the crunch” by gently scrunching my hair to break the cast a little more. I was surprised that the famous-among-curlies saying “scrunch out the crunch” wasn’t included in the routine, as I thought it had come from the CGM, but I guess not!

Results!

Finally, we’re done!

My results were a little looser in their curl pattern and with less volume than when I style it my usual way, but I couldn’t deny that the definition was really good and there was very little frizz. Both the flatness and the low-frizz can be put down to styling on pretty wet hair with lots of gel – normally I would have styled on not-quite-as-wet hair, and removed more water after styling.

But, the volume grew on day 2, 3 and 4, as I slept with my hair in a high pineapple tied with a satin scrunchie, on a silk pillowcase.

Final thoughts

In all, this routine seemed quite complicated at first, but it’s pretty straightforward once you know what you’re doing, and I think it could be quite fast, too.
I was most surprised at how little I touched my hair – I didn’t touch it while wetting it, rinsing it, and only briefly the other times. For some people, low manipulation really helps bring their best curl pattern out, and for others, they prefer to brush style or finger roll to get more longevity out of their curls.

Although I still don’t agree with Lorraine Massey’s demonising of certain ingredients (and brushes), I do like her philosophy that curls should be treated like a delicate fibre – the same way you’d treat a cashmere jumper. I think we easily forget to do that, and it’s especially important if you’re new to looking after your curly hair and you have a lot of damage.
However, I personally found that once my hair became healthier, it didn’t need as much conditioning as it did at the start, meaning I needed to tweak my routine so that my curls didn’t fall flat and fluffy.

Still, the CG Method is just one possible method of styling your hair, and while I think you should try this routine and see how it goes for you, I also think you should try other styling techniques to see how different your results are. Also, clarifying. Don’t forget to clarify! That’s another thing that’s not mentioned in the CGM.

If you are looking for alternative styling methods, check out my beginner curly routine, how to brush style curls, and (since it also wasn’t mentioned), how to fix your curls after sleeping!