Hi fellow curly ones!
I'm Nienke, 33 years old and I've been curly hair all my life. During my adolescence I frequently used mousse (without SOTC!), later wax and later I no longer knew what to do with my hair. Because I wanted to continue to have curls, I switched to a Babyliss curling iron - one that rolls up your hair and then heats it up. Beautiful curls, not so good for my hair. Then a layer of hairspray over it and the next day I put my hair back in the curling iron (over the hairspray!). You understand… after two years my hair was hopeless. At the bottom it was a pile of dry, dead, stringy hair that I could no longer do anything with. Then I saw a tip on Instagram about The Curls Cult Facebook page. This turned out to be my salvation! I would like to share my first experiences with you.
Information overload
At the beginning there is a lot coming your way and you think: am I really going to start this? Terms such as scrunching, praying hands, clumps, scrunch out the crunch (SOTC), popping and pineapple are used at breakneck speed and then the variety of products: shampoo, deep conditioner, leave-in, gel, mousse... at some point I could no longer see the forest for the trees. It's so much information. After two weeks of reading, I started determining my hair characteristics. Not surprisingly, my hair had a high porosity and therefore needed a lot of protein (after years of abuse). But then... what do you buy?
Buy products
Fortunately, the Facebook group contains albums sorted by product type and with and without protein (hallelujah!). From there I made a choice in combination with what the webshop had where I wanted to order it. We live in a remote corner with only 1 drugstore, the nearest shops are a 30-minute drive. My work is also not conveniently located so yes... long live the internet.
Ultimately, I partly relied on experiences and tips from fellow curlies for products, but with a few products I also based on “the face” of the product. It is so difficult to make a first choice, but hey, the order was placed. Ooh, I had to send my husband out for the final wash shampoo, because they didn't have it in the webshop haha. A webshop like Curly Tools with compiled starter packages makes it a lot more accessible to start with the CG method!
The final wash!
Once inside, let's get started! Printed the manual, checked 3 times between washing to see if I was doing the steps in the right order. Am I letting the good product soak in long enough or should I have just rinsed it out? Anyway, when we got to the leave-in: given my hair properties, this was best to apply to soaking wet hair. Okay... shower off, head half to one side and hair to one side and then watch with one eye what you are doing. Nothing comes out of the bottle? Ooh yes, the bottle is still sealed. Hold the cap in my mouth, remove the seal with my other hand, where do I put it? Open the shower door and yes… €15 bottle and in an unguarded moment I immediately empty a third of it. TOP! My tip; Check in advance what products you have actually purchased ;-)
5 months later… do's and don'ts
I had first typed: “before you know it, you will be 5 months further.” But in the meantime, something has happened to your hair and to yourself haha. My hair has gone from practically straight to slightly curly. She had to work hard for that, and so did I ;-).
You will soon be tempted to test many different products. My advice: don't do this. Your hair will change a lot and you still have to get used to the whole CG method, so it is better to stick to your 'basic' products for the first 2 to 3 months. You will then gain insight into the effect on your hair, what your hair needs and what you like. Which techniques work well and which do not. In the meantime, my hair also had a protein overload, my hair suddenly became very dry (it was almost straw!), then I started using less products with protein and then it recovered.
Keep taking pictures of YOUR progress and reviewing them regularly to stay motivated. You see the most beautiful hair transitions on Facebook and Instagram, but it can take quite a while. For me the really big change came after 4 months!
Last but not least, the 'big chop'. Your hair probably had to go through a lot before you started using the CG method. It can therefore be good to have your hair cut properly, Curlsys is usually recommended.
What's next?
Of course, it is not the case that at a certain point you are 'done' with the CG method, or have completed it. Your curls will need to continue to be nourished!
My list now contains a number of products that I would like to try, such as the superhold gel from Boucleme and the Bouncecurl cream gel. I would also like to try finger coiling. For now... we'll be off the streets for a while!
To stay informed? Follow me on Instagram at @wurlycurly_beachhair ❤️
Love Nienke
