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The Curly Girl Method is the most influential set of ideas in modern curl care. It was set out by the stylist Lorraine Massey in her book Curly Girl: The Handbook, first published in 2001, and it spread through online communities over the two decades that followed. Much of what is now taken for granted about curly hair, including the sulfate-free shampoo on every drugstore shelf, traces back to it.

It is usually shortened to CGM. Here is what it asks of you, why, and where it is reasonable to bend.

The idea behind it

Curly hair is drier and more fragile than straight hair. The method's argument is that conventional hair care, built around strong shampoos, silicone-heavy conditioners and heat styling, strips and coats curls in a cycle that keeps them permanently dry and frizzy. Remove the harsh ingredients and the rough handling, add moisture, and the natural pattern returns.

The rules

What to avoid

  • Sulfates. Strong detergents that remove the oil curls need.
  • Silicones that do not dissolve in water. They build up when sulfates are not used to remove them.
  • Drying alcohols, such as alcohol denat. and isopropyl alcohol, found in some gels and sprays. Fatty alcohols such as cetyl and cetearyl alcohol are conditioning and are fine.
  • Heat styling. No flat irons or curling wands; diffusing on low heat is generally accepted.
  • Brushing dry hair, and rough terry towels.

What to do

  • Cleanse gently, with a sulfate-free shampoo or a conditioner-only wash.
  • Condition generously, and detangle only when hair is wet and full of conditioner.
  • Style on soaking wet hair with gel, scrunching upward.
  • Dry gently, with a microfiber towel or T-shirt, then air or diffuser.
  • Do not touch until the hair is dry, then scrunch out the gel cast.

The reasoning behind the first two rules is covered in detail in Sulfates and Silicones.

How to start

  1. Do a final wash. Before beginning, wash once with a clarifying or sulfate shampoo to remove the silicone already on your hair. This is the only time the method calls for one.
  2. Check your products. Read the ingredient lists of everything you plan to keep. Replace what breaks the rules.
  3. Follow the routine for wash day, set out step by step in The Wash Day Routine.
  4. Wait. This matters most.

A simple, inexpensive starting set:

The transition period

Many people find their hair looks worse for the first few weeks: frizzier, drier or oddly limp. The usual explanation is that hair which has been coated in silicone for years is being seen without it for the first time. Most accounts put the adjustment at four to six weeks, and real change in curl pattern at two to three months, as healthier hair grows and damaged ends are trimmed.

The method is a starting point. The best routine is the one your own hair confirms.

Where the method goes too far

The original rules were written as absolutes. Experience since then suggests several of them work better as defaults.

Never shampooing. Co-washing alone suits some coily hair. For many people, especially those with wavy hair or an oily scalp, it leads to buildup and irritation. A gentle shampoo is compatible with everything else in the method.

Never clarifying. Even a strict routine accumulates residue. An occasional clarifying wash is maintenance, not failure. See Product Buildup: Signs and Fixes.

All silicones are bad. Water-soluble silicones rinse out without sulfates and cause none of the problems the rule was written to prevent.

One routine for everyone. The method was developed largely on curly hair. Fine waves often need lighter products and more frequent washing than it suggests, and tight coils often need richer ones.

A modified version that works for most people

  • Sulfate-free shampoo for regular washes.
  • A clarifying wash every three to four weeks.
  • No non-soluble silicones in everyday products.
  • Styling on wet hair, with gel or mousse.
  • Low heat only, with protection.
  • Night-time protection, covered in How to Sleep With Curly Hair.

Is it worth trying?

If your hair is frizzy, dry and unpredictable, and you have been treating it like straight hair, yes. Follow the rules closely for six to eight weeks so that you can see what your hair does without sulfates, silicones and heat. Then relax whichever rules your hair does not seem to need. The lasting value of the method is not its list of banned ingredients. It is the habit of paying attention to what your curls respond to.