5 Things Curly Girl Method Beginners Should Know To Ensure Success

So you decided to start embracing your naturally wavy and curly hair and are looking for tips? After helping thousands of others on their curly hair journey I’m sharing my top 5 tips for curly girl method beginners to ensure success. Even if you’re not doing the curly girl method and are just embracing your natural texture after years of straightening, these tips will help!

But before I get to the tips, make sure you have the foundation. Join my free Quick Start Guide To Mastering Your Curls email course and be on your way to fabulous curls in just a few steps!

1. Have the right mindset.

This is so important. Many people jump in thinking that just by changing their products their hair will magically look great.

But as I said before, this is more than just a product thing. The method is more important than the product.

You also need to understand that progress is not linear, and this largely depends on your ability to stick with it.

In the beginning, it’s frustrating as you learn about your hair and inadvertently use the wrong products or methods. You’ll have bad hair days and product flops. You’ll have lots of frizz. You will struggle with detangling. It’s normal. Your hair will need time to adjust, and no, a month is not enough time!

Think of this beginning phase as the trial.

You’re trying different things, some totally new and different, and the point is to observe the differences.

When you use a certain product, how does your hair feel? Does it look stringy? Does it last a few days? Does it feel rough? Does it frizz when it dries? Or when it’s wet? These are all important observations.

Then you can determine what your hair likes and doesn’t like which will help you choose the right products.

You’re also trialing different methods.

Some products give me crap results if I rake them in but beautiful curls when I scrunch it in. You don’t know until you try.

And if your hair looks awful, you can always start over or just slap on a pretty headband and put it in a bun. No one will know!

2. Record everything!

It’s so important to keep track of what you’re doing and using. Without this you end up spending a ton of money on products and not truly understanding your hair.

Take pictures of your hair and keep them in a designated folder.

Record what you use on wash day in your calendar or notepad.

This way you can look back and see exactly what changes you made that triggered a different result.

I created this daily tracker for this reason. It’s great for beginners. But as I said before, you could simply use your calendar or a planner to record progress.

3. Embrace the frizz!

I know this is shocking to hear since we’ve been programmed to fight frizz at all costs. But frizz is a part of our hair texture. You’re not going to eliminate it no matter what. Trust me, I’ve tried.

But you can reduce frizz.

Typically it’s caused by using the wrong products, the wrong styling methods, or just having dry or damaged hair. You can read this post I have with my top tips for frizz.

But please don’t make eliminating frizz your top goal.

Your goal should be to have healthy hair that requires less maintenance. Frizz is part of healthy hair. So don’t be so scared of it.

And remember that you are your biggest critic. No one else notices the tiny flaws that you do.

I see people complain about frizz all the time and I honestly cannot even see it. I promise it doesn’t look as bad as you think.

4. Follow a schedule

Create a flexible wash and style schedule.

I don’t mean to plan it ahead but to ensure you’re maintaining balance, make sure you are washing at least once a week, deep conditioning biweekly or more often if needed, and clarifying once every 4-8 weeks.

You can do this by recording it in your calendar, an app, an agenda, or by using the tracker I recommend.

You can set a reminder or do something like clarifying every first weekend of the month.

It’s up to you but you need to have a regular routine so your hair doesn’t get out of balance.

And since I get this question so often, yes you can wash your hair as often as you like. Ideally not daily, but every other day is fine. As long as you’re using the right products it’s ok.

5. Join a community

A lot of people find more success when they join the curly Instagram community, which is extremely supportive and inclusive. It’s really the most helpful, kind, and uplifting online community I’ve come across, way better than most Facebook groups (although I did start my own Simple Curlies & Wavies). And having a community to keep cheering you on, teaching you, and holding you accountable helps you stay on track.

Sometimes it’s nice knowing others have the same struggles. And it’s helpful to find others with your hair type, especially if you don’t have many others around you in real life with curly or wavy hair.

So come join the community! I’m @holisticenchilada on Instagram, and I’m telling you there are thousands of others just like you. Create a private profile and don’t accept any real life friends or family and get on with your curly hair journey.

Or you can join my Facebook group, Simple Curlies & Wavies Support Group. 

Putting it all together

Based on this info, choose a handful of products, and start embracing your naturally curly or wavy hair.

Record your progress, keep a schedule, have the right mindset, and join a community.

And try not to get sucked in by all the influencers and product marketing while you’re just starting out. Keep it simple!

So I think I’ve gone over all I can to help out beginners. I wanted to include enough but not too much so hopefully I did just that.

The Master Your Curls Quick Start Guide

If you need help getting started and want an easy roadmap to embracing your curls, I encourage you to sign up for my free guide below.

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