Curly Girl: The Handbook

I am a Devacurl convert as of about 4 months ago. I have very delicate cherub curls, and my hair has been breaking off like it's going out of style for the past many years. I have been brushing, combing, blow drying and flat ironing my hair to death. By fighting my natural texture, I was killing my hair. I decided to try something new, because I have spent thousands of dollars following my hair dresser's suggestions, and all of those suggestions have not helped me successfully grow my hair out. I have very fine hair but lots of it, and it tends to break once it gets to my chin. After doing EXTENSIVE research, including reading several clinical research papers, I concluded that sulfates were the reason for my hair breakage. It isn't that sulfates are bad themselves, but its the fact that they strip my hair of the natural oils that protect each strand and keep them hydrated. By stripping the hair of moisture, frying it and brushing it, my hair was brittle and totally destroyed by the time it reached my chin. Washing hair with sulfates remove oil and more protein from the hair than using non-sulfate shampoos. When I was doing all this on a daily basis, my hair was half broken off by the time it reached my shoulders. This made growing my hair out nearly impossible. I started using the Devacurl Lowpoo/One condition, and after about a month, I moved on to use the Devaurl NoPoo and One Condition every other day. I have completely stopped brushing my hair. I follow the curly girl method almost perfectly, and my hair has never looked better. It's hydrated and it looks full and thick. My hair is finally happy, and I now get compliments on it often. My hair routine only takes 2 minutes, as apposed to 45 minutes that I used to spend killing my hair with various torture devices (blow dryer and flat iron). Here is my routine that I swear by: I get in the shower and wet my hair with warm water, apply nopoo to my fingertips and then massage it into my scalp for an entire minute. I do not bring it through the ends of my hair. I don't touch the ends of my hair when I am cleansing my scalp. I then rinse my hair under the water of the shower for about 30 seconds. Then I apply the One Condition from the roots to the tips of my hair, and I use a Mason Pearson wide tooth comb to distribute the conditioner and detangle my hair while in the shower. I also use the comb to make a straight part in my hair (if I don't do this, my hair is kind of a mess at the top). I wash out the conditioner and I gently cup my hair with a microfiber towel once I get out of the shower. I use the microfiber towel to dry my hair with the gentle up motions; it's not really scrunching, it's more like scrunching with an open hand. I then put a little bit of Devacurl Foam on the roots, and a tiny bit of Devacurl Angel on the tips. I let my hair air dry and I don't touch it until it's totally dry. The products help the hair stick together while it's drying, so it maintains the curl pattern without frizz. When my hair is totally dry, I then gently shake the hair at the roots, and fluff up the ends by going around my head with open palmed "scrunches." I never rake through my hair from roots to tips with my fingers when it's dry as this leads to a fluffy/frizzy mess. The Devacurl products also don't have silicones that aren't water soluble, so you don't have to use harsh cleansers to avoid product buildup. This is a VERY important piece of information. If you are going the no sulfate route, make sure that you are using products that have ingredients that are water soluble. If not, you will have a massive buildup of products in your hair. I was using a silicone mousse, and it made my hair look about three shades darker. I thought the color change was because of my natural oils, but after I used a clarifying cleanser, the silicones washed out and my hair went back to it's normal texture and color. Silicones are great for my hair, but I can't easily wash them out of my hair without using drying shampoos, so I now avoid them. It takes awhile for curly hair to get used to not being abused, so you should expect a period of chaos on your head for a bit, but once that period is over, you will be so happy you did this. I am never going back to regular shampoos, and I don't plan to brush my hair ever again (even though I truly love my Mason Pearson brush, I will have to find another use for it). UPDATE: Since I started (several months ago) applying the curly girl method to my hair, I have not found ONE broken hair anywhere; yes, I actually check when I find them to see if the root is attached. I used to find broken off ends everywhere but those days are over :)

The Curly Girl Handbook is all about how to properly take care of naturally curly or wavy hair. I found some great insights while reading the first chapter like the preference for straight hair is a subtle form of racism and that 65% of women have curly hair. Yet most hair products are made for women with straight hair and thousands of hair straighteners are sold every year. I felt a big shift in attitude as I was reading about my own curly hair and how I should accept my hair (and ultimately me) for who I am and stop trying to change myself. I related a lot to the stories of women throughout the book that felt different and ugly. There's a quiz at the beginning of the book to help you find out if you need a paradigm shift in your life. I answered yes to half of the questions. I didn't think it would be that many. I answered yes to things like almost always being unhappy with the way my hair looks, having constant frizz, and blow-drying my hair then not washing it for a week. I dog-eared so many pages of this library book and referred to it so much that I went ahead and bought it. I refer a lot to the homemade hair product recipes and I want to try them all. So far, I've only made the Lavender Water to spritz your hair to recurl it and I love it. The book helps you identify your curl type and the specific hair-care routine that goes along with it. I have wavy hair! I have always wanted wavy hair like Megan Fox and I have wished for the longest time to find some way to harness my pretty waves. I'm going to grow my hair out again and I'm feeling more pretty and confident every day. I thought it was so funny how she describes hair stylists straightening girl's hair for a special occasion and then curling it with a curling iron. That's how my hair was done for my wedding! The writing is kind of cheesy. The author sticks in the words "curl" "mane" and "hair" in lots of places that they don't belong. And there was a lot of focus on long curly hair - not a lot of extra tips for short curly hair. But other than that I love this book. I've stuck to this hair-care method for 4 months now. I love that I don't have to worry so much about my hair. It's looking better and better every day. Major changes I made from reading this book: *No brushing. I go through my hair with my fingers while it has conditioner in while I'm showering instead of brushing. *Use a t-shirt instead of a towel to dry my hair. A towel will catch and pull your curls apart and make it frizzy and dry. *No shampoo. I used conditioner instead of shampoo for a month. I use sulfate free shampoo now because my hair type does well with it. *Use gobs of conditioner. Curly hair is dry and that's why it will frizz out - it's trying to get moisture. Use lots of conditioner to moisturize it and your hair will be curly instead of frizzy. *Use the right products. I use alcohol free gel in my hair, silicone-free conditioner and sulfate-free shampoo. If you have naturally curly hair, you need to read this book!

Turns out I've been caring for my hair all wrong! I loved this book not only for the hair care and styling education SPECIFIC to curlies, but also for the stories. I can relate to so many of them. This book helped me really like my curls (maybe for the first time in my life) because now I have a better understanding of how to work WITH them instead of constantly fighting against them. It's not just a matter of letting your curls go the way they want to go, but promoting curl with the right styling techniques and products. My hair has more bounce and less frizz than I can remember ever having before. While Lorraine does mention her haircare product line, it's not pushy at all. Rather, she also talks about homemade cleansers and teaches how to read labels so you can make better decisions on what products to buy for better results. I will add however, that I do highly recommend her DevaCurl conditioner. It's lightweight, smells nice, makes detangling a snap and is seriously the best conditioner I've ever used. I also tried a couple of the homemade deep conditioning treatments... but these I found only marginally helpful in restoring moisture to my hair. Mainly the treatments were time consuming and just made my hair feel weighted down and rather dull. Overall though, the usefulness of this book (for frustrated curly girls and guys) cannot be overstated. After replacing all the haircare products in our house with a brand that uses more natural ingredients, and none of the "ingredients to avoid", even my teenage son (who has shaggy, longish hair and wild curls) has seen an improvement in how much more manageable his hair is. An easy read and worth every penny. I wish it had been around 25 years ago.

The only problem I had was I couldn't watch videos in the book on my kindle or on my PC... besides that it helped me understand how to take care of my curls, and get rid of my frizz :) it explained the no-poo method that I just found out about in the book I had no idea.

Ce livre m'a permis de mieux comprendre mes cheveux ondulés, qui doivent être traités différemment que les cheveux bouclés. Sur internet on trouve de tout et rien, ce livre est beaucoup plus claire. J'y ai trouvé beaucoup d'informations que je n'avais pas trouvé sur internet.

I can't imagine how many curly girls got help from this book. Love the part about the horoscopes amazing book

Questo libro è favoloso. Mi ha cambiato i capelli e la vita. È proprio una filosofia. Lo amo.

This book is eye-opening and incredibly informative! I would definitely recommend it to anyone who has issues styling their hair - and that’s the reason why I became interested in it in the first place - because it is packed with instructions, amazing tips and wonderful stories from people who have won the battle against their own natural hair. Curly girls unite!