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Does Wavy Hair Need A Leave In Conditioner? A Cream?

August 19, 2022 by Emily Evert 3 Comments

Does The Curly Girl Method Require A Leave-In Conditioner For Wavy Hair?

On my various curly girl method routine blog posts, I often get asked why I haven’t included a leave-in conditioner. Many people believe that the curly girl method requires a leave-in conditioner.

The Curly Girl Method does not require a leave-in conditioner for wavy-haired people.

The curly girl handbook encourages other curl types to leave some of their rinse-out conditioners in their hair (rather than using a store-bought leave-in conditioner) but it tells people with wavy hair to fully rinse the conditioner out.

Wavy hair and leave in conditioner. Should everyone with wavy hair use a leave in? Do you have to have one to comply with the curly girl method? What about curl creams? What are some leave in conditioners that aren't too heavy for wavy hair? How much should you use?

Why I Don’t Use a Leave-In Conditioner On My Wavy Hair

I very rarely use leave-in conditioners for wavy hair. For me, this isn’t because the curly girl method handbook says I don’t need to, as I don’t strictly follow the curly girl method.

My decision to skip over a leave-in conditioner came from experimenting with leave-in conditioners. Some leave-in conditioners leave my hair feeling greasy or weighed down. Others don’t leave my hair feeling bad or looking bad, but I just don’t see any obvious benefit from them, either.

Early on, I used a leave-in conditioner but when I’d skip using it, I either saw no difference or an improvement. The improvement would be a better cast, by the way. That’s why I quit using leave-in conditioners.

Why You May Want To Use A Leave-In Conditioner On Wavy Hair

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Curly Girl Method Basics

August 12, 2022 by Emily Evert Leave a Comment

What you need to start the curly girl method

  • A clarifying shampoo to use for your reset wash. This should have a sulfate cleanser, but should not include silicones.
  • A sulfate-free shampoo (aka low-poo) or a cowash.
  • A silicone-free conditioner.
  • A silicone-free gel.

If you want an easy way to check if a product you’re considering purchasing meets the curly girl method standards, you can try sites like IsItCG, CurlsBot or CurlScan.

Basic steps of the curly girl method. The CGM really isn't inherently complex, some people just enjoy elaborate routes! If you want to keep it simple, you can.

The basic steps of the curly girl method

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All About Dense Wavy Hair

July 12, 2022 by Emily Evert Leave a Comment

What Is Dense Hair?

Dense hair is when someone has a lot of individual hairs per square inch of scalp. Meaning, they literally have a lot of hair compared to other people. In society in general, people often will refer to dense hair as “thick hair” because if you have high-density hair, it will often (but not always!) appear “thick”.

In the wavy and curly community, we try to refer to it as dense rather than thick, to avoid confusion with individual hair strand thickness. Someone could have a lot of individual hairs, but have very fine individual hair strands, so their hair may not ‘look thick’ despite being dense.

On the other hand, someone may have low density hair but have really thick individual strands, which could also make hair ‘look thick’. So, to differentiate between hair strand thickness and density, we tend to say dense rather than thick.

Dense wavy hair - not thick

People often have told me that my hair is ‘thick’ – but my individual hair strands are fine. My hair just ‘looks thick’ because it is dense. 

Each hair property can impact what techniques and/or products work well for your hair. In the past I did a blog post about how to care for fine wavy hair, because there are certain ways that fine hair needs to be cared for differently than normal/average or thick hair. In this post, I’m going to cover dense hair.

Eventually, I’d like to cover all hair types, but I will need extra research and perhaps help from others to cover hair types different from my own. I have dense hair though (my hair stylist recently said VERY dense, actually), so I thought I could do this one now.

Not sure what your hair type is? My post how to determine your wavy hair type can help!

The pros and cons of dense wavy hair

With hair, it often feels like everyone wants the opposite of what they have. Density is no exception. People with low density (aka thin) hair often see dense hair as desirable. I think every hair type has its pros and cons, with dense wavy hair being no exception.

The pros of dense wavy hair

Getting a voluminous hairstyle is less difficult.

You can grow your hair longer without the ends looking stringy.

Less concern about showing scalp vs those with low density wavy curly hair.

Less likely to get “stringy” waves or curls.

The cons of dense wavy hair

Have to use more shampoo, conditioner, gel, etc because you literally have more hair. This means you’ll go through products faster and will spend more money on your hair. When I used to dye my hair at home I had to buy two boxes of dye as one wouldn’t give me good enough coverage.

May be harder to get a gel cast.

May be harder to evenly distribute product throughout your hair.

Brush styling will take longer because you have more hair to work through.

Getting well-defined waves or curls may be more difficult? This is just my theory but it seems to me like dense hair tends to be more ‘poofy’ and less defined naturally than lower density hair.

Dense hair takes longer to dry than lower density hair.

May get ‘triangle hair’ or “helmet hair” easier, especially with shorter haircuts. This can lead some to feeling like they ‘have to’ keep their hair longer.

High density wavy hair has some unique needs. Here are tips for caring for dense wavy hair

Tips For Caring For And Styling Dense Wavy Hair

Work in sections when applying product. When you have high density hair, it’s tricky to get even distribution of your hair products unless you’re taking time to specifically focus on each section.

Try Smasters. Smasters is a technique of applying more gel when your hair is partway dry. If you find that your hair is partway dry and you can tell that some section is too soft, or perhaps your whole head is feeling too soft – apply more gel partway through before continuing drying. I try to avoid having to add product partway through, but being able to has saved many a wash day for me!

Get layers. Layers are widely recommended for wavy hair in general, but they can be especially helpful with dense hair. They can remove some of the ‘visual bulk’ without compromising length.

Don’t get your hair thinned. When you go to a salon with thick-looking hair, many stylists will want to break out their thinning sheers. It sounds logical to think hair if it looks or feels too thick, right? But if you want to style your hair wavy, thinning sheers can cause problems.

Thinning sheers basically create micro-layers in your hair, and while some layers are good, a bunch of teeny tiny layers can be a problem. Wavy or curly hair will clump together into waves and curls better if we have sections of hair that are all the same length. With thinning, each hair has its own length which can disrupt clumping and cause more of a ‘poofy’ look.

Use a scalp scrubber. Having thicker hair makes it a bit harder to thoroughly clean your scalp due to it being more covered in hair. A scalp scrubber may help you to thoroughly scrub your scalp while shampooing.

Use a long-bristled brush. If you comb or brush, make sure the bristles are long enough to get through to your scalp. I haven’t tried a wet brush yet, but I mentioned to my stylist that I was considering one. She said with dense hair they aren’t the best because they have such flexible bristles that they won’t push through to the scalp if you have too much density.

Diffuse. Dense hair will get less air flow throughout the hair while air drying which can cause it to take longer to dry than lower density hair. Having a lot of water in our hair for too long can be damaging to the hair cuticle. If your hair takes too long to air dry, it can be more damaging than diffusing.

Use more conditioner, not heavier conditioner. This is an area where I’ve noticed confusion with dense hair. Sometimes people with dense wavy hair will feel like their hair isn’t being softened enough or getting enough slip from a conditioner, so they think they should use a heavier conditioner, like one with oils or butters.

In most cases, wavy hair doesn’t do well with heavy conditioners. If you have dense hair and feel like you need something more from your conditioner, I’d recommend trying to use a larger amount of your conditioner first rather than switching to a heavier conditioner.

Curly Girl Method Transition Questions And Answers

May 25, 2022 by Emily Evert Leave a Comment

Does the curly girl method make your hair look worse before it looks better?

If your hair was heat or chemically damaged before starting the curly girl method, you may find that your hair looks worse for a while before it looks better. If your hair has minimal damage then you should be able to get good results as soon as you figure out the basics of your curly girl routine. 

In this case, I’m referring to how healthy (shiny, bouncy, etc) your hair looks and feels, as well as how well it curls. Sometimes people think that part of the ‘worse before it gets better’ phase involves your hair looking greasy/oily or weighed down. In my opinion, that should be able to be avoided.

The transition phase in the curly girl method - questions and answers

What is the transition phase in the curly girl method?

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Wavy hair care blog owner

About Me

My name is Emily, I have been blogging since 2009. I found the curly girl method in 2018, which helped me to discover my naturally wavy hair. Since then, I’ve continued to wear my hair wavy, reading and watching tons about wavy hair. This blog is where I share what I’ve learned, in hopes of helping others. More about me and my backstory can be found on my about page.

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