What's This All About?

Over the last decade or so the look of luscious curls has become more and more popular and the care and desire for those locks has caused a huge market in the world of curl hair care. Products to soften, kink, and de-frizz your curls are everywhere and it can sometimes be hard to distinguish what products to use and what products to stray away from. The fact that every researcher has something different to say or uses the excuse that every curl is different does not help those of us that don't have a clue on how to get the most of out our curls.

In 2001 a brand new idea hit the book stands and a phenomenon was born, stop using shampoo. Lorraine Massey explains in great detail the destruction shampoo, a product we've trusted for years, can do to your curls in her 2001 book Curly Girl. Although I have attempted her method before I didn't really delve into her concept of no shampoo and was highly skeptical of it. The book and idea has become so popular and such a hit I am willing to make another go at it. Over the next 6 months to a year, depending on how long I can withstand writing about it, I plan to document the care of my curly hair based on Lorraine's method. Like everyone else, she too claims that every curl is different and not everything will work for everyone. My intention is to determine what works best for me through a detailed account of my trial and error that I hope my hair can withstand.

I will record the products I use, both homemade and store bought, the way in which I wash and handle my hair, the weather of each day, and my stress level for each day. I plan to document my stress because many researchers state that those levels can change the hormone levels in your body; which we all know affects everything!

To start I would like to introduce myself. My name is Erin and I have curly hair. I am on a quest to find out how to really take care of my curls. I have not always had the curls I now adorn; however, I have had them long enough to know they can be wonderful and frustrating at the same time.

Most days in high school I would pull my hair up into a pony tail or blow dry it straight; constantly wondering why it was never as glossy or soft as the other girls. In college I began to blow dry it less and less and slowly it began to curl more and more. Some days it's gorgeous while others it's a frizzy mess that I end up pulling back. On a normal day to day basis I shampoo and condition it every other day, scrunch some gel into it, and let it air dry.

With the start of this blog I will be following the method set forth by Lorraine in Curly Girl. Let's see if her no shampoo method really helps with my curly and frizzy mess that I call my hair.