Lists of Curly Girl Products

I'll give you these links to lists of Curly Girl (CG) products on one condition.  You have to promise, cross your heart, hope to die, that you will check the ingredients list before you buy anything.  Formulas change all the time.  Lists of products are impossible to keep updated.  You will always have to double check to make sure a product is still CG.
Going No Poo, List of Silicone Free Conditioners   Click on the links on the side for silicone free gel and silicone free leave ins
Healthy Curls
Girl with a Curl  Products list on left side of the blog.  This list includes products with amodimethicone as being CG.

Which Ingredients to Avoid With the Curly Girl Method

Snape's hair has product build up.

With the Curly Girl method, you don't want to put anything in your hair that cannot be removed by a conditioner wash (cowash).  The first and most important thing to avoid is silicones (often referred to as cones in the cyber hair care universe).  Some silicones are O.K. to use.

How to identify a silicone?  Silicones end in -cone, -conol, or -xane.  Don't be fooled by ingredients that end in -one, those are usually preservatives.  Silicones cannot be removed by cowashing, and should be avoided with the Curly Girl (CG) method.

Partially Water Soluble Silicones- Partially water soluble cones are easier to remove.  IMHO, if you use a non sulfate shampoo (low poo), you don't need to worry about water soluble silicones. Amodimethicone (A.K.A the A-cone) is the one most commonly seen.  I got a lot of the info in this post from this link.
                                      Amodimethicone
                                      Trimethylsiylamodimethicone
                                      Behenoxy Dimethicone
                                      Stearoxy Dimethicone

Cyclo-silicones-  These evaporate off the hair.  In the process of evaporating, they may cause the cuticle to buckle.  At one point on the message boards of NaturallyCurly.com, people thought the cyclo-silicones were building up.   They weren't actually building up, the change in the way their hair felt was from the buckled cuticle.  The Curl Chemist says a low poo should restore the hair.  See this Curl Chemist article for more info.
                                      Cyclomethicone
                                      Cyclopentasiloxane


Water Soluble silicones-  These rinse right off of your hair and are allowed in the CG method.  If your hair is fine and very prone to being weighed down, you may still want to avoid them.  Water soluble silicones weigh done some fine hair.   The first two on the list are the most common.
                       Anything with a PEG- or PPG- in the name.
                       Dimethicone Copolyol
                       Hydrolyzed Wheat Protein Hydroxypropyl Polysiloxane
                       Lauryl Methicone Copolyol

Mineral Oil (A.K.A. petrolatum)-  Some people can use this without any problems.  Others, (like me) find it hard to remove.  It makes my hair oily and heavy.  If you are trying a mineral oil containing product, you may want to try it on a small section/curl first.  That way if things go wrong, you don't have a whole greasy head.

Castor Oil, PEG castor oil-  Same ruled apply as for mineral oil.  Straight castor is popular for hair care to add moisture (mostly with type 4 kinky/curly hair).  I've read there is different qualities of castor oil that make a difference.  I don't know too much about using the oil straight.  I'm more familiar with this as an ingredient.  Works for some, hard to remove for others.  PEG castor oil is easier to remove.  My hair hates castor oil in all forms.

Polyquats-  Which polyquats are likely to build up  depends on which expert you ask.  All agree that polyquat-4, common in mousse, is easy to remove.  As a general rule, the larger the number the harder the polyquat is to remove.  These links have more info on polyquats in hair products.
Curl Chemist on Polyquats
No-Poo Jillipoo talked to several experts about polyquats.

So, if you avoid everything on this list, does that you will never get build up?  Nope.  Some random things build up for some people.  Jojoba oil builds up for me.  Also cationic conditioners are meant to adsorb (cling) to the hair.  They are usually washed off.  But sometimes, some continue to cling to the hair and build up.  A low poo will remove this build up.  This link has more on how conditioners can build up.

How to Figure Out Your Hair's Porosity and Elasticity

When your hair grows out of your head, it is born perfect.  The hair's cuticle lies flat and smooth.  When your hair gets damaged, the cuticle begins to open up.  Hair with a closed cuticle is non porous.  Hair with a cuticle that is open, or missing chunks is porous.  Some hair is naturally susceptible to damage.  Some hair will become porous from sun damage, wind damage, etc.  But perming, coloring, flat irons, etc. are common causes of porous hair.

Non porous hair-  Is hard to get wet.  Water runs off it like off a ducks back.  Non porous hair takes a long time to dry (8 hours-ish).  It is hard to get water in the closed cuticle, but once the water is in there, it is locked in tight.  It will sometimes squeak when you run your hands over dry hair.  Non porous hair is resistant to color, but once is is colored, it won't fade.  It is also resistant to perming or straitening.  These solutions will have to be left on the hair longer for them to be effective.  Low porosity hair is healthy hair.  It is shiny, especially if it is dark.  Hair products seem to sit on top of porous hair and do not soak in.

Normal porosity hair- Is relatively easy to deal with.  It takes perms and color treatments predictably.  If you always get the color on the box, this is a sign you are normal porosity.  It dries at an average rate (3-4 hours-ish).

Porous hair- Is easy to get wet.  Porous hair dries quickly (1-2 hours-ish) without product.  With conditioner and gel, it may take a long time to dry.  Porous hair soaks up hair products like a sponge.  Porous hair will dye darker then the box (if dying hair a darker color then your natural color).  But, the color will fade quickly.  Perms will take curlier then expected, but then relax quite a bit.  Porous hair is damaged hair.  But that doesn't necessarily mean that your were doing terrible things to your hair.  Some hair is just naturally susceptible to damage.  Porous hair tends to be dull.

I should note that the drying times are my guestimations.  Drying times will also vary with hair thickness and length.  Drying times are based on hair without conditioner or gel.  These can greatly increase the drying time. Drying times will also be affected by length, thickness, humidity, temperature, etc.

My porous hair will get wet from the steam when sitting in a hot bath.   My hair will dry in an hour or two without product, but will take all day to dry when I used a heavy conditioner and lots of gel.  I need lots of conditioner and gel for my hair because it soaks it up.  When I dyed my hair darker with a permanent dye, it would dye much darker then the woman on the box.  Then the color would fall right out of my hair.  All the color would be completelly gone in three weeks.  When I used to perm my hair (darn 80's) I would look like a poodle the first few days, and then my hair would relax to a normal perm.  The first day people would always say "Oh, you got your hair permed.  It looks....um...nice?"  Then I'd say "Don't worry.  It won't look like this in a few days."  The right hair products have gone a long way to help me with my porous hair.

For info, I love this curl chemist article.  All of her articles are interesting. You may also like reading The natural haven:  Porosity:  Definition and Causes 



ELASTICTY
Take a hair from you head and firmly grasp each end.  Stretch it gently.  If it breaks, it has low elasticity.

If is stretches up to 1/3 of its length and returns to its normal shape, it has normal elasticity.  Good for you.

If it streeeeeeeetches and does not return to its original shape, it is overly elastic.

Overly elastic hair is a sign of over conditioning (too much moisture).  Low elasticity is often a sign of dry hair, but can have more complex causes.  My hair used to have zero elasticity, but now has low elasticity.  I consider it progress. :)  You can do the elasticity test on dry or wet hair.  You may find it easier to take a few shed hairs and sort of twist them together and then pull on the whole wad of hair.  This is an easier way to test my super fine hair.  It is very hard to grasp just one of my hairs.

So what does all this stuff mean?  The link will explain it.

Why is some hair curly and some straight?

Why did some hair evolve to be curly and some hair evolve to be straight?  The answer is heating and air conditioning. (That is why there is a picture of the Lennox Man on the left.)  Straight hair hangs close to your head and keeps you warm in the cold northern winters.  It is like having a blanket for your head.  Type 4 kinky-curly hair grows straight out from the head, often in an afro.  In warm climates, the hair wicks sweat away from the head.  As the sweat evaporates, it helps cool the head.  Its nature's air conditioning system.

Be Nice to Your Hair Tip #2: Fight the Friction

These tips are not just for curly/wavy haired girls.  They are also helpful if you want long hair, shiny hair, or otherwise healthy hair.  If you want more info on growing hair long, check out The Long Hair Community.

Avoid friction on your hair.  It will rough up the cuticle of your hair.  If you damage your hair's cuticle (see The Structure of Hair) it is less healthy and not as shiny.  You don't want your hair to rub against itself.  Don't pile it on top of your head when you shampoo.  As I said in a previous post, don't rub it dry with a towel.  Squeeze it dry instead.  Don't let the strap of your bag/backpack/purse rest on your hair.  Be sure to move your hair out of the way.  Don't let your hair whip in the wind and crash into itself.  Get your hands out of your hair.  Stop absent mindedly twisting it and playing with it.

Also, be careful with hair accessories.  Don't use ones that will pull too much on your hair.  Use ponytail holders without metal clasps (I still use these.  Shhhhh...Don't tell).  Don't put your hair into a super tight pony tail.  Pulling it tight puts tiny breaks in your hair.

Remember, be nice to your hair and it will be nice to you.

How to Tell if Your Hair is Wavy

Determining if you hair is wavy is not always as cut and dry as you think.  There are lots of people on the 2 boards (a.k.a. wavy board) of the discussion boards of Naturallycurly.com didn't figure out that they had wavy hair until they were older.  I'm one of them.  I thought I had naturally fuzzy hair.  Some people think their hair is naturally scraggly or naturally poofy.  Others thought they had "stupidly straight" hair.  They were sure their hair was straight, it just didn't dry straight when it air dried (a.k.a. wavy).  Wavy hair often needs a good gel and some styling help (scrunching, diffusing, etc.) to reveal it's true form.  In the picture above left, I combed my hair with a wide tooth comb when wet and air dried.  I finger combed a few times as it was drying.  As you can see, there is almost no wave when styled that way.  The picture to the right shows my hair when scrunched and partially dried with a diffuser and no touching as it finished air drying (no curling iron).  The pictures were taken within a month of each other.  As you can see, wavy hair can hide itself from its owner unless you know to look for it.

So how do you know if you have wavy hair?  Was your hair curly when you were a baby or toddler?  If yes, then it is probably wavy now.  Here is another easy way to find out.  The next time you take a shower, wash and condition.  Comb your hair using a wide tooth comb with the conditioner in and then rinse.  Add a pea size of conditioner to  wet hair when you are still in the shower.  Scrunch you hair with your hands and look in the mirror.  If your hair looks wavy and has bends, it is wavy.  If the bends fall out and don't want to stay, your hair is straight.

The structure of hair

You can find better explanations if you look elsewhere on the web, but here is my cliff notes version of the structure of hair.
The inside of the hair is the cortex.  The cortex is filled with strands of keratin protein.  The proteins form long stretchy rubber band like strands.  These strands give hair it's strength and help support waves and curls.  Fine hair (small diameter of a single hair) is always lacking in protein because the cortex is smaller and can't hold the proper amount of protein easily.  Coarse hair (large diameter of a single hair) has enough protein and and adding more protein (in hair products) can be too much protein.  More on this in later posts.

The outer layer of hair is the cuticle.  The cuticle is like scales on fish or shingles on a roof.  It is actually 4-12 layers of fish scales or shingles on a roof (estimates vary and it varies by ethnicity).  The closed cuticle keeps the proper balance of moisture and protein inside the cortex.  The "shingles" laying flat (closed) also reflects light and make hair shiny.  When the cuticle becomes damaged from heat, sun, wind, brushing, dyeing, straightening, perming, etc., you may lose a layer or more of "shingles", the "scales" will open up, or it may loose some individual "shingles".  You may even get a hole in you cuticle.  Through these openings, the moisture and maybe some of the protein will escape.  When this happens, you hair is not as healthy.  Again, more on this later.  The picture (above left) is of damaged hair under a microscope.

If you looked at a cross section of hair, very straight hair would be a perfect circle like looking at the top of a straw.  The curlier hair gets, the more egg shaped the cross section gets. It is like when you squeeze a straw between your fingers.  Kinky curly hair, usually found in African Americans, is almost flat.  Kinky curly hair not only has C shaped bends like curly hair, it also has torsion twists.  Now try to envision shingling these hair shapes.  The straight, circular based straw would have the "shingles" lie flat against the straw.  The flattened oval shaped kinky curly hair with C shaped bends and twists would have shingles that did not lie flat against the base.  The curlier your hair is, the more likely for your "shingles" to be open (a.k.a. porous).  If your hair is porous, you need to replace the moisture that has escaped and close the openings in the cuticle using protein.  (more on this in later posts)  The structure of curly hair causes it to have very different needs then the needs of straight hair. Curly hair must be treated differently to keep it healthy.
For further reading on hair structure see these random links I have bookmarked:
Exploratorium Magazine, Better Hair Through Chemestry 
Black Girl Long Hair- Sturcture of Hair Close Up