Wavy Hair Care

Wavy hair Product Application Techniques Compared | Scruching, raking, roping, combing, glazing, prayer hands

May 19, 2022 by Emily Evert Smith 5 Comments

“How do you apply your products?” is a question that I’ve received in comments and emails a few times. I’ve wanted to answer this question, but I thought it made sense to share different application techniques rather than making an entire blog post about one method. For the last few weeks I’ve been testing product application methods, so that I could compare them for you all.

How To Apply Products On Wavy Hair (Video)

While I’m sharing them here in written form with photos, I’ve also documented these with video. If you might find it easier to understand these application techniques by seeing me do them, check out my tiktok video or YouTube video that I made showing all six techniques and the results.

For the sake of trying to keep results ‘fair’, each wash day I washed my hair with the same shampoo, conditioner, leave-in conditioner and mousse. I attempted to use the same amount of product, and the same routine and techniques other than how I applied the mousse each time. My goal was to try to make make it so that the only differences in these wash days was the product application technique. I prefer damp styling usually, so I plopped for 10 minutes each time and then added mousse.

How To Scrunch Gel Into Wavy Hair

Scrunching is when you place your hands under your hair and raise your hands so tha your hair pools into your palms. Once you reach the top of your hair, you squeeze your hand closed, “scrunching” the hair that is in your palm. This is often done without product as a way of encouraging waves/curls to form. However, it can also be done as a product application technique.

How To Follow The Curly Girl Method On A Budget

April 20, 2022 by Emily Evert Smith 3 Comments

There are affiliate links in this post.

It’s possible to spend a ton of money while doing the curly girl method. There are some curly girl method-approved products that are quite pricey, and some people like to try lots of new hair care products on a regular basis. For some people, it really adds up.

Often, wavy or curly YouTubers or influencers are sharing new products with readers all the time. It can give some followers the impression that following the curly girl method requires buying a lot of expensive products on a regular basis. In my view, it’s okay to spend a lot on your hair if that’s what you enjoy.

However, I know other people don’t want to spend much on their hair (or feel they shouldn’t or can’t due to their income or budget). For those of you who are wondering if you can do the curly girl method on a budget, yes you absolutely can. In this post I’m going to share tips and tricks for following the curly girl method while sticking to a budget.

Be A Minimalist

Vegan & Cruelty Free Products & CGM Routine For Wavy Hair

April 13, 2022 by Emily Evert Smith 4 Comments

There are affiliate links in this post. All opinions are my own.

Something I really appreciate about Gen Z is how many of them are more conscious consumers than those of us who are older. I personally am not great about choosing vegan or cruelty-free products on a regular basis. I have so much respect for people who do make it a priority, though!

I had someone email me asking about a vegan and cruelty-free routine for wavy hair so I thought, sure! I went through the products I had to come up with products I enjoy that could be used together in a routine. This is a simple one, just three products!

Noughty Wave Hello Shampoo

Noughty Wave Hello Conditioner

Cake The Curl Whip Mousse.

Why these products? Well, because they are vegan and cruelty-free, and they work well for me! The shampoo feels cleaning yet slightly moisturizing, and the conditioner is moisturizing without being too heavy for my fine but dense wavy hair. The conditioner also has good slip so I can detangle my hair without too much trouble.

The curl whip mousse is one of my all-time favorite stylers. It is really lightweight and offers great volume and good hold. IT doesn’t offer long-lasting hold so my hair will fall flatter than usual by day 2, but it’s super lightweight in my hair. It almost leaves my hair feeling product-free! So, I’m able to add more of this mousse to my hair on day 2 to regain some curl and definition.

What else will you need? In your monthly routine, you’ll likely need a clarifying shampoo to use about once a month, and a deep conditioner and/or protein treatment to use once a month to once a week (depending on your hairs needs). If you’re unsure of your hair type, my how to determine your wavy hair type can help you get an idea of your hair type and my post on wavy hair & protein may help you estimate how much protein you’ll need to use.

There is no protein in these three products so even if your hair only needs a tiny bit of protein, you’ll likely need to do a protein treatment periodically if you do this routine longterm. However, this routine is great for your regular wash days! Scroll down to see other products that you can try for your clarifying and mask needs on ‘special’ wash days.

My results from using this routine.

Vegan & Cruelty Free Wavy Hair Routine

Curly Girl Method Terms, Lingo, Abbreviations & Acronyms

April 6, 2022 by Emily Evert Smith 1 Comment

When you’re new to finding the curly girl method or wavy curly hair communities, you’re likely to come across some terms, abbreviations and acronyms that are pretty confusing. Wavy and curly communities have made up some of our own words and have a bit of “insider” lingo that we are familiar with, but outsiders and newbies aren’t.

I find that sometimes I forget that not everyone knows what these terms, abbreviations and acronyms mean. I’ve been using them for so long now that I forget they aren’t “normal” words. I thought I’d put together a list of terms, abbreviations and acronyms that are unique to the curly girl method and/or wavy curly communities to help newbies gain a deeper understanding of our lingo.

Curly Girl Method Terms & Lingo

2a, 2b, 2c, 3a, etc. These refer to where someone’s hair falls on a curl pattern chart. Straight hair is “type 1”, Wavy is “type 2”, Curly is “type 3” and coily or kinky is “Type 4”. a, b, and c are ranges within those three categories, so 2a is loose waves and 2c is tight waves. Visit my post wavy hair curl pattern chart to learn more and see examples.

90% dry (or other percentages). We use percentages to explain how close to ‘fully dry (aka 100% dry)’ our hair is. I didn’t realize this was part of our lingo until I used it with my boyfriend. He laughed and asked why I didn’t just say that my hair is ‘almost dry’ instead. I realized that I had learned to use percentages because that’s what I saw other wavies and curlies doing in different groups! I don’t really know why we don’t say something like ‘mostly dry’ or ‘super close to dry’ instead of using percentages but…it’s just the norm to use percentages!

Buff. Buffs are similar to hair bonnets, but instead of being a closed cap they’re more like a long sleeve. This means if you have longer hair, you can have the ends of your hair stick out of the buff rather than have them folded into a cap. Some just find them more comfortable than bonnets.

Canopy. The canopy of your hair is basically the exterior layer of your hair. The part of your hair that you can touch using a flat hand, or that sun can reflect off of.

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