Curly Girl

On André Walker's scale, my chemical-free long fro is a 4a: kinky, tight ringlets. As a graduate student, I have very little money, but am looking for techniques to protect my hair's health as I grow it long again. Massey and Chiel have done beautifully. The short chapter on African American hair does what most "experts" are too vain to do--it relies on the judgement of others who specialize in the field. How many times have I had a hair disaster at the hands of a stylist who only knew rumors about nappy hair? Even most Black stylists are truly experts with *straightened* hair. Massey courted some impressive professionals whose opinions did not always bend to hers. As a former researcher, I respect that!

And the no-shampoo method works! For those handling nappy hair, I would recommend the following adaptations to Massey's techniques:

1) During the conditioner wash, cover all the hair w/conditioner, then gently comb out. I comb my hair in the direction I plan to style it. Combing is necessary for kinky hair, unless you are cultivating dreadlocs.

2) Shake your hair a little once you've conditioned for step 3 (kinky ringlets sometimes need a bit of room to shape up.)

3) Massey says silicones weigh hair down. Silicones can't weigh down virgin kinky hair, but they will eventually turn your hair into a shiny, dead mess. They also resist removal by even super-stripping shampoos, so use a non-silicone conditioner with as few ingredients as possible.

4) I have dandruff, but it is under control even after many weeks on Massey's technique. I use the brown sugar scalp scrub every week. Dandruff scalps benefit from more exfoliation. Also, you can substitute cider vinegar for the lemon juice in her Lemon-Aid potion. I have a small spray bottle of vinegar in the shower and i spray some right onto my oily scalp prior to step 2. Oily scalps just need to do the scalp cleansing step more often than Massey indicates. It is not drying.

5) I use inexpensive conditioners by VO5 and CureCare (a beauty supply store brand with 5 ingredients) and have not suffered from a dull look on my hair. Learn to read labels. Try a conditioner which says it's designed for use as body moisturizer.

6) Feel free to add some olive or sesame oil to a dab of conditioner if your hair seems to crave extra. I never use gel, but i gently put this mix through my hair, when needed.

7) She describes a straw set. You can get other-sized curls by setting hair on perm rods. Just use curl papers.

Black curly girls may find it funny that the British Massey has re-invented a product familiar to many of us: oil sheen spray! She suggests putting olive oil in a culinary oil mister for use on the hair! I had to smile.

Massey's book is written with *intelligence,* *respect,* and enthusiasm for all people with textured hair. Not only does she paraphrase Marcus Garvey's thoughts on hair hatred, she actually points out the prejudiced attitudes behind the modern insistence on straight hair as "professional," "well-bred", or "intelligent." Hair is political, and this woman knows it, although her book in straight-up fun. It is valuable for women who want to look like their curly, kinky, nappy, happy selves, not like some deep-fried blow-out queen. I like that the book is inexpensive and that the models are real women with truly lovely "real-world" hair. Bravo!

I've had to deal with my curls all my life, and I was hoping that Ouidad's book would help (Curl Talk). It didn't. I later purchased Massey's book, Curly Girl, which has totally helped. As a professional model, the way my hair looks is an integral part of my career. I saw Ouidad on Glow (the TV show on the Style Network) and thought that although she merely COATED Linda Lopez's hair with product, maybe the book would have more to it. Not true. The book -as another reviewer saidwas pure, shameless self promotion and did LITTLE to provide actual assistance in the matter of caring for you hair. On the other hand, Massey's book, Curly Girl, gave you TOOLS to care for your hair, and even developed a fool-proof system. What I liked most about MASSEY'S system is that she wrote about all types of curl textures, regardless of your ethnicity. Furthermore, I even visited Massey's salon in NYC, which is called Devachan, and I must admit that they actually walked the walk & talked the talk. The knowledge behind Curly Girl is apparent in the salon, & I only wish that *all* women had a salon like that near them! (I traveled from Michigan...I was in NYC for a fashion show.) Bottom line: If you want to be taught to buy products, get Ouidad's book. If you want to be taught about your hair, how to care for it, how to love it, and what works for it & get it to look good, buy Massey's. Massey's language is simple, easy to understand, and the underlying view of the book is about self-acceptance and self-love. From a scientific to a cultural standpoint, Massey has shown great care, concern and research into her CurlyBible. The choice is clear, Curlies. Pony up to Curly Girl & get ready to rock your world. I love it, I continue to recommend it, and I am an avid believer in this book. Further, you can even go to www.naturallycurly.com and the ladies there can also help you.

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This is the most helpful hair book that I have ever purchased. As a black girl, I never thought of my kinky hair as curly. But after wearing it naturally for five years, I realize that's exactly what it is -curly. Very, very small curls, but curls nevertheless. Anyway, most black hair salons do not cater to women who choose to wear their hair naturally -they would rather press it straight, or do straw sets or other things that limit my activities and would have me in a beautician's chair every week. I work out five times a week, so I need something that I can do at home most of the time.

So I turned to books dedicated to curly hair. This one is amazing! So many of the tips are useful and practical, things that you can easily do at home. After using some of the tips in this book, the only bad hair days that I have had have been when I use a flat-iron to straighten my hair! I spend less time styling my hair when it is curly, I take better care of it now that I know what it wants (moisture, not detergents or pomades). And my black and white coworkers, and even my other black friends with natural hair, are constantly complimenting me.

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I'm African-American with very tightly coiled hair and let me say that nothing short of chemical relaxers could give me any control over the wild frizz and tangles. I've tried all the other curly salons and over the counter products but I always went back to chemicals. I bought the book, went to the salon in NYC and was told by the stylist that she would not give me a relaxer until I gave her a chance to sample the products. Well after my hair cut, which was done on dry hair, then my shampoo with no-poo, followed by the conditioner my hair was the softest and easiest to comb through. In fact a comb was not even used on my very dense hair just fingers. I've been using the products for a month and I am sold! I've been giving the stuff away for christmas presents along with the book! The stylist was right I did not need a relaxer. Those days are over thanks to this book!

T.F.

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If you have curly hair like me, then you've likely had more than your share of bad hair cuts, bad hair days, and frizz. "Curly Girl" (CG) gives lots of good advice (and a bit of questionable advice) for getting good hair cuts, good hair days, minimum frizz, and maximum shine. Beyond all the advice, CG is a celebration of curly hair, complete with a time line, celebrity pictures, and "confessions" of women who used to hate their curly hair, but then learned how to take proper care of it and love their hair.

I wish this book were around when I hated my hair in the "long and silky" days of the 70s. I blew it dry, and it fanned out just like Roseanne Roseannadanna! On page 37, there's a picture of Roseanne Roseannadanna, with the admonition that curly girls who blow-dry their hair often end up looking like this! I know that much of this advice is good, because I learned it the hard way!

The one piece of advice I with which I take the most issue is Massey's recommendation not to wash curly hair, but to use conditioner instead. While it's true curly hair is often quite dry (mine is), conditioner lacks the necessary surfactants to clean hair. Conditioners, depending on the formulation, are designed to do jobs such as moisturize, reconstruct, and detangle, but not clean. Despite my very dry hair, when I've had to go a week or more without shampooing, my hair got greasy. Also, when I use hair gel, which the author recommends as a frizz-buster, I absolutely need to shampoo it the next day. For dry curly hair, I recommend finding a good shampoo and separate conditioner for dry hair, and shampooing and conditioning once or twice a week. Also, Massey says the only way to receive a good hair cut for curly hair is to cut it dry. A good hairdresser like mine can give a good cut for curly hair with the hair wet.

Part of my reason for deducting a star is the homemade hair care product recipes. One of them contains glycerine, which draws moisture from inside of the hair strands to the outside, paradoxically drying out the hair. Another recipe is baking soda and water, which Massey claims will remove heavy product build-up and leave hair shiny and clean. A baking soda and water mixture is basic (pH higher than 7). It is the slightly acidic products that remove product build-up and leave hair shiny. Even worse, basic solutions can spilt disulfide bonds in hair, which weaken hair and reduce curl. Others of the recipes are harmless to your hair, but will leave it a sticky mess.

Despite my qualms about the recipes and the no-shampoo advice, I like the book for its fun positive attitude, curly hair education, photos showing many of the author's points, and curly girl confessions. As part of my Curly Girl education, I learned there are 3 types of curls: corkscrew, botticelli, and wavy. Wavy curls. (Which my hairdresser says is a bit of an over-simplification.) Massey goes into a lot of detail about how to tell which types of curls you have and how to care for them. Even if you just have a small amount of wave to your hair, but don't really think it's curly, you can benefit from the book. As for the Curly Girl confessions, I had many aha moments as women talked about hating their hair, making horrific mistakes with it, straightening it, and finally learning to love it. CG is a definite self-esteem booster. :-) I give this book 5 stars for fun, visual appeal and attitude; and 3 stars for advice and recipe quality.