It started with this book (not that I hadn’t heard of con-pooing before, but this is a whole system, beyond ‘cleansing’) called Curly Girl by Lorraine Massey. (Note: this is NOT an affiliate link, just a link to the product page on Amazon so you can see exactly what I am talking about.) I also ended up getting Lorraine’s Silver Hair book as well.

Now, I have been using this method for a year. Last year, I was enjoying my silver hair coming in, but it was coming in in stripes, like, right down the middle of my head and at both temples. Beautiful silvery-white stripes. So, I decided to help my hair along and bleach it out and dye it silver. My hair laughed at me and said, OH, you wanted to go ASH BLONDE! and turned a very pretty shade of blonde; however, I was more than tired of being blonde and didn’t want that. And so…I waited a bit, then tried to dye it the silver again. Nope. Again, my hair laughed at me…blonde it turned. My hair prefers to be blonde. I already knew this.

So, to stymie the entire argument–I dyed my hair blue. And I have kept my hair blue all this year. That too is somewhat of a miracle because I normally change my color, even if it is only a shade or three lighter or darker than previous, every three months–before I stopped dyeing my hair, before I started to let the silver grow out…ever since I dyed it blue, I have been more or less maintaining the blue with a blue hair stain. After a year, both my hair and I have reached a point where the lighter shades of blue are more preferred. Plus, I am just letting my hair grow out so I can get rid of all the stuff that went through the bleaching and dyeing process.

All that to get into how I use the Curly Girl method.

Now, I have made most of the homemade products Lorraine calls to be made in her book. My favorites are the lavender spray and the rosemary spray. I don’t want to spoil her book for you–and I don’t like to give advice on what YOU should do with YOUR hair based on what I do with mine because everyone’s hair is so different.

I have not used shampoo since last year some time. No. Not even when applying the stain to my hair (it rinses out, no issues). The Curly Girl method also says no combs and no brushes. I went six months without using a brush on my hair. Now, one, maybe twice a month, I use a detangling brush in the shower to detangle my hair. The tangles were BAD in the summer, mixed with sweat and wind and whatever. Now I am usually wearing a hat (on the cooler days anyway) and that helps my hair — not tangle as much, so the brush hasn’t been used in weeks. I only use the detangling brush, in the shower, with my hair full of conditioner, when the knots give me no other choice.

I conpoo two, maybe three times a month. I rinse my hair every three days–because that is what makes it happy. I will use the hair custard. I will use the detangler/leave-in conditioner I have. Overall, though I leave in a bit of conditioner and let my hair be.

My hair has never been happier. My hair has been growing like mad as well…and I have the roots to prove it. With the instructions in the book (I never could get the dvd thing that came with the book to work) I learned to cut my own hair (to ‘aerate’ my hair). I bought an excellent pair of Japanese beginner’s scissors and started to trim my hair every other month in January. I have not looked back at all .

As the year progressed, I delved into cutting my own hair a bit more. And I am actually more than happy with it. Does it look like I have had a professional haircut? Nope. Not that you could tell with all my curls anyway. But clipping off the dead ends myself — my hair is happy. I am happy. And with the pandemic here, I don’t have to go anywhere and worry about getting sick–which is a very good thing for me, especially given my pre-existing conditions.

Now, there are Facebook groups for all sorts of Curly Girls — where you can get product recommendations and tutorials and whatnot on how to do and what to do…there are YouTube channels as well. A quick Google will lead you off into an amazing rabbit hole of information.

It’s working for me.

Maybe it could work for you too, if you are interested.

Questions? Comments? Leave them below.

Thanks.