Curly Girl Method: A Step-by-Step Guide for Beginners in 2025

glamour.com:

, , , and (plus at least a dozen TikTok hacks) to no avail.But as I recently learned, it doesn’t have to be that complicated.

All you’ve got to do, it turns out, is treat your curls the way they want to be treated—an ideology at the root of the “Curly Girl Method” that finally helped me figure out my curls once and for all.The Curly Girl Method (CGM) was created by hairstylist , who and eventually became known as “the curl guru.”Her book, , came out in 2011 and introduced the world to a curl-care motto to live by: Handle your hair as gently as you do your best cashmere sweater. “This method discourages use of products containing ingredients that can be damaging to curly hair, and discourages use of practices that cause structural damage to hair and disrupts natural curl,” says at hair salon by Michelle Hong.Ready to discover, once and for all, how to get curly hair that actually does what you want it to?

Massey’s method is simple, but specific, and is all about helping your curls maintain their integrity by avoiding damage to their cuticle.

Below are the method’s guiding principles.Skip shampooBecause curly hair struggles to retain moisture, you want to do everything you can to avoid stripping it—which involves skipping shampoo.