Transitioning Update, 3 Years CGM Results & Q&A

Happy holidays! I hope everyone had a great Christmas and is relaxing some before the new year. As we close out 2020, I wanted to take a look back at my curly hair journey and see how my hair has changed over the past 3 years that I have been following the curly girl method. In this video, I also will be answering some of your most asked questions when it comes to transitioning to natural hair.

Pre-CGM

As a teenager, I used to LOVE straightening and curling my hair. I was always playing around with different heat-styled looks. It wasn’t that I hated my natural curls, but I never knew about the “Curly Girl Method” and how to properly style natural curls. Coincidentally, my first YouTube video was of my straightening my hair. I loved making hair tutorials and beauty videos.

I started playing around with hair color in college and made the huge mistake of using at home box dye, one of the most damaging ways to color your hair. This was probably when my hair was at it’s worst.

I learned a bit about sulfates and cut them out of my routine, but failed to eliminate silicones, which left my curls limp and life-less. Silicone build-up on top of damaged hair just wasn’t a good look on me.

My “transitioning journey” was very gradual as I began experimenting with different curly hair products, still using silicones, and still straightening my hair. My first “natural” hair line that I used was Aveda because I was introduced to their products on my first brand trip for their Naturally Straight campaign shoot in NYC. I tried out their curly line, and although the products were great, they still had silicone so I don’t feel like my curls were at their full potential. I was still heat styling my hair, just less often.

Making the Offical Transition to the CGM

In 2017, I took another brand trip, but this time it was focused on embracing naturally curly hair and the “transitioning journey.” I’ll have to admit, before then, I was not aware of the concept. At the time, my content on my blog and YouTube channel were focused on beauty and fashion, and I was not introduced to the natural hair community until this trip. I was honored to be invited and to meet so many amazing curly hair content creators.

After that trip, I was immersed in the curly hair community and decided to go full-on curly girl method. I started reading labels and paying closer attention to the ingredients in my products, whereas before, I simply assumed something was CGM if it read “natural” on the label.

I stopped heat styling my hair, used only sulfate and silicone-free products, and deep conditioned and clarified regularly. My hair health began to improve and my curl pattern tightened up tremendously. I started doing Olaplex No. 3 treatments and saw my curl pattern transform.

The main thing that held my hair back from its full health potential was bleaching and coloring. I got highlights in my hair, and was also getting it dyed in a salon. Many curly girls are able to safely dye and highlight their hair, but if you want to fully get your hair back to its healthiest state, it’s best to avoid it during that time.

I stopped coloring my hair, let the dye fade, and began to grow out my highlights. I never did a “big chop,” but instead I gradually got trims. I was going every 6-8 weeks. Then the past year I started going every 6 months. I had so much trouble with length retention because those damaged highlighted pieces were still hanging out on the ends. Here is a photo of my hair with no product, which is a great way to assess your hair and see what areas are still damaged.

I still struggled with split ends, length retention, and high porosity symptoms such as lack of moisture retention and major frizz in humidity. Earlier this year, I worked with MyManeBio and sent a sample of my hair off to be analyzed in a lab. They provided a report that I walked through in this video. That report showed how my hair was very high porosity at the ends. Having split ends and cuticle chipping leads to moisture and protein loss, and lack of length retention.

The Home Stretch to Fully Transitioned Curls

After what I learned in the MyManeBio report, I started implementing pre-poo treatments and dry detangling which greatly reduced breakage. I ditched my previous hairdryer that got way too hot and diffuser that was snagging my hair and got the Infiniti PRO by Conair 1875 Watt Texture Styling Hair Dryer. This dryer has a warm setting, so I could then use gentle heat. I also started using my “plop diffusing” technique to avoid split ends.

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I still was not coloring or highlighting my hair and had just a couple of inches left to go to fully grow out the old highlights. I got a haircut in July of 2020 to reshape my uneven ends and remove a lot of damage.

I was so close! I just had about an inch left of damage. I could see major changes in my hair, and it finally was growing out evenly. Then, in November of 2020, I got my most significant trim where my stylist added layers to fully remove the damage once and for all.

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My Hair Now

It has been SO refreshing the past 2 months having fully healthy hair. The biggest change has been to my porosity. I no longer have extreme frizz, tangles, single strand knots, and split ends. It’s much easier to manage, and I’m liking mostly all the products that I test out. My hair is able to hold on to moisture in between washes, and refreshing is much easier because it’s not so tangly and dry. Part of the improvements could be because I went so short, but it’s just been easier to manage overall. I’m loving the volume from these new “long layers.”

2021 Hair Plans

I’m curious to see how my hair is in the humidity next summer. I’ve noticed improvements in my porosity, so I’m hoping it leans more towards medium porosity now that the damage is gone.

Many of you have asked if I ever plan to add highlights or color my hair again, and at this time, no. I am getting more and more gray hairs, but I’m doing my best to embrace them while I can. Perhaps one day when they take over, I will experiment with natural or temporary hair dyes.

This week I am working on planning out lots of 2021 content. I am going to be featuring lots of new products, reviewing more drugstore products, comparing products, and creating guides for choosing products. Please leave your requests in the comments below or shoot me an Instagram DM!

Cheers to 2021, curl-friends!

Learn more about How to Transition to Naturally Curly Hair here.