The time-poor girl's guide to Curly Girl Method hair in Australia.

I know it's been a really long time coming. I've been out of the blogosphere for a couple of years, completely jaded by the whole YouTube debacle, and didn't really have much to share.

But here goes, a complete re-launch. I'm not a late 20's person, like I was when I started all of this, I'm now a late 30's woman, with a whole new appreciation for beauty and what it means to take care of yourself, your hair and your skin.

I've begun by embracing my natural curly hair (Thank the spaghetti monster it's FINALLY fashionable!!!!) and trying the curly girl method.

I'd like to start by stating that the curly hair community is quite nasty. I've seen so many people on the internet get into fights about what -type- of curly hair somebody said they have...which is completely ridiculous and a waste of everyone's time and energy. This is not the place for that. I won't be stating my hair curl type, but I will tell you the ways I have personally worked the curly girl method into my life, and what works for me, as a person who doesn't have 2 hours a day to perfect every curl.

So what even is CGM? Basically, we're cutting out sulphates and silicones that strip and weigh down hair, heat styling which damages hair, and switching to more natural products and techniques for drying and styling hair, as well as washing less often.

DAY 1: WTF?

A warning: The first month or so of CGM isn't pretty. It's a frizz-filled, oily mess of a thing and you're going to want to give up on it because your hair looks worse than ever. This will pass, I promise. You have to get your scalp and hair used to having a more natural environment, so it's going to take some time to work through the process of your scalp skin figuring out how much oil to produce.

I have really fine hair, and due to a chronic illness, there isn't much of it left. I'm very lucky it's curly. I have a low amount of frizz, relatively speaking, and my curl pattern is fairly even. I work 6 days a week, I have 2 kids, and I have a fella I like to look at who lives an hour away from me... so I have, like, no time.

I've tried a few different sets of sulphate, silicone and paraben free products, and have settled on Sukin's range of shampoos and conditioners. Natural Balance is the one I like for my hair, and I'll generally shampoo twice a week and use a small amount of conditioner every morning in the shower to reset my curls, which I generally don't bother tying in silk scarves or putting in a pineapple bun to sleep in.

If you love a good botanical scent, these are definitely going to be right up your alley. I love the way my hair smells, and I love the super-light formulation, which doesn't strip my hair of natural oils, or weigh it down at all.

In terms of styling, I'll generally wash/wet/light condition my hair, comb it out with a wide toothed comb in the shower (I haven't brushed it in 4 months and I love it so much!), then put a tiny bit of conditioner into my hands, rub them together and work it through the ends before plopping my hair into a towel while I clean my teeth, etc. I'll occasionally use a really basic hair gel, but I don't like the way it makes my hair crunch. When I scrunch out the crunch, my hair looks weirdly "fried" because it's so fine. Usually the bit of leave-in conditioner on the ends is all I need for a bit of definition.
Once I'm dressed and ready to go, I'll let my hair out of the towel, give it a quick scrunch and I'm out the door, still wet. Luckily I have the kind of job where it's completely fine if I show up with still-damp hair.

Yes, I'll admit that I'm still colouring my hair, though it's only about once every 6 weeks, and because of my thyroid condition, I'm finding that I just don't hold colour any more. Within a week, I'm pretty much back to my natural level of greys and that "grown-out" look where I used to dye my hair black. It's mostly just the ends now, and they probably need a good chop. I have noticed some growth in the 3 months that I've been doing CGM, though, so that's awesome. I've heat treated my hair once in that 3 months, and straight, it looked so much longer than it used to.

3 months later: amazing!

All in all, I really feel like this curly hair thing is working for me. The maintenance is minimal, I love the way it looks and feels, and I have some relief from that "bald" feeling I was starting to get with my tiny little 12-hairs-slicked-into-a-ponytail look I'd rocked for work for the past few years.

So... here is the result after 3 months of CGM. It looks great, and I finally feel good about my hair!

Sukin haircare is available Nationally at major pharmacies including Chemist Warehouse, Priceline, My Chemist and health food stores. Shampoo/conditioner are $14.95 for 500ml or $24.95 for 1 litre.

This is not a sponsored post, nor was I given the products to review. These are my own experiences and opinions. I value honest communication, and assume that my readers do too :)