Here’s my current 2B – 2C hair care routine, including wash day, refreshes, protein treatments, and products I use to help enhance my natural curl pattern.
Last week, I mentioned how I’ve been trying the curly girl method and detailed what tools you need to get started (AND 11 things I’ve learned since started the journey). It’s been such a great learning process for me, and I’ve loved seeing my hair transform and become healthier in just a matter of weeks! Truly, my hair has never seemed happier and I’m finally embracing the curlies my genes gave me.
When I first started researching the curly girl method, I was obsessed with trying to find someone who had the same type hair I have – but I have yet to find one!
I wanted to write this post to help those who have the same (or similar) curl pattern, porosity, thickness, and ‘build’ that I have to determine what products I use for wash days, refreshes, and treatments!
BTW, if you have the same hair type I do, please comment below, I’d love to hear from you!
This post contains affiliate links, however, all opinions are my own.
My Hair Type
My hair is still currently transitioning, FYI. The above picture is the difference between 3 weeks ago and now!
I have a variety of waves/curls ranging from 2A-2C, although about 75% of my hair is classified as 2b hair.
My hair is also fine, thin, and has low porosity.
*I originally thought I had high porosity hair because it doesn’t take long to get wet in the shower by any means, but it’s also fine and thin. My hair is low porosity because, even with it being so fine and thin, it still takes an entire day (and half a night sometimes) to air dry.
My Current CGM Routine For 2b – 2C Hair
All of the products I use in my wash day and refresh are CG-friendly!
2b Wash Day Routine
Here’es what I do in my personal wash day routine for mostly 2b hair:
- Wet hair in the shower and apply deep conditioner with protein in it. Deep Condition for five minutes, comb through with a wide-tooth comb. This is the deep conditioning protein treatment I use – my hair loves it! I do this anywhere from 1-2x a week, although my hair is not protein sensitive and favors protein. Rinse completely out.
- CoWash with As I Am Coconut Cowash. Work product along scalp and gently scrub to clean, avoiding ends of hair. Allow water to rinse cowash from 2b hair completely.
- Apply leave-in conditioner in shower. Using my fingers, I smooth a quarter-sized amount of leave-in conditioner into my hair, grazing the roots but focusing on the ends. I DO NOT RAKE (it breaks up the very few clumps I get which leads to stringy hair). If I notice my hair needs it, I may use a wide-tooth comb as well while distributing the leave-in. I gently squish in some leave-in conditioner while my hair is still sopping wet. Then, I quickly run my hair once or twice under the water, but I do not completely rinse out the leave-in. I leave a majority of the leave-in in my hair. It just happens to style better that way!
Shower DONE. I step out of the shower and towel off, leaving my hair dripping wet, and move onto styling…
For my 2b hair, I’ve found that I need three products to hold the waves after applying the leave-in:
- Emulsify a pea-sized amount of Canta curl activator and 2 pumps of LUS for Wavy Hair all-in-one in wet hands and apply by roping. Run a good amount of cool water onto a wet brush and brush through hair to distribute product. Lightly scrunch to encourage clumping, tilting head side to side.
- Apply a quarter-sized amount of emulsified MopTop Curly Hair Custard to ends by roping, and smooth over crown lightly. Scrunch hair side to side.
- Lightly scrunch hair with a dry cotton T-shirt to get rid of some of the moisture.
- Wet hands some more, and squirt quarter-sized drop of Aussie Instant Freeze gel into hands. Rub product in between wet hands to emulsify gel. Apply gel to hair by roping again, and smoothing along back and sides of hair while head is tilted to the side. Be sure to apply gel to front of hair as well. Scrunch hair, lightly squeezing out excess water.
- Pixie diffuse hair with on warm setting with your head tilted side to side until 80%+ dry. I know a bunch of other curlies online love and recommend this particular diffuser attachment, but I don’t think you need any special diffuser to get the job done – I use my old Conair and cheap plastic diffuser and it works just fine!
P.S., The photos above were taken on a VERY humid day (the entire week was humid, actually), so I have some serious frizz going on already but that isn’t typical. Frizz is, however, normal to experience with wavy and curly hair so don’t fret if you have some – it helps build volume!
- Apply a dime-sized amount of emulsified Aussie Instant Freeze gel with wet hands while hair is 80% dry (this is called the Smasters technique). I do not scrunch the gel in this time, I instead use flat wet palms coated with emulsified gel to press the hair up to my head from the ends. No scrunching involved in this step because I don’t want to cause extra frizz or break the cast that’s already forming on my curls.
- Diffuse until dry or allow to air dry the rest of the way. Hair will develop a cast (that hard, crunchy feel) as the gel sets in the hair – refrain from touching hair at all costs. Once dry, flip hair side to side every 5-10 minutes as I remember.
Now that my hair has been styled, I’ll give it time to hang out in the gel cast while I start my morning routine (coffee, writing, starting a load of laundry, waking the kids up for school, etc). I try my hardest not to touch my hair at all during the drying process as this can break up the cast on my curls too soon (resulting in flat waves) and generate more frizz overall.
This is what my hair looks like in the cast most days. I inherited some serious waves, but my thin, fine hair looks pretty scraggly in the gel cast, right? Oh well, that’s genetics for you! When I scrunch it out, it will look softer and fill out a bit.
I usually leave the cast in until right before I leave the house to drop the kids off at school. At that point, I will…
- SOTC = scrunch out the crunch. This means I will scrunch my 2b hair (with dry hands) to get rid of the ‘crunchy’ gel cast and reveal soft waves and curls that hold their shape.
Look at how shiny and healthy my hair looks from just a month of doing the curly girl method! This is real shine, not silicones coating my hair to make it ‘seem’ healthy – WOOHOO!
Here is it fully scrunched out! As the day goes on, the little parts of the cast that are missed in the SOTC process (there’s always just a little bit of stiffness still there after scrunching that can’t be helped), and I’ve touched my hair a bunch and am going about my day, it will continue to get softer and fuller.
- Fluff hair at the roots. Using a pick or wide tooth comb, I will fluff my hair at the roots. This helps build volume and breaks the cast up towards the roots. Avoid fluffing at the crown and along the part.
- Apply root clips for about 10 minutes – IF I HAVE THE TIME. Sometimes I forget this step, although it does help with volume. These root clips are my favorite! If we’re being honest, I hardly ever remember to do this or have the time – #momlife.
Sleeping on my curly hair
To sleep, I simply put my hair into a loose pineapple bun with a soft scrunchie on top of my head (see below) to help preserve my curls. This method works best for my mostly 2b hair which rests just below my shoulders.
I currently do not use a CG-recommended silk pillowcase because I’m pregnant and sleep on my giant pregnancy pillow for which there is no giant silk pillow cover ;). I’ll be looking into getting one like this for less than $10 after I give birth, however.
Some women like to use hair buffs or wet/dry plop their hair in a cotton t-shirt overnight.
Personally, my fine hair hates overnight plopping! I seem to only be able to get away with plopping just long enough to get dressed after washing/styling.
Refresh routine for 2B – 2C Hair
To refresh my hair, I either do a full refresh or I pull it out of the scrunchie in the morning and it looks awesome without needing to do anything to it. It all depends on how I slept the night before and if the hair gods are looking down on me with a smile that morning ;).
If I pull my hair out of the scrunchie and it looks crazy or lifeless, I’ll do a wet fresh…
- Remove scrunchie. I literally pull it up towards the ceiling from my hair and allow my hair to fall however it wants. Allow hair to ‘settle’ for about 10 minutes. Make coffee, check my e-mails. Once the 10+ minutes are over and my hair has settled, I can really evaluate if it’s in need of a refresh and see what I’m working with.
- Wet hair using the bowl method. Rewetting my hair reactivates the product in it so I can restyle it. I’ve tried spritzing it with a water bottle so I could scrunch and style – it just creates frizz and looks gross. Plus, with low porosity hair, wetting with a water bottle takes forever because my hair doesn’t absorb any water unless fully submerged *rolls eyes*.
- Scrunch soaking wet hair with wet hands. I always gently scrunch because my hair frizzes up with fast with intense scrunching. Some people’s hair can tolerate the roughhousing – my fine, thin hair just can’t.
- ***ONLY ON 3RD DAY REFRESH, NOT SECOND DAY REFRESH***: Rub a dime-sized amount of Shea Moisture curl enhancing smoothie and 1 pump of LUS for Wavy Hair between wet hands to emulsify. Smooth on strands by roping, squish into dripping wet hair. *The curl enhancing smoothie product contains protein, which MY hair loooooves! If you are protein sensitive, I would steer clear of this, even though the protein is towards the bottom of the ingredient list.
- Emulsify a quarter-sized amount of Aussie instant freeze gel in wet hands. Apply to strands by roping and squishing.
- Diffuse hair on WARM until dry. I like to do this until it’s fully dry if I have the time so make refresh days as simple as possible.
- Allow hair to remain in gel cast for about 20+ minutes while I do my makeup and start my morning routine. I sometimes allow it to sit in the cast longer if I have time before we leave the house.
- SOTC (scrunch out the crunch) once it’s fully dry.
- Fluff hair, clip roots.
These pictures above are actually of 3rd day hair after refreshing. I’m still working on how to fluff my hair to get more volume, but with its density and thickness, I can’t really expect it to change too much.
I refresh my hair every 2nd and 3rd day after washing. Day 4 seems to be when I feel the need to wash.
**Rarely, I have a morning where I remove my scrunchie after waking up, and my curls fall into a majestic state that requires NO refreshing, and I feel like a unicorn. But, again, those days are very rare ;).
Special Treatments
At least once a week, I give my hair a protein treatment with a deep conditioner in the shower (as I mentioned earlier). I use this deep conditioning hair masque after regular shampoo and conditioner, leave it on for five minutes and comb through my ends with a wide-tooth comb, and rinse it completely out. Then, I’ll cowash and apply my leave-in.
My 2b hair loooooooves protein.
There has only been one week I didn’t give my hair protein in the shower, and I could definitely tell the difference! Not everyone’s hair needs protein, and you may have the exact same hair type, porosity, and curl that I do and still not need protein in your hair. In fact, it’s recommended that you do not try to balance the moisture vs. protein in your hair while transitioning, but I’m a total rule breaker.
To determine if your hair needs protein, read this article.
And, as I mentioned in last week’s post, not everything works for everyone. My hope is that if you have the same hair type that I do, my hair routine can help shed some light into what might work for you.
Frequently Asked Questions
Wait – What Is The Curly Girl Method, again?
The curly girl method is a method developed by Lorraine Massey that encourages curlies to ditch sulfates and silicones, stop brushing and damaging their hair with heat, and enhance their natural curl patterns through wet styling and diffusing.
Waves and curls suffer from the modern-day haircare products and tools we use to curl, straighten, and dry our hair.
By cutting out these things, you can get wavier waves, bouncier curls, and healthier hair in time.
The most important thing to mention is that there are tons of different applications, techniques, and products to try because WE ALL HAVE DIFFERENT HAIR! Reading up on your hair type, density, and porosity (as well as taking into account the damage it’s accumulated), you can start to experiment and try to understand what it is your hair needs and the best way to care for it.
How Do I Emlusify My Hair Products?
When you emulsify your hair products, you are combining them with water. With the curly girl method, it makes for beautiful waves and curls.
To emulsify your hair gels before applying, for example, you would wet your hair with a spray bottle (or work with soaking wet hair from a fresh shower), and your hands. Squeeze some product into your hands, grab a little more water from the faucet, and rub your hands together. This emulsifies the gel for better application.
How Do I Determine My Hair’s Porosity?
My post last week talks about how to determine your hair porosity with a few simple tests, but you can also read about it in-depth HERE.
Will This Routine Help Me Get Curls/Waves?
No, but it can help you enhance your hair’s natural waves/curls.
It’s also important, and I say this all the time, to note that not all gels and products will work for all hair types. It takes some trial and error to figure out what your hair needs, likes. It also takes time for your hair to recover from the heat and brushing damage it’s endured over the years.
A lot of women see results from adapting the curly girl method in just a month (like my hair!), while other women wait for 6-9 months to actually see a big difference.
But…if the good Lord didn’t give you any waves or curls, you probably won’t be able to do anything about that with the curly girl method – but there are some women I’ve seen and read that thought they had straight hair all their life that actually have natural waves and curls they never knew about until adopting the curly girl method.
Related 2B Hair Articles
How To Start The Curly Girl Method For Wavy Hair
The Curly Girl Method For Wavy Hair (11 Things You Need To Know)
I think I have the same type of hair as you, been following the curly girl method for almost 4 months
What is the protein product you use? The page won’t open for me.
Hi Bonnie, thanks so much for catching that! I’ve updated the link in the post, but here it is –> https://amzn.to/36wKwLb
I’ve been searching for someone with the same hair type and curl pattern as I have as well and it seems we’re incredibly similar. My hair is low porosity, fine, 2a-2c wavy-curly pattern, the only difference is density, mine is high density.
I completely feel you on the hair rewetting to refresh, it would take me an hour and two spritz bottles full to rewet that way. Have to drench it *eyeroll*
I’m so jealous you have high density hair! Oh well, genetics ;). So true for low porosity hair, though, high or low density – it takes FOREVER and a day to wet with a spray bottle 🙁
Hi! I have the same kind of hair as you! Fine, thin, low-porosity, and wavier than I realized! I’m trying to coax out the waves, and they’re definitely there, but I end up with waves that are super scraggly. How do you get your hair to “clump” together to form thicker chunks of hair for each wave? HELP.
Hey Sarah, I actually updated this post this morning since my routine has changed a little bit. I think I’ll add a clumping section in the post, though!
For clumping, I refrain from raking or detangling in the shower. Most of my clumping action happens after I’ve put in my ‘creams’ (Cantu and LUS) on soaking wet hair. I use a wet brush (not a denman) to distribute the creams throughout my hair and then scrunch side to side – this helps it clump up quite a bit! Other than using the wet brush at that time, I refrain from raking through my hair or even detangling in the shower. I also refrain from styling upside down or plopping.
I’ve noticed that any styling upside down or excessive brushing without creams in my hair results in a stringy, no-clump mess :(.
Ooh–great! What wet brush do you use? And do you still use a comb in the shower? It’s so much trial and error with this stuff! Hard to be patient… 🙂
No worries, I totally get it. I do not use a wide tooth comb in the shower, the only time I do any kind of detangling is with the wet brush after I’ve put my creams in it :). Here’s the wet brush I use: https://amzn.to/2SYlGji
Thank you!!!
I think I have the same hair type as you have! Except my hair might be a bit thicker. But my wave pattern is exactly like yours, and I also have low porosity hair! I started following the Curly girl method a little over a month ago, so my hair is definitely still transitioning.
I am amazed about how many different products you use. I only use the Cantu curl activator cream as a styler and that is all I need, it really is my go to. Do you ever make your own oil masks? My hair loves coconut oil and olive oil, it makes it very soft, it almost never gets tangly. How long do you wait between wash days?
Hi Eileen, that’s great! I still need a little gel to hold my waves some days, but the Cantu is a Godsend if you use it right on our hair type! 🙂 I wasn’t a fan of olive oil for my hair, but I think that has to do with having low density hair.
I wait anywhere from 2-4 days between washing my hair.
Hi! I have the same wave pattern and my hair is as fone and thin as yours. I think my hair is high porosity. How do you use the root clips for adding volume. Thanks for sharing your routine. I am going to try the bowl method of refreshing. Refreshing is my biggest challenge. I always have flat waves when I wake up, even when I sleep in a pineapple.
Very glad I came across your page because it seems to be very rare to find this hairtype. My only difference is porosity, mine is very high. But I constantly struggle with stringy messy waves, and very frizz prone hair. I learned my styling method which is almost exact to yours but I don’t use products because my hair also needs limited manipulation. I cowash, brush under the shower with a wet brush then leave the shower with sopping hair and clumps. When I touch it it’s just exactly as you said, stringy, messy. I found the devacut to be helpful because the layering is soft and the ends don’t feel thin. Btw you’re gorgeous!!
Hi! I think I have pretty similar hair as you. It is hard to find similar types out there! I think a lot of wavies don’t always realize their hair isn’t just failing at being straight. I use the As I Am cowash and the Cantu curl activator also. I completely agree about frizz from using a spray bottle to refresh! My hair always looks like a total mess when I spray it. I’ve found more success using praying hands with wet hands to dampen it and then tiny bits of product at a time with lots of water and light scrunching like you mentioned.
I cant believe it, I seriously have the same hair, low porosity, thin, fine, loves protein, EXCEPT, I have 2b-3A, the longer my hair gets the more it curls. I’ve been searching for a routine dealing with hair like mine so this is really exciting for my lol
I have your hair type, and my goodness, you are lucky to be able to grow it — without length, this hair type is a nightmare and won’t look nice like yours. Mine won’t grow past just touching my shoulders, and the wispy fineness and uneven lengths of strands, that can NOT be cut into one layer because the strands never grow into one layer, are hopeless.
Thank your for your blog, I’ve lived my life as a “hair outcast”, not having any friends who have even close to this hair. I”ve even gotten rude comments from a so called friend, such as “why do you cut it like that?”. Answer, I don’t, I have no choice.
And as for trying to look “professional” with our society’s “rules” about how women’s hair should look, well my only option would be to cut it even shorter and look like a boy. So, I’ve opted for independent work. Can you imagine a job as a news anchor, business leader, or politician who is female, in America, being accepted with this type of hair if it cannot grow enough, other than cutting it into a boy cut? The media and business world refuse to accept that this type of hair has NOTHING to do with ability to do a professional job.
I’m glad you can grow yours and don’t have that problem. The products you describe are mostly those I already use, but without length, women like me are stuck, in a society that will not accept that everyone is not born with the same type of hair. Sorry for the rant.
Hi, you have beautiful hair! I do have the same exact hair minus the porosity. Mine is high. My hair loves protein too. Thanks for sharing your routine! It’s so helpful to find girls with my fine, thin, extremely fussy hair type. Ours has to be among the most difficult!! 😊. For a while I was beginning to think I was the only one with this hair. I literally have never met someone in person with it. Hairstylists have a hard time understanding my hair’s needs. God bless.
I’m pretty sure I have similar hair to you as well. My hair is between 2a and 2b type hair with medium density, and fine to medium strand thickness. I’m pretty sure my hair is also low to medium porosity as it takes forever to dry.
My hair is still in the middle of transitioning, but I’ve been using sulfate free products for quite some time! I only recently switched to completely silicone free products though, so I’m going to see how that works for my hair type. I’m still learning what my hair likes and dislikes, and how much product it can handle. Though I think it doesn’t like heavier products very much and likes harder holding gels since my waves tend to fall if I use something with a lighter hold. I’ve only been actually using styling products for about a month, give or take and I can see a difference. Some days are better than others, of course, but that’s normal.
It’s really nice to see someone with a similar hair-type to me and super inspiring. Watching all these youtubers with their amazingly curly/wavy hair can make me feel a bit hopeless sometimes with my delicate waves. It can be frustrating when all you see is those beautiful 2c-3c waves/curls that are thick and luscious.
I’ve opted for a shaggy-ish haircut, with plenty of layers to help lift my hair at the top and have less around my neck and shoulders. It’s about collarbone length. It works for the most part though sometimes the layering fights the waves and makes for a strange look haha. I originally got it cut this way because my hair broke off all the time and I needed to let the newer baby hair catch up haha. I might let it grow out though now that there’s the stay-home order where I live.
Anyway, I’ll stop ranting! Thank you for this blog post! I’ll definitely be keeping an eye on your blog from now on!
Thank goodness! Me I’m the one who has hair like you! I had a sort of wave throughout childhood and then it went a weird frizzy. I always thought it was from damage but it turns out it was real waves. And then after getting pregnant it got so bad I had to change something. I’ve been going curly for about a year now but did not find the curly girl method until 6 months ago. I have a method I like but find the right affordable products. Or perhaps I need to manage build up.
Hi! I’m so happy I came across your post, I haven’t been able to find anything relating to my hair type until now. The only difference with mine is I have greasy hair, it needs washing daily, which I try not to do. It has been a nightmare trying to find products that moisturise my ends but doesn’t leave my roots horrible after a day. Do you have any tips or advice please? Thank you 😊
This was amazingly helpful and your hair is GORGEOUS. Thank you so much! I believe there is help yet for my fine waves.