
BENGALURU: Before curly-haired icons like Taapsee Pannu, Sanya Malhotra, and Kangana Ranaut gained popularity on the big screen, curly-haired Gen-Zs and millennials grew up watching actors and models with shiny, straight and uncannily frizz-free hair, waving in the wind, with not a single curl or wave in sight.
With this, it’s no wonder that many grew up not knowing their hair type or how to take care of it. In the last few years, with the ‘curly girl method’, a technique for maintaining and styling curly and wavy hair, gaining popularity on Indian social media, young people are learning to embrace their natural curls.
“I had a weird relationship with my hair when I was younger; it was very thick. There were no curly hair icons at the time and when you’d occasionally see curly hair, it was not very natural. Once I started doing this method, my hair has become a greater part of my personality, it’s a part of my identity, in a way,” says Aasaavari Mohana Gobburu, an undergraduate student.
The curly girl method, created by black American stylist Lorraine Massey, advocates a multi-step routine to maintain textured hair and enhance natural curls, based on different hair types. It started gaining popularity among international beauty influencers around 2018, but became popular in India more recently.
Isha Mukherjee, owner and creative director of Curl Up and Dye Hair Studio in Indiranagar, specialising in caring for curly hair, explains its popularity. She says, “During Covid, a lot of people left their hair alone without straightening it. Parallelly, curly hair brands started picking up in the market. I remember at one point, if we had 20-25 reviews, 10-15 of those reviews were around curly hair. As a community, curly-haired people were so troubled, and still are, that when they find a solution, they genuinely want to share it.”
Shivika Kumar, a communications student, first heard about the curly girl method when she started college two years ago. “I didn’t really know how to take care of my hair because people around me didn’t know about it either, even though a lot of people in my family have curly hair. The major improvement I’ve seen is with curl definition. I also learnt a lot about how I should comb my hair when wet and protect it before going to sleep by braiding it,” she says.
To beginners wanting to try the curly girl method, Meghna J, a Bengaluru-based influencer running the popular Instagram account ‘@fuzzycurls_’, says, “If you find a hair type chart online and categorise yourself, it becomes easy to understand what products to use because the amount and type of products you need vary a lot when you compare 2B and 3A hair types.” She suggests keeping it simple with a good shampoo, oil and gel. “If you want a little extra, you can go for a leave-in conditioner or a curl cream, and a serum to seal your hair. It’s exactly like your skincare – you moisturise, apply serum, and then seal it with a sunscreen,” she says.
The multiple steps and products involved in the curly girl method can get overwhelming for some. Mukherjee suggests getting a professional consultation: “People come for haircuts after they’ve spent `3,000-`4,000 for a bundle of stuff that may not work for them. Whereas you could come for a consultation, probably spend less than that, and get proper information about products aligned for you,” she says.