Reader Testimonial – Gabrielle Stolar

Readers’ Diary includes some of my beautiful readers who’ve had a curly hair transformation after following the Curly Hair Routine. A whole section dedicated to my readers.

So here’s a big shoutout to all my lovely readers – I would love it if you can share photos of your curly hair’s before & after, how the blog has helped you and a paragraph about your routine and products. Send them to info@curlsandbeautydiary.com

“I started my curly hair journey back in February this year, and other than asking my sister or Google for what I needed to do, I was completely in the dark…until I found the Curls and Beauty Diary on Instagram. I saw some posts of these GORGEOUS curls, and all these posts about products I’d never heard of, and then I saw that this woman had a blog and was like ‘okay…let’s see.’ I cannot express how AMAZING of a moment it was for me. I nearly teared up from sheer relief. All the frustration I’d had for months of not knowing what to do with my hair, or anything about curl patterns, or anything about curly hair altogether. The blog is a curly girl’s lifesaver. Every single thing you could possibly wonder, or ask, or Google about curly hair – is right…there! In one, extremely easy to navigate blog. I was blown away. I spent the rest of my day reading post after post soaking up all this knowledge, the next few days trying new products. I use the curly hair routine and FINALLY my hair is actually CURLY. Every time I see someone with long straight hair and I look in the mirror at my big chop, not even shoulder length hair, I get really depressed. There have been times that I’ve wanted to go grab my flat iron and straighten my hair just because I miss my length so much. But every time I feel that way, I log into Instagram, or I pull up the blog, and I read through the posts again, or I look at the photos of Anjana’s hair and I take a deep breath and say “okay…you can do this, just don’t give up.” The entire blog literally keeps me going, and I am forever grateful. Thank you so much!!! You have helped make this possible ^.^

My curly hair routine:

1. I wash my hair with shampoo only once a week, otherwise I co-wash anytime I feel like my curls are weighed down or lack their usual luster (1-2 times a week). My current shampoo/condition combo is SheaMoisture Jamaican Black Castor Oil line, and I use the conditioner as my co-wash because it has apple cider vinegar in it and leaves my hair feeling soooo clean!
2. After I wash or co-wash, I will apply a leave in conditioner and put my hair in a bun and wrap it in a t-shirt to sleep. Because of time in the mornings, I found it easier for me to wash at night, and then that way I get a really good deep condition in overnight, too.
3. The next morning, I’ll rinse my deep condition out with cold water, and style in my morning shower.
4. For styling, I take some more of whatever conditioner I’m using and rake it through my hair, root to tips, making sure my hair is “dripping with conditioner.” And then I gently flip my head over and do the squish-to-condish method. (I also should add that all of my styling is done in the shower. I’ve noticed that it helps tremendously with frizz, and is just so much easier).
5. After this step, I’ll gently flip my head upright and apply the Low-Porosity leave in detangler (SheaMoisture again). I do this by glazing my crown area and top layer of hair, and then flipping my head over again and doing the same glazing with the nape of my neck area. I will then use the prayer hands method to apply the rest of the product to the length of my hair. I use about a quarter size amount of this product.
6. After my leave in, I apply the SheaMoisture Curl Enhancing Smoothie in much the same way. Stand upright, glaze the crown of my head, glaze the hair on the nape of my neck, and then use the prayer hands method. For this step I use about…2 quarter size amounts? And then I get more product and scrunch it in. I’ll scrunch until I see curls forming, and then I apply my last product.
7. I have yet to find a gel that doesn’t dry out my hair, so for now I use the Jamaican Black Castor Oil Leave In Conditioner. On my hair, it gives me extreme hold and a curl cast just like a gel, but without any drying side effects. I take a little less than a quarter size amount, rub it into my hands, and glaze the top layer of my hair all around, including my crown area. I then scrunch in the remainder with open hands (like Anjana in her curly hair routine video), from all angles to keep my hair from sticking to my scalp. And then done!
8. After my shower, I will either scrunch out excess water with a tshirt, or plop my hair with a tshirt depending on time.
9. Once all the excess water is gone, I diffuse my hair on cold and low for about 25 minutes. This only gets my hair partially dry. I will then apply a small amount more of the Jamaican Black Castor Oil Leave In Conditioner in the way that is done by BounceCurl (another product I’d like to try) by gently stroking the product into the hair with an open hand, but NOT raking fingers through. This helps with frizz! I’ll then diffuse another 10 or so minutes to get my hair to about 90 percent dry, then go about my day. Once it’s 100% dry, I’ll scrunch out the crunch, and there you go!”

Start your own curl transformation today! – Start Here. Read about other readers’ transformations here – Readers’Diary. Submit your own diary at info@curlsandbeautydiary.com