Curly Girl: The Handbook [Paperback]

Michele Bender (Author), Lorraine Massey (Author), Deborah Chiel (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 13, 2011

The Curly Girl manifesto is back, now completely revised, updated, and expanded by more than a third with all-new material. Created by curly hair evangelist Lorraine Massey—the go-to curl expert featured in Allure, InStyle, Lucky, Seventeen, and The New York Times; owner of the Devachan salons in New York; and creator of a multimillion-dollar line of all-natural Devachan products—Curly Girl is the surprising bible for the 65 percent of women with naturally curly or wavy hair and a desire to celebrate it.

Curly Girl is packed with unique and fail-proof hair-care methods, inspiration, and an empowering pro-curl attitude. It’s all here: daily routines for Botticelli, fractal, and wavy curls; Lorraine’s no-more-shampoo epiphany—handle your hair as gently as you do your best cashmere sweater; homemade lotions and potions.

New to this edition: an illustrated, step-by-step guide to trimming your own hair (Remember: It’s not what you take off; it’s what you leave on.); a section on the particular needs of wavy hair; Lorraine’s Down-and-Dirty Curly Boy Routine; more fabulous ’dos for weddings and other special occasions; a chapter on multicurltural hair written by an African American specialist at Devachan. Plus, updated information on green and chemical-free products, 20 new Q&A’s, and a DVD with tutorials on caring for four different types of curls.

From now on, there’s no such thing as a bad hair day.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Say no to shampoo, unplug the dryer, and find your inner curl

Celebrate the beauty of curls in a buoyant how-to, manifesto, and curly girl support group all in one.

Beginning with hair's true nature and underscored by Lorraine's Shampoo Epiphany - handle your hair as gently as you do your best cashmere sweater - it's all here: the care, the styling, the cuts, the dos, the tips, the products, the remedies, the attitude.

Tight coils and soft wavy tresses, African American curls and curly kids - this is what to do to look and feel your best.

Includes: Curly Cues and Quizzes, Daily Routines for Corkscrew, Botticelli, and Wavy Curls, Homemade Lotions & Potions, Q&A's for No More Bad Hair Days, Twelve-Step Recovery Program that will change your life, one shampoo at a time.

Plus: I Used to be Straight....And 22 Other Curly Girl Confessions

About the Author

Michele Bender is a freelance writer whose work has appeared in Glamour, Cosmopolitan, The New York Times, Working Mother, and Health, where she was a contributing editor. She lives in New York City.

Lorraine Massey is the founder and co-owner of Devachan, a stylish salon and spa in SoHo in New York City. Her specialty--her passion--is curly hair, and curly girls from the city and afar flock to Devachan for her magic.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 176 pages
• Publisher: Workman Publishing Company; Pap/DVD edition (January 13, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 076115678X
• ISBN-13: 978-0761156789
• Product Dimensions: 0.2 x 7 x 8.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (298 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,484 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #9 in Books > Health, Fitness & Dieting > Beauty, Grooming, & Style
  • #13 in Books > Health, Fitness & Dieting > Women's Health > General

More About the Author

Lorraine Massey is the founder and co-owner of Devachan, a stylish salon and spa in SoHo in New York City. Her specialty--her passion--is curly hair, and curly girls from the city and afar flock to Devachan for her magic.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

165 of 169 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars A helpful book made better in the 2010 second edition April 29, 2011

By Eibhinn

Format:Paperback

Please be aware that for some reason Amazon has not created a new page for the updated second edition of this book, therefore any pre-December 2010 reviews will not take into account the improvements made in the updated version.

I have both the first and second editions of this book. As a curly haired curl with straight-haired parents, it wasn't until I bought the first edition of this book that I had any idea how to properly care for my hair. The main features of Massey's method are not using sulfate-based shampoos or any products containing silicone, styling the hair by scrunching with non-drying gel after washing, and preferably towel and air-drying the hair, or at least attaching a diffuser to your hair dryer. There is more information than just that in the book, including recipes for home-made hair products and specifics for how to cut and colour curly hair, but that is the skeleton of her approach. Although the hair-cutting information is meant for stylists, when my hair was very long I used it to cut my own hair and gave myself the best haircut I've ever had. Since using her methods I get a lot more compliments on my hair.

While the basics of the approach remain the same, the second edition of the book represents a significant increase in the amount of information shared. The book is about a centimeter taller and thirty pages longer and the formatting in the second edition (ex. smaller font and less empty space) means each page has more information. There is less silly "fluff" features (although some remains) and in a very helpful addition, a short 25 minute DVD means you can see the techniques demonstrated. The second edition has new information for curly haired men and children, and about grey hair. In addition to the introduction to Massey's haircutting technique, she provides guidelines for trimming your own hair, and at least two of the "curly girl" profiles explicitly discuss women acting as their own hairdresser. I suspected that since Massey now markets Devachan hair products, she might do a hard sell in the book and remove the homemade recipes. Instead she doesn't mention them a single time, and she has increased the number of recipes in the book. Most importantly, she has expanded her system of curl types from three (essentially waves, loose curls and tight curls) to seven different categories (S'wavy, Wavy, Cherub, Botticelli, Corkicelli, Corkscrew, and Fractal or Zizag) and has completely reworked the "African American hair" chapter from the first book (which revealed she had very little experience with black women's hair) to something much more satisfying. I would not recommend the first book to women of African origins with very tight curls, but I think this new edition definitely has a lot to offer.

I also prefer the tone of the new edition. The first book was a strange combination of strident and goofy, and almost felt like a hair-centric polemic written for tween girls. Because everything was written in extremes -- like ALL wavy hair is like this and NO curly hair is -- I got extremely confused trying to fit myself into her hair-typing system. Many characteristics of my hair meant it was wavy, apparently, despite the fact that I had ringlets on my head and my hair curled even when cut down to be two inches long. I have since realized that few people fit exactly into one specific category of hair texture -- most curlies have multiple textures or tightness of curls over their head. It's worthwhile reading the descriptions of all of the hair types and trying techniques from each one to see what works for you -- although the seven category system makes it much easier to make sense of what's going on, and what to try first.

My only real complaints about the new edition is that despite there being four specific hair care routines described in the book (one for Wavies, one for Botticelli, Corkicelli and Corkscrew, one for delicate Cherub curls and one for Fractal or Zigzag) Massey made the questionable decision on the DVD to only demonstrate two of these routines. The DVD content includes sort of useless demonstrations for how to prepare simple hair-care recipes, and people talking about their hair. Given that I appear to be closest to the "Cherub" hair type, I would have loved to see the techniques described in the book - which I'm not sure I completely understand based on the text - demonstrated on video. This exclusion is sort of illustrative of a larger problem in the book that certain hair types strongly dominate in the pictures, hairstyles, and demonstrations - notably Botticelli, Corkicelli and Corkscrew. Although there is something for everyone, people with different hair types might be frustrated to not be more represented in the book. Similarly, folks who are not new to caring for curly hair might be frustrated that there isn't more information here - while this is great for beginners, there are lots of different techniques and perspectives which can be found on the Naturally Curly website, for example about dew points, hair porosity, hair care ingredients, and styling techniques like "plopping."

61 of 62 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars It Finally Made Me a Believer! August 3, 2011

By Leslie

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

One afternoon as I was browsing the shelves in my local county library I suddenly saw the words, "Curly Girl" and I was intrigued enough to check it out and bring the book home.

All my life I have battled, hated, and been ashamed of my *ugly* naturally curly hair. I am the only curly girl in a family of people with stick-straight hair. When I was a child, my mother always complained that my hair looked "like it was combed with an egg-beater." I so wanted to feel long, swinging hair on my shoulders that I pinned scarves to my head. My mother always threatened that if I didn't take better care of my hair; i.e.,control its unruliness, she would cut it off. And just before my 3rd grade field trip to take a boat cruise in the harbor, that is exactly what she did! I was humiliated to discover that with the ocean's humidity I looked like a poodle! In my teens I slept on rollers as big as orange juice cans and even subjected my hair to a home-straightening kit, which ruined it and caused it to break off and thin. In my 20's I learned that if I kept my hair cut really short and used a big round brush to blow-dry it, my hair would be smoother. But the results never were exactly as I'd hoped and never lasted. Give me a rainstorm, fog, sweatiness, or too much handling, and it would all come undone. For years I wouldn't allow my husband to touch my hair for fear that my hair would revert to its natural state. (Not too romantic, heh?)

About 15 years ago at my *staight-haired* sister's urging, I tried using a diffuser when blow-drying my hair. Unfortunately I knew nothing about technique. I was living in the Desert Southwest and was still dutifully shampooing my hair every morning to remove the ton of hair products I loaded onto it the previous day and then blow-dying it before I went to work. The result of my efforts with the diffuser was that my hair was dry and brittle and frizzy. When I would unexpectedly catch a glimpse of myself in a mirror or window I would think, "who's that!"

Massey's book was a revelation from the beginning and I actually read it through in one sitting. The next day I followed her suggestions and was amazed at how much curl I actually had in my hair, even short. The 2nd day I read the labels on my haircare products and tossed out the ones with the drying ingredients, and even bravely disposed of my round styling brushes. Once I embraced my curliness, I decided that I really needed to grow it out some since without blow-drying, it looked really short! Each day my hair seemed to get shinier and by following the styling advice in Massey's book, my technique improved too. I haven't gotten a single negative comment or look from my friends and family. (Indeed, they are relieved that I am no longer so hair-crzed and dissatisfied with its appearance.) But best of all, I have come to terms with my curls and even discovered that I like the way they look and I am proud of them. I am so glad that I discovered "Curly Girl: the Handbook" that day in the library. I wish there had been a book like it years ago when I was really young. It has changed my life for the better.

42 of 44 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Where there's a wave...you need this book! February 2, 2011

By Gretchen Louise

Format:Paperback

"Where there's a wave, there's a curl," says Lorraine Massey. And she should know. Not only did she start a group of hair salons that cater to curly heads, but she was the author of the original Curly Girl handbook that began the "curly revolution" in our nation!

In the ten years since the original Curly Girl book came out, Lorraine has gathered even more curly know-how, which she shares in the newly-released, curlier-than-ever version of the Curly Girl: The Handbook. I learned a lot of new tips and facts in its pages. Did you know that hair is 97% protein, thus the protein intake in your diet directly affects your hair's health? The illustration of a hair's cuticles using pine cones was easy to understand ("smooth = moist cuticle, open = dry, frizzed cuticle"). And for the first time I realized why curly hair is never as glossy as straight hair (its shape doesn't reflect the light as well!).

I also noticed a lot of things that hadn't been in the first edition of the book, but that I'd learned along the way about my own curls. Lorraine's "jet-set" method of putting in extra gel for travel and not shaking out her curls until she arrived is exactly what I do--and I well remember the days of cranking up my car heater to dry my curls on the way to work! The expanded information on not only choosing a hair stylist but cutting your own curls proved very helpful for this girl who's always taking the scissors to her curls, too.

It was great to see real, live curly girl models gracing the pages of Curly Girl instead of just curly celebrity types. Another thing I really appreciated is that even though Lorraine now owns her own DevaCurl product line, she didn't push it in the book. She still shared with curly girls the good and bad ingredients to watch for, as well as a plethora of "recipes" for homemade hair care (including lots of new ones I can't wait to try--like a ginger rinse!). There's even a chapter for curly guys that my curly husband had to check out (the fact that chemical-filled shampoo can cause hair loss has not yet convinced him to throw out his shampoo bottles, though).

I'd rather have seen the publisher keep the historical timeline of curls through the ages from the first edition of the book, over bringing back the curly astrology. And there are a few stories I wish they'd have left out--moms might want to edit a page or two before sharing the book with their younger girls. But the updated information in the book, along with the new how-to DVD, makes it a great addition to any curly girl's library--even if she already has the first edition!