Up to now 12 months, I went from being the lady who used a Revlon brush to blow out her hair each single day of the week to a self-proclaimed curly lady. I owe this transformation to a number of elements—residing in an incessantly humid local weather, supportive pals who inspired me to like my curls, and a stellar curly haircut amongst them—however above all, my curly hair transformation occurred due to CurlTok. I’d be utterly misplaced with out the steering of the web instructing me the distinction between gel and mousse, how you can correctly diffuse, and most significantly, how you can embrace my curls for his or her distinctive sample. Nonetheless, there are a couple of viral strategies that I’ve but to check out alone curly hair, principally due to the sheer quantity of effort that they require. Dunking my head the other way up right into a bowl of water? Yeah, that’s included.
Whether or not the viral bowl technique has graced your FYP or not, you’ve doubtless discovered your self skeptical about at the least one out-there curly hair routine that has circulated on the web prior to now couple of years. To unravel whether or not the bowl technique is definitely well worth the every day effort—or price even attempting within the first place—I examined it out on my naturally curly hair. Listed here are my ideas on TikTok’s favourite new technique for maximizing curl quantity on the root and creating bigger curl clumps.
What’s the bowl technique?
@curlyzia.xo Save for subsequent time ✨ #ziasbowlmethod #curlclumping #bowlmethodwaves #wavycurlytips
♬ Acoustic People Instrumental – Yunusta
The bowl technique first went viral on TikTok with a video from @curlyzia.xo, although some sources credit score hairstylist Lorraine Massey for the creation of the tactic. Many (if not most) of the methods for enhancing curly hair that flow into the web each day originate from the recommendation of Black girls, and the explanation why so few folks know how you can correctly care for his or her curls within the first place is due to racially biased magnificence requirements that permeate our tradition and uphold a choice for straight hair. That stated, the explanation why the bowl technique is popping up on the web now could be due to the approval of influencers like Zia and Jonathan Monroe.
The steps of the bowl technique embody the next:
- Wash your hair as you usually do with shampoo and conditioner. Whenever you get out of the bathe, fill a bowl with chilly water.
- Flip your hair over and rake by any tangles along with your fingers. Then, dunk it within the water whereas the other way up (you should definitely utterly submerge and soak all your hair). Elevate your hair out of the bowl, nonetheless the other way up, and scrunch your curls along with your fingers.
- Rake curl cream by your hair, nonetheless the other way up. Then, proceed to do the identical dunking-and-scrunching repetition on the entrance and sides of your hair.
- Remaining the other way up, glaze over your curls along with your most well-liked gel or mousse, and scrunch your curls to distribute the product evenly and take away the surplus water.
In line with Attract, there isn’t a lot science behind the method of the bowl technique. Nonetheless, creators like Zia declare that the technique helps to scale back frizz by distributing the conditioner and curl cream evenly all through curly hair. The fixed upside-down nature of the tactic additionally will increase the quantity of the curls, as gravity does its factor to elevate the curls away from the foundation. Provided that some specialists even oppose the tactic, is a viral curly hair dunking technique actually well worth the effort? This was the query that prompted me to check the bowl technique for myself.
About my curly hair
Think about this a significant disclaimer: Should you even have curly hair, the probabilities that your bowl-method-curls and my bowl-method-curls end up the identical are mainly zero. Everybody’s curly hair is totally different, so no “curly-girl technique” goes to work the very same on anybody. With that stated, right here’s the 101 alone curly hair. My hair is ok, however I’ve a number of it, and it additionally leans on the dry aspect. I battle with sustaining quantity on the root of my curls for a couple of causes, together with years of straightening it, in addition to product buildup because of how light-weight it’s.
Although a correctly layered curly haircut and a few improbable clarifying shampoo undoubtedly assist, the truth that I battle with quantity on the root of my curls signifies that I’m a main candidate for testing out the bowl technique. My regular curly-girl routine is way much less complicated than dunking my head the other way up in a bowl of water. As an alternative, I normally rake-and-scrunch my curl cream and gel by my hair (right-side up, thanks very a lot), hover diffuse (this I admittedly do the other way up, with the intention to dry my roots first), after which permit my hair to air dry as soon as it’s not dripping moist.
How the bowl technique measures up
I’m going to be sincere: there was a center level of testing out the bowl technique after I was very, very involved in regards to the route wherein my curls had been headed. Although I discovered the method of dunking and scrunching within the bowl to be considerably therapeutic, as soon as I had glazed my gel over my moist hair the other way up, I had a panicked “What now?!” second. Flipping my hair again up was a problem, and the moist curl clumps seemed to be stepping into all totally different instructions after I first seemed within the mirror. Nonetheless, I made a decision to belief the method, and I managed to go about my common diffusing routine with out completely freaking out.
In the long run, I’m completely happy to report that I did see outcomes from doing the bowl technique. My curls had been undoubtedly extra voluminous on the root, and the method did make my curls greater, as a result of giant clumps that resulted from repeatedly soaking my head. CurlTok isn’t completely stuffed with B.S. on this one: My hair was bouncier and extra outlined after attempting this technique. When you have a try-anything-once mentality like I do in the case of my curls, then undoubtedly try it out on your self—you may simply discover the reply to your personal curly hair woes.
Nonetheless, on the finish of the day, I can’t say that I see myself doing the bowl technique greater than as soon as a month or so for one easy purpose: It’s simply an excessive amount of work. The added steps of filling a bowl with water and repeatedly dunking and scrunching my hair, to not point out the decrease again discomfort from being the other way up for thus lengthy, make this technique massively inconvenient and never precisely sustainable for daily (for me, at the least). Except for the truth that it’s unattainable to suggest for everybody as a result of everybody’s curls are totally different, I believe that the bowl technique shouldn’t be essentially price working right into a every day routine due to the sheer period of time that it takes. Fortunately for these of us who don’t wish to make an everyday time dedication to the bowl technique, there’s a complete web stuffed with many, many extra curl suggestions ready for us to discover. Should you’re somebody who doesn’t thoughts an added step, this one is certainly price testing.
Supply: The Every Girl