Live Curly Live Free

Live Curly Live Free is still without power because of Hurricane Milton. We will reopen when power is restored!

One of Florida’s original curly hair experts since 2008.
https://www.livecurlylivefree.salon/

In case you're wondering what's been up with the Live Curly Live Free page! Interesting tv? Who the hell was that?

Back in mid-October, Tiffany was hacked and the LCLF page was hijacked by someone (who we now refer to as the Sleazy Nigerian Bitcoin Hacker) who did all sorts of crazy stuff and was trying to scam our followers. Long story short, she was finally able to have her old profile deleted in December (Meta makes it almost impossible to do that, incidentally) so he could no longer post his creepy stuff here.

Meta, however, made us wait THREE MONTHS before we could change the name of the page back to LCLF and update the bio/page details. Quite frankly, Mark Zuckerberg & Company makes things far, far easier for the sleazebags and hackers than they do for the legitimate folks.

Someday, maybe Tiffany will tell you the story of how she was so mad, she filed an FBI cybersecurity complaint against the hacker and named Meta as a co-conspirator, lol.

In any case, we have control of the page again! Stay tuned!

Are you new to CG? Feeling completely overwhelmed??? Here is a fast five-minute breakdown on how to do the Curly Girl Method (CGM) simply. It's a great starting point!

NOTE: Before you start ANYTHING, make sure you know your texture (fine, medium, coarse) first!

1. Find a good curly-friendly shampoo or co-wash.
A. Use isitcg[dot]com, curlscan[dot]com or curlsbot[dot]com to check a product ingredient label to make sure a product is curly-friendly (i.e., "CG").
B. You can also go to the "Recommendations" menu tab on livecurlylivefree.salon to find product recommendations for your particular hair texture.
C. You do NOT need to do a "final wash" with a harsh, sulfate-based shampoo (who even started that???) to start CG. If you are worried about it, throw some baking soda or activated charcoal in a curly-friendly shampoo instead.

2. Make sure every single product you put near your head is silicone-free; that means your shampoos, co-washes, conditioners, leave-ins, stylers, finishers, EVERYTHING!
A. Use isitcg[dot]com, curlscan[dot]com or curlsbot[dot]com to check a product ingredient label to make sure a product is curly-friendly (i.e., "CG").
B. You can go to the "Recommendations" menu tab on livecurlylivefree.salon to find product recommendations for your particular hair texture.

3. Use a wide-tooth comb to distribute your conditioner during application, even if you feel tangle-free.
A. A wide-tooth comb or a pick will almost always give you a better product distribution and product coating.
B. If you have fine hair, make sure your conditioner has protein in it or use something like Neutral Protein Filler from Sally Beauty to spritz over your hair during the conditioning phase. FINE HAIR NEEDS PROTEIN.
C. If you do NOT have fine hair, avoid protein in your penetrating products, i.e.,your conditioners and your leave-ins.

4. Rinse out your conditioner completely with cool or cold water.
A. It makes a difference! Cool things shut the hair shaft down while warm things open the hair shaft up.

5. Flip your head upside down in the shower for best product application. Apply (rake or scrunch) your products in on SOAKING wet hair: leave-in conditioner, curl cream, gel, mousse, etc. Be generous if you need to be!
A. Make sure you also loosen those wet curls from your hairline and scalp!

6. First, use your hands to squeeze your curls (until the water stops running), then use a flour sack towel, an old cotton t-shirt or anything that is 100% cotton with a smooth surface to finish scrunching out the extra water from your hair. (I am NOT a fan of microfiber.)

7. Flip right side up and arrange your curls the way you want them.
A. Using the tail of a rattail/pintail comb (or a chopstick or a skewer or an orangewood stick or ...), find your part, separate curls if necessary, lift your curls up off your scalp, etc.
B. Remember that how your curls dry is how they are going to be, so be mindful here.

8. Clip up those roots for volume!
A. Use claw clips instead of those impossible silver prong clips: Your clipping will be much easier!

7. Let your hair dry. Air-dry, diffuse, bonnet dryer, car vents: It doesn't matter.
A. Make sure your hair is at least 95% of the way dry before you decide you are dry enough to call it quits.

8.Finish it! Take the clips out, flip upside down again, shake out your roots and break up the dried product (you can scrunch out the crunch, clap out the crunch, smooth out the crunch using praying hands, etc.
A. Experiment with different methods to find the one you like the best.

9. Flip right side up, arrange those beautiful curls, smooth over a finishing oil or serum (if you want) and ta-da! Hi, curly girl!!!

Happy Father's Day!

Just a reminder... Our website is www.livecurlylivefree.salon, NOT [dot] com!

We're getting a lot of questions asking why our Magic Humidity Barrier will only be for sale in Florida. “But, it’s humid where I live, too!!!” Let us try to explain.

If you live in Florida, you know that living with curly hair here is quite the challenge. While other places can also be quite hot and humid, Floridians have a unique set of circumstances that makes us a bit different from curly girls who live in other places.

Our tap water bubbles up through natural springs and percolates through limestone, which gives us a very different mineral composition than is found elsewhere. Many of us spend a great deal of time in Florida’s abundant saltwater ocean, gulf, bays, rivers, and streams. Our sun is absolutely killer because we are so much closer to the equator than other states are. In other words: Just because it is “hot and humid” where you live, that doesn’t mean your requirements for living successfully as a curly girl are the same as those of a curly girl in Florida.

It's really not much different than when a New Yorker tells you they have the best pizza in the world because their unique tap water makes the crust so distinctive.

That's why the Florida Curls line will only be available either in our salon in Largo, Florida (MHB is actually available there now) or to ship to a Florida address. We will not sell nor ship outside the state of Florida, because we won't be able to guarantee product performance. When we originally tested Magic Humidity Barrier, we put it through its paces in California, Maui, and Maine—in addition to Florida—and it just wasn’t the same.

Quite simply, the Florida Curls line is specifically formulated for Florida curly girls and their special needs. We hope this clears things up.

We haven't posted for a very long time, but things are going great in our Florida curly world these days! We've had massive delays (for a bunch of reasons), but we'll be shipping our Magic Humidity Barrier, a lightweight barrier jelly that seals out humidity, to Florida curlies this fall! (fingers crossed!)

Florida Curls. Because it's not just about the heat and humidity here. It's about everything that makes Florida... Florida.

https://www.livecurlylivefree.salon/florida-curls

I was absolutely crushed to hear that Jess McGuinty from Jessicurl passed away a few days ago.

In the early, early, EARLY days of naturallycurly [dot] com, I remember when Jess showed up on the forums one day, RAVING about this incredible gel she had made for herself since she could never find anything she liked for her hair. She was babbling like a maniac about it, lol, posted the recipe constantly for everyone to try...until a few girls asked her to make it for them because they didn't have time and they would pay her for it.

That product became Rockin' Ringlets. And thus, Jessicurl was born.

I've personally been out of touch with Jess for a good many years, but I still remember the sweet, funny, quirky, incredibly giving redhead from those early days of the whole CG revolution. My heart is breaking. Curly World lost a shining star today.

Godspeed, Jess. I know the ringlets of the angels in the heavens are in great hands now ❤️💔❤️

My updated Live Curly Live Free Book is now available on Kindle and in paperback 🙌🎉

FYI ... NONE OF THE FUNDAMENTAL INFORMATION HAS CHANGED IF YOU’VE PURCHASED THIS BOOK PREVIOUSLY. There is a new cover, and I wrote a new Foreword, but everything else is exactly the same.

(You know, something you can do when you base a book on actual hair science and not on marketing stardust 🙄)

If you own the Kindle version and your automatic update flag settings are on, you should get the updated version without having to do anything.

If you have curly hair and you haven’t read this book, I can’t stress enough how helpful it can be—especially in today’s day and age, where you have all these product manufacturers and “ambassadors” and YouTubers/TikTokers, etc. clogging the social media airways and throwing marketing stardust in your eyes in an effort to sell you stuff … without backing it up with any hair science.

There is a ton of information in the book to digest, but I wrote it in a very easy to understand manner, so curly girls everywhere would have the information they need to make informed choices.

Live Curly, Live Free: Unlocking the Secrets Behind the World of Beautiful Curly Hair Live Curly, Live Free: Unlocking the Secrets Behind the World of Beautiful Curly Hair