Book Review: Lorraine Massey’s “Curly Girl: The Handbook”

Ladies with waves, curls and kinks in their hair who don’t want to fight what nature gave them might want to take a look at Lorraine Massey and Michelle Bender’s Curly Girl: The Handbook ($13.95, Workman Publishing).

Massey long battled with her natural curls, fighting them with haircuts she ultimately hated and using products which left her dissatisfied. She finally came to embrace her curls and learning the right way to cut curly hair as well as ways to treat hair with waves, ringlets and corkscrews. (She is co-owner of Devachan Salon, catering to curly haired types, and has the DevaCurl product line, too.)

The book, originally released in 2001, was reissued a decade later, with new tips and stories. Women’s hair care is the bulk of the book, but men, children and those who experience curls (or lose them) through chemotherapy are also addressed.

It’s a short book, but full of advice and photos. Readers will learn hair care tips (keep curls hydrated, for starters), best products to try (avoid shampoos with sulfates, she advises, and avoid alcohol, both of which can dry and damage curls), and offers recipes for concoctions to refresh hair and curls. (A lavender spray, with distilled water and a couple drops of essential lavender oil, makes a fragrant and gentle refresher spray.)

The advice is easy and common sense, and anyone who follows it and decides to embrace their hair’s natural texture, be it wavy, curly or corkscrew, will find it’s a way to potentially save money and time through saying goodbye to straighteners, blowouts, endless products, not to mention a healthier head of hair as a result of avoiding harsh chemicals.

On a personal note, just cutting cleansers with sulfates and trying an alcohol-free gel has made my hair’s curl re-emerge and it’s a lot less frizzy. And the homemade lavender spray definitely makes for a nice refresher. It’s been a $14 well spent for me.