Is It Curly Girl Approved? How to Check Any Product
Quick answer: A product is Curly Girl Method approved if it contains no sulfates, no non-water-soluble silicones, no drying alcohols, and no waxes/mineral oil. Checking manually means memorizing dozens of INCI names — or you can scan the label with HairWise, which flags every CGM-excluded ingredient at once.
The Curly Girl Method exclusion list
| Excluded | Why | Watch for |
|---|---|---|
| Sulfates | Strip the natural oils curls depend on | Sodium Lauryl/Laureth Sulfate, Ammonium Lauryl Sulfate, Sodium Coco-Sulfate |
| Non-soluble silicones | Build up without sulfates to remove them | Dimethicone, Cyclopentasiloxane, Amodimethicone (PEG-prefixed silicones are OK) |
| Drying alcohols | Dehydrate and frizz curls | Alcohol Denat., SD Alcohol 40, Isopropyl Alcohol (fatty alcohols like Cetyl/Cetearyl are fine) |
| Waxes & mineral oil | Seal out moisture, hard to wash out co-wash-only | Cera Alba (beeswax), Paraffinum Liquidum, Petrolatum |
Why manual checking fails
The traps are everywhere: Behentrimonium Methosulfate looks like a sulfate but is CG-approved. Cetearyl Alcohol looks like a drying alcohol but is a moisturizer. PEG-12 Dimethicone looks like a forbidden silicone but rinses clean. One misread and you're weeks into build-up wondering why your curls died.
The 10-second version
HairWise reads the entire INCI list and applies the rules for you — including the exceptions above — then goes one step further: it scores the product for your specific curls (porosity, texture, scalp), because CG-approved doesn't automatically mean right for you.
Verify any bottle before it touches your curls
- Scan the ingredient list in-store or at home.
- Every sulfate, non-soluble silicone, drying alcohol and wax is flagged — with the false-friends (methosulfate, fatty alcohols, PEG-silicones) correctly cleared.
- Get a personalized score on top: approved and suited to your porosity and curl pattern.