Want The Best Curly Hair Ever? Try The Bowl Method

How to do the Bowl Method

1. Shampoo like normal. 

2. Add a mask or deep conditioner and leave it in for 3-5 minutes.

3. Rinse out and apply a leave-in conditioner to your hair.

4. Comb your hair out in front of your face.

5. Apply the curl cream and scrunch it into your hair. 

6. Pour water into a bowl and start dunking your hair into the water. When you lift your head, scrunch all of the water back into the bowl. Do this as many times as you’re comfortable, but be sure to wring your curl-creamed hair out into the bowl so you’re not losing product. 

7. Scrunch out the last of the curl cream and apply a mousse. 

8. Let it air dry or diffuse it. You can also lightly scrunch it with a towel.

Day 1

I quickly realized that the bowl method was going to overhaul my normal routine. I usually shower around eight at night and then jump into bed right after (yes, I go to bed by nine, be jealous). But the quick turnover wasn’t going to work with the bowl method because the entire routine involves getting your hair wet and letting it stay pretty wet, unless I used a diffuser, which I don’t have.

So yesterday, I showered at around 5 pm. I rarely put any product in my hair, so I felt an immediate difference in the texture and hold of my curls. Once it was time for bed, I pulled my hair into a high bun, and today, my curls look great!

They have fallen throughout the day because of the heat wave, workouts, and general frizz, but there are more defined curls than if I had just put my hair into its regular bun. 

I’m excited to see if using the bowl method for curly hair will have the same effect every day I try it because any curly-haired person knows, you can get lucky with your hair once, but you can’t get lucky twice.

Day 2

I came home later last night and decided to have as close to my normal routine as possible, while still trying the bowl method. I did all the steps, but then I took a towel to my hair and scrunched it up. 

I walked around my house on Thursday night with sopping wet hair and it wasn’t an enjoyable experience at all, so I hoped the towel would minimize the discomfort. I stayed up about an hour after my shower, then threw my hair into a messy top bun and hoped for the best. 

To my absolute surprise, my hair is stunning today. There are so many rich and lush curls that I never get, and I’m starting to see why the internet is so obsessed with the bowl method. I made an effort last night to add more curl cream closer to my roots because yesterday everything was falling a bit more than I wanted, and it paid off.

Day 3

I did the same thing last night that I did two nights ago and just threw my hair in a top bun and let it dry that way. It worked well yesterday, and I even got a compliment from my neighbor (my ego skyrocketed and now I live and die by the bowl method). 

But this morning, my hair was still pretty wet from last night and it fell and frizzed throughout the day. I’m not going to rule out the bowl method from one bad experience, but I will caution you to let your hair dry as much as possible before messing with it.

Day 4

Last night, I took a shower around 6 pm so my hair could dry out significantly more before I went to bed. My goal is to wash my hair in the morning one of these days, but my schedule doesn’t allow over three hours for my hair to dry usually, so we’ll see about that. 

My hair looks fine today, but I’m losing hope that it will look great every day.

Day 5

I took a break from the bowl method yesterday because my hair has started to look rough the last two days. But I came back, added more curl cream than usual, and gave myself two hours of drying time before bed. 

Today the curls are back and better than ever. I love them, and they look so good. One of my favorite parts of the bowl method is that the curls aren’t just at the bottom of my hair but all throughout. You can see them when I put my hair up (which I inevitably do all day), and I don’t feel like I’m wasting my good hair day.

Day 6

I tried to towel dry my hair as much as possible while still scrunching it up all last night. I did a bit of research and I think the excessive amount of water was hurting my curls and weighing them down more than it was helping them. 

After scrunching all the water out, I let them sit for an hour until they went into a high bun and I fell asleep. In the end, I know my hair would look better if I did the bowl method in the morning, but I’m quickly learning how to make it work at night too.

Day 7

I always want to end the challenges off on a good note, and thankfully, this is one. I showered around 4 pm yesterday because it was one of those days. Because my hair was able to air dry completely by the time I went to bed, I was able to see what it would look like if I did the bowl method first thing in the morning. 

Surprisingly, I wasn’t too impressed and had low hopes for the day. But I think the high bun at night has allowed my hair to set well and my hair looks great today.

My Results

I liked the viral bowl method, but it didn’t change my life. It does take a bit of time and the method relies on you not drying your hair (unless you have a diffuser). That being said, I have so many nights when I’m showering by six and I have three hours to kill, so those are more than likely the nights I’ll implement this challenge into my routine in the future. The bowl method yielded great results, but they weren’t as consistent as I’d like for them to be.

Have you tried the bowl method? Are you going to now? Comment below!

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