If you're a curly-haired girl like me (or just someone who keeps up with fashion trends) you're probably familiar with the "Curly Girl Method." This is a style guide for those of us with wavy, curly or coily hair that aims to maximize our volume and curliness by following a few rules, which I'll get into later.

I first heard about the Curly Girl Method at a party a few weeks ago, when one of my friends with beautiful curly hair said I ought to try it out. So, for the better part of December, I decided to try it out.

The first step was to do some research, and I found this helpful chart on how to effectively follow this method. At first glance, I was frightened. The first step is something I never thought I'd have to do: give up shampoo.

Now, this may be TMI, but if my hair goes over 24 hours without being shampooed, it gets greasy, and I was not about to walk around with greasy hair.

Shampoo problems aside, though, the rest of the list seemed easy. For the most part, it was just avoiding things, like putting heat on your hair or using a comb (two things I'd already stopped doing in the past few months anyway) and avoiding certain chemicals. Other than ditching the shampoo, I was ready to roll with the Curly Girl Method.

Fast forward to about two weeks later, my hair has been transformed. Even in just a short amount of time, I can definitely see a difference with my hair. While, admittedly, the curliness of my hair has only gone up a little bit, the actual volume of it has been dramatically different. Earlier this year, when I was still trying to figure out how to style my curly hair sans heat, there were many days where my hair would stay pretty flat against my head, some days, to the point where it was like a helmet. Now, though, I find myself genuinely surprised by the way that my hair naturally dries with some volume to it.

Another life-changer that came with the Curly Girl Method was my shampoo and conditioner use. I used to go through a ton of shampoo and conditioner a month, due to both the thickness and length of my hair, but after starting this method, my shampoo and conditioner usage has really been cut down. This comes from not having to use as much as often, and from switching over to a shampoo and conditioner that fulfill the requirements of the Curly Girl Method, so their effects last longer on my hair than the other stuff had.

Overall, the Curly Girl Method is something that I've genuinely loved being a part of. While I was apprehensive at first, especially when it came to getting rid of shampoo, I've definitely learned why others swear by this routine, and I would highly recommend it to my fellow curly-haired people out there.