The Abbey Yung method is everywhere right now. And honestly? For good reason. It’s structured, thorough, and it works — for a lot of people. But if you have 3c/4a hair and you’ve tried following it to the letter, you probably hit a wall somewhere around step three and wondered what you were doing wrong.
You weren’t doing anything wrong. The method just wasn’t built for you.
I have 3c/4a textured hair, and I spent a long time trying to squeeze my curl pattern into routines that weren’t designed with it in mind. The Abbey Yung method gave me a solid framework — scalp to ends, layered products, intentional sequencing — but the gaps were real. No acknowledgment of scalp-specific issues common in textured hair. No clarity on low-porosity concerns. No real roadmap for the person who wears a wash-and-go one week and a silk press the next. So I built my own version. I call it the BRA Method — Broke Rich Auntie — because the philosophy is simple: you don’t need a salon budget to treat your hair like it’s worth one. 
What the BRA Method Is (And What It Borrows)
The BRA Method follows Abbey Yung’s general structure — pre-shower prep, in-shower treatment, post-shower styling, and between-wash care — because that foundation is genuinely good. What it adds is specificity for textured hair at every single step.
Here’s how it works, and why each part matters.
Pre-Shower: Start Before You Even Get In
Step 1: Scalp Prep (optional, 1x per week)
This step doesn’t exist in most mainstream routines, and that’s exactly the problem. Before water ever touches your hair, apply a water-based or medicated scalp treatment directly to a dry scalp — think Pattern Beauty Deep Scalp Detox or Act+Acre Cold Processed Scalp Detox — and let it sit for 10 to 20 minutes. For textured hair that’s prone to buildup, dryness, or inflammation, starting the wash process with a clean, prepped scalp changes everything downstream.
Step 2: Conditioner Pre-Poo (optional, 1x per week)
Apply a lightweight, slip-rich conditioner — Ouai Thick Hair Conditioner or Kinky Curly Knot Today work well — to your mid-lengths and ends on dry hair before shampooing. You’re not rinsing it out. You’re going straight into the shower with it on. For 3c/4a hair, detangling stress during washing is one of the biggest causes of breakage. This step significantly reduces it.
In-Shower: Clean Smart, Not Hard
Shampooing textured hair isn’t one-size-fits-all, so the BRA Method breaks it into three options depending on what your scalp needs that week:
- Medicated shampoo (optional): For scalp concerns like flaking or inflammation, use something like Design Essentials Peppermint & Aloe or As I Am’s Olive & Tea Tree Oil Dandruff Shampoo on the scalp only.
- Moisturizing shampoo (every wash): Smooth a hydrating shampoo — Shea Moisture Low Porosity Weightless Hydrating Shampoo or Curlsmith Essential Moisture Shampoo — through your mid-lengths and ends only, moving downward to avoid tangling.
- Clarifying shampoo (every 2–3 weeks): This one is non-negotiable for low-porosity hair. Buildup sits on the cuticle and blocks moisture from penetrating, no matter how many products you layer on top. Ouidad Water Works or BREAD Beauty Supply Clear + Wash are both solid options here.
Bond Repair Treatment (every 4–6 weeks)
If your hair is showing signs of damage or breakage, this is where you address it. Olaplex No. 3 or Curlsmith Bond Curl Rehab Salve applied mid-lengths to ends before deep conditioning gives your strands structural support that moisture alone can’t provide.
Deep Condition + Heat (every wash)
This is where the BRA Method diverges most sharply from generic routines: heat is not optional here, it’s the point. Apply a moisture-focused deep conditioner — Briogeo Don’t Despair Repair, tgin Miracle RepaiRx, or CÉCRED Moisturizing Deep Conditioner — detangle in sections, cover with a cap, and sit under a hooded dryer or use a steamer for 10 to 20 minutes. For 3c/4a hair, heat is what actually opens the cuticle enough for moisture to penetrate. Without it, you’re deep conditioning the outside of your hair, not the inside.
Post-Shower: Layer with Intention
Leave-In + Heat Protectant (every wash)
On dripping wet hair, apply a watery or milky leave-in — Mizani 25 Miracle Milk, Amika Hydro Rush, or It’s a 10 Miracle Leave-In — smoothing from roots to ends. If you’re heat styling, your protectant goes on now, not after.
Root Definition + Styling
For curly styling: a light gel or foam (Kinky Curly Curling Custard, The Doux Mousse Def) applied at the roots with upward praying-hands motions, followed by a curl cream (SheaMoisture Curl Enhancing Smoothie, Ouidad Curl Quencher) at the mid-lengths and ends.
For silk press styling: a lightweight smoothing serum (Design Essentials Silk Essentials, Mizani Press Agent) warmed between your palms and applied sparingly before heat.
Either way, finish with a light serum or oil — Olaplex No. 7, BREAD Glass Hair Serum, or amika Superfruit Star Oil — to seal and add shine without weight.
Between Washes: Don’t Undo Your Work
Curly hair: Refresh with water and a small amount of leave-in. Avoid re-layering heavy products — it leads to buildup, which leads back to that clarifying shampoo conversation. Spot-treat the scalp only if needed.
Silk press: Protect at night. Always. A satin bonnet or silk pillowcase is not optional — it’s what determines whether your style lasts three days or seven.
The Bottom Line
The BRA Method isn’t a rejection of what Abbey Yung built. It’s an expansion of it — one that accounts for the scalp care, porosity challenges, and styling versatility that textured hair actually requires. You don’t need to spend a fortune. You don’t need a trichologist on speed dial. You just need a routine that was built with your hair in mind from the start.
This one was built for mine. I hope it works for yours too.
Want to save the full BRA Method for wash day? Download the complete guide below.
