Shampoo & conditioner or cowash?

Co-washing was “invented” by Lorraine Massey for the Curly Girl Method. Because she has super curly hair that had a tendency to be dry, she was trying to figure out a way to keep the moisture in her curls since shampooing was too drying. And however much time later, voila! Conditioner washing was born. She found that she could keep her scalp clean by using the friction of her fingers rubbing her scalp vigorously with the conditioner that kept her curls moisturized and happy. In between cleanses, she spritzers her hair with lavender water to refresh her scalp and curls. for the whole story, you have to read the book.😊

How I roll is co-wash all week, but once a week use a sulfate free shampoo. I use a protein treatment and deep conditioning treatment every week to two weeks, depending on how my hair feels/is acting. Every month to two months, I will use a sulfate shampoo before my PT/DT to totally strip my hair of any build up that may have
occurred. By doing this, I went from oily, itchy scalp and dead dry hair with little body, to normal scalp (but dry in dry winter air), moisturized silky hair that has waves and curls.

You know I can talk about this for HOURS! Haha! And my battery on my iPad is dying.😝

I started co washing in November and noticed the oily scalp is gone 🙂 now I have a dry scalp problem occasionally, which the argan oil is working for 🙂 THanks BelindaSK! So next for me is figuring out protein treatments and how to make my hair look nice for a whole day instead of just the first half before it goes limp and frizzy , ugh.

My basic routine…I co-wash every day and shampoo once a week. In the summer I might shampoo twice a week, in winter I co wash a bit longer before I need shampoo. You have to learn how to listen to what your hair needs. At first, mine was oily, itchy scalp and dry, dry, dry hair. So I needed moisture, definitely. But, because my hair is fine, I also needed protein to strengthen it. I started with pedaheh’s homemade protein treatment, but ended up buying Curl Junkie’s Repair Me. That stuff is AWESOME!! It took two months to detox from sulfates/silicones in my scalp and hair. It was an insane amount of itching!! But after the detox, my scalp was no longer oily. It was so very strange, not having oily scalp and now it gets dry enough in the winter I have to oil it! Crazy!

Some curly girls do use Aphogee protein treatments (I don’t know about their other products, I have never used any of them), but I will caution you. Many complain that it’s too much protein which is just as damaging as not enough. Too much moisture is equally as damaging. You have to find the balance for your hair. If it feels mushy, too much moisture. Back off of DTs and over conditioning. If your hair gets brittle, too much protein. Stop with PTs and eliminate the use of any product with protein in it until your hair rebalances. Always do a DT after you PT, because just a PT will make your hair feel like straw. You have to close down the cuticles after the PT, so you DT to bring your hair back to proper pH. You can just DT, but never PT without DT.

Sally’s is a great place to shop and I know The Polished Curl and RockynCurls both shop there. I know, too, that different Sally’s carry different product lines. The Sally’s near my house has a few brands I can shop but not as many as I see at other Sally’s elsewhere. So, it really will depend on what your Sally’s carries if you’ll be able to shop there.

Frizz…ugh! It will take a while before your frizz will go away, and I think some girls never totally eliminate it. It’s a matter of getting your hair healthy and balanced first, then figuring out what products and styling techniques to use to give you the best hair and curls possible. Touching your hair as little as possible. No brushing or combing your hair dry EVER! Some curlies use a wide tooth comb, some a Denman brush, and some just use their fingers to comb their hair. You only do this while it’s wet and has conditioner in it. I mostly finger comb my hair, sometimes use a wide tooth comb. I de-shed/de-tangle after co-washing and while the water is running through my hair. If I shampoo, I de-shed/de-tangle when I put conditioner in my hair.

So…. how much conditioner to use? I’ve been told I cannot do this method as I’ve wicked fine thin hair that has no volume whatsoever. But, I’ve a week off to try it out.

Belinda, can you give a simple step by step?

I have fine texture, medium density, wavy curly (or 2B to 3A, if your are using a hair typing system), medium to high porosity hair. So, if your hair is straight, I don’t know if co-washing would work. I have no experience with this, however, so I’m just guessing. My daughter has fine, 1B (straight hair with a tiny bit on “bend” at the ends) hair, and I use sulfate free shampoo and a silicone free leave in conditioner on her every 4-5 days. Her hair does beautifully on this schedule, but she hasn’t hit puberty yet, so her hair and scalp are not oily. If you have some wave and/or curl to your hair, however, cowashing may be helpful to you.

How I co wash….I wet my hair, use a medium sized palmful of Curl Junkie’s Daily Fix or straight conditioner (I rotate these back and forth every other day), smear it through the length of my hair, sometimes take a smaller amount of co-wash or conditioner and work into my scalp area, then start scrubbing my scalp with my fingertips. I work from front to back, working in “rows”. I scrub until my arms are tired, then rinse my hair, again scrubbing my scalp (but a little more gently this time) as the water rinses the conditioner from my hair. While still running the water through my hair, I de-tangle/de-shed my hair very gently. My hair usually doesn’t tangle much, if at all, so it’s usually just getting the shed hairs out of my hair. If my hair feels very silky, I’m done. If it feels more “crunchy” and dry, I will then condition my hair. I take another medium sized palmful of conditioner (I’d say roughly golf ball size) and run it through the length of my hair, not on the scalp. I will smooth my canopy with the bit of conditioner that’s left on my hand but pretty much avoid my scalp. After the conditioner is in my hair, I squish it in by scrunching my hair. I let this sit in my hair while I bathe and shave my legs. Then I rinse it out completely. when my hair starts to feel gummy from all the conditioner and product, I will shampoo then condition my hair. Usually when I shampoo my hair, I am doing my deep conditioning or protein/deep conditioning routine also, but if I don’t have time to do all of that, I just shampoo and condition in the shower. When I PT/DT, I usually sit under my hood dryer with a plastic cap on so the products really penetrate my hair, then jump in the shower and rinse out.

To those joining this conversation that feel like they’re missing something, well, you are!😊 This conversation on co-washing and Curly Girl method started over on Skin Care: Lotions. You’ll have to check that out to catch the beginning, if you’re interested.

You can also put a drop or two of tea tree in the oil you use on your scalp. It soothes the itch too.

A hydrosol mist between shampoos sounds nice! Some curly girls add a tablespoon of conditioner in their mister bottle for light moisturizing too. I tried that and it worked nicely, but I figured out anytime I spray my hair with water, I get frizz! Today was a rainy, misty day so I didn’t even bother to wash. Was going to have frizz anyway so why bother?!?! I wet my hands, ran it over my hair, used a pea size amount of curl cream and some aloe vera gel, scrunch, and done! I had twizzlers all day! I felt like some 19th century maiden with my skinny sausage curls! Haha

You may end up being a Curly Girl who likes to shampoo rather than co-wash. that’s OK as long as they aren’t sulfate shampoos. A brand I know some Sally’s carry is True, which I’ve heard has a great moisturizing shampoo. Has a light aqua blue label. Look for that one. A nice line of conditioners are the Yes To conditioners. I’ve tried Yes To Carrots (I think this one is very light), Yes To Coconuts (I have this but haven’t used it yet), and Yes To Sage and TeaTree (using this one now and it’s a nice moisturizing conditioner). Biolage has a line of co-washes and I’ve tried the one for curly hair. It has a bit of alcohol in it, so I only use it in the summer when there’s a lot of humidity in the air so my hair doesn’t dry out. I really want to try DevaCurl’s wavy line of products, but her no-poo made my head itch, so I’m kind of sitting on the fence, especially since it’s a more expensive brand. Her One Condition conditioner is very light, and now that she has a wavy line, the conditioner for that may be even lighter. I also have heard rave reviews on the Raw Curls line (they recently added a wavy line also) but it’s a bit pricey too. I really want to try it though!!