00 Home New › Forums › Hair Care › Shampoo & conditioner or cowash?
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BelindaSK.
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February 4, 2017 at 4:32 pm #19723
Cynnara
ParticipantTalk to me. This curly girl method is interesting. I love softness in my hair. I need clean, no itchy scalp. Plus, how do you roll when it comes to shampoo and conditioner? Or do you only cowash? What the heck is cowash, technically?
Wandering minds need to know.
February 4, 2017 at 10:12 pm #19740BelindaSK
ParticipantCo-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.😝
February 4, 2017 at 11:16 pm #19744Cynnara
ParticipantLol you need the 6 foot cord so you can plug in and relax. Makes life easier. 😄 It definitely allows me to charge from a distance.
Okay, so now I understand this cowash business a bit more. I’m thinking I might need to do it a bit less. Perhaps only 2-3 times a week. I get oily scalp easy. Sucks. I definitely like the idea of letting my hair be freer than I normally do. Me and ponytails. I live in them when I’m not at work. Definitely need a better styling plan.
So, I need to 👀 look at what I have that does fit the bill, toss what’s causing issues, and make a list. This should be interesting. I noticed Aphogee is on the list for their products. I’m also a Sally’s Beauty member, so I can get them for a good price! Go me! *does happy butt shaking dance*
So I have a starting place. I can see the Great Bathroom Purge coming. This should prove intriguing. “Who will survive? Who will be kicked out? What happens next in the purge of purges in the bathroom?”
It almost makes me want to stroll in there now to start. Almost. 😁
February 5, 2017 at 7:49 am #19757SimplyShe
ParticipantI 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.
February 5, 2017 at 9:14 am #19760BelindaSK
ParticipantYou’re welcome Connie!😊
I started my CG journey by looking at all the products I have and getting rid of all sulfates/silicones/alcohol products. Which was most of them. Go figure!! I think I had two styling products I could use and the rest I gave away. I did one last sulfate shampoo to strip my hair of any silicones, then used a conditioner I had bought that was silicone free. I tried using the Suave Coconut that most CGers start off with, but my hair didn’t like it. I also bought a cheap off brand gel at the dollar store to style with. That worked OK. My first actual co-wash was Eden BodyWorks coconut Shea cleansing co-wash from Curl Mart. I got a free tub of coconut Shea hair masque with it that I still use to deep condition with. I’m just now running out, which tells you how much of that stuff I use. It’s really thick and heavy, so I’m just using a small scoop that basically covers my fingertips. That’s plenty for my hair and does a nice job of deep conditioning. I read, read, read, read about which surfactants are more gentle (standing in the aisle at the store while reading backs of shampoo bottles and checking the list on my phone), what are the names of silicones to avoid, which silicones are more water soluble, finding lists of products other curly girls use, different ways and methods of styling hair to enchanted the curl, and on and on and on….Every time a problem with my hair or scalp popped up, I’d type in on Google the exact problem I was having and some other Curly Girl had had that same issue and blogged/vlogged/posted about it somewhere. It took a long time and a lot of reading and YouTube watching for it all to feel second nature. At first, styling was very awkward and time consuming, but now it’s much easier and faster. Shopping was very time consuming at first but now I know what brands and products to look at. If I see new products, I’m reading all the labels!
I know this is all very time consuming, but just work on it a bit at a time. You’ll get there. Even when you feel like giving up or it’s not working (yes, I’ve felt both), stick with it! You will get there, I promise! And the results are worth it!! Your hair and scalp will love you for it!
Watch a few of Lorraine Massey’s interviews on YouTube. She’s so passionate about curly hair and is very inspirational. When I’d get frustrated with my hair, I’d watch one or two of those, and feel encouraged to keep going at it.
February 5, 2017 at 9:42 am #19761BelindaSK
ParticipantMy 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.
February 5, 2017 at 10:05 am #19762BelindaSK
ParticipantSorry I’m doing this in pieces, but I lost a long post I had typed, so I’m posting them before I end up losing them again!
My general routine is co-wash every day and shampoo once a week. i cleanse every day, for the most part, because my hair looks better when it’s been completely soaked vs misted with water. Spraying a bit of water on my hair to reactivate the curl always gives me frizz. I don’t like frizz, so I cleanse. Some people don’t have that problem or don’t care about the frizz, so they don’t cleanse every day. If I don’t have time to cleanse and style my hair, I will iron a bit of leave in conditioner in my hair, then iron in Fruit of the Earth’s aloe vera gel, scrunch, let dry, then scrunch out the crunch. The aloe vera gel dries out my hair, however, so I don’t like to do this too often, but it’s the best way I’ve found to perk up my curls without turning them into a frizz ball. My scalp is also less itchy when I cleanse every day vs every other day. I think I just have naturally itchy skin, because I’ve had itchy problems my whole life, pretty much. My skin just always feels better when water touches it every day. That is just me, and I know some people don’t have the time or the inclination to do that every day. You just have to find what works best for you.
I PT/DT every week to every other week. Now that my hair is healthier, I don’t really need to PT every week and am trying to do DT every week and PT/DT every other week. That seems to be working out well. I got out of balance a few weeks ago, hair was really mushy feeling (gross), so I completely backed off until my hair felt dry. I did a DT that week and then waited until it felt dry again and the curls were just limp and mid-behaving, then I did a PT/DT. Now it’s back in balance and acting right! Haha! When my hair is in balance, it feels very silky when it’s wet and I’m running my fingers through it. Others say their hair feels like wet seaweed. I guess you’ll need to figure out what healthy feels like for your hair.
I think I covered all the questions and comments, and then some! I told y’all I can talk about this all day! Haha
February 5, 2017 at 10:20 am #19765Penny
ParticipantSo…. 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?
February 5, 2017 at 11:50 am #19774Minicoopergirl93
ParticipantI have really oily scalp (a big switch from college when my hair was really dry and frizzy and I did CO washing) and I’ve found that the only shampoos and conditioners I can use without exacerbating any oily issues (and I’ve tried soap/rinse routine and pushing my washes — I’m now at 3 days without needing a scrub) are either Aussie or Function of Beauty. Aussie for me was a great stepping point — they’re actually relatively simple and have a short ingredient list, and use cool things like kelp extract and jojoba oil. Pretty non-harsh stuff that’s made my hair happy. When Aussie just wasn’t exactly right for me in the long run I switched to Function of Beauty to test it out — expensive, but happy hair is worth it, right?
And I still keep a bottle of Aussie conditioner in my shower for when I need to wash out lots of gel/hairspray/backcombing from a day I got dressed up and gave myself a big beehive hairdo. It’s pretty magical stuff. Oily scalp but curly hair should definitely try out Aussie.
February 5, 2017 at 12:09 pm #19775BelindaSK
ParticipantI 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.
February 5, 2017 at 12:45 pm #19776BelindaSK
ParticipantAussie shampoos and conditioners have sulfates and silicones in them, so you can’t use them for the Curly Girl method, which is what I do for my curly hair. The gels seem OK, no silicones at a glance, but they do have polyquats. Some CG users have frizz issues with polyquats. I think my hair falls in this category. Also, some polyquats are harder to remove from your hair than others, so if you’re using a sulfate free shampoo, they won’t wash out of your hair and will cause build up.
I’ve never seen the Function of Beauty stuff before. That seems interesting, but I’m trying use products I can get anywhere. We travel quite a bit sometimes, so if I forget something or run out of something I’m using for my hair, I want to be able to replace it easily. This can be a bummer if you make a lot of your own stuff, however, or buy more specialty items. The Curl Junkie stuff I like I can’t get anywhere but online, which sucks, but I haven’t found any other co-wash that compares to it. As I Am co wash is doable, but to me, still not anywhere as good as Curl Junkie’s co-wash.
February 5, 2017 at 1:52 pm #19777BelindaSK
ParticipantTo 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.
February 6, 2017 at 8:00 pm #19851Cynnara
ParticipantWell, the great toss out happened. I ended up keeping 2 natural products that I bought and hadn’t realized. Go me! Now I’m making a list for cowash and the shampoo I’m going to need.
I have very fine hair. Wavy, but if I get it wet and let it do its thing, there are curls of various shapes. Lol One thing I’ve noticed is that if you do the oil on the scalp, you can do it before you wash your hair and it will help. Did this the last 2 washes and my dry scalp feels better without getting super oily, which usually happens.
I’m thinking for us fine hair girls, the light conditioner for cowash would be good with a possible rose or lavender hydrosol mist as a pick me up to keep hair fresh. I also think using a witch hazel hydrosol, no alcohol, could help keep the scalp from getting too oily.
February 6, 2017 at 8:54 pm #19857BelindaSK
ParticipantYou 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!!
February 7, 2017 at 12:35 am #19872Penny
ParticipantSo a couple of showers have past since I’ve read this thread. And. Well. I have such plans! Get into the shower nad go to do my hair and before I know it? I’m washing my hair as always. Crazy socks.
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