Co-Washing: My Current Natural Hair Regimen with Co-Washing!
Trying to figure out what my hair likes with the funky weather and after the henna has been difficult; but, I’ve got it! After doing the henna treatment my hair became very porous. I don’t know exactly how or what the henna did to my hair but, I now have a whole new head of hair. I plan to do a review of the henna I used later, I’m still trying to figure out if I want to do it again or not. My old hair was easily moisturized and held moisture for days! this new henna hair…not so much. Here are the problems I faced after the henna:
- Dryness- Moisture just would not stay in my hair. After completely soaking my hair, it would be dry again in about 20 minutes.
- Breakage- I believe the breakage was due to dryness but, I’m not sure. I became lazy with my hair because nothing seemed to work to get it to act right. So, I would leave my hair in buns for days. My ends were breaking off terribly (in little 1/4 inch pieces) and I had small curls all over my shoulders and sink.
- Tangles- My ends were always tangled.
Here is how I fixed the problems and what I had to change:
Dryness
- Conditioner washing: I use Giovanni Smooth as Silk as my co-washing conditioner and co-wash every 1-2 days.
- Shampoo: I still shampoo once a week with my DIY shampoo bars, I followed up with a apple cider vinegar rinse. (1 tablsespoon of ACV to 1 cup of water)
- Sealing: I stopped sealing my hair with oils/butters. Since I co-wash, I try to not to coat my hair, which allows me to get moisture into my hair easily without having to shampoo off any buildup.
Breakage & Tangles
- Detangling: I detangle only the ends of my hair with my Denman brush. While in the shower, I detangle the ends and then finger detangle the full length of my hair under the showerhead.
- Co-washing: Keeping the right amount of moisture in my hair has reduced the breakage significantly. It’s almost back to normal, I do need a trim which I think will fix any other weak ends.
- Tangles: The frequent co-washing has reduced the tangles. I think this is due to the conditioner and how it clumps my curls together which keeps them from tangling together.
At the moment, I do not need to apply a leave-in conditioner to my hair. Applying a leave-in conditioner to my hair has become an option, when in the past it was a must. Without a leave-in conditioner, my hair stays moisturized for about 2 days before I need to co-wash again.
So this is my current regimen! I plan to flat iron my hair in about a week and will trim and do a length check then!
