Hola Chicas!
I’ve received several emails requesting the pros and cons of daily co-washing (washing with a light and non- plasticy conditioner).
I don’t have what you’d call a direct answer to that question…it didn’t really work for me, but that may be due to a few intervening variables!
When I had a daily styling routine (which lasted upwards of a year), I’d co-wash in the morning with Suave, add a GLOB of gel, shake, diffuse, and go. I experienced tons of breakage, splits and generally unhappy hair. The problem is, I can’t say which part of the routine did the damage- was it the diffuser, the drying gel, or the over manipulation? Who knows…the bottom line is that in order to get the look I want, which is big hair, I can’t style daily.
However, one of my favorite curlies, Natural Remedy grew her hair out washing daily (sometimes twice daily), and her hair always looks fab. For her, daily co-washing allows for easier detangling sessions and an extra boost of moisture. Goes to show ya…no two heads are alike!
As summer is quickly approaching, I’m sure that some of you may be considering such a routine, and I’d love to hear your thoughts.
Have you had good or bad experiences with daily washing? How do you dry safely and effectively? Have you noticed increased growth?
Im greatful for all the info posted. im a newbie to natural hair and because i use products like Kinky curl custard i feel its necessary for me to wash everyday. I wash with "hair one" in the AM then apply the kinky curl to my wet hair, style and go…then in the PM washwith my hair one again, air dry and apply my homeade shea butter mix and throw on my satin bonnet to sleep. So far, i havent had any issues. 🙂 And i deep condition every weekend.
Since we're (teachers )off in summer's co wash dailys good. I oil the hair with wild growth topped with coconut oil bag for my morning chores. Wild growth doesn't do anything different. In beginning I followed people regimes. Bought lots of unneccessary products. I'm just using up. For me …simple is better. Co wash frequently in summer rinse well. Air dry untwist rake with fingers go.
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I cowash everyday and it works great for me. My hair is always moisturized, my scalp is never dry or itchy, and my hair looks good everyday. My hair looks so healthy and it has been growing steadily. I sometimes wondered myself if I should be cowashing daily, but hey its working great.
I started co-washing everyday by accident. I tried it one morning after hanging out late the night before and the only way to do something to it to be on my way, was to wet it. I co-washed, put a non-alcoholic, non-flaky gel on it, brushed, put it in a bun and put my afro puff on. Yes I said put my afro puff on and….viola. It looked good. I also discovered that I had natural waves. I did not have that before. Since then, I have been co-washing for about two weeks. I am noticing that my hair is growing. It also feels healthy. I think it is from the water moisturizing my hair and the daily massaging of the scalp.
I cowash every other day….when it was cooler out, i did it every 3 to 4 days. I have not noticed any changes, it is just more moisturized. It may depend on the conditioners…since some ppl's hair does not like alot of protein, it could be that.
I do it a few different way.
1. rinse, VO5 strengthing conditioner, rinse, Tea Tree Oil Conditioner
2. rinse, VO5 strengthening conditioner, rinse Tea Tree with Silk Elements Moisturizing Treatment (with olive oil)
3. rinse, VO5 strengthening conditioner with Tea Tree Oil Conditioner, rinse, Silk Elements Moisturizing Treatment (with olive oil)
All 3 ways work really good for me. In between i use a small spray bottle to dampen it every morning and then add my moisturizer
Can someone explain what co-washing is for the newbies please?
Thanks
Daily co-washing didn’t work for me mainly because my scalp would start feeling dry and tight after a couple of days. Co-washing every 3rd or 4th day, and rinsing the other days, worked much better. I don’t believe my hair grew any faster, but I definitely believe it was the daily moisturizing via water, combined with low manipulation, that helped my hair retain most of its length as it grew.
I wish I could keep this regimen but sadly my mostly-4b hair has to dry stretched if I don’t want tangles, and for better or worse I’m at a length where it takes hours to air-dry. I’d have to wash at night and I’m not always up (or in) for that.
Last year I cowashed daily for a month and my hair adored it. Now I have about 8 inches of thick super coily hair and I have been cowashing for about a week now and my hair absolutely loves it. I thought I would have tangles or knots but I dont have any. I use VO5 conditioners and rake through my hair while in the shower shake and go. I may apply more conditioner out of the shower but thats it, no gels or butters.
I can attest to the daily conditioner washing as the most beneficial thing I have ever done for my hair. If I had to say I was using a growth aid it would definitely be daily washing (I also detangle with my Denman while daily while conditioner washing). I need to use a hair ‘moisturizer’ and my hair seems to grow and increase in health. I think it boils down to the type of conditioner you use. It took a lot of trial and error to realize soon enough that a light silicone free conditioner is the key.
PS: Thanks for that album link! I have been wondering what happened to curlyheadedgurl on youtube. I was subscribed to her long ago.
During the summer months I co-wash pretty much daily, maybe every other day. For me it works great, but that is because I am a great fan of wash-n-go’s.
I just co-wash, detangle (takes like a minute, since there’s hardly any knotting after one day), add my leave-ins, seal with coconut oil and go about my day. Takes me 15 minutes in total and my hair feels great with that.
I mostly wear a loose ponytail I cowash about every third day even in the winter . The one thing ive noticed the most is overmoisturized hair! I never thought i would see the day lol. Its been 3 years natural and my hair was soooo dry in the beginning.My twist outs or braidouts hardly ever turn out , so it ends up in a loose ponytail.I only lose a little hair when i use my fingersbut, when i use a comb much more hair loss.
I prefer not to wash everyday..my hair could be washed every 2 days at the minimum and every 5 at the max. Rinsing is okay but I hate having wet hair so I’m not a big fan of that either at the moment.. in the summer time, it’s refreshing but other than that nahh 🙂
I found her information on improving your own eyesight really intriguing. I’m all about self healing. I’m gonna check this out 🙂
When my hair was transitioning, I co-washed my hair about once or twice a week but now that my hair is in a 5-6 in. fro, it’s very easy for me to co-wash every day. I find that co-washing and detangling everyday with a wide-tooth comb creates quite a bit of breakage for me. However, if I just detangle gently with my fingers and a cheapie like Suave or Aussie, my hair is very happy. It only takes about 5-10 min, and my hair can remain very moisturized for a few days by just putting in a leave-in and butter with a little gel mixed in. Wash and gos don’t tangle my hair unbearably so.
Satin Doll can you explain what you mean by brading the roots? How long does this take? Are these like box braids with the ends loose? I ask because my roots get really tangled.
I guess I’m lucky in that I can do either. I can co-wash daily or just do a protective style and skip washing a few days. I think the most important thing is to keep a good moisture/protein balance no matter what to make sure your hair is elastic enough to handle any kind of manipulation. Or at least that’s my theory, and I’m stickin with it. 😉
i co-wash every day in the spring/summer with roots braided about an inch of the way down….the only thing i leave in my hair is about a handful of conditioner…occasionally i’ll spray my leave-in or put some oil in my hair….my hair is soft, moisturized, and growing like a weed….when i first bc’d i also co-washed every day and my hair grew but i experienced breakage because i was using gel….now i only use moisturizing products because i found that moisture holds my curls well enough without the gel
I co-wash every other day with suave and my hair loves it. It is so much easier to detangle. But my hair been growing like crazy.
I also try to wear alot of protective styles so there is not much pulling on my hair.
I agree everyone’s hair is different when I let my hair air dry it tangles up. Her hair definitely did a 180 in the last year. I normally don’t like wash n go’s, and I know for myself I will need to do all the extra steps not just running water through my hair slapping on a product and leaving. Once the weather stabilizes in NYC, I will try this on the weekeneds. I don’t have time before work to spend 30 minutes detangling.
I used to co-wash every day (even in the colder months..don’t know what i was thinking)with all different types of conditioners; vo5, suave, hello hydration, pantene ect, and roughly comb with a regular comb. Then pile on fantasia gel, diffuse and go.
I was thinking that i was being good to my hair because two years prior to that i straightened frequently and i though that this ‘hair care’ regimen was very good for my hair. Well it suddenly exploded in knots and dryness.
Bottom line: co washing everyday equals manipulation every day and my hair florishes on a low manpulation regimen, so everyday cowashing is a no no for me. The most i’ll co- wash is every 2-3 days.
Girrrrll, I co wash my hair EVERYTIME I take a shower..and my GROWTH IS OFF THE HOOK!! My hair is not dry,damaged, and VERY moisturized! I will deep condition it twice, mayber three times a week..and it looks fab, I must say! Hardly any hair sheds! But you know..as you say, we all have different..but ladies PLEASE watch the way you comb or brush your hair.. 🙂
I have had HORRIBLE exoeriences with wash’n’go styles because my 4b hair tangles and knots if it drys in a “loose style” – my hair fairs much better when i keep my hair twisted/braided….
I co-washed every day last summer, but I did ponytails and the wash ‘n go’s were only once a week, if that. I experienced some breakage from tne ponytail holder and also from putting them in the same place. I say don’t go to bed without doing a protective style and you should be ok.
Pay attention to how your hair reacts to the daily co-washing. If its drying out it might be the conditioner you’re using. It could also be that you need an oil or butter in your hair. Some gels contain alcohol and I avoid those like crazy, dries my hair something fierce. I detangle every day, but everyone’s hair is different.
I daily washed the first time I cut my hair(and I mean shampoo and all, but that was almost 10 years ago so I have grown a tad since then)and I remember thinking my hair was growing like weeds. But once it reached a certain length I couldn’t leave it out without it being dry and tangled. I wouldn’t dare do that now just because it would be hell to get through by the end of the day. But co-washing daily works fine for shorter lengths I think.
Now that the weather is warming, I have been co-washing everyday. Since I’m 5 months natural, I’m working on growth, growth, growth. So I’m hoping that co-washing along with everything else I’m doing will help. I have to admit my hair has been more moisturized since daily co-washing.
For the most part, I wash my hair every other day but if I put too much products in it while I’m experimenting, I’ll wash it again. I really pay attention to how much (if any) hair comes out in the shower. So far so good and I’ve noticed a good amount of growth over the last few weeks.
I think it’s really the styling (and styling products) that breaks up the hair, not really the washing.
Eboney, the Newbie
I cowashed frequently for months and experienced serious breakage & knots… maybe i detangled incorrectly?
I'm really into protective hairstyles now. If I do cowash in the morning, i take more care to detangle but i like alternating one week dry (twist the night before) and one week wet (cowashing in the morning). My hair is really thriving now and breakage is at a minimum.