Thursday, January 26, 2012

What's Your Curls/Coils Saying? The Best Wash N Go's

CURL POPPIN' WASH N GO'S





Have you learned how to maximize your wash n go's? To me, the best wash n go is easy to do, easy to maintain, keeps it's definition and luster. I just want to understand how to make it what it's supposed to be! I don't think coily hair was created to be dry. There's the "dry look", and then there's our hair in it's glory (healthy, hydrated, sebum shining, not split or broken, and definitely POPPIN')!

THE CHANGES I'VE MADE TO MAKE THIS HAPPEN:

"Clean" Ends on Coily Hair Produce Great Curl Definition



First I had to assess my coils. I needed to know what it does without product. 
1) Is it coily all the way through? Or does it have coils and undefined "frizzy" areas
2) Is it mostly dry? Or does it stay moisturized
3) Are my ends split/broken, are my ends healthy?
4) How often should I put moisture (water) on my hair?
5) Should I "rake" or "shingle" or "clump" my products through when defining?



Popping Coils without Gel Takes Some Product Mixing

Since I found out that my coils are constant through my whole head, I knew I could put my curl defining products on in the same way throughout my head.

THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT DEFINING COILS/CURLS:

1) If your hair seems to be dry most of the time, it would probably be best to try co-washing (washing with conditioner, not shampoo) before you plan to define your coils.
2) Make sure your ends are "clean" and trimmed. This will help reduce single strand knot problems.
3) Choose your curl defining products based on the "hold". Conditioner used as a definer will probably have less "crunch" than most gels.
4) If you use conditioner to define and it doesn't provide the hold you're looking for, try adding a light gel on top. I found that the Shea Moisture Curl Souffle gave me a good top coat for my conditioner wash-n-go. It's fun (and necessary) to experiment with products just to find the combination that works best for your coils. I try to think about what the product says it will do, and what it feels like it will do (check the viscosity, the slip, the oil content, etc).

5) Use a moisturizer or oil under your defining product (especially GEL).

 Wash N Go's on Coily Hair Have Been My Weekly Experiment

 1) I usually want my coils to be defined, not a lot of frizz (some is okay, makes it look more natural).

2) I also want some shine (the eco styler gel is good for shine and define). But I mostly use conditioner to define, so I add the Shea Moisture Curling Souffle for the Oil Content and shine. 

3) If I want my edges slicked down, I will add some Eco Styler Gel only to the edges.

4)  To get my length from my wash n go, I wait until it dries, then I will band it downward. 

5) To wake up my coils, I will spritz it with water (or Aloe Vera Gel mixture) in the mornings.


 I DREAM OF WAKING UP, SHOWERING, WETTING MY HAIR, GETTING DRESSED, AND GOING OUT THE DOOR!

I love to keep maintenance to a minimum. 
Are you a low maintenance girl too? 
It's not hard to keep things easy,  I just have to pre-plan 




 GOODBYE COMMERCIAL SHAMPOOS
GOODBYE SPLIT ENDS
PEACE OUT DRYING PRODUCTS






9 comments:

  1. Wow, great post. Love ur hair. I think we are hair twins or at least cousins.u can take a look at my fotki : koelie41 fotki, i haven't update in a while. I'm still struggling though with my hair and the right products. My hair is dry and it grows fast but breaks off at the ends so I am now focussing on moisture,moisture ,moisture. What conditioner do u use as a leave in?
    And what colour is that in ur hair(first picture)it's so nice.

    Thank you

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  2. Thanks koelie41! What's up hair cuz!!! LOL You got some beautiful hair there! I love the color too. You still keeping up with the color? It looks nice and healthy even with the color. I've been looking for a leave in for the winter b/c I noticed my beloved aloe vera gel and castor oil mix is not cutting it when the time is cold. I did the Dark & Lovely in Honey Blond, but I'm feeling your color. What is it?

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  3. that was a great help.. but what if there are 3 different textures & it have coils and undefined "frizzy" areas? Sometimes i want my undefined frizzies to be on the same page with my coils... If you can help that would be great!
    :(

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  4. @Dee_W For undefined "frizzy" areas, try finger coiling them or two strand twisting the area. Then you can pull them down once your wash n go (the rest of your hair) has dried.

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  5. my hair seems to always be frizzy, but you provided some great information,

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    Replies
    1. @Angelica I used to fight with frizzy hair with my 5 year old's hair, but since I figured out the right amount of moisture for her hair, the frizzy hair is gone! Her hair loves conditioners. Thanks for the message!

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  6. Hi Tia,
    Thx for the compliment. I'm still with colour yes, but I like it red now. I don't like my hair black. I'm so used to colour my hair. I don't know exactly which colour it is in my hair because I have used so many different colours so it's a mix of colours. but I also did the honey blond from dark and lovely and also the light golden blond.

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  7. Hi Tia, I tried your laid down wash n go loved the results but I had a lot of white flakes i used tresseme moisture cond n hot six oil do you think I used too much conditioner or maybe the oil and cond. didnt mix Thanks.

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    Replies
    1. Hi Fretoria! Which tresemme did you use? I've only used the anti breakage and the moisture one. You had the flakes once it was dry? Because I believe for the laid down wash and go--you can never use too much conditioner LOL! I usually use oil as a base too! Hmmm, I don't know what could have happened. Let me know which tresemme you used...

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