My Wash Day Routine 2014

Hiya!

I get a lot of questions about my natural hair. The two most common ones being “How exactly do you care for your hair?” usually followed by “It must be so much work” and the second being “How do you get your hair so soft?” I’ve been natural for a little over two years now and looking back on the post about my haircare regimen I put up a few years ago (OMG I’ve been blogging for TWO years lol) it’s interesting to see a lot of what I do is still the same. I still aim to wash my hair every week (the operative word here being aim lol) and I start off with:

#1 Detangling

Here’s a picture of my fro from the back. I had just taken it out of some twists so it’s a little stretched. (PS: I can’t for the life of me understand why my hair has a purple tint when I take close-up pictures of it with my DSLR. Disclaimer, it’s always done this so it’s not because I just dyed my Nazuri extensions lol)

I choose to detangle my hair when it has some conditioner and water in it with a wide-tooth comb. I’ve tried detangling my hair when it’s dry but I felt like it was more damaging. A lot of popping sounds – scary! And I know finger detangling is the hot topic these days but I’ve tried it before and it was a nightmare. So instead I section my hair into 3 (one in the front and two in the back) and I gently try to separate any clumps with my fingers first and remove any shed hair. Then I spritz it with a detangling conditioner (Herbal Essences has amazing slip, Tresemme ones are awesome too) mixed with water in a spray bottle in a 50:50 ratio.

I separate each section into two or three so I have smaller sections to work with. Spritz each section with my detangling spray and use my wide-tooth comb to gently comb through my hair from the ends to the roots. Once each section is done I twist it and repeat until my whole head is done. Here’s a look at a section of my hair after I’ve detangled it:

I like to work on my hair when I’m well fed, rested and have energy. I find that doing it when I don’t want to means that I’m usually impatient with it and don’t take my time to work through the knots I have. Here’s a look at the shed hair I had from detangling my whole head, FYI it had been 10 days since my last wash:

#2 Shampoo

I don’t run away from sulphates, I actually like to use a sulphate-based shampoo once a month to clarify my scalp. My favorite ones to use are from the Tresemme Naturals range. Since I’m staying at Yasmin’s house I was able to dip into her stash of shampoos and I used the OGX Renewing Argan Oil of Morocco shampoo which smells amazing and didn’t leave my hair feeling too dry. On other weeks when I wash my hair I like to use a non-sulphate shampoo from Shea Moisture. I wash my hair in three sections and depending how my hair feels I’ll wash each section once or twice. The important thing I’ve learned about washing your hair is to concentrate on your scalp. I gently massage the shampoo into my scalp and let the water run the shampoo through my hair. Then I use the palms of my hands to smooth the shampoo onto my hair. No rubbing! This keeps my hair from tangling up again in the shower. Here’s a picture of my freshly washed hair:

#3 Deep Conditioning

I attribute the moisture retention and softness of my hair to this step completely. I think deep conditioning is so important for natural hair especially because unfortunately our hair type is plagued with dryness. The two things you need to deep condition is an excellent deep conditioner and heat. You guys already know how I feel about my Amika Replenshing Olve Oil Mask (if you don’t you can read about our affair here). When I’m home I use my steamer for heat (which is still going strong after 2 years!) but today I tried out my friend’s Aprhodite conditioning cap. You plug it in and it warms up, it’s really soft and comfortable. I wouldn’t say it’s as effective as my steamer but it get’s the job done. If you don’t have a steamer or a conditioning cap put your hair in a shower cap and wrap that around with some cling film. The goal is to trap in as much heat as possible so pop on some wool hats or whatever you have on top of the cling film and let that sit for a few hours. Whatever works for you just keep that heat in!

#4 Rinse

It’s important to rinse your hair with cold water. This closes up your hair cuticles and helps your hair look smooth and prevents frizz. In the past when I’ve felt like I was experiencing excessive shedding I’ve tried the green tea rinse at this stage too. I’m not too sure if it helps to be honest I wasn’t very consistent with it but I don’t feel like it did any harm. Here are some pictures of my hair after I’ve rinsed all the conditioner out:

#5 Moisturise & Seal

So at this stage I put into some conditioner, I’ve been loving Entwine products lately and seal with my Ajali Hair Oil Blend made from coconut, castor, jojoba, argan, tea tree, and vitamin E oil -it’s amazing for shine, and I’m not just saying that lol.

When I’m done I’ll go in and style my hair, I tried my very first Bantu Knot out after this! I’ll be posting the results next week so stay tuned for that:) What’s your wash day routine like? Do you have any tips or favorite products? Let me know I’d love to read about them. Hope you’re all having a good week.

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My Wash Day Routine 2014

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