The New Elegant Black Woman: June 2017

If you have natural, un-relaxed hair, then wash and go's are a way to have gorgeous, defined, movable hair that you (and everyone else) will love to look at! It has been my go to styling method for at least 3 years. Prior learning about wash and go's, I would do braid outs without gel, I would have to re-braid my hair every night, and by the end of each day I had very little curl definition. But with my current wash and go routine I don't have to braid my hair and I can go A FULL WEEK with defined coils!

The routine can be time consuming on my Sunday wash day, but for the rest of the week I barely have to do anything with my hair. With wash and go's your hair will actually move, blow in the wind, and hang down. My hair is most defined the next day, but as the week goes on it gets bigger and fluffier and I absolutely love it! I also tend to use inexpensive products and I have never been happier with my hair!

I decided to write this because I found a new gel that works so much better for my wash and go's, my hair looks fantastic, and it is so soft. I have no desire for straight hair at all. Natural hair is gorgeous!

My Wash and Go Routine:

Co-wash (I usually conditioner wash) or shampoo hair: I wash one half of my head at a time while the other half is in a bun tied with an elastic. This stops my hair from getting too tangled and shrinking, After I wash one half, I put that hair in a bun and do the other half. I usually co-wash with Tresemme moisture and shampoo with Head and Shoulders 2in1.
Condition hair: I condition my hair for 3-5 minutes in the shower while my hair is in 2 buns. I don't deep condition outside of the shower (who has time for that?). I use Queen Helene Cholesterol for my conditioner because it's cheap and it works!
Detangle: In my room I get ready for the detangling process that usually takes 1 hour. I know some people detangle in the shower, but my hair is so tightly coiled it is just impossible to do that and I would run out of hot water for sure. My detangling routine:

Divide hair into a medium sized section. Spray with mixture of water, vegetable glycerine, and apple cider vinegar (the apple cider vinegar preserves the mixture so that it lasts for weeks and it also conditions the hair.
Coat the hair with Tresemme conditioner.
Use Tangle Teezer for thick curly hair to detangle section. This one is better than the regular versions in my opinion because the bristles don't bend.
Important! Squish out as much of the conditioner as possible and squeeze section with a super absorbant microfiber towel. Most gels do not mix with conditioners or leave in conditioners so you will be left with horrible clumps in your hair if you do not remove the conditioner. The only conditioners I have found that mix with gel are Cholesterol conditioners and curl activator lotions like S-Curl.
Twist the section to get it out of the way and then move on to the next section.

Shingle hair: Untwist a section. Add a lot of Eco Styler Gel to the section and shingle the hair by smoothing down tiny sections of hair to define coils (see video below about how to add gel and shingle hair. Optional: add some extra virgin olive oil to hair before applying gel to each section. This has made my hair so soft and the gel does not dry as hard.). This takes about 45 minutes. Currently I am liking Eco Styler Krystal because it defines my curls all week, despite re-moisturizing, and I don't have to re-apply the gel at all! With the Eco Styler Argon Oil I had to reapply it mid week, and Eco Styler Olive Oil had too strong a hold. I will post a video reviewing each gel below because you may have to try samples before you find the right one. This brand is really inexpensive and I can usually get a big 5 pound bucket for $11 at beauty supply stores in Canada.
Dry hair: Place hair in loose ponytail and sit under a bonnet hair dryer for 40 minutes. I do the loose ponytail at the back, and then move it to the top half way through drying time. I do this because it helps my hair to dry all in the same direction rather than being scrunched and bent because of the cap.
Set hair: When hair is dry, place in a modified pineapple and wrap hair with a scarf. To do a modified pineapple I start putting my hair in a pineapple, but I don't pull all the hair through, so it ends up looking like a bun. My hair is too long for a pineapple, it's mid-back length. So I don't actually wash my hair and go out, I stretch my hair overnight. In the morning I just take down my hair, shake it out, pin up the side, and I'm ready to go. Each night I just re-moisturize my hair with the glycerine mix, add S-Curl activator, and place in the pineapple bun again. I have started applying a bit of apricot kernal oil after moisturizing and it makes my hair so soft!