I thought I would dedicate today's post to discussing the details of my hair washing routine. So... Without further ado, the steps of my natural hair washing routine are as follows:
Numero Uno
Detangle: I detangle medium size sections of hair and place each section in twists. I spend a lot of time detangling my hair in the beginning because this makes the rest of my wash routine a breeze.
Numero Dos
Prepoo: I go through each twist, smoothing coconut oil all over my strands. I then retwists the section. I repeat the same steps for each twisted section of my hair. Once my full head is complete, I place a plastic cap on my head for 30 minutes.
Numero Tres
ACV Mixture and Rinse: I create a spray bottle mixed with 1/3 apple cider and 2/3 water. After 30 minutes of pre-pooing, I unravel a twisted section and spray the ACV Mixture on my scalp, massaging my scalp to ensure the ACV is loosening any dirt and sweat in my scalp. I then retwists the section of hair and move to the next section. After I have gone through each section of my hair, I rinse my ACV Mixture out and typically repeat the process all over my head one more time. While I know this step may be time consuming, I walk away from this step knowing that my scalp is clean from the ACV Mixture and stimulated from the massaging.
Numero Cuatro
Deep Condition: After I rinse the ACV Mixture out, I then place deep conditioner on each twisted section of hair with Creme of Natural Argan Oil Intensive Conditioning Treatment. I make sure to only apply the conditioner to my hair, avoiding my scalp. Additionally, I make sure I concentrate the deep conditioner on my ends since they are the oldest parts of hair and need the most moisture. The directions require you to leave this deep conditioner on for 10-15 minutes, but I always leave it on for longer than that out of sheer forgetfulness.
Numero Cinco
Rinse and Coat: After a while, I wash my deep conditioner out. I then untwist each section and coat it with my oil mixture (something I randomly made up). But honestly, any oil will do. I have also used pure olive oil to coat my hair with and this works just fine.
Numero Seis
Air Dry: I allow my hair to air dry and when it's fairly dry, I complete my LCO method. In the past, I would not allow my hair to air dry before applying the products in my LCO, and the next day my hair would be over saturated with product, resulting in a slight jherri curl type look! When I learned about my hair's porosity, I was able to understand more of the science behind the importance of allowing my hair to dry a bit before applying the products in my LCO method. Check out my last post on hair porosity when you have a chance.
Once my hair is fairly dry, I apply my LCO products, which allows my hair to better absorb the product and I can stretch my hair a bit more for fluffy first day hair!! If you would like to know which products I use for my LCO method, check out this post on my entire natural hair regimen, which includes what I am doing internally and externally to promote healthy natural hair.
Now, I'm sure you would like to see what my next day results were, right?
Day 1 Hair
Day 1 hair was fluffy and fairly stretched. Now, day 3 hair was even better than day 1 hair. It was defined and shiny!
Day 3 Hair
So those are the deets on my natural hair washing routine. This routine is still in the works to identify the conditioner that works best for me, but I definitely have some great contenders for top products. If you have a great deep conditioner, please list it below. Also, if you have a bomb natural hair washing routine, list that as well. I'm always looking for insight!
Until next time...
Be faith-filled, fearless, and fabulous,
Kurly Ken
