The Complete Guide to Co Washing with Natural Hair
The Complete Guide to Co Washing with Natural Hair
Co washing with Natural hair is a trend that’s growing fast in the Natural hair community. It’s new because of the general fear that Naturals have about shampoos drying and ruining their hair. It’s catching up because of Black women’s demand for better hair care products that can cleanse AND retain moisture after working out daily or swimming.
So, we at EBAN have taken the opportunity to create “The Complete Guide to Co Washing with Natural Hair” to answer all your questions and help you through a journey that can be both confusing and mind-blowing in order to transform your hair to EPIC status! The Complete Guide to Co Washing with Natural Hair is designed for Black women with natural hair who are looking for a healthier option to cleanse their hair and will help to demystify co washing in detail. By the time you’re done you’ll know the dos and don’ts of co washing and be able to decide if co washing is for you.
So… what is a co wash anyway?
Short for conditioner washing, co washing is the use of conditioners or conditioner-based cleansers to clean the hair and scalp instead of using a clarifying shampoo. As much as clarifying shampoos can get the cleaning job done, they also leave hair dry and stripped of it’s natural oils, whereas co washing cleanses but leaves all the nutrients in the hair making it moisturized and more manageable!
Why should you co wash instead of shampoo after working out?
Part of having healthy hair is eating right, drinking plenty of water and working out regularly. Basically, it’s tremendously important to stay fit and work out as often as possible, however working out comes at a cost, sweat! Although sweating itself is not a bad thing (it’s actually a good thing) it can cause hair to smell and frizz. And leaving the sweat in your hair is NOT an option!
Washing your hair with a clarifying shampoo every other day makes the situation worse because it exposes your hair to constant stripping of oils and further aggravates dryness. Because of the de-moisturization nature of shampoos, co washing is an excellent alternative. Co washing provides a gentle cleanse that gets the job done while moisturizing your hair in the process.
Why exactly should you co wash instead of shampoo after working out?
Why co washing with Natural hair is so important
As part of the co washing community, and more importantly the Black Natural hair community, my main goal is to ensure that you fully understand your true potential when it comes to Natural hair health. That said, it’s also important to note that Natural Black hair, especially type 4, is fine, brittle and prone to damage without proper care.
For this reason, we are exploring all-natural remedies (in this case co washing) to help avoid the dangers of dry hair and helping you achieve “hair heights” that you always thought possible.
Co wash and the reduced suds clean (suds don’t equal clean)
Suds are the formation of froth or lather on water. Suds help spread out soap molecules so more of them can work to clear out dirt. Contrary to popular belief, suds don’t actually equate to “clean” but many people believe they do. That’s why many Naturals sometimes overdo it with their shampoos since they’re expecting the amount of lather to equate to the desired level of clean.
Since co washes rarely contain powerful detergents that lather up, it’s easy to believe it’s not doing what it’s supposed to be doing, cleansing properly. False!
The benefit of an aloe/apple cider vinegar/oil co-wash
Aloe Vera is a medicinal evergreen perennial plant that blooms year round. It has been recently discovered that one of the major benefits of Aloe Vera is its ability to cleanse the scalp and rid it of fungi. The fact that it provides a scalp and fungi cleanse, and is completely natural, makes it a great co wash ingredient.
Apple cider vinegar is just a cleansing god! A simple ACV rinse helps reduce scalp itchiness and tones the pH balance.
Now can you imagine a combination Aloe/Apple cider vinegar co wash?!? The benefits and results are tremendous!
Wash routines with a gentle co wash vs a shampoo
A complete wash day routine often consists of shampoo, deep conditioner, leave-in conditioner then oils and butter, give or take a pre-poo and any other styling products you may need. A VERY familiar routine for many of us. The single problem with this routine is that you can only shampoo your hair, at most, once per week for risk of damaging your hair (and you probably shouldn’t shampoo that often).
Co washing however, can be done every other day if not daily. You may even be able to forego the deep conditioning step, since your hair will already be moisturized, to avoid too much build-up. A consistent routine and a good co wash is ideal for active women who are regularly exposed to sweat, dirt or even dry hair on a regular.
Co washing with natural hair – a Step by Step after workout routine
So now we know about the importance of co washing with Natural hair as it helps tame frizz, keep hair moisturized and, avoids nutrient stripping. But even with all this information, if co washing isn’t done correctly, there may be no point in taking on the chore. In order to maximize the co wash benefits there are things that have to be done correctly.
Some of those things are:
- Wet your hair completely first.
- Apply your co washing conditioner evenly and thoroughly.
- Massage it into your scalp and work it down the lengths of your hair
- Read more here…
EBAN’s Mission
Hi I’m Ed. By day I’m a digital communications specialist in the website, digital marketing, and Internet business strategies field. By night I’m a husband and father and friend. I enjoy building things (pretty much anything), running races and bacon.
