CO hair washing - does anyone actually do this?

shandyclover

I read about 'Condtioner Only' hairwashing sometime the beginning of this year and was all excited to try it. Less products, less expense, less chemicals all sounded great! I have long, thick, naturally wavy 'with-a-tendency-to-frizz-and-be-poofy' hair, so it seemed like I would be an idea candidate. I also appear to slightly allergic to some shampoo's since I get a very dry flakey scalp that my dr tells me is not fungal but possibly a reaction to SLS. However I just can't seem to get passed the first week, and cave in and wash it with shampoo anyway. I've read that your hair does get worse for awhile, but I find it hard to deal with the dry flakey scalp, greasy roots and sticky hair. Am I doing something wrong? Is it just a matter of grinning and bearing it till it sorts itself out or does CO just not work for some? Anyone actually made it out the other side?

Siren1974

I was doing it before I had my hair cut short. I have very wild frizzy curls and Co washing helped keep the hair soft and smooth. You need to be mega careful with the products you use though as conditioner isn't strong enough to remove some chemicals. I'd definately recommend it for hair that's unruly but not sure how well it would work on straight hair

gunsandbanjos

I have been co washing for over a year now. I didnt seem to go through the bad stage you describe. I got all the info i needed off this site http://www.britishcurlies.co.uk/curl_forum/

As Siren you need to be careful what products you use, to co wash all your styling/conditioning products need to be silicone free as you need an SLS shampoo to remove it.

Feel free to ask me any questions you have.

McKneff

Well you could name a couple of silicone free products please, save us time looking when we're shopping.

gunsandbanjos

McKneff wrote: »

Well you could name a couple of silicone free products please, save us time looking when we're shopping.

What products do you want? Conditioner, gels, curl creme, deep treatment?

gunsandbanjos

Hope British Curlies dont mind me linking to their list here http://www.britishcurlies.co.uk/curl_forum/viewthread/215/

Above is a list of co wash friendly products.

LilacPixie

oooo I have never heard of CO. I have thick, curly/frizzy mad hair.

gunsandbanjos

LilacPixie wrote: »

oooo I have never heard of CO. I have thick, curly/frizzy mad hair.

I have ridiculously thick curly hair, co washing is fabulous! My hair is in much better condition since i have started this.

shandyclover

Aha! That might be where I've been going wrong will have to study ingredients of all the conditioners I've been using, which have been alot, since we are packing up to move and I've been trying to use up alot of odds and ends, on top of that my dear mum gave me a bag of all her odds and ends of hair styling stuff so obviously its not all been jiving. Thanks for the link to the Curlies site, I had no idea it was such an exact science! I feel a bit silly at how hamfisted I've been in my approach - probably mixing things with cones all over the place - no wonder the results weren't great! Confess I'm still a bit overwhelmed, alot of the products listed on the curlies site I've never even seen, I live in a fairly small Irish town. We do have a Boots, Superdrug and Tesco though with not near the selection I see when visiting UK. Think at this point I'll try again once we've moved and a bit more order is restored to daily life.

I would be interested gunsandbanjos and Siren1974 what you use in your hair? My hair is 2b/c I think. Goes into mermaid waves if I wash it and don't touch it (!) otherwise I have to serum it and tie it up in a tight bun overnight to make it somewhat manageable, it is very odd though the hair in the front around my temples is a completely different texture, lighter in colour and dead straight, and doesnt grow like the rest!

gunsandbanjos

I'm a 3b/c.
My general routine is I co wash with either original source White pear and avocado or tresemme naturals followed by an Aubrey organics conditioner.
Styling I use the original source as a leave in, then boots curl creme and then fuzzy duck gel.

I buy my gel and Aubrey organics conditioner from the shop on the forum I linked to.

gunsandbanjos

shandyclover wrote: »

Aha! That might be where I've been going wrong will have to study ingredients of all the conditioners I've been using, which have been alot, since we are packing up to move and I've been trying to use up alot of odds and ends, on top of that my dear mum gave me a bag of all her odds and ends of hair styling stuff so obviously its not all been jiving. Thanks for the link to the Curlies site, I had no idea it was such an exact science! I feel a bit silly at how hamfisted I've been in my approach - probably mixing things with cones all over the place - no wonder the results weren't great! Confess I'm still a bit overwhelmed, alot of the products listed on the curlies site I've never even seen, I live in a fairly small Irish town. We do have a Boots, Superdrug and Tesco though with not near the selection I see when visiting UK. Think at this point I'll try again once we've moved and a bit more order is restored to daily life.

I would be interested gunsandbanjos and Siren1974 what you use in your hair? My hair is 2b/c I think. Goes into mermaid waves if I wash it and don't touch it (!) otherwise I have to serum it and tie it up in a tight bun overnight to make it somewhat manageable, it is very odd though the hair in the front around my temples is a completely different texture, lighter in colour and dead straight, and doesnt grow like the rest!

A lot of items on the list i posted should be available in the 3 shops you have listed.

My routine isnt too expensive or hard to get stuff for though would be much too heavy for your hair probably if you are a 2b/c. The Aubrey organics conditioner i use is amazing - i use the honeysuckle rose version but it is VERY thick and heavy.

Have a good nosy round the Curly site once you have time - moving is so stressful! There is a mine of information on it, you can chat to other 2b/cs and see what their routine is, it will probably be quite different to mine. Be sure to read the newbies sticky as it lists the abbreviations etc as i got so confused when i started it because they abbreviate everything!!