Co-Dependent, or, How I Kissed Shampoo Goodbye - Part II

If you missed yesterday's Tuesday's post and introduction, find it here.  Sorry about the delay.  My camera was having issues.  And also, I hate taking photos of myself.

This is the lowdown on how I switched to the co-wash method, washing my hair only with conditioner.

The morning after washing with conditioner, my hair looked pretty good.  It was smooth, soft, manageable, and had good volume.

However, the next two to three days were horrible.  My hair looked oily and frizzy and heavy all at once and I wanted to shave it all off use shampoo so bad.  SO BAD, you guys.  I resisted the urge, but it was hard.

Thankfully, after about a week, my hair went from super gross to normal to - shut the front door - looking great.  It was smooth, glossy, and had a lot of bounce and movement.

Then after two weeks, something weird and unpleasant happened.  My hair started to feel like straw and I could hardly get a brush through it.  All I could think was - great, I've ruined my hair and I'm going to have to cut it all off AGAIN.  It didn't make sense though; how could conditioner ruin my hair?  

So, I was determined that it could be fixed.  Maybe it was too dry? I slathered my hair in coconut oil for a few nights thinking that might do the trick? But it only got worse.

It was time to turn to the most powerful resource on earth: the internet.  I ran several searches until I got an answer.  Here's what I found:

1.  There are entire forums dedicated to curly/wavy hair, co-washing, no-poo, semi-no-poo, long hair, short hair; you name it. 
2.  Other people have had this problem with co-washing
3.  There are categories, according to naturallycurly.com, for curly/wavy hair types, based on curl pattern, porosity, density, width, and length.

It turns out that I have type 2a hair - "Type 2a is gently, slightly "s" waved hair that sticks close to the head; it won't bounce up, even when it is layered. 2a hair tends to be fine, thin and very easy to handle. It is also generally easily to straighten or curl. Type 2a hair tends to have quite a bit of sheen."  

Yup, that's me.  I also discovered that I have low porosity hair, which is sensitive to protein buildup. And THAT was the problem - the conditioner I was using has added proteins, and my hair was experiencing buildup! 

I went to Target and bought a clarifying shampoo, as recommended, a deep conditioner (sans proteins), and another washing conditioner that had no proteins - Suave Ocean Breeze (also cheap, HOLLA!).

I used the clarifying shampoo and the deep conditioner for a week, and then starting co-washing with the other Suave conditioner.  All was well again.

All told, I've been using the co-wash method for two months now, and I think I'm going to stick with it.  I have used the conditioner exclusively for a month, and it's never looked better.  It's smoother, the color is more vibrant, and it has a lot more volume.  I have been able to give up all the curl products I had been using and blowing my money on.

Here's a little comparison of my daily hair product usage:

Before:

• Shampoo
• Conditioner
• Anti-frizz serum
• Mousse
• Hair spray
• Curl activation spray
• Smoothing balm

Now:

• Conditioner
• Mousse
• Hair spray (sometimes)

That's quite a difference, no?  I also spend exponentially less money on hair products = WINNING.

 If my waves get out of control, I use a minuscule amount of coconut oil to smoothe them out. Also, I think I need to use the clarifying shampoo once a month to get rid of buildup; otherwise, it's all conditioner-all the time.

All that fuzz on top is new growth.

So what do you think?  Anyone else up for the challenge of breaking up with shampoo?

Please note: This is not a paid endorsement for Suave products or Target.