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.

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

I like natural stuff.  I eat organic vegetables and make my own yogurt and drink non-homogenized and/or raw milk. I use baking soda and vinegar in the wash as a fabric softener. I make my own facial toner.  I exfoliate my face with sugar and milk and moisturize with coconut oil.  Let's just say I've been called "crunchy granola" more than once 10 times.

I was researching alternative and natural methods of cleansing my hair without chemicals, and I stumbled across the co-wash method.

The what now?

Co-washing is a method where one washes ones hair with only conditioner, the "co" in "co-washing." Popular with women of color, co-washing has actually been around for a long time.  It turns out that conditioners are a great way to gently cleanse hair, even fine, wavy hair like mine.  This method allows the natural oils in the hair to travel all the way to the ends and trains the scalp to produce less oil, since it's not being dried out by shampoo on a regular basis.  This method is recommended for color-treated hair.

Co-washing also allegedly reduces frizz and the need for frizz-control products.  Since I have a drawer full of those types of products, which are expensive, and only work some of the time, I was happy to find an alternative.

Now here's the challenge:  I have oily hair.  I always have.  I have washed it every day (sometimes twice a day) of my post-pubescent life.  Even dry shampoo is no match for the oil my scalp pumps out.  But since my hair is getting long, the ends dry out if I wash it all the time, no matter how much I condition.  It's a conundrum.

There had to be a way to train my scalp to let up on the oil production.  I've tried other methods, like the baking soda/water method.  It was horrible and turned my hair to straw, which I then had to cut short.  Then there was the time I switched to Wen, and it turned my hair to straw and I had to cut it off.  See a pattern here?  

But conditioner...that couldn't hurt, right?  I decided to give it a try.

See more after the break

Favorite Things: The Eyes Have It

I mentioned before how much I love Urban Decay's Eyeshadow Primer Potion.  I said it deserved its own post, but I decided to let it share a post with another product I love, Benefit Cosmetics' Creaseless Cream Shadow in "Birthday Suit".

And I realized, I say "I'm in LOVE!" with a lot of things.  Don't judge me.

I have oily eyelids, which works in my favor in terms of wrinkle prevention, but has historically meant that my eye shadow slides right off after just a few hours.  I tried a number of other products before I found this one, but none has ever worked as well.  I've used it for years.

The Primer Potion goes on creamy and dries quickly, but isn't drying.  Apply with your ring finger over your entire eyelid, then apply your eye shadow for long-lasting wear.  Even in extreme heat and humidity, this stuff works like a charm.

This product used to come in a curvy tube with a wand, which limited the amount of product one could extract from the tube; now, it comes in a squeeze-tube, which is a much more effective way of maximizing the product.  Thanks, Urban Decay!

Now I will mention that this product comes in three colors as well as the original.  I don't recommend them.  They are, actually, drying.  But the original version is fan-freakin'-tastic.

I love cream eye shadows.  They make less mess than powder shadows and go on with consistent thickness, which gives you a greater degree of control when applying them.  One also gets superior color saturation with the cream-based shadow.  However, with the oily eyelids I mentioned before, I didn't wear cream shadows with much success after the initial application.

Enter Benefit's Creaseless Cream Shadow.  Like the Primer Potion, it's long-wearing but not drying.  If you combine it with the Primer Potion, by George, you're unstoppable.

I've bought this in a few different colors, but I always come back to "Birthday Suit," a shimmery golden taupe color that I wear every day.  It flatters almost every skin tone, and is neutral enough to be combined with other colors for a broad range of looks, but is also pretty enough to be worn on its own with just mascara. 

Images c/o Amazon.com

This is not a paid endorsement.  I just really love these products, and I think you will, too.

Favorite Things: Baking Soda

You know what baking soda is awesome for?  SO MANY THINGS!  I use it so often, I buy the large boxes they sell at Raley's (and if I'm in the mood to deal with people, which I almost never am, I go to Costco and get the big bag) and keep them in a big canister with a cup for scooping/measuring.

Keep reading after the jump.

Sugardermabrasion

As I get older, my skin is changing.  What was once consistently oily is now sometimes oily, sometimes dry, and sometimes flaky, thanks to any number of factors.  Right now, my skin is all at once oily, flaky, and broken out.  Hooray.  It's like a perfect storm of bad skin. 

I can deal with the oiliness and the breakout, but I just cannot get around the dryness and flakiness.  Makeup won't cover that up.

It was time to bust out the big guns!



Sadness

 I've long been a fan of natural beauty solutions; in fact, this scrub was the first thing I ever mixed up for myself as a teenager.  It works like a charm for rough skin.  It's great on your face, neck, and hands.  It's much gentler than the usual almond scrubs, and cheaper than the microdermabrasion products on the market.

The steps are simple.  READ MORE AFTER THE JUMP...

Face-Off

When I go to the mall to buy makeup, I always make sure that the makeup I'm wearing looks really good. If look even a little tragic, some overly solicitous counter girl will inevitably sit me down and coat my face in a bunch of stuff I don't need. And then I stupidly buy it. Learn from my mistakes: a beautifully done up face is your best defense against the salespeople.