The not so Wash n Go

I love how easy we make it sound when we say ‘wash n go’ and ‘wet-look’. It sounds like you could just step under or spray water on your hair and done.  It makes me crack right up. Not even with the smoothest silkiest hair do you just wash n go. At the very least you will shape it, tuck it and tie it in a particular way.  Some of us can get away with the bare minimum of just a little bit of product and a tie. Those with hair like mine have to line up the products, section, systematically apply product that ultimately delays drying by many hours, get a shoulder drip cloth, drip the hair, wait the rest of the day or two for it to dry. Not so Wash n Go after all.

I know a lucky few women like my cousin Charmaine who has the perfect size curls that she barely every wears out. She could literally wash n go and look fabulous. She however prefers her hair straight and when she does do a ‘wash n go’ it it’s a secondary choice. It may take her only a few minutes but she still does more than just wash n go.  Lucky fish!

I am the latter type of curly girl who has to plan for at least an hour worth of work to wear my hair in a loose bush of curls. When I can’t budget this amount of time - I will look like I rolled out of bed a few minutes ago. My curls just don’t look very defined, smooth and detangled.

When I first went natural eight years ago I was utterly frustrated with keeping my hair tangle free once it hit mid-length. Nothing I tried worked. Which ultimately led to the creation of the silk helmet. A satin bonnet that I created to help improve the state of my dry hair. Once I had the bonnet I was frustrated with and obsessed with getting the perfect set of curls. I would toil with this idea for another few years till I figured it out.

All I wanted was to have some curls that could hang on my shoulders. This is the object of my pursuit to curl happiness. Single stand knots would eventually cost me lots of length. I found that the more I twisted my wet hair the more knots I got. I have since stopped the frequent twisting and I have had a massive reduction in knots.

My hair wet shrinks a massive amount to just barely grazing my shoulders. When I blow it out however I am blown away that the back of my hair is bra-strap length. My hair-goal for this year is to grow it all evenly to my mid bicep. Perhaps by end of next year I could grow it to my elbow in full curls. What also surprises me is how different I look depending on how I wear my hair. I love how versatile my natural hair is. 

For now I toil with moisture, because this is the one single thing that will make sure my hair does not break and I am able to retain my length. I always search for new things so that I can share those with you. Stay tuned and lets get healthy and long hair.

SHL

LOVE NATURALLY