EmaIssa wash and go Summer!
Way back in November 2018 I made a 2019 small goals list for my professional life, creative life and hair journey, so far I've checked two things off that list. I'm the owner of Phyllis B. Fae home and design ( shameless plug ) and I've accomplished the perfect “ wash and go”! SIS I'M SHOOK! Its officially a wash and go summer for me. As a type 4 low porosity natural I had to swallow the pill that the “and’ in wash and go has a lot of weight on it. It's more a wash , do hella stuff then go. Since 2014 I have been attempting this hair style, some where more successful than others but never 100% successful. Back then I did what the type 3 girls would do and just apply a gel on what I thought was soaking wet hair. What I've learned is with in the natural hair community you have categories with range and where I fit in at that just ain't cut it. For the most part my results during this little trail and error were pretty much the same day 1-3, making it to day 4 was a big deal but perfect for me was 6-7 days of curls!Body! Volume! & moisture!
Day one wash and go
Day 2 wash and go
You guys I ain't gone lie to you , I winged it each time trying different combinations based off what made since for my hair and what it likes but the success was in me knowing my hair. If you have been supporting A Creative Space on the Internet and following my natural hair/ healthy hair journey then you know I've had setbacks and glory moments with my type 4b low porosity hair. Some of you new to the natural community may not know what that means and even some of the OG naturals might be a little confused, basically type 4b means my hair is on the kinky side of the spectrum and has more of a zig zag shape curl then a traditional loop curl. Low porosity means that my hair does not absorb moisture as easy, these two things are extremely important factors for a wash and go.
Once the weather broke here in NJ I made an attempt on my first wash and go of the summer and it was a complete failure, I ended up washing my hair the next day. What you wash your hair with when preparing for a style matters, I stuck to shampoos that really cleansed my hair and scalp and deep conditioning treatments that really penetrate and moisturizes. Where I went wrong with this first attempt was not allowing my hair to fully dry and I could have used a bit more gel also my ends where in dying need of a trim.
Wash and Go #1 wash day products
Texture ID shampoo
Aussie Moist conditioner
SM manuka honey Deep Conditioner
Wash and Go #1 styling combo
carol's daughter almond milk leave in
TGIN butter curl
Grapeseed oil
TGIN gel
My next attempt was in June, on the first I had my ends trimmed and changed my wash day products but used the same combo of products for styling just changing grape seed oil for coconut oil. My hair was left stretched and looked fuller just from the combination of hair products used to prepare for styling. But after applying the styling products I noticed my curls were not very defined and once fully dry my hair was oily, stiff and held no moisture, by day 3 my hair was in a Puff. I shampoo on a weekly sometimes bi weekly basis depending on how my scalp is acting so again in June I made a third attempt. This time I switched up my wash day products, I really liked how full my hair looked and how clumped my curls were from the deep conditioner so I stuck with that wash and go 2 & 3 and changed my styling combo. The third times a charm,right? No, not for me. It was not a complete fail, my hair held up for a total of 4 days before I could't take the itchy scalp anymore. At this point this was the longest wash and go I've ever held up, the downfall was the residue from the gel once my hair was dry and the build up on my scalp.
Wash and Go #2 & 3 wash day products
Carol's daughter Almond milk shampoo
Aussie moist conditioner
Vatika black seed deep conditioner
Wash and Go # 2 styling combo
Texture ID leave in
TGIN Butter cream
coconut oil
TGIN gel
Wash and Go #3 styling combo
~Texture ID styling cream
~ wet line extreme gel
My fourth attempt was the beginning of July, I took a leap of faith and and tried just leave in and gel for my wash and go. No I did not do this without some reason, once a month I do a spa wash day and because I give my hair this extra TLC, curl clump, moisture and definition boost I figured a good leave in and gel would do well. I wasn't completely wrong but by day three my hair was in a puff but this time the fail came in with the gel I used, it was at this point I realized that I had to give up on the TGIN gel, at least for wash and go’s.
Wash and go #4 wash day products
~ Clay wash
~ Eden body works Jojoba deep conditioner
my spa wash day is detailed I will be posting soon on it!
Wash and go #5 styling cobo
Texture ID leave in
TGIN butter cream
grape seed oil
Kinky curly gel
Still in July, for my birthday ( July 18th) I had plans of doing a rod set but it was a fail. The plan was to rod my hair two days before my birthday event because day 2 day 3 hair is always better looking, this was me going off of my braid out and flat twist out results. By the morning of my event my hair was a knotted hot mess, I had no choice but to wash and restyle it but I didn't have time for the full process of a wash day. This is how wash and go #5 happened , the night before I already knew the chances of my hair being in good shape was slim so I grabbed a co wash from target like 10 min before they closed, I figured i just Shampooed my hair and only used styling moose so it wasn't that dirty and a cleaning co wash should do the trick and it was the best decision I ever made! After co washing I did my normal LOC method and topped it off with kink curly gel. My curls were popping popping! My hair took almost two days to dry but that didn't affect my next day hair, It was still bouncy with lots of definition and moisture. My favorite part about the wash and go was the snap back, sis I’m on day six and all I’ve had to do is apply warm to hot water using praying hands and the little bit of fuzziness is gone. I've styled my hair half up and half down, loose puff and two puffs during these six. I am super happy and a proud to check this small goal off the list!