My Wash Day Routine (2021): How I Care For My 4C Hair After A Protective Style

Hi guys welcome back to my channel so in today's video we're going to discuss my wash day routine or how i take care of my hair after a protective style and i'm emphasizing protective style here, because after we take down our hair, especially depending on how long We had our hair braided, our poor 4c hair can be really matted and super dry, so i'm going to discuss how i bring her back to health, bring her back to proper moisture levels. So if you're interested then keep on watching before we get started, though don't forget to hit the subscribe button and the bell, so you get notified every single time. Your girl uploads, a new video, also follow me on instagram, because we are upping our ig game this year and you don't want to miss it. My wash day routine consists of four steps which i've discussed before, but we're gon na go through them in this video. It is pre-poo shampoo, deep conditioning, moisturize and seal, so these steps i'm still going to carry it into this video, but i'm going to modify it a little bit just because my hair was protected and in a protective style for a month, and i also did a Moisturizer, so i need to be careful. So if you're like me, your hair is extremely dry by the time you take down your protective style and we all say we want to moisturize our hair while it's braided, we want to care for her while it's braided, but it's so easy to ignore our hair. When it's braided, it's kind of like one of the dangers of protective styling, so this is why i really want to make sure that i take care of my hair when i take it out of the style. Just give her the proper tender loving care that she needs before. I braid it again, and i'm saying this because i'm in a protective style challenge right now. So if you don't know all the details on that, i will put them down below. I had my passion twist in for exactly a month. However, i went to mexico. I was at the beach i was out and about. I really did not moisturize my hair, so my job started before i even took down my hair. I actually did a little strand test, so i took out one twist and my hair was so dry, so i knew that i had to be careful all right. So today is the day that we tackled this task of finally taking care of our hair, and you know what i'm ready for what's to come, i'm ready to spend time with her. I have nothing on the agenda for today and tomorrow, i'm totally lying. I have a lot to do, but i am determined to take the time to take care of my hair. She is extremely dry. I'Ve had the passion twist in for over a month yesterday was actually a full month. Since i had my fashion twist, i am going to be using a little bit of the scalp spray, i'm using it before i take my braids out. It kind of makes no sense, but i know how dry my hair is under this. I can feel it. It feels crunchy, so i want to get some moisture into my hair first before i take down the twist plus, i do feel like my hair has married the fake hair as if you know they were dating. I wasn't aware anybody was dating in my hair, but apparently there's a bunch of marriages up there, so i need to loosen up my hair first before i you know start taking it down. I can tell that if i just go in start taking my hair down, i will get a lot of breakage and i'm trying to prevent that. I'M just going to mention that i'm not trying to save anything, i'm not trying to save the rubber bands, i'm not trying to save the hair. It'S all going to get thrown out. I mean i should be careful before cutting anything see. I knew it. I knew it i haven't not already. Ah there we go see, this is going to come in so handy for when my hair gets matted, i can really try to loosen it up with the scalp solution and you can use anything at home. You don't need to use this thing. It'S not even made for the purpose, i'm using it, for it's made more for hair growth and taking care of your scalp, but i'm using it as a spritz. You can make your own take a little bit of water. Add a little bit of leave-in conditioner in there some oils and there you go bam. You have your own homemade spritz. We don't need to buy everything first twist is out and i'm not bald. Under this after i take down a section of hair, i not only spritz it with some more water, slash, aloe vera juice. I also followed with a scalp solution, but this is also not made for the purpose of using it, but the reason why i use it is to moisturize my hair. It'S a moisturizing product, we're going to use to moisturize our hair once that's in. I followed up with an oil. This is where my pre-poo starts. When i do my hair on a regular basis, i typically pre-poo with an oil. So all that i ended up using is almond oil and i'm using it to seal in the moisture that i just added in my hair one, but to also prep my hair. For the shampoo step, of course, you don't need to use specific products in this step. I think that you can get away with just using water, just spritz your hair with some water and then follow up with the oil. The water is going to soften your hair. It'S going to prevent breakage as you're, taking down your braids, and then the oil is going to coat your hair so that, when you do get into the shower, your shampoo is not going to strip your hair, especially if your hair is dry. I have naturally super dry hair, so pre-poo is really important for me, especially when i'm coming out of a protective style. So by the time i'm done taking down the twist, my hair is one in section and two coated with an oil. The reason why i want to emphasize this is because, when coming out of a protective style, i highly recommend that you work in sections, it's less overwhelming for you and it's less stress on your hair. We can get pretty frustrated when we're taking care of our hair and it's super dry. It'S super matted, it's taking longer, i know for sure. For me i can get really frustrated and start ripping my hair out. So working in sections really prevent me from getting frustrated and also it makes the task a little less daunting. I also would advise not just taking all of your hair out and leaving it all out before you start, let's say sectioning and then putting an oil as you take down a few twists might as well. Just you know twist that up at the very least and put your hair in sections, because when your hair is coming out of the protective style, i personally think that it's in a fragile state, especially if you've been ignoring her like me, your hair, is a little Bit dry, your hair is fragile, so leaving your hair out just take it all out, can create more matting than necessary. Your hair's already matted. You want to make the situation worse. Another reason why i think you should work in section when you are going through your hair after a protective style, is to remove shedded hair, mind you. Your hair has been in protective style for a month. You have a lot of accumulated shedded hair that i personally think you need to take out of your hair before you hop in the shower wetting, your hair and shampooing, and deep conditioning and all that good stuff. The reason being for me, the shadow hair stays in your hair. It just gets more matted and then, when it comes down to detangling your hair, you will have a hard time, so removing the shedded hair before you even hop in the shower is really important. For me - and i think you should try it too - so using an oil really helps create more slip into my hair. So i can slide the shedded hair out, don't be so alarmed because naturally we shed okay, it's okay to shed, don't get so concerned about it. At this stage, as long as your hair is not breaking, you should be fine. You are going to have a ton of shedded hair because you haven't detangled your hair in over a month. Alright, so we are done. This hair is back. Oh, my god, i missed her. I do have a pile of shitty hair that i wanted to show you, because you guys freak out every single time. One strand of hair falls off your head and i'm here to let you know that shedding is natural. Okay, it's normal. This is how much hair came out. That'S just you know from me finger combing, my hair, removing the shaded hair. That'S how much came out there is still hair. That'S going to come out when i wash and thoroughly detangle, but this is what we're working with so far, because my hair already have oil in it. I'M basically ready to pre-poo. So i'm just going to cover her up with a plastic bag. But before i do that, i do want to hit my scalp one time. I realized. I should have done this when i was actually you know removing my hair, but one thing at a time we're gon na go in with the scalp solution. The scalp stimulating mask this is what we're gon na use, especially for my edges. I really want to make sure that i'm taking care of them, because you know i really haven't been taking care of them. Nothing crazy just quickly get in there, massage it in, and that's about it, especially now that my scalp is really like dirty and gunky. This is the perfect time to to do this, and i really like this one. It makes my scalp feel really nice and it just makes my hair in general really soft. So i like using this before i hop in the shower before i wash my hair, and if it's going to grow these edges, i'm all for that all done. I'M gon na use a good old plastic bag, and that's it i'm just going to let that sit. So once you take out the shedded hair put your hand twist, you are ready to shampoo shampooing. Your hair is important to really clean your scalp if you've been in a protective style for a month like i have, then your scalp is quite dirty, and given that i was in cancun, i was at the beach. There was sand in my hair. My scalp was gross, it was disgusting, so i knew i really needed to go in and use a shampoo to clean my hair and my scalp. The shampoo that i chose to use is the 4c only shampoo, that's because it's a pretty effective shampoo that doesn't strip my hair too too much. Of course, you can use any shampoo of your liking, keep in mind that the purpose of washing your hair at this stage is to wash your scalp thoroughly and also wash your strands. I typically never shampoo my hair twice. That'S because my hair is super dry and i find that shampooing my hair twice just really strips it, a little bit too much for my liking. My hair gets really dry and matted, so i like to make sure that the first time around i am very thorough. I go through my scalp, i massage my scalp. I drag the shampoo onto my strands and really get my scalp and my hair clean when i'm washing my hair. If i'm not, you know in a protective style or my weekly routine, be i'm never that thorough with really bringing the shampoo down the strands of my hair. But if i'm coming out of a protective style girl, we need to get everything washed. Everything needs to be clean when you're shampooing your hair and as you notice here, i am making sure that i really get the water into my hair. I soak my hair with water one my hair has been really dry. Water is the number one moisturizer and two the water is actually going to help soften my hair. So i make sure that my hair is thoroughly wet. I'M not just hopping in the shower quickly. Wetting, my hair, no girl. I need to infuse hydration into my hair and that hydration is going to come from water. So i make sure i thoroughly saturate my hair. So shampoo is to really clean your scalp and hair, and now we're going to move on to my favorite step, which is deep conditioning. So, as you notice the entire time that i'm going through my routine, when i am pre pulling when i'm shampooing, i'm really removing shedded hair, i'm making sure that i can break my hair apart. So, as i'm applying the deep conditioner in my hair, i am also taking advantage of the fact that the deep conditioner has a ton of slip to one remove any shedded hair that are still there. At that stage, you should be pretty good. Most of them should be out, but also to really start the detangling process. So right now, i'm making sure that i can separate my hair, i'm going in a lot of different direction, really pushing my finger through my hair so that i can start detangling. I don't wait till the very end because, at the end of the day, you haven't detangled your hair in a really long time and if you're leaving it all, for you know after you're done washing and deep conditioning you're going to have a hard time. Your hair is going to be extremely matted and you're going to get frustrated. It'S going to take you a long time, but if you do it bit by bit as you go through your routine, i think that it will keep you sane. At least. It keeps me safe as i deep condition again. Water is key. I'M making sure that my hair is really wet and, as i work the deep conditioner in my hair, i am working in water as well. I try to detangle my hair at that step. I am moisturizing at that step once we're done, go ahead and put on a plastic cap and let the dip conditioner do its thing. So this particular deep conditioner tells you that you don't need to leave it in for a long time. 30 minutes is enough. However. We left it in for a few hours. That'S what we do so after the few hours are up. My hair feels great she's, well conditioned she's, happy she's, halfway detangled, so at this point, detangling should be a breeze, so detangle, my hair, i'm using the felicia leatherwood brush. I am so happy to actually get my hand onto this brush. I'Ve been wanting to use it all last year, yeah it's a really good brush. I have to tell you that it does not rip my hair out. It'S not like the tangle teezer. It does seem a little intimidating because of all the bristles but they're, very gentle and the fact that they separate girl it's a good brush. I would recommend it so i'm using this brush to detangle my hair, but before i even get into using a brush. I am going in with my fingers. Finger detangling is key finger. Detangling is your best friend, especially when your hair was extremely matted. You can feel the knots under your fingers. You can tell where your hair is a little bit more matted, so you can take your time to really separate your strands. Finger. Detangling is the real mvp when it comes to natural hair, so take your time to finger. Detangle first take away the major tangles first before proceeding with a brush, even if you're using the felicia leather with brush. You have to be extremely gentle with your hair. I mean you haven't done your hair in a while right, so you got to make sure that you're giving her some love once my hair is thoroughly detangled and at that point it's super easy to do, because i have broken down the detangling step all throughout my Routine, i'm doing it bit by bit. So when it comes down to action, detangling, it's a breeze. My hair is already halfway detangled. I just have to finish it up with a brush, make sure that she's thoroughly detangled. Personally, i try to make sure that my hair is really detangled in between protective styles. Just because i know i'm going to get my hair braided again, i don't want to carry matting onto the next protective style that i have to deal with later. So i make sure that my hair is thoroughly detangled. It'S quite satisfying for me to be honest using this brush anyways, i digress so once you rent out the deep conditioner and i do that at the sink at this point, i don't want to hop in the shower again. You know it's late, so i'll do it at the sink now it's time to really moisturize your hair, so your hair feels really good after you deep condition. So you want to make sure that you keep that good feeling. Okay, if you don't moisturize and seal, then your hair is going to dry out by the next day, especially with 4c hair. I think it's important for you to layer. Your products really make sure that you're not just moisturizing your hair, but you are layering it with an oil, so i'm using a leave-in conditioner to moisturize my hair, i'm going in with a moisturizing cream and then follow that up with an oil. So technically i'm following the lco method. You can use whatever method you like my personal favorite is the lb method, i'm claiming it. That'S the name that i came up with it's basically leave-in or liquid, followed by a butter, i'm fresh out of my ammo natural butter. It'S my favorite butter of all times, so i had to make do and i'm using the lco method. The moisturizing cream that i'm using is by moisture love. It'S a new product that i'm using pretty good. I'M moisturizing my hair, especially when i use the living conditioner. First, the cream and then an oil. I find that this little trio works very well, but if you want to skip out a product you can use a living, conditioner and a butter, and then there she is. She is back that forcy, goodness baby she's back. Oh [, __ ] is so moisturized. Nothing makes me happy than having well-conditioned moisturized hair. It really just brings joy to my heart. She is resting right now. She is under this head wrap. So i'm gon na give my hair a little break before i braid her again like i said i am protective styling for the winter. If you are interested in the challenge, i will leave the information down below, but i'm going to give myself a little break. I'M just going to leave her in the twist, i'm not going anywhere, so i'm leaving my hair in the twist for about a week and then i'll braid, my hair again. Typically, i would do a low, manipulative style for two weeks before i get my hair braided again, however, my birthday is coming up and your girl is trying to look fly just to give you an update. This is how much hair came out after one month of not combing my hair, and that is it. Those are the main core steps in the routine. I would urge anybody out there to use at least these steps, if you don't pre-poo, that's fine, but make sure that you are shampooing deep conditioning, moisturizing and sealing your hair every single time. You go through your wash day, routine. That will make your hair happy and that will make you happy. If you have any questions, don't forget to leave them down below, don't forget to give me a thumbs up before you head out that helps my channel and also, let me know that you like this video, so i can create more like this one and i'll see You guys in my next one bye,