Water-only Washing And Deep Conditioning For Defined Curls

Dear naturalistas, dry, frizzy hair is not the natural state of black hair. It is the result of weeks, months, or even years of lack of moisture. The good news is that, it is completely reversible, and it is possible to achieve beautiful, springy curls no matter your texture.

One of the stealthiest contributors to the dryness of our hair is shampoo. Yes, shampoo! The problem with shampooing your hair daily, or even weekly, is that the harsh sulfates added to shampoo, which are designed to create lather, strip our hair of vital moisture that gives our hair flexibility, strength and definition, resulting in extremely dry, stiff and frizzy hair.

The culprit behind this “natural” dryness is the ineffective distribution of sebum along our hair strands. This natural oil is produced by our hair follicles and is designed to naturally “seal in” water, keeping each hair strand moisturized.

On straight hair this sebum easily travels from root to tip, coating the hair shaft to effectively preserve moisture within the hair. Often, it does too good of a job, which is why straight hair has a tendency to feel greasy and dirty more easily.

However, in afro-textured hair sebum has a more difficult time traveling down the hair shaft due to the kinks in our tightly coiled hair texture, resulting in inadequately “sealed” hair that lacks moisture. In fact, use a cleansing, sulfate-free shampoo on your hair only when it needs it, which is generally about once a month.

Instead of shampooing, maintain clean hair through weekly co-washing or water-only washing. Co-washing is, simply put, washing your hair with conditioner instead of shampoo. Currently the most popular method for maintaining clean, afro-textured hair, it often only produces temporary results and hair returns to a frizzy state within a few days or even a few hours.

Although somewhat controversial, I highly recommend water-only washing because while finger-combing your wet hair during the process, you naturally aid the sebum to move along the length of the hair rather than washing away what your body naturally produces to retain moisture within the hair.

I am big on natural methods of hair care, because working along with the built-in functions of your body often gives you the best results due to the fact that, well, your body naturally has a pretty good idea of how to run things.

So, rather than shampooing away the sebum that your head naturally produces to keep your curls moisturized, I choose to work with my body’s own natural methods, ensuring a better and more long-lasting result. I haven’t used shampoo in over a year, and I have been water-only washing for the last 7 months!

To get rid of dirt and build-up from hair products, once a month I employ a Bentonite Clay* Wash which helps my curls to clump nicely while also drawing toxins and dirt from deep inside the hair shaft, resulting in better defined and moisturized hair.

Another option is to use a sulphate-free shampoo to cleanse the hair once a month, but I highly recommend the Aztec Bentonite Clay* Wash due to its ability to clump unruly hair strands into beautiful curls.

If you live in an area where hard water is the only available source within your home, I would recommend using distilled water to wash your hair.

The minerals in hard water can actually act to dry out your hair further and can cause damage. Now, the key to water-only washing is to follow up with a great conditioner.

For years I under-conditioned my hair, believing that deep conditioning* was something I needed to do once a month, or even twice a month if I was really feeling generous. This used to be what I thought was the “natural” state of my hair:

It wasn’t until I began to deep condition my hair two to three times a week that I began to see that I had a defined curl pattern. I, like most naturals, assumed that the natural state of black hair was a frizzy, lifeless helmet, unless you were mixed.

Now that I know I have springy, 4a curls, my ignorance seems like it was a stubborn self-imposed blindness. Once I began to listen to my hair’s cries for moisture, rather than neglect it by settling for the state it was in, I saw the results of ample care and attention.

I am actually a fan of using deep conditioners as leave-ins, and I make my own natural deep conditioning* recipe which hydrates, defines, and reduces shrinkage. Depending on my plans for the day I might leave the conditioner in overnight and then rinse it out the next day, or only for a few hours.

The trick however, is not to rinse it out completely. I have found that if I let the water run over my hair until it is completely soaked and then lightly squeeze out the excess—rather than rake through and disturb the curls— , my hair actually absorbs a great deal of moisture and I’m able to maintain a defined, flowing wash and go for up to a week.

This of course is paired with adequate maintenance at night, which includes banding to prevent shrinkage and sleeping with a silk cap. The key to defined curls is moisture, nothing more, nothing less. Figuring out what keeps moisture in your dry, frizzy hair is the biggest obstacle we naturals face, but once conquered, the rewards are worth every bit of the battle.