Just Because You Can Pull Off A Wash And Go Doesn’t Mean You Should

Hair envy, hair crushes; we’ve all had these at some point on our hair journey. The way we react to watching the formation of perfectly defined curls, you would think we were having a romantic interlude.

Those of us who are natural hair enthusiasts like to think that type 3 and 4 kinky* curlies have it all. We ooh and aah and ogle the bouncy tresses that CurlyNikki and Naptural85 have.

Basically you’ve gotten to a point where you have this natural hair thing down pat. You have a system and it works for you, plus you are being regularly complemented on your hair dos.

You enjoy the versatility of your own natural texture but somehow you have been seduced by the idea of curl definition and as such you live in wash and go’s. After all it’s a breeze to be able to simply wash your hair, rake in some product and have  fabulous curls in fifteen minutes.

Wash and go’s are great when your hair is shorter or if you are planning to keep it relatively short anyway. Disclaimer: Here of course I am speaking to the kinky* curly 4 hair types with very fine strands. But when it comes to length retention, wash and go’s are not the best styling option because of the amount of manipulation involved in achieving them. Simply put, just because you can pull off wash and gos doesn’t mean you should.

For many of us, time is a luxury we do not have, especially in such a fast paced society that demands more of us at every turn. We need readily accessible styles that we can whip up in a few minutes – sort of like a grab-and-go yet still have chic, trendy, fabulous hair.

This is the wash and go’s claim to fame – apart from the edgy attractiveness of course. Wash and goes are a simple go to style for curlies and are chic and relatively easy to style since you simply get out of the shower after a wash or co-wash, blot or shake out excess water, rake in your styling product and go about your business without the hassle of extended styling sessions.

Still, wash and go’s make your hair more susceptible to breakage since the increased frequency of ssk’s are likely to result in loss of inches of your hair. If you have fine hair and frequently do wash and goes it doesn’t take a lot of imagination to deduce that you probably get a fair amount of breakage leaving your hair stuck at a plateau. Breakage will undoubtedly make length retention an uphill battle if that is your goal.

Wash and go’s may also cause matting and tangling which would then require some combing – major manipulation and time consumption- so this would again defeat the purpose of the wash and go or length retention.

You may not care too much for retaining length so perhaps that bit is irrelevant to you, but more than likely, you care about the health of your hair so consider that each time you wet your hair the strands must expand to accommodate the  moisture giving rise to cracks in the outer cuticle layers.

Essentially science shows that constantly wetting and drying your hair can weaken the strands, causing the health of your hair to deteriorate.

While your hair might not immediately show the symptoms of the damage, over time the hair may get weathered and dull. We also know that leaving our hair out leaves it vulnerable to the elements which can do a number on them as well.

Since many women are drawn to the wash and go style because it cuts down considerably on the time that they take to groom their hair, if you plan to continue using them in your regimen it would probably be best if you cut down on their frequency.

There are those of you who lead quite a hectic lifestyle inclusive of aerobics, spinning classes or other athletic activity and this may pose a challenge for you.

Instead of washing your hair after each of your workout sessions daily (one in the morning and one to close out the day), get creative instead. Try to find ways to avoid the wet-dry cycle so that you can allow your cuticles to close up as your hair rests. Also try to find ways to make your wash and go’s last longer as this will also dramatically reduce single strand knots.

Another option is to alternate your wash and go with a different perhaps more stretched style like a twist out every other week. Twist outs and braid outs don’t take a great deal of time to do and if you can wash your hair in the evening before bed your hair will dry as you sleep.

Dry cleansing can freshen your scalp so you do not feel sticky (not to mention eliminating any lingering odors- eww!). Granted, you may have become accustomed to your way of doing things, but consider it a sacrifice for the health of your hair.

If your schedule does not involve daily hectic workouts, it should be a little simpler, but dry cleansing could work for you too. Additionally, it would help if you style your old wash and goes by bunning or wrapping and pinning it into simple, stylish up-dos.

Sure, it would require that you take a few minutes to get it done but if your style is set on the foundation of an old wash and go, it shouldn’t take more that five minutes. Besides, if you care about maintaining the optimal health of your hair, a few minutes will be well worth it.

Bottom line is that wash and go’s are an easy styling option but they are definitely not the best choice when it comes to optimum hair health or length.