4 Reasons I Co-Wash Zoie’s Curls
Help… the winter has caused Zoie’s curly hair to be extra dry. What is your favorite leave in conditioner or creme to keep things soft all day? Leave your suggestions in the comments. Thank you moms!
I’m sooo not a hair care professional, but I learn a lot about Zoie’s curls and coils reading Happy Girl Hair Blog. This crazy hair guru blogger mentions co-washing in many posts, but I had no idea what she meant, so Mr. Awesome googled it last week. I was surprised to learn I had been doing it all along and it’s really good for Zoie’s hair. I thought it would be fun to have a little hair competition and find out what your favorite products are for curls, swirls, straight, thick, frizzy or wavy hair. God gave all our darlings a unique crown of beauty! I love mom’s advice about hair care. I want to always be open to stretch and grow… just like sweet Zoie’s curly hair!
Zoie’s hair in the morning- dry, mushed up curls.
It’s a good Aubrey Organics Honeysuckle Rose Day.
Here’s what I found out about co-washing… I do this weekly on Zoie’s hair.
What is Co-washing? Co-washing hair means to “use conditioner instead of shampoo to wash hair. One would think that skipping the shampoo step when washing hair would leave it dirty, but the truth is that there is a small amount of detergent in hair conditioner.”
How do You Co-Wash Hair: To co-wash hair, you would “wet your hair in the same way as you do before you wash it with shampoo. Then you need to massage a liberal amount of conditioner into the scalp. Massage the scalp for several minutes. Next, you would put a plastic cap on your hair and take your shower while you let the conditioner sit. Finally, rinse out the conditioner thoroughly.”
What kind of conditioner do you use?
I juggle these 3 conditioners on Zoie’s hair- co-washing weekly, that make her curls soft and bouncy and smell beautiful. You can purchase the products right here on My Crazy Adoption Boutique (right side bar column) or click here-
1. Aubrey Organics – Honeysuckle Rose
2. Herbal Essences Hello Hydration Moisturizing Conditioner
3. Carol’s Daughter Tui Hair Smoothie
Here are four reason why I love co-washing Zoie’s hair:
- Keeps Princess Z’s hair moisturized.
- Keeps her scalp clean.
- I can clean her hair all week without drying out her curls.
- Helps retain her growth by keeping hair moisturized.
I never brush Zoie’s curly hair when it’s dry- always moisturize with products before brushing or detangling.
I keep a wonderful supply of different hair products that I simply love. Breeze through My Crazy Adoption Boutique and purchase a few of my favorite things.
I simply love these Jojoba oils:
Zoie’s curls freshly co-washed and adorable in box braids & poofy pigtails!! I rinsed out all the conditioner thoroughly and put jojoba oil and organic shea butter leave-in conditioner (I am just learning how to braid Zoie’s hair) but went a little crazy and put too much in for the photo… oops!
I have bloggy friends that have adopted all over the world… what hair products do you love & why and what country did you adopt from ? I have soooo much to learn- a life long student of Zoie’s beautiful hair.
Hey Kari,
I love to use Hello Hydration from Herbal Essences on Lidya's hair….When we first got back from Ethiopia with her, I started C-washing her hair with Hello Hydration…By the way, I didn't know it was called Co-washing…Thanks for all the tips…
Blessings,
April
Hi,
We are a Caucasian/Latino/soon to be Ethiopian family. A friend of mine told me the other day to stop using shampoo altogether. The chemicals in shampoo are pretty strong and can strip the good stuff out of our hair. So we've been massaging generous amounts of conditioner into our scalps and nixing shampoo altogether. For all our hair types, it's working great. Nice little way to save money.
Waiting on a court date to adopt our adorable 3 year old son in Ethiopia… Please help us pray!!
Karolyn
I have SOOOO much to learn! Thanks for sharing for sure! Working our way through the paperwork and should be DTE by Christmas … we pray. Chasing after a son – age 3-4. Must learn how to do hair for him.
Zoie is such a doll!
I cant believe I havent thought of just using conditioner!!! Our son is 14 months old from Ethiopia and has massive hair 🙂 i love it though! but it gets really dry and brittle. I am going to start trying the conditioner thing right away!
I have blogged extensively about my Ethiopia-born daughter's hair care regimin, hoping my experience will benefit others! Great product ideas, books, etc. Check it out at forthegloryofhisname.blogspot.com
Hello,
As an African American female adult, I noticed in the picture that leaving so much conditioner on her hair looks like it is gushing out of the braids. That will attract dust and dirt. African Americans do not "co-wash" our childrens hair nor do we wash it every day. Daily washing takes the moisture out of hair. Wash it WEEKLY with a gentle shampoo and then condition it and rinse. Then you can put an oil based creme hair dressing or grease on the hair and massage through before braiding. Sally's Beauty Supply has a very nice collection of good products for African American hair. A good braid will stay for more that one day. I strongly recommend that adoptive parents check with a hairdressor who styles African American hair or a friend or neighbor who is African American to get their input as well. African Americans take great pride in a well groomed hair style without conditioner oozing out of a braid. I have done some hair workshops for the adoptive families who have asked about how to do their daughter's hair. I would be happy to support you if you have other questions but again, it would be so, so helpful to your African American daughter to learn from other African Americans how best to handle our curly/kinky hair! Best wishes from another adoptive mother!
Barbarita, thank you so much for your comment. I actually googled a great site from a beautiful African American blogger who shared the steps & benefits of weekly co-washing. I just copied off her tips:)
I thoroughly rinsed the conditioner out of Zoie's hair, but might have added a bit too much jojoba oil & shea butter leave-in condition before I braided. I appreciate your passion to help moms learn more about our daughter's hair care- wish I could go to one of your workshops:)) I'm a full time student of Zoie's curls & coils!!
Blessings!!
Kari
Hi I think you are doing an outstanding job with Zoie's hair. I wanted to comment on "barbarita's" post. She is correct daily washing does take the moisture out of hair. IF you are using shampoo. This is a no-poo method.
As African-American female adult myself I USED to do the things barbarita mentioned. My hair was dry & brittle. I never retained much length. I now co-wash almost every other day & my natural hair has grown 3 inches in 6 months. All my natural female friends co-wash frequently too, some everyday. My OB-Gyn an african-american, co-washes her 3yr old son's hair.
I no longer use oil based products (water based only or sometimes just water) and I don't grease my scalp. I have 4b/4c hair & it's never felt so soft or grew this fast. When I do my two strand twist sometimes my "homemade" shea butter/extra virgin coconut oil butter gushes out like the pic above but its absorbed (something mineral oil will never do) by my hair. It does not attract dust.
I have learned as an african-american raised by an african-american our moms didn't know how to take care of "natural hair" therefore they didn't give us the best information. Most beautician only know how to deal with relaxed hair. Our grandmother's spent all thier time trying to figure out how to straighten our hair because embracing the kinky curls was not an option as it is today. Co-washing Rocks!!!
Ooops Sorry I never got to the real reason I was gonna post LoL my favorite leave-in is KNOT TODAY by KinkyCurly. This stuff is so amazing I given it as a present 3x with rave reviews.
I am an African American woman and I think Zoie's hair looks great! When my mother did my hair growing up the product was oozing out of my braids as well. And when I do my daughter's hair sometimes it is oozing out also. The moisture is beneficial to African American hair and like Melise said, it does not attract dust. I also grew up washing my hair every other day if not every day and I've always had long, thick, healthy hair. The key to this was adding the appropriate amount of moisture back into my hair and deep conditioning. Currently, I have just discovered all of this talk about co-washing and because of the chemical and dye that I have in my hair at this point I decided to try it out. It works Wonders! I now co-wash every day except on the two days that I deep condition. The next rave I want to try is the Extra Virgin Coconut Oil. I heard it is perfect especially for natural hair. It can be used as a pre-poo(applied before shampooing), daily moisturizer and deep conditioner. You are doing a great job!
Dude, you are a good writer. Your article is really good. You should do it for a living
Hello,
I am an African American myself and I am pleased with what your work…Way to go!!!
Co washing is perfect and I am so impressed with how nice Zoie’s hair looks…It looks very healthy and looks like the result of a wonderful momma who is caring for the hair…
I love your co washing tips…
As a curly-haired Caucasian and a foster mama of many different races, I wash a lot of hair. I co-wash mine, my curly-haired bio daughters and my AA sweeties’ hair. At my house, shampoo is pretty much reserved for lake-swimming season. Have you tried going conditioner-only on your hair?!