by
Editorial
1. I pre-pooed my hair with Queen of Curls pre-poo oil. I shampooed my hair using Pretty Kinky Naturals Coco-Tea Moisturizing Shampoo and conditioned using Tresemme Naturals.
2. I gave myself a much needed protein treatment with the JBCO protein treatment.
3. I did the first two steps of my LOC method using Cantu leave in conditioning repair cream and Pretty Kinky Naturals Aggressive Growth Elixir while my hair was still separated into 4 sections from washing (sometimes I do 3).
4. I popped on a shower cap & caught some zzz’s.
5. The next morning I used Queen of Curls Hair Smoothie to take down the twists, which were still damp. (Normally I use Shea Moisture Curl Enhancing Smoothie). I used a pick to fluff out the style, clear sections, and add volume.
I noticed that:
– My wash n’ go looked brand new, like I just hopped out of the shower.
– My curl definition was still there, and the curls were a little more elongated than usual.
– I love love LOVE doing this and will probably make this my norm for summer styling.
I now know how to cut down my getting ready time in the morning. Just shake and go!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zIMwtY1aFr0
Victoria Sallie is a 21 year old blogger living in NYC. She started Tresses and Treats to document her natural hair journey.
27 Responses
Glad to see a person who has in between twa/awkward stage hair and a plus that your hair looks like half of my head. (One side is a looser s wave the other is like yours) The wash and go’s that I always see are girls with long hair. Your hair is lovely. I am trying a new wng method kn my hair. I know many naturals swear by ecostyler but I just can’t get it to like my hair. I think it’s too heavy. I used my favorite As I Am smoothing gel after washing my hair and I layered it with the dark and lovely curl elongation cream. So far so good. I’ll see what I look like in the morning. Pray for me. .
Going to try this tonight. Hope it works for me!
I think folks need to stop taking the term “wash and go” so literally. We all know what it means when someone says it. It is a particular look or result that one gets when styling the hair. No need to be so technical.
I literally wash and go every morning. I just put a bit of conditioner in, rinse with cool water, dry it off, shake it out, put a little leave in in and its looking great by the time I’m dressed and ready to go. I hate overly complicated things so just having those three steps is awesomeness. Idk about other people but I’ve noticed that the less I do to my hair or obsess about it, the healthier and better it looks. I found the right products and just stick to what I know. I also live in a warm area without much of an issue with dry air so that probably helps too. When I lived in upstate NY it was a hassle leaving my hair out.
I usually don’t purposely do a wash and go but if I’m short on time I wash and condition and then do the loc method and bounce out the house.
The second day I mist my hair add oil and get in the shower without anything covering my head. My 4c coils are still defined. I don’t care to use gel that often only because I don’t want to wash my hair every other day but yea.
If you have curls or coils honestly I don’t think all that other stuff is needed. They will come out either way from what I’ve seen.
“dry” wash-n-gos work better for me. My hair is usually already elongated and the products absorb better given me a longer lasting style. Ms. Vaughn has a video on wash-n-go without the wash part.
Hm, I’ve never heard of a dry wash n go.. I’ll definitely look into that. Thanks for sharing!
i like what cygnet said about the name. I agree that it should be called wet styling because i’ve never seen anyone actually and truly just wash…and go. i like to call it “curl defining” because that’s more true to what the ladies always end up doing.
Wash & go—I agree that this suggests cleansing by whatever means, walking away from the rinse, and going about one’s business. End of story. So I don’t refer to the results of my washing as a wash & go. Rather, I call it what it is: Wet styling. And honestly, I think that’s a more accurate description of what most washers & goers do :-).
In my case, I sectioned my hair into five loose plaits which I co-washed with Giovanni 2Chic Ultra-Moist conditioner. I detangled each one, rinsed the plaits, applied more Ultra-Moist, then flat twisted the sections (because I like flat twisting). I covered it up in a BSS shower cap with my tube scarf doubled over it and went to bed.
This morning, I undid the first section and applied a little bit of 2Chic Ultra-Sleek with wet hands. I followed that up with maybe half a palmful of glycerin and almost as much almond oil mixed between my hands. I Bantu knotted that section and repeated with the other four sections. Lastly, working by sections, I spread out the hair and applied generous dollops of Eco-Styler Olive Oil gel, scrunching it through and putting the hair in place as I got more and more of it a-loose. Once I was satisfied that it was all gelled and hanging where I wanted it, I stuck my bobby pin in to hold that one piece that keeps falling in my face, wiped the smears from my face, ears, and neck, and I was done.
A handful of hours have now passed, and it’s dry only at the very ends. I don’t mind. I was heavy-handed with the product, and this will help my hair retain moisture until Wednesday morning, when I’ll do the whole co-wash and style in one morning instead of co-washing at night and styling the next morning.
Tonight, I’ll drop my tube scarf around my neck, slick my hands with almond oil, bend over, nod a few, emphatic yesses, position my curls and coils downward (as opposed to pulling them down, there’s a difference!), and gently press the back and sides flat to my head (because if I’m going to flatten them anyway by lying on them, I may as well choose the direction in which they get flattened!). I gather my scarf the way you gather stockings and carefully pull it up over my hair and into place. Then I straighten up, laugh at the hair I deliberately allow to spill out the other end of the tube, and go to bed.
When I get up tomorrow morning, I’ll gently lift the bottom end of the tube scarf away from my hair, slick more almond oil on my hands, and gently position my curls and coils into place. Maybe a little shake here and there, and it’ll be time to go volunteer at a local hospital.
A point about that afore-mentioned heavy-handedness with products: I know many consider it a waste, and I won’t cay they’re incorrect; but that same “waste” made the difference for me in how successfully I’ve been able to put my wet style to bed and maintain it, especially the moisture, between restylings. Maybe it’ll help someone else, too.
Now I’m going to whip my hair back and forth a few more times, just because I’m so happy it moves :-).
“And I won’t say they’re incorrect . . . “. Somebody needs an editor :-)!
I like the name ‘wet styling’! It’s a more accurate description than wash n go 😉
I also like how you say you will flatten your hair in the direction you want it to go in… I always struggle with styling and preserving my hair overnight because it’s so annoying to have flat hair in the morning. When I style my hair after washing out this deep conditioner, I will make sure to try your method.
Thanks for sharing!
Nice article, thanks for posting!
I’m so happy that you enjoyed it 🙂
Good for u.Wash and gos seem not to have been designed in my hair creation.It never works for me.Oh well,I’ll try again.Nice work ladies!
I don’t understand why it is called wash and go either. It takes me five hours to do my hair, makeup, etc on day one. That is a wash and work…LOL! My showers are almost 2 hours long on day one. But on day two, it only takes me 15 mins to style and I’m done. On day one, I use the “praying hands” method to define my curls instead of shingling. Shingling flattens and straightens my curls and on day 2 my hair explodes. So I pineapple at night and in the morning I take it down and spray a homemade concoction of Cantu Shea butter leave in conditioner with a few drops of olive oil serum and shake that up in a bottle with warm water and spray that on to 4 sections and then folding my hands to sandwich the hair, I glide my hands through to “wake up” the curls. Just spraying water dries my hair out after it dries and then it explodes. Shingling destroys my curl pattern, not sure why but it could be because I have transitional hair (half natural, half relaxed) as I haven’t done the big chop. On day one, the order that works best for my type of hair is LCSO (Liquid, Cream, Styler, Oil). I use 30% curl activator and 70% Ecostyler Olive Oil gel to define my curls.
It took me 4 attempts at the wash and go before it worked for me. I have low porosity 3c hair with medium to heavy thickness.
Oh I envy you lucky ladies who can maintain a style for longer than a day! I can never seem to achieve 2nd day hair. I’ve tried everything but it always looks too flat and limp the next day so I just cowash every day and restyle.
Trust me, I have the SAME issue. It seems like nothing works. This style is on freshly washed hair, it’s just left overnight. You can try pineappling your hair (in sections if your hair is short) to preserve it. That way, you don’t have to co-wash and manipulate your hair everyday.
I am so confused about the wash-n-go thing. It doesn’t seem that anyone actually just washes and goes. Why is it called that?
Well said. I’m always intrigued that every post seems to involve at least six or more ‘easy’ steps and ten different products(!). What’s that all about?
I agree with that thought- when you think about it you’re not really washing and going. But you’re not really manipulating your hair with this style. The next morning all you have to do is just take down, shake, and go!
Well, I guess you could technically call it “wash, maybe oil rinse, condition, squeeze out excess water, apply leave-in and/or milk/cream (or use the LOC method, if that’s your thing), and go.”
For me, a wash & go means I don’t do any styling (no twists, braid-outs, etc.) beyond what I mentioned above. Once I’ve applied my milk or cream and shaken out my coils, I’m good to go. It’s low-maintenance for me.
Also, I don’t wash my hair at night unless I’m putting it in twists or braids (for a twist/braid out the next morning). Since my hair’s in wash & go mode about 90% of the time, that means I almost always wash my hair in the morning — so for me, it really is “wash and go.”
The night I’ve washed my hair (when it’s in wash & go mode), I just sleep with it out instead of tying it back or up. I use a satin pillowcase and don’t wear a bonnet or scarf. The next morning, I mist it with a little water, shake it out, and go again. As the week goes on, I add a little style milk or oil in the mornings, based on what my hair says it needs.
That’s what works for me, as far as preserving a wash and go overnight. It doesn’t work for everyone, though. And if I used the article author’s method, my hair would either frizz up or lose some of its coily springiness. But I’m glad it works for her!
Robin,
Thanks for sharing! You’re absolutely correct, different methods work for different people. While you can sleep on a satin pillowcase and you can wake up without a big frizz ball, I can’t LOL. My hair looks better (& I have less shrinkage) when I twist it overnight and unravel it in the morning.
I love your method though, and wish my hair could do that!
Yep: it’s all about listening to our hair and finding what works and what doesn’t. Your method clearly works for you: your wash & go is beautiful!
It took me a looooong time to figure out what works best for overnighting my hair. Years ago, I always pulled it back into a low bun at night and wore a silk scarf over it. That worked kinda sorta okay, but it always left my hair more stretched than I really wanted and hid my coily texture.
Then I started sleeping on my back instead of my side, thanks to a leg injury. That was uncomfortable with my low hair bun. So I began leaving my hair out at night. I was afraid to do it (“what if I wake up with a nest of tangles and knots on my head!”), but tried it anyway. Turns out sleeping like that helps stretch the top back of my hair a bit, without killing those coils. They’re some of the shortest and tightest coils on my head. I was surprised my hair survived that first time!
Something else I learned over time: when my hair gets super frizzy overnight in wash & go mode, it’s because I did a bad job moisturizing and sealing it. Because hey, sometimes I’m lazy. If I remoisturize and reseal it the next day, it’ll be fine that night. And as the week progresses, I sometimes pineapple all my hair so I can wear it up or back in puffs. My hair is armpit length now, so I can finally achieve the high bun I see other women wear (and envy them for). Hooray!
One more self-taught lesson: the longer my hair gets, the more adjustments I have to make in my routine and/or products, mostly to protect my ends. Who knows, a few months from now I might wear my wash & go hair in big twists overnight, and that might work for my future hair. If I let it grow much longer, that is. Time will tell.
you are right, it is rarely a wash and go. for me, my wash and go is a prepoo, cowash, deep condition, wash out deep condition. Loc method with two conditioners that I treat as leave ins (tresemme naturals and shea moisture restorative conditioner) oil, gel. dry under a hooded dryer. Now at this point i could “go” I have gone at this point many times—hair is well conditioned, curls defined, shiny but shrunken. So rather than go, I grap medium sections and twist without disturbing the curl pattern into not too tight bantu knots. after several hours, i take the knots out and VOILA! beautiful shiny somewhat stretched defined curls. now i really “go” I am a true wash and go girl 🙂
I am a wash and go girl. I get up in the morning and either co-wash my hair or just rinse it, in the shower. Then I apply my styler and go. Each night I apply an intense moisturizer, wrap up my hair and go to sleep. I’m pretty lazy. 🙂
I had a similar revelation, except the night before I coconut oil , kinky curly knot today leave in conditioner, put four twist in my hair, covered my hair with a shower cap and went to sleep. When I woke up my hair was 75-85% dry, i put gel on each section, then gave my hair a shake for my curls to fall as it desired. The results were popping 4a-4c curls
Yes! I don’t know why I didn’t think of that idea before. Doing it overnight gives you more time in the morning, and it’s super easy 🙂 Kinky Curly Knot Today and coconut oil are amazing btw!