Monday 10 February 2014

No Water Month - How did it Go?

So, I went a whole month without washing my hair.

At first, I kept telling myself that it was absurd, that I would cave, that water = moisture and I was basically setting myself up for a setback.
Around week three, when it started to get a little itchy, I put some diluted apple cider vinegar on my scalp, and boom! Back to calmness. At first, I thought I could scrub my partings (what partings? My frizz eats my lame partings for breakfast!) with an old, no longer used toothbrush. As soon as those bristles met with my hair I couldn't even move it one jot, it was so comfortably entwined with my coils.
So, fingers it was, as it is with the rest of my hair care, really.

I moisturised every couple of days with coconut oil or Anita Grant's Cafe Latte when I wanted a little bit of a yummy scent. I could tell when my hair needed some moisture, because it would feel crisper than normal, or I could hear it, like a rustling alarm.

Time to moisturise!

Incredibly, it worked well. As in, really well. My hair, when I took it down, was well moisturised and not at all crunchy - not even the ends. Plus, the take down was reeeeally easy. Not anything worthy of hyperbole - the usual knots and tangles in my finer, wavier area were still present to greet me in their usual, sullen manner - but there were a lot less of them (which I appreciated).

The only negative aspect of this experiment was the aesthetic side. I disliked the perceived limp appearance of my twists and constantly wore it up in a bun to prevent me dunking my head in a bucket of water for some plumpness.

5 comments:

  1. I am glad it went so well. Many naturals with 4c hair do have low hair washing frequencies. I couldn't do a month but 2 weeks could work.

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    1. I think a month was a little too long. At the end of three weeks, I was chomping at the bit to get to my scalp and actually started taking them down a little bit earlier than I should have.
      But, the feeling of running water on the scalp! What heaven! :D
      I'm currently experimenting with a two week timetable, to see how well that fares for me.

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  2. You are braver than I. I think my biggest issue would be my scalp though. Washing my hair more often than 2x a month wreaks havoc on my strands, but not washing it at least that much means out of control scalp itchies and such. Ahh, the Catch 22 syndrome. :-)

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    1. I find it so hard to find a balance between the two - preserving that which is technically 'dead' and trying to maintain the skin that's still alive! Shrinkage is probably my biggest thing that stops me from washing my hair daily - stretching takes so long!

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  3. Sometimes I dont wash my hair for a few weeks due to time haha Its longer now and the 4-6 hour process isnt cutting it for me anymore. I know how you feel you get to the stage where you HAVE to wash, 3 weeks is my limit.

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