Conditioner-Only Washing: April 2011 Hair Update



    I know it´s May, but I´ve been meaning to post this since a while.


   So I started co-washing because I´ve always wanted curls. My hair had wave-potential, depending on cut and weather:

Old hair, before co-washing


   
   After I started co-washing, my hair started curling from bottom up, bit by bit. It was also more moisturised and frizz was down. But after a while my hair was a strange combination of dry and oily.  It got limp. All the (affordable) silicone-free and paraben-free conditioners that I could find here in Germany had alcohol denat and oils (and often glycerin) at the top of the ingredient list. 

    Here is my hair, on a particularly bad hair day (co-washing with an Alverde conditioner, and flax-seed gel as leave-in):
Beginning of co-washing, over a month ago


    If you have been reading this blog long enough, you know what I do when I can´t find the cosmetic I want: I make it. Making a conditioner was not as brainy as it sounds:  I used ingredients and recipe from Hobbythek. (The recipe isn´t online, it´s from one of the books). (For readers not from Germany, try looking for an online "make your own cosmetics" store). 
     The conditioner has just a teeny amount of oil, and contains a very gentle surfactant. I added Panthenol and Aloe Vera for moisture, some silk protein and a bit of essential oils.

         This was my first wash with it (flax-seed gel as leave-in):

Co-washing with Hobbythek conditioner

      I love the way the hair is separating into "clumps", and every clump is developing its curl. Also: shininess ahoy ! What I´m not happy with is the flatness at the roots. I might go modified CG (shampooing just the roots every now & then) if things don´t improve there.

     Since then I am experimenting with scrunching, toweling with an old T-shirt and other techniques I picked up from the NaturallyCurly forums. I´ll share my results in my next update.


Photos by Eternal*Voyageur    


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