No-wash Wash day

One question I was asked a lot as a hairstylist was “How often should I wash my hair"?” The answer…probably not as often as you think.

For most people, shampooing daily is not only an unnecessary time investment but it can also cause dryness and damage to the hair, ESPECIALLY curly/wavy and chemically treated hair. Turns out, a lot of things you thought you knew about hair washing are dead wrong, like drying your curly hair with your bath towel. Never again!

The T-shirt turban is something one of my clients actually told me about. She came in to her appointment one time with her curls looking better than ever and I was like…”Girl, what did you do different?!”

When she told me she was drying with an old t-shirt instead of a towel (something she’d learned about online) my jaw dropped and then…everything changed about the way I thought about and approached curly haircare.

One my favorite things about my beauty career is learning things from everyone. Myself, my mom, my dad and my sister all have curly hair; We all have different hair types too, so that’s always given me some different perspectives on curl types and patterns. Once I started digging into the t-shirt turban trend, I found all kinds of innovative products, techniques and methods for achieving different curl looks without heat. I always do my best to cite and link to sources as much as I can but a lot of this knowledge was learned before I started keeping track of where I was learning it from. Back then, I just wanted to be able to learn as much as possible to serve my clients the best I could. I will say, the majority of the knowledge I have about curls (outside of my own experience) came from Black women and that knowledge empowered me to be able to care for any hair type that sat in my chair. Forever grateful for that.

Okay, let’s dive in to this technique

Why it works: using cotton cloth to dry your fragile strands, instead of a rough terry towel, helps prevent disturbing the hair’s cuticle. This reduces frizz immediately and will contribute to healthier (less frizzy) hair over time.

My last post talked about curly hair “problems’” and how to solve them. One piece of advice was to stop washing your hair everyday. Seriously! It’s so unnecessary and absolutely harmful for hair/scalp health. That doesn’t mean that I want you to neglect your hair though! There are lots of ways to keep build-up at bay, keep the ends moisturized, and keep you smelling/feeling good in the time in between weekly, bi-weekly or even monthly washes.

Here’s how I do it:

Let’s say you wake up on day 6 (or 3, 4, 5 depending on where you’re at in your less shampooing journey) of no-shampoo and you’re just not feeling it. ‘This is gross and Alicia doesn’t know what she’s talking about’ you say to yourself in the mirror. Your curls are looking dull, flat, lifeless, maybe even crusty. You’re thinking about throwing in the towel and reaching for that clarifying shampoo. BUT WAIT! There’s another way to refresh yourself and leave your hair/scalp feeling revived. A no-wash wash day, if you will.

Step 1-Remove loose hair and debris. A few days of no shampoo on curly hair might also mean its been a few days of no brushing. Before you get into the shower, brush that hair! Preferably with a boar-bristle brush, from scalp to ends. This will remove loose hair and anything else that might have made it’s way into your mop, before it gets all wet and tangly (and fragile). Brushing in this way will also distribute your hair’s natural oil (sebum) which acts as a protectant/conditioner, through the ends.

*Tip- If the scalp feels really greasy or built up, I like to use Surface’s Dry Shampoo Foam and do a little scalp blast before get in the shower. I choose this product because it uses non-harmful, non-drying ingredients to ‘stick’ to the debris in the hair and make it easier to rinse away in the next step. It’s also antibacterial, so if you work in an environment where you worry about your hair collecting and bringing home germs in between washes, this can be a great solution.

Step 2- Once you’re in the shower, start rinsing. Use your fingertips aggressively to stimulate the scalp and break-up that product/sebum build up.

Step 3- Gently squeeze excess water from the hair and apply a treatment mask. Then, rinse *(some treatment masks can be left in as a styling aid, it depends on what you’re using, DM me if you’re not sure)

Step 4- After finishing your shower, now comes the fun part! Squeeze (gently) excess water from the hair, a few times if necessary. The ends should feel little bit dry. ‘Towel’ dry out as much water as you can with a cotton t-shirt (a pillowcase or leggings will work too) moving from scalp to ends, never the opposite.

Next, (this is the magic sauce) apply your product. Magic Myst is my absolute favorite because in one convenient spray bottle you’re getting everything hair needs to be healthy: Moisture, protein, antioxidants as well as UV, free-radical and heat protection. If you feel like your hair needs a little something more, (more moisture? Try Bassu Oil) feel free to put it on but don’t over do it in this step. This is just the drying phase and we’ll have opportunity for more targeted styling later on.

Step 5- Twist it up. There’s a few different techniques for this and I highly encourage you to try a few different ways to see what works best for your desired style. Just be sure you’re not twisting it up tight in there. Hair is more fragile and susceptible to breaking when it’s wet, so always keep that in mind and treat your strands with care.

Leave the turban on for 15-20 minutes before letting it down to air dry naturally (I often do this at bedtime by stretching my hair upwards over my pillow to encourage open air drying and volume). Magic myst or Bassu Moisture Mist can be sprayed throughout the day or the next morning to help re-form curls where they may have dried a little wonky.

See my post “Curls For the Girls (and boys!)” for more tips and a semi-helpful video 🤪

Got questions? Hit me!

Tried it out?! How’d it go?

Want to step up your turban game beyond an old T-shirt? Check out these BEAUTIFUL and functional wraps

Leave me a comment to let me know if you liked this technique or not