Cowashing

A lot of naturals assume that you MUST cowash to be considered a “fluid natural”. That is not the case. But let’s start with the basics.

What is cowashing?

Cowashing is conditioner washing. You do not use shampoo during this wash, but you would treat the conditioner as if it were shampoo.

How do you cowash?

Since conditioner doesn’t lather. Some naturals and transitioners didn’t understand how it was likely.  After you wet your hair, you would apply the conditioner (You can use a clarifying conditioner if you have a lot of product build up) to the scalp. You want to massage your scalp and make sure that you get all of the build up that is sitting on the scalp. and rinse.  Next you would focus on applying the conditioner to the hair and finger detangle. (You can use a different type of conditioner for the second “lather”).

 

How does cowashing differ from shampoo washing?

Cowashing is definitely considered a lot more gentle than washing with certain types of shampoos. It helps the hair retain moisture by not stripping it of it’s natural oils. Since conditioners are made to “moisturize” it helps balance out the moisture in kinky, curly or coily natural hair which tends to be dryer than other hair types.

 

Some advice when it comes to cowashing.

You can cowash in between washes. There is no limit to how many times a week/month you can cowash or wash your hair period. It definitely does depend on how you where your hair and how often you work out/sweat/swim etc.

 

There is NO wrong way to do your natural. It is all a part of trial and error. You can only learn from experience. Just take not of what hasn’t worked for you and move on to the next thing.

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