I Did a Wash & Go on My 4C Hair – First One in a WHILE

Now to be honest, I didn’t intentionally plan to do a wash and go. I had got a late start on my wash day and it was finally wrapping up around 2 am. I knew there was no way a twist or braid out would be dry by the time I woke up for brunch the next day. So I said hey let’s try out a wash and go.

I could probably count on my hands the number of times I’d done a wash and go. The first time I heard of it I was like “who would want to go out with wet hair?” Then when I actually tried it I was like “ who would want to go out with shrunken hair?” I mean the best part of my natural hair journey was the growth HELLO. As I head into my 5th year of natural hair, I revisited the wash and go method I had tried ever so often.

Here’s what I used:

After deep conditioning with TGIN Honey Miracle Mask, I used two products that I think work incredible together – Jane Carter Solution Conditioning Cream followed by TGIN Twist and Define Cream. I really love how the conditioning cream has a whipped consistency that thoroughly moisturizes my hair and define my curl pattern as it looks when it’s soaking wet. It also smells amazing! The twist and define cream locks in the texture of my hair.

I sectioned my hair into four large braids and hoped for the best!

The next morning, I did something else I hadn’t done in a while, I used a styling gel. Now once I’ve tried a certain type of product and it didn’t work, I most likely won’t try it again for a while. I gave gel a try a few times but didn’t like how it made my hair feel sticky and appear to have a white residue. However, I was drawn to try the Shea Moisture Red Palm Oil Styling Gelee because the red palm oil has not failed me yet! The Red Palm Oil Elongating Pudding is still among my top 5 favorite natural hair products! The red palm oil and cocoa butter line contains an ingredient called flaxseed gel which is known to elongate natural hair and works especially well for 4c hair.

After unbraiding my hair, I gently distributed a small amount of gel in section by using the clumping method. I do the clumping method by rubbing the gel between my palms and taking a section of hair and lightly squeezing it as if there were a glass ball between my hands. I could see how the sections with the gel hung a little bit longer than the sections without, so the “elongating” aspect of the product really showed. I followed with coconut oil to seal in the moisture.

I loved the look! At first it took a minute to get used to the style because of how short I thought my hair appeared but I liked the way the length framed my face. I tried something different and ended up loving my hair even with it’s shrinkage.

So will I try a wash and go again? I’m open to it! It was fun playing with my hair in it’s most natural state and I loved the way it turned out.

What have been your wash and go experiences?

As always take it step by step and