Oily scalp, heat damage, and/or otherwise sensitive strands are exactly why good hairstylists encourage less hair washing and more dry styling. The less washing it endures, the fewer oils it has to make. Slowly but surely, the natural oils in your hair achieve a balance, allowing your strands to be nourished, shaped, and styled. It’s a win-win. I’m also interested in learning how to let my hair dry naturally. If you’re a recovering heat-styler too, you understand. For years I blow-dried my hair because I could never trust it to dry without heat predictably. Some days it would be a frizzy, knotty mess; others it would be limp and stuck to the sides of my head, and/or some combination of the two. There’s nothing wrong with this outcome per se, but I’d like to find out what my hair needs to have a little more boost. I’d love to allow it to dry naturally more often to save time, money, and energy, especially as the summer season approaches. Dealing with a blow dryer in East Coast humidity is an uphill battle that I’m no longer interested in participating in! From Day 1 of co-washing, I noticed a huge difference in how my hair felt, specifically its texture and the movement. I have fine hair—a lot of it—that’s wavy and typically pretty frizzy. Instead of the unpredictability that always seemed to take over when drying my hair naturally, co-washing made it predictable! It solved the biggest problem I had after giving up heat styling. On the same day as a wash, I have curly waves that didn’t look overly styled or frizzy from natural drying—they fall somewhere in the middle. My favorite hair days are Day 2 and beyond because the “hold” of the curl never actually left my hair. I don’t brush it daily, only after the shower, but would run through it with my fingers and style loosely with a salt spray, texturizing spray, or dry shampoo as needed in the morning. My hair maintained a hold, volume, and shape that it never had before! This was revolutionary. The downside was how consecutive co-washing made my scalp feel. As I mentioned, I have scalp issues, but my deep dives into internet chat rooms, reviews, and experiments highlighting co-washing lead me to believe that it would be beneficial for my problem scalp. For me, this was unfortunately not the case. I stuck it out, but with each passing co-wash, the buildup on my scalp became a little thicker and flakier. I have a condition called seborrheic dermatitis, which, according to Alan Dattner, M.D.’s book on skin and natural health and beauty, is a sign of systemic candida overgrowth. So take this feedback with a grain of salt! If you don’t have seborrheic dermatitis, your scalp very well may hold up to co-washing, and it’s quite possible you’ll benefit. Now I co-wash twice a week and wash with shampoo (my current favorite is Ursa Major) once. It’s the perfect balance for my scalp—it’s never felt better—and my frizz is tame, and my hair is finally returning to its natural state.
