Da Hair, again
Posted by Aarti on February 24th, 2012 . Filed under: Uncategorized .Ok without further ado, here’s the new technique I’ve been using when it comes to my hair, and I’ve been loving the results:
Here I am after my demo at the Le Creuset store here in Los Angeles… you can see, it looks pretty good, right?
Here’s the drill. Some of this is repetitive from my last post on curly hair techniques, but it bears repeating if you never read it. Again, I’m not getting paid by any of these companies, so you can trust me!
1) Shampoo: I only shampoo it about once a week. Anything more and my hair manages the impossible: it’s both limp AND frizzy! When I *do* shampoo, I either use something incredibly moisturizing like Bumble and Bumble’s Coco de Creme shampoo, or Deva Curl’s No-poo which doesn’t lather because it’s absolutely sulfate-free (sulfates are the nasty things that apparently make our curly hair go haywire). They both smell delicious.
1b) Co-washing: Bren does this every now and then, so I thought I’d mention it. I’ve tried it a couple of times, but I love that freshly-shampoo’d tingly-scalp feeling so I’m not a fan, but his hair always looks great when he does it. Keep in mind that Bren does not ever shampoo his hair. Or condition it. He just rinses it through with water and leaves it the way God made it.
I know what you’re thinking. But hang on a second.
I remember watching a BBC documentary about a woman who hadn’t washed her hair in years, and it looked so healthy, glossy, beautiful. The anchor sniffed her hair and said it smelled great! So, I’ve tried to remain pretty open-minded about Bren’s decision to live “product-free”, but we’ve still had a lot of “discussions” about this over the years; he says that when he shampoos it, it looks awful no matter how much conditioner he uses. I used to say that he just hadn’t found the right one. Cut to countless experiments on my part, and he’s right; his hair just does NOT want to cooperate. Huge surprise since Bren has such a rebellious nature to begin with. (Hope you can hear the sarcasm in my voice).
Anyway, co-washing is simple. Go to the store. Buy the absolute cheapest conditioner you can find (we bought a bottle of Sauve). Use it as you’d use a shampoo: ie. massage it into your scalp. Rinse. Treat the ends (and only the ends) of your hair to a rich, conditioner. Rinse. Dry. Done.
3) Conditioner: I condition my hair every time I’m in the shower, from the ends up, avoiding the roots altogether of course.
If I’ve just shampooed it, then I like using Pantene’s Deep Moisturizing Treatment for Curly Hair, but I ran out of that so I’ve been using either the B&B Coco conditioner or another B&B conditioner called Quenching. Both of these conditioners last me about 6 months because I only use them after I’ve shampooed, because that’s when I need the extra oomph. Otherwise I just use Pantene. I know. It’s a little OCD. I think Bren will be horrified when he reads this post and realises how long I think about my hair.
4) Rinsing out the conditioner: here’s part of the secret. Don’t wash all the conditioner out of your hair. Leave just a little in. Not sure how much to leave in? Then just wash it all out, squeeze the tiniest bit onto your palm and reapply without washing it out.
4) Toweling off
Remember when I mentioned the tshirt on my head in my makeup post a couple of weeks ago? It’s Bren Superman tshirt. It makes me giggle to think that I’m using his superhero tshirt to dry my hair. Heehee!
Ok, this is it, the big crucial trick. Your hair still has some conditioner in it and it’s sopping wet (I do this while I’m still in the shower actually). Run a little of whatever curly-hair product you normally use, whether it’s Bumble & Bumble’s Curl Creme like me, or whatever mousse, gel, Mrs. Jesse’s whatever stuff you like… run it through now. Then, grab an old tshirt and twist it around your head in a turban. Yes, I know your hair is probably very wet. But don’t be tempted to towel dry it first; apparently those thick towel fibers encourage frizz. The tshirt doesn’t. Leave the turban on for about 20 minutes, then pull it off and let your hair air dry. You’ll notice that it’s mostly dry anyway, and has a lovely light bouncy quality to it. And no frizz! Usually at this point, I’ll arrange my part and then leave it alone. LOVE IT!
And that’s it! Let me know what your tricks are, or if you decide to try this one, let me know how it turns out!
-x-
aarti
February 24th, 2012 at 7:41 am
I use a tshirt on my head, too! All the time. Both to dry, and also when my hair is dry and I don’t want it to get wet in the shower. Eugene (my husband) gets fake-mad when I use his shirts as he says I stretch out the neck a bit, but whatever. It works for me!
February 24th, 2012 at 8:20 am
Ok…so I don’t have curly hair…I have straight hair that turns into an oil slick if I go for a day without washing it…but because I love you & your writing style so much, I just found myself reading this entire post that is absolutely of no use to me! lol! But your hair is gorgeous
February 24th, 2012 at 9:32 am
I have heard that apple cider vinegar works well as a wash for straight/oilyish hair.
http://www.wikihow.com/Wash-Your-Hair-Without-Shampoo
I have curlyish coarse hair so I may give the co-wash a try!! That might improve my curls!
February 24th, 2012 at 11:56 am
I don’t have curly hair. Mine is straight. But I read the entire post and will be revisiting this post a lot more…why???..because my 2 yr old has curly hair….and I have no clue how to take care of them….now I got to hunting for shampoos n conditioners n stuff for curly toddler hair – oh the joys of motherhood
February 24th, 2012 at 1:24 pm
I started getting Deva cuts and using deva products a year ago and my hair has transformed! I rarely shampoo, always wash with conditioner and hardly rinse out a drop. The t-shirt drying is so smart, too. I’m spending a fortune on Deva though, so I might have to swap to Suave and use Deva just on the ends like you recommend. I got my husband to quit the shampoo once I learned more about sulfates, too. When we have visitors, they get so confused when they can’t find shampoo in our shower. Ha!
Your hair is STUNNING!
February 24th, 2012 at 1:42 pm
My mother told me that her neighbor from 40 years ago used to wash her hair with an egg york and rise it out with vinegar and that she had the best hair out of her circle of friends. I tried this once but it was too gross and I couldn’t continue LOL
Just sharing
February 24th, 2012 at 4:20 pm
I came here to read the engagement story but I’m pumped to find a hair guide! My beautiful little girl has got amazing curly hair – but the poor thing has me for a mom and I don’t have a freaking clue what to do with it. They probably should have asked about that on the adoption applications, huh?
I think I’m going to have to try co-washing on her. I almost never use shampoo on here so here’s hoping that this works well!
February 24th, 2012 at 6:08 pm
I also use Deva Curl, my hairdresser dared me to use it and I can’t go back to anything else. The anti-frizz spray from Deva Curl is amazing. I haven’t been conditioning every time I’m in the shower, so I’ll give it a try.
My only problem with Deva Curl is that it has wheat in it, and my husband is a Celiac, so I have to be careful. He’d ban it from the house, but my hair feels so much nicer he can’t actually bring himself to doom me to frizzy hair!
February 24th, 2012 at 8:08 pm
I am definitely going to try the t-shirt trick. I’ve been trying to move away from expensive hair products while moving towards more natural ones. I’ve used vinegar to wash my hair before, which works for that really clean feeling, but I need something a little more potent as a conditioner. I’ve been using coconut milk. It was suggested that I add honey to my mix (it sounds like something on its way to a great dessert as well).
I still need some product for afterward, and a friend of mine suggested aloe. I may have to experiment with it.
February 25th, 2012 at 11:47 am
Afternoon Aarti… hey your hair looks amazing… love the new do! thanks for all the tips. I have ? for you.. snet you a tweet a cpl times, but never heard so don’t think you saw it! first, have dear dear friends in GOA and would love to hook you up… these ladies are awesome people who I became friends with years ago in states and then they went back… They keep inviting me for a visit… but we shall see…
2nd, have a dear friend of many years that is participating in top Idol finalists right now. She is beleiver and would love to hook you up while they are still in LA… can you email or private DM or private Fb me so we can chat. Thanks dear!
I also pray this is really you doing this blog and your twitter… neither say verified account.. I just found out one of my friends who is in the limelight has several imposters posing as her on FB and blogs… she doesnt have either!…
because of Grace,
Cathy
February 25th, 2012 at 4:53 pm
hey Aarti… small confusion here. I sent you a twitter msg and you replied back to send you a private FB msg… but when I went to your FB page, there is no private msg area, AND there is a message there that you are not going to use FB until after Lent… can you tell me how to contact you.?? thanks dear… Cathy
@projecthope7 on twitter… if u follow me, even if only temp, I can DM you and send u my email…
February 27th, 2012 at 1:36 pm
Aarti,
I saw the ugly tweet that CommandoBo sent and I wanted to say that a rude tweet was also sent to Giada. I looked that person up. He/she must be new to Twitter. They have only sent out 16 tweets and ALL of them are rude. I think in order to get ‘a rise’ out of you and Giada, the person wanted you to RT it. So, in other words, they’ve won. I say ignore it. I wanted to report it, but I wasn’s sure how to go about it.
I think you are precious. Keep doing the wonderful things you are doing, and keep preachin’ Jesus.
Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on Thee; because he trusteth in Thee. Is 26.3
Blessings and hugs…..
Tenaya
@tenayaleigh
February 28th, 2012 at 9:51 pm
Have eagerly been awaiting this post! Thank you! I’m not a twit but if somebody is being mean to you, simply sic me on them!!
February 29th, 2012 at 3:54 pm
OMG- You are a riot, us curly gals have to stick together. I use all the Deva products, the spray curl stuff is the best!!! I never use a towel, it’s like velcro for curls…pulls them right out. I use french flour sacks 5 bucks at target. Anyway love the post!
March 16th, 2012 at 7:15 pm
Wow! Its taken my 40 years to figure this out with my own obnoxiously curly hair! I was you’d posted this when I was in my teens and trying furiously to convince my hair it was bone straight! I’ve eventually started doing most of these tips myself and it does wonders! I don’t know why we ever watch shampoo commercials! Hope you are enjoying your trip now that your luggage showed!