Wash Day with Crochet Braids: 12.03.12

"I did it!  I took the plunge and shampoo'd the crochet braids."
















1.  Sectioned hair in half. In order to try to minimise the risk of tangling, I worked on separating out each braid within the first section and cut away any shed or overly frizzy hair, basically anything that looked like it had the potential of helping to form one massive dreadlock was swiftly removed. I did the same thing on both sides. This step was boring (especially as I had done the same thing the day before) but I thought it essential to do so as I didn’t want a tangled rats nest on my head!!!



2.  I then put the hair into ‘my usual 4 wash day sections’ and secured each section with a loose ponytail holder.




3.  I then made up my diluted shampoo mix of Matrix Biolage Ultra Hydrating Shampoo (70%) and Roux Porosity Control Shampoo (30%) in an applicator bottle. I then topped up the bottle with hot water and shook it all up. The mixture was very watery and sudsy. I then made a quick prayer and hopped into the shower….!

Shampoo Mix
Matrix Biolage Ultra Hydrating Shampoo
Roux Porosity Control Shampoo (using this up)
Teeny tiny piece of Bee Mine Clarifying Shampoo Bar
Water from shower filter

4.  Using my shower filter head, I completely saturated my hair with water by letting it run for about 2 minutes. I then applied the whole 8oz bottle of diluted shampoo mixture to the soaking wet individual cornrows. Then, using only the pads of my finger tips I worked the shampoo mixture into my scalp. At this point I had a brain wave and decided to use a tiny piece of Bee Mine Clarifying Shampoo Bar and rub it along my scalp between the cornrows. Mixed with the diluted shampoo this made my scalp feel lovely and clean, plus I love love LOVE the smell of shampoo bar.

5.  So far so good. Next it was time to deep condition. I rinsed out the applicator bottle and then made up my conditioner mix of Roux Porosity control (15%), Nutrine Garlic Conditioner (30%) and ORS RC (55%). I then topped this up with water. The consistency was like a cheapie conditioner which could rinse out of my braids easily. I then applied this to my cornrows, again using the whole 8oz bottle. I then undid the ponytail holder and then applied some undiluted ORS RC to the ends of my cornrows and along my entire edges. I left this on for about 5 mins. I didn’t have time for a proper deep conditioning treatment, but I figured that this was better than nothing.

Conditioner Mix
Roux Porosity Control Conditioner & Corrector
Nutrine Garlic Shampoo
ORS Replenishing Conditioner
Water from shower filter

6.  Whilst the deep conditioner was on my hair I cowashed the extension hair. I purposely made sure that the suds from shampooing the braids got onto the extension hair at the front because with all the product build up it was starting to make my face break out which is so not cool at my age. I am way too old for teenage problem skin! To cowash I started off using the Schwarzkopf conditioner, and then I remembered why I don’t use it. I hate everything about this product!!! I dislike the smell but most importantly I dislike the way it makes hair feel. I have tried this in my own hair as a cowash. FAIL. In my Virgin Brazilian weave. FAIL. And now I have tried it on synthetic hair. FAIL. It just makes all hair feel hard and smells horrible. I quickly rinsed this on the front section where it had been applied and then threw it in the bin. It only cost £1 so I didn’t feel bad about that, best place for it if you ask me. I then reached for my old faithful Treseme Moisture Rich conditioner and happily cowashed each of the four sections, removing the ponytail holders and then reapplying them as I cowashed each section being careful not to overly manipulate the synthetic hair as I did so.

7.  I then proceeded to rinse the conditioner from the cornrows and then gathered my ends together and put them back loosely into a ponytail holder. I then thoroughly rinsed the remaining conditioner out of the extension hair making sure I pushed the ponytail holders down so I could rinse out the conditioner hidden underneath them.

8.  Finally, it was time to get out of the shower and take a look at the birds nest….!

I was pleasantly surprised, although the ‘Moses’ was wider apart than it was when I’d started the wash. I then covered my hair with a towel which I kept on for 20mins.

9.  When I removed the towel I quickly realised that starting the wash process at 8pm was not a great idea. It was clear that this hair was going to take forever and a day, a boiling hot sunny day for that matter, to completely dry. I then set about adding my leave ins. I decided to use my aloe vera moisturising spritz as a leave in/moisturiser. I sprayed this between each cornrow and then followed this up with a light spritzing of CHI Keratin Mist. I then gathered up my ends which were soaking wet and lightly squeezed out the excess water using a towel. I then applied some aloe vera spritz, CHI Keratin Mist and Bee Mine Luscious to my ends and sealed with Organix Coconut Milk Anti Breakage Serum followed by some Hemp Seed Oil. I then reapplied the ponytail holder to the damp ends. I applied some Bee Mine Luscious to my hairline and sealed with hemp seed oil. I then sprayed a little of the aloe vera sprtiz onto the extension hair, which actually seemed to define the curls. I know it does this to natural hair but I didn’t know it did it could do it to synthetic hair. I then followed this with some ORS Olive Oil Mouse using a stroking and lightly scrunching action.

Aloe Vera Leave In Mix
Aloe Vera Juice
Rosewater
Water from shower filter
Hemp seed oil
Cantu Shea Butter Conditioning Leave In Treatment
8 drops of rosemary essential oil

10.  My hair was still very wet at this point so I got the blowdryer out and lightly blowdried the cornrows a row at a time, being careful not to tangle the extension hair whilst I did so. I blow-dried for about 5 or so mins and also blow dried the extension hair. My hair was still damp so I had to airdry for a further 90mins as I didn’t want to go to bed with wet hair and risk catching a cold or the hair matting up on me.

11.  I air dried to about 90% dry then I put on my satin scarf which covers the extension hair and my edges and then hopped into bed.

12.  In the morning I did my usual head shaking routine and I am pleased to say that the curls fell perfectly, no need to add anymore product or gel to the extension hair which I was pleased about. I am going to keep the addition of products to a minimum for the next two weeks to prevent breakouts.

13.  I applied my MN mix to my scalp between my cornrows as it was feeling bit dry.  Lastly, I applied some Elasta QP Olive Oil & Mango Butter to my entire edges.

I am sorry for the really long post but I wanted to show step by step that it is possible to wash crochets braids using shampoo. To me these braids are just getting better and better. I really think that the way I have been regularly maintaining the braids and tying them up at night has contributed to the zero tangles during this wash day. The synthetic hair really hasn’t had a chance to tangle or matt up and the curls are still nice and separated. It almost feels and looks like my own hair now, well that’s if my hair was all supah fly!

The final result!!!  I am very very pleased.  This wash day went really well.

This is the only casualty of the wash day. 

I don’t plan on washing this set of braids again. The plan is to wear them for another week and then take them out. I might even cut them short for the last few days that I have them in. I will give my hair a break for a 5-7d days and then probably put in another set.

Ciao 4 Now