Meisje van Moss

There is a running joke that wash day for naturals is something to be dreaded, or a chore you have to mentally prepare for. And I used to feel that way, then I changed everything about how I do it, which is me in easy, gentle, relaxing mode.

Here is the exact step-by-step breakdown of my bi-weekly wash day.

Step 1: Initial Cleanse My hair usually has a week’s worth of styling products in it from doing the LCO method, even though I usually don’t make it a full week before washing my hair. If I apply a treatment over that buildup, it won’t actually penetrate the hair shaft. So, I start with a gentle, hydrating cleanse to remove that initial surface layer. Right now, I am loving the Cécred Hydrating Shampoo for this step.

Step 2: Treatment I apply my bond or protein treatment. I am not married to one or the other, but since my hair and I suffer Anemia, this has become a non-negotiable step. Sometimes, I will layer a hair oil right over the top of it to help lock it in. The key here is following the manufacturer’s directions exactly, I leave it on anywhere from 5 to 20 minutes, depending on exactly what the bottle states. For the Cécred Reconstructing Hair Mask that’s 20 minutes. For the new Olaplex Pre-Shampoo Bond Builder , that’s 5 minutes. However, I change up the directions slightly by doing a gentle shampoo first (some say you can apply it before), for the reason I listed above (build up blocking penetration).

Step 3: The Deep Cleanse After the treatment has processed, I need to thoroughly wash it out. This is when I go in with my Kristin Ess Micellar Clarifying Shampoo. It gives a beautifully deep clean without stripping the hair, and I love the smell (the hair perfume is exactly the same smell and I own that too). I pair this with a silicone scalp massager to work up a lather, and rinse. I have a separate silicone scalp massager with wood and silicone, but I don’t use the wood one in the shower. These are cheap, so I have a shower one, and a hair oil one.

Step 4: Detangle Next, I apply a standard conditioner purely for slip so I can detangle. Luckily, I have very few issues with detangling usually, so long as a light conditioner is in (it’s tougher with a heavy conditioner). So I reach for the Cécred Hydrating Conditioner, working it through gently with my detangling brush. Once my hair is smooth, I twist it up and put on a shower cap. The ease of detangling for me is probably why I can get away with 2x per week washes. If that ever changed, and it was harder to detangle, I’d scale wash day back to 1x per week.

While the lighter conditioner from Step 4 sits, I shower.

Because I wash my hair 2x per week, I am done at step 4, 1x per week. The 2nd wash day per week I add step 5:

Step 5: Deep Condition I rinse out the daily conditioner and apply my heavy hitter, a rich, thick moisturizing mask. The moisturizing mask step is 30 minutes, so I am off the clock. I pour a cup of coffee, put on a podcast, a face mask occasionally, or just relax on my laptop in my robe. I usually use the Cécred Moisturizing Hair Mask, or the Being Frenshe Reset & Renew Hair Mask- Lavender Cloud or the Kenra Nourishing Masque for this step because they’re nourishing.

Step 6: The Cool Down Rinse After half an hour, I head back into the shower, I apply a luxurious shower oil all over my skin. A final quick rinse to wash the excess oil off, and the hair mask off, and the routine is complete.

*All products are on the amazon or cecred links above, but they are also at Ulta (the exception being the Being Frenshe mask which is only sold at Target). I supplied cecred’s website links instead of Ulta links for cecred’s products just in case they stop selling them at Ulta. However, at date of this published post (April 26th) they are also at Ulta, which is where I purchase them and do same-day pickup.