Is it possible to pass BSL with wash n go's?

[Napp]

I know using a lot of product is a faux pas in some hair circles but being modest with products during a WnG leaves my hair completely tangled and dry, dry, dry.

This needs to be emphasized. Many seem to look down upon people who like to slather their hair in a lot of product to "wash n go" (and I use that term loosley.) I have found that its the people who do this actually have the most success with wash and going. All of that "I just wash my hair put a little conditioner and dont comb my hair or nothing thats a real wash n go" is nonsense and is a oneway ticket to a head of ssk and tangles. but at least you have a "real" wash n go

I never had issues with ssk with wash n going. I use the rake and smooth method of applying and use a heavy product that helps to clump my curls. This reduces tangling and ssk formation. i just don't like wash n goes because I hate waiting for my hair to dry. I never had an issue with ssk.

I was grazing BSL before I cut my hair (simply because I wanted a blunt cut, my nape hangs a lot). I can't say this enough: ACTIVATOR GEL! lol this combined with styling gel, or used by itself, gives me super soft, moisturized hair. I recommend Long Aid or Worlds of Curls curl activator gel. And when it comes to wash and gos, I say, the more product the better (especially on your ends). If I don't use enough gel my hair gets tangly and my really loose sections will knot up pretty bad. I do have some SSK, but I think that's just a part of having curly hair. I wash and go 99% of the time. I love wash and gos

Also, activator gel helps with shrinkage. I've used styling gel by itself before, and it makes my hair super dry and gives me craaazy shrinkage. Activator gel is my moisturizer and is a staple part of my regimen. When I rinse my hair in the shower the next morning, my hair feels soft and supple, like after conditioning. Seriously. Activator gel. Get sumadat lol

I was a stan for the old version of smooth n shine activator gel. That stuff was damn near sent from the gods. It left your hair feeling moisturized,soft, it wasn't greasy and it smelled great! The new formula sucks! I could never find an activator gel that could top that stuff (i find long aid to be smelly and oily in comparison)

 

[whiteoleander91]

Napp I haaaate the way Long Aid smells!! I reeeally wish they would change the scent. The Walmart (and sometimes CVS) that I get mine from will sometimes be unscented I guess someone done goofed at the factory or something lol. I used to love the old shine gel too!! that stuff was aaawesome. Worlds of Curls smells good to me, but it's all out of my way to get some (40-ish mins!! out of my way) so I rarely get it S Curl just recently changed their scent, I wish Long Aid would step it up!

 

[BraunSugar]

Do you know any THINK activator gels. The only one I have is S-Curl and it doesnt do anything for my definition...
if you ask me... S-curl has the consistency of.....do I dare say?...Watery Semen. erplexed

Proclaim Curl Activator Gel is really thick. I get it from Sally for like $3 for 32oz. I love it.

 

[Diva_Esq]

I did a combo of buns, ponies and wash n gos and I am WHIP length. I am combo type 3 hair. I cowash with Aussie 3MM, leave in Paul Mitchell The Conditioner and add Miss Jessie's Jelly Soft Curls.

 

[whiteoleander91]

^^BraunSugar Does the Proclaim make your hair crunchy? I've tried it many times and it leaves my hair crunchy just like styling gel (by itself) does

 

[BraunSugar]

^^@BraunSugar Does the Proclaim make your hair crunchy? I've tried it many times and it leaves my hair crunchy just like styling gel (by itself) does

@whiteoleander91 Only if my hair is damp when I use it. When I use it on my wet hair, it has a medium to soft hold. I used it on my damp hair once and it was like ramen noodles.

 

[Napp]

@Napp I haaaate the way Long Aid smells!! I reeeally wish they would change the scent. The Walmart (and sometimes CVS) that I get mine from will sometimes be unscented I guess someone done goofed at the factory or something lol. I used to love the old shine gel too!! that stuff was aaawesome. Worlds of Curls smells good to me, but it's all out of my way to get some (40-ish mins!! out of my way) so I rarely get it S Curl just recently changed their scent, I wish Long Aid would step it up!

I am really a stickler for smells! Scurl activator wasn't too bad but it didn't work for me! Proclaim smells like a chemical plant!(It made me want to hurl!)I was so mad because I bought several jars because of a rave review! Hawaiian silky was a greasy ,old candy smelling mess! I don't mean to hate on anyone's favorite products but I have been burned too many times from people who rave about products and don't mention the smell!

I don't think I tried world of curls. It hard to find and I just couldn't bear to waste my $ on another massive jar of bad CAG. I'll put it on my list I also wanted to try the Wet n wavy CAG but never got around to it.

I have moved passed using gel(for now) I like for my products to easily be cowashed out. I may revisit when I reach APL.

 

[whiteoleander91]

^^ BraunSugar lol thank you! I lightly squeeze the excess water out of my hair after a shower before adding gel to my hair, so my hair is usually more like damp. Maybe that's why it made my hair crunchy. I'll have to revisit this

 

[whiteoleander91]

I am really a stickler for smells! Scurl activator wasn't too bad but it didn't work for me! Proclaim smells like a chemical plant!(It made me want to hurl!)I was so mad because I bought several jars because of a rave review! Hawaiian silky was a greasy ,old candy smelling mess! I don't mean to hate on anyone's favorite products but I have been burned too many times from people who rave about products and don't mention the smell!

I don't think I tried world of curls. It hard to find and I just couldn't bear to waste my $ on another massive jar of bad CAG. I'll put it on my list I also wanted to try the Wet n wavy CAG but never got around to it.

I have moved passed using gel(for now) I like for my products to easily be cowashed out. I may revisit when I reach APL.

lmao! someone who finally agrees with me, I hate the way Hawaiian silky smells! It's like rotten strawberries or something Worlds of Curls smells sorta...powdery. Very soft, kind of like baby powder.

 

[Theresamonet]

The best activator gel ever is World of Curls.

 

[ckisland]

You ladies have a lot of good info, even for someone's whose been wash n'going as long as I have .

I have never layered multiple gels or stylers before. I used to use Worlds Of Curls on top of a leave-in, so that's really my only time using a curl activator frequently. I would probably have more success with wngs, if I did use more product. When my ends get frizzy or my curls don't clump all hell can break loose .

Does anyone else hate the feeling of wet, product filled hair? I have washed out many a wash n'go because I couldn't deal with my hair feeling squishy and laying on my face and neck .

 

[ckisland]

I'm a 4a and I think my hair could have grown to WL with WnG, but I don't think the quality of the older part of my hair would be as good. I'm really finicky about the quality of my hair, so I cut often when I wore my hair out all the time. I'd rather have it shorter but healthy from root to tip than long, but with so-so ends. I actually just cut about an inch of my WL hair a few months ago because I let the ends get raggedy. It has since grown back to WL with healthy ends.

I keep having "I need to cut half my hair off and start again" moments. My hair was doing so good initially, but 1 encounter with a flatiron turned into 2 years of utter nonsense. I had to trim multiple times and like you said, Enyo, I don't feel that the quality of my hair is what it should be . I just don't know if I'm ballsy enough to cut that much off and grow it back out.

 

[Napp]

You ladies have a lot of good info, even for someone's whose been wash n'going as long as I have .

I have never layered multiple gels or stylers before. I used to use Worlds Of Curls on top of a leave-in, so that's really my only time using a curl activator frequently. I would probably have more success with wngs, if I did use more product. When my ends get frizzy or my curls don't clump all hell can break loose .

Does anyone else hate the feeling of wet, product filled hair? I have washed out many a wash n'go because I couldn't deal with my hair feeling squishy and laying on my face and neck .

I don't like my wet hair touching me either! I totally forgot about that! I can't deal with my hair being wet with product especially at night! I found that getting a conditioner that gets foamy in my hair gave me the control of having a lot of product without the heavy feel. My hair dries faster too.

 

[Shadiyah]

Is there some way to have less crunch when you wash n go? I am going to end PS until it gets cold again.

DDTexlaxed most products with a lot of hold is going to crystallize once it dries. You need just take a little oil in your hand and rub across your curls and this will release it. I have no problems with it my curls turn out nice and bouncy once I release it.

 

[Shadiyah]

It would be cool if those who did this with success could share the products they used and their methods. Thanks in advance.

DDTexlaxed no one like the products I use. I use mixed chicks it work wonders for me and gives me the right shape of curls I like.

what I do is co wash my hair and then I use a conditioner as a leave in or some times I may use shea moisture curl smoothie as my leave in I take a oil what ever I want to use that day to seal in my moisture. I then apply mixed chicks and comb it through my hair with my fingers. and then lastly I apply a little and I mean a little like a dot of alterna bamboo smooth frizz control on mostly on the back of my hair where I have a lot of frizz and let it air dry. once it dries I take mixed chicks silk or oil in the palm of my hands to release the crunch and it makes my curly just pop.

 

[Poohbear]

Last month, I decided to go back to doing wash n gos with my natural hair as a way to retain length and let my hair be free. I cut off a lot of damaged and split ends, clarified my hair to get rid of any silicones on my hair strands, and even did an intensive moisture treatment with DevaCurl Heaven in Hair.

However, whenever I cowash once or twice a week and apply products (Shea Moisture Smoothie and EcoStyler Gel), I get breakage (very short pieces of hair broken off from the ends). I know I still have some splits but I'm not sure whether or not I'm being too rough with my hair when smoothing product or if I need to trim off more ends...

Did any of you ladies that have grown out your hair with wash n gos experience breakage in the beginning, and then it eventually stopped?

Do I need to do a protein treatment or something to stop the breakage so that my hair can retain length?

 

[Shadiyah]

Last month, I decided to go back to doing wash n gos with my natural hair as a way to retain length and let my hair be free. I cut off a lot of damaged and split ends, clarified my hair to get rid of any silicones on my hair strands, and even did an intensive moisture treatment with DevaCurl Heaven in Hair.

However, whenever I cowash once or twice a week and apply products (Shea Moisture Smoothie and EcoStyler Gel), I get breakage (very short pieces of hair broken off from the ends). I know I still have some splits but I'm not sure whether or not I'm being too rough with my hair when smoothing product or if I need to trim off more ends...

Did any of you ladies that have grown out your hair with wash n gos experience breakage in the beginning, and then it eventually stopped?

Do I need to do a protein treatment or something to stop the breakage so that my hair can retain length?

Poohbear yes to the protein but what I have found with the products you mention they are drying to my hair. I apply a leave in and a oil before I apply my styling products and that helped alot with my ends. I have now started doing the loc method to my edges and my nap. so I used my shea butter mixture on the edges and nap before I style and it is working wonders with the knots.

this is what I don't like is when I was doing protective styling and going back to curls I have to tame my curls all over again. So that is what I am working on right now is taming my curls to look the way I like them to look.

 

[naturallygoldie]

This thread is right on time! I'm one year natural as of yesterday and while I love my straight hair, being outside all day + public transportation= stinky hair. Ugh. wash, dc and go is a better option but up until recently my hair would get really dry within a day or 2 after.

I rarely use protein but tried the aphogee 2 min reconstructorfor my latest wash, then dc and now my curls are uber soft.

I *think* I'll be doing this for the next few months (straighten for special occasions) because I have to cleanse every 4/5 days or so and cannot straighten that often. I also don't have time for twists, braids or otherwise.

Thank you, thank you, thank you for starting this thread!!!!!

 

[Poohbear]

Poohbear yes to the protein but what I have found with the products you mention they are drying to my hair. I apply a leave in and a oil before I apply my styling products and that helped alot with my ends. I have now started doing the loc method to my edges and my nap. so I used my shea butter mixture on the edges and nap before I style and it is working wonders with the knots.

this is what I don't like is when I was doing protective styling and going back to curls I have to tame my curls all over again. So that is what I am working on right now is taming my curls to look the way I like them to look.

Shadiyah - which products do you find to be drying to your hair? I see in a previous post that you use Shea Moisture Curl Enhancing Smoothie. Are you referring to the EcoStyler Gel as drying?

This morning, I did a protein treatment with Aphogee 2 Min Reconstructor. I don't think it help. It used to work in the past when I had breakage. After doing this protein treatment, I tried something different. I decided to use Shea Moisture Curl Enhancing Smoothie alone. Big mistake. My hair felt so weird...straw-like. And my hair still had some breakage. I did not have a successful wash n go like I would with the combination of EcoStyler Gel. I had to throw my hair back into a low ponypuff.

Right now, I'm deep conditioning my hair with the DevaCurl Heaven In Hair Intensive Moisture Treatment for the second time. When applying, I had no breakage and my fingers would glide through my hair. I'm thinking I may have to do a series of these treatments to restore my hair.

I just wish I could find a leave-in product that would do the same (no breakage, moisturizing, good definition, and no tangling/matting hair of strands). I may look into an activator gel like the ones that have been recommended in this thread.

 

[A856]

Subscribing....thanks!!!

 

[ckisland]

I took some of the advice in this thread and got me some curl activator gel to layer under some EcoStyler . I used Aphogee 2 Min. Reconstructor and AO Blue Camomile to condition, and SSI Marshmallow Hair Cream as my leave-in. I used a small amount of Care Free Curl Curl Activator Gel (the best I could find), then a glob of EcoStyler Olive Oil on each of the 4 sections.
Somehow my hair dried faster than usual which was really nice. And my hair was so soft !! I have awesome second day hair and I can't wait to love my third day hair.

Next wash n'go, I'm going to be less afraid of the gel and use a bunch more to get more definition. And as soon as I get a hold of some Worlds of Curls, this CFC is going in the trash!

 

[Shadiyah]

Shadiyah - which products do you find to be drying to your hair? I see in a previous post that you use Shea Moisture Curl Enhancing Smoothie. Are you referring to the EcoStyler Gel as drying?

This morning, I did a protein treatment with Aphogee 2 Min Reconstructor. I don't think it help. It used to work in the past when I had breakage. After doing this protein treatment, I tried something different. I decided to use Shea Moisture Curl Enhancing Smoothie alone. Big mistake. My hair felt so weird...straw-like. And my hair still had some breakage. I did not have a successful wash n go like I would with the combination of EcoStyler Gel. I had to throw my hair back into a low ponypuff.

Right now, I'm deep conditioning my hair with the DevaCurl Heaven In Hair Intensive Moisture Treatment for the second time. When applying, I had no breakage and my fingers would glide through my hair. I'm thinking I may have to do a series of these treatments to restore my hair.

I just wish I could find a leave-in product that would do the same (no breakage, moisturizing, good definition, and no tangling/matting hair of strands). I may look into an activator gel like the ones that have been recommended in this thread.

Poohbear yes I am talking about the eco styler gel as well as the shea moisture enhance smoothie. I can not use either one of them without sealing with oil first under it because they are drying. and after you do any protein you should do a deep moisturizing conditioner to follow that treatment to put the moisture back in.

I think what is going to be important to you is you sealing in your moisture when you co wash.

 

[Poohbear]

I was grazing BSL before I cut my hair (simply because I wanted a blunt cut, my nape hangs a lot). I can't say this enough: ACTIVATOR GEL! lol this combined with styling gel, or used by itself, gives me super soft, moisturized hair. I recommend Long Aid or Worlds of Curls curl activator gel. And when it comes to wash and gos, I say, the more product the better (especially on your ends). If I don't use enough gel my hair gets tangly and my really loose sections will knot up pretty bad. I do have some SSK, but I think that's just a part of having curly hair. I wash and go 99% of the time. I love wash and gos

Also, activator gel helps with shrinkage. I've used styling gel by itself before, and it makes my hair super dry and gives me craaazy shrinkage. Activator gel is my moisturizer and is a staple part of my regimen. When I rinse my hair in the shower the next morning, my hair feels soft and supple, like after conditioning. Seriously. Activator gel. Get sumadat lol

whiteoleander91, why didn't I try this product earlier in my natural hair journey?! This Long Aid Curl Activator Gel is like heaven-sent!!! It's so moisturizing and keeps your hair moisturized and looking moisturized and shiny all day! My hair strands don't tangle or mat together... No breakage when applying... Keeps my hair really soft too! I probably would be waist length by now if I had started using this 7-8 years ago. I don't need any other product with Long Aid for wash n go's!

Thanks for sharing what you use in this thread! Over the years, I've seen posts where other ladies have used this product, but it never dawned on me to try it until now.

​

 

[Ms. Martina]

Does the activator gel have alcohol? Is it brown gel?

 

[Poohbear]

Does the activator gel have alcohol? Is it brown gel?

Ms. Martina - No alcohol. It's clear. See pic below:

 

[Ms. Martina]

Cool, I room have to try this. I like what I'm using now, but I would love to see of the activator helps with my massive shrinkage.

 

[Poohbear]

Here's a pic of my hair with LACAG in it (click to enlarge):



Sent from my SPH-L300 using LHCF

 

[whiteoleander91]

whiteoleander91, why didn't I try this product earlier in my natural hair journey?! This Long Aid Curl Activator Gel is like heaven-sent!!! It's so moisturizing and keeps your hair moisturized and looking moisturized and shiny all day! My hair strands don't tangle or mat together... No breakage when applying... Keeps my hair really soft too! I probably would be waist length by now if I had started using this 7-8 years ago. I don't need any other product with Long Aid for wash n go's!

Thanks for sharing what you use in this thread! Over the years, I've seen posts where other ladies have used this product, but it never dawned on me to try it until now.

​

*squeeee* :reddancer: !! lol hooray!! I'm so glad it worked for you Poohbear

 

[lana]

I'm subscribing to the thread and I wanted to thank you ladies for your posts. I have not tried a wash n go since the FIRST time I went natural...now that I'm transitioning and I feel like I can look cute in a twist out...I will try to see if I look cute in a wash n go done properly this weekend.

I would love to see pictures of your wash n go's! If you have a moment to post a picture I would truly appreciate it. My problem is actually looking adorable with a new hairstyle. I like to feel incredibly confident if I'm doing my hair myself - and I always do my own hair.

 

[whiteoleander91]

Remember ladies, if the activator gel by itself doesn't give you enough hold or definition, pair it with your favorite styling gel! I use about 60% activator paired with 40% styling gel. I like light styling gels like Blue Eco Styler or the blue La Bella Styling Gel (smells like oranges ) I apply the activator gel first, then the styler on top, but you can just mix it together in the jar if you like. Whatever works best