Wash And Go, To Grow And To Dazzle 2020 Challenge

[GettingKinky]

Warning: rambling post as I reminisce on my WnG journey. Feel free to ignore this entire post.

Two and a half years ago I decided I wanted to wear WnGs all the time. I had no clue what I was doing. Around March 2019 I figured out that I needed a curly cut, but I wish I had known more about them before I got that first one. The Deva lady told me to come in with no product on my hair except leave in. My hair was so shrunken and crazy so I think she cut a LOT more hair than necessary.
But on the other hand, my hair was in pretty bad shape so maybe it was a blessing in disguise.
I learned enough from the Deva cut lady to make my hair look decent, but my hair is sooo much better now that I’ve been following BGCs for almost 2 years.

The picture below shows
Mar 2019 - my hair if I let it dry loose (shrunk into a crazy shape). I wasn’t using nearly enough water back then.
April 2019 - the way I typically wore my hair. I dried it stretched and kept the front pinned back.
May 2019 - shortly after my 1st Deva cut
July 2022 - I think now I can finally grow out my hair since I’ve let go of a lot of the damage.

the sad thing is that my hair isn’t much longer now than it was back in May 2021

 

[GettingKinky]

I want to try UFD/jello shot/mousse def

I don’t need the 3rd styler, but I’m wondering if it will give me the matte surface finish I want. I’m not going yo try it for my next wash since I’m going out of town, but maybe the week after.

 

[GettingKinky]

I was able to get my hair in a puff. I have a few inches to spare in the back.

I can’t wait to wash tomorrow and see how different it feels after cutting so much off. I’m hope most of my bad ends are gone

 

[faithVA]

My wash and go didn't make it. Not sure if it was my styling or just the heat. Last night I added some water and put in some twist. I wore a twist out to an appointment I have. I'm going to wash tomorrow and then put in some twist and wear a twist out for my appointment on Saturday. I'm not excited about it. I'm more just ready to get it done and over with

 

[GettingKinky]

My wash and go didn't make it. Not sure if it was my styling or just the heat. Last night I added some water and put in some twist. I wore a twist out to an appointment I have. I'm going to wash tomorrow and then put in some twist and wear a twist out for my appointment on Saturday. I'm not excited about it. I'm more just ready to get it done and over with

I’m sad that you aren’t excited for your appointment.

 

[toaster]

@faithVA do you want to reschedule for a time you’re more excited about your appointment? You’ve been dusting your ends so I’m sure they aren’t horrible right now.

 

[faithVA]

@faithVA do you want to reschedule for a time you’re more excited about your appointment? You’ve been dusting your ends so I’m sure they aren’t horrible right now.

I'm going to keep my appointment. Now that my hair is longer I want to see how she does my wash and go and see if it looks any better than the last time. And if there is something I'm not doing right I want her to catch it now better than later.

My ends aren't horrible but they are starting to tangle more than they did a month ago. So I definitely want her to look at them.

I don't have anything that needs to be fixed fortunately so that might be why the lack of excitement. I'm good though.

 

[faithVA]

I’m sad that you aren’t excited for your appointment.

It's OK. I'm not getting it cut into a new style and I still have many months before it is long enough for me to want to cut it in a style. So this is just a maintenance appointment. It needs to be done.

 

[toaster]

Haven’t done a length check in a while. Here’s my hair in mid-December versus mid-July.

Happy with my retention so far.

 

[GettingKinky]

Nice progress @toaster

 

[sunshinebeautiful]

That's a lot of good growth @toaster

 

[faithVA]

Nice progress @toaster

@toaster, that really is great progress. And didn't you also have a trim in that timeframe?

 

[toaster]

@toaster, that really is great progress. And didn't you also have a trim in that timeframe?

Yes! One pretty conservative trim at the salon. Planning to get another trim in late November or early December. She charges existing clients the new client price if your appointments are more than six months apart.

Based on where my hair is now, I don’t think I’ll be back to my pre-horrific cut length by December in the front of my hair, but the back may be longer!

 

[GGsKin]

Great progress! @toaster

 

[GettingKinky]

I washed my hair for the first time since my cut this morning.

My hair is a LOT shorter. It is barely SL curly when it’s soaking wet. On the plus side

• My products should last quite a bit longer since I don’t need to use nearly as much.
• It’s easier to rake my hair since most of the damaged hair is gone and it doesn’t snag as much
• I still LOVE the shape

 

[Rocky91]

@toaster Excellent retention!

Would you mind naming 2-3 practices that you think are important for retention while doing wash and goes?

 

[GGsKin]

I'm travelling tomorrow to visit family for the weekend, so I decided to reset today. I did a diy clay mask on my hair, before DCing and setting my wash and go with UFD. I diffused for 30mins. The roots at the front are still a little wet so I'll probably diffuse a little more before bed.

 

[Rocky91]

I’m loving doux mousse def wash and go’s. I use it by itself and it makes for a quick midweek refresh.

I’m also experimenting with parting right now. Tried fake bangs (hard to preserve at night), side parts on both sides (go-to, but starting to get bored of it), and now lately been doing a fake slick back no-part type of look. Just to be jazzy

 

[GettingKinky]

I’m loving doux mousse def wash and go’s. I use it by itself and it makes for a quick midweek refresh.

I’m also experimenting with parting right now. Tried fake bangs (hard to preserve at night), side parts on both sides (go-to, but starting to get bored of it), and now lately been doing a fake slick back no-part type of look. Just to be jazzy

Do you have any pictures of the slick back no-part look?

 

[toaster]

@toaster Excellent retention!

Would you mind naming 2-3 practices that you think are important for retention while doing wash and goes?

Sure!!

let me see:

1- gentle detangling during the wash process. I don’t rush my wash day at all. I think this helps me with any mechanical breakage.

2- I don’t touch my hair after it’s set unless I’m putting my buff on at night or putting it in a pineapple to work out. I think we touch our hair more than we think. I don’t mess with the part, no styling of my edges or anything. My hair looks however it looks. Another reason I spend a good amount of time on getting a good set.

Okay that’s just 2, but I think those are my main points! Otherwise I just cleanse, condition and style as usual.

 

[ckisland]

Today was wash day for me! This wash n'go didn't last quite as well as the last one, but I still made it to the 6th day . I decided to try the bootleg tangle teezer brush I bought months ago again, and it was pretty easy breezy to use. I don't know what changed . Only thing is when I went back to detangle as I was rinsing out my DC, my hair poofed like crazy! So I ended up back in the arms of my leatherwood brush . I think I'll pull the teezer brush out when I protective style. I also tried Eco Style Black Castor Oil Gel and it was great . The application was so much smoother than Eco Olive Oil! I'm happy! The pics below are of my hair fully dry after sitting under the bonnet for 45 mins. My phone camera is pretty terrible, but my hair is so defined

Cleanser: Harm Me Knot
DC: Obia Babassu Therapy Mask (I ended up running errands, so it was in for like 4 hours )
Leave-in: Obia Curl Hydration Spray and Curl Moisture Cream
Styler: Eco Style Black Castor Oil

 

[oneastrocurlie]

I’m loving doux mousse def wash and go’s. I use it by itself and it makes for a quick midweek refresh.

I’m also experimenting with parting right now. Tried fake bangs (hard to preserve at night), side parts on both sides (go-to, but starting to get bored of it), and now lately been doing a fake slick back no-part type of look. Just to be jazzy

I moved my part to the middle my last two washes for jazziness lol.

 

[GettingKinky]

Really cute @ckisland

 

[Rocky91]

Do you have any pictures of the slick back no-part look?

This is not the greatest picture, but here is a quick snap. I am just desperately seeking the kind of volume in the crown area that you get with shorter hair that doesn’t flop over. I think I’d need some layers to achieve it for real, but this will do for now. You can see that my hair is still kind of determined to go flop over into a side part anyways, but at least I don’t have a super defined “line.”

I think it looks better in person? maybe not. Either way, I got tired of the straight line to the scalp side parts.

 

[Rocky91]

Sure!!

let me see:

1- gentle detangling during the wash process. I don’t rush my wash day at all. I think this helps me with any mechanical breakage.

2- I don’t touch my hair after it’s set unless I’m putting my buff on at night or putting it in a pineapple to work out. I think we touch our hair more than we think. I don’t mess with the part, no styling of my edges or anything. My hair looks however it looks. Another reason I spend a good amount of time on getting a good set.

Okay that’s just 2, but I think those are my main points! Otherwise I just cleanse, condition and style as usual.

Thank you so much for sharing this! I am definitely failing #2 very miserably right now I need to narrow down a “signature look” and learn to leave my hair alone.

 

[Rocky91]

I moved my part to the middle my last two washes for jazziness lol.

I love middle parts! But I think they look corny at my current length because of the density. When I stretch out my hair with the dryer, they look great. But I am trying to reserve stretching for special occasions only.

I would love to see your jazzy middle part

 

[GettingKinky]

Sure!!

let me see:

1- gentle detangling during the wash process. I don’t rush my wash day at all. I think this helps me with any mechanical breakage.

2- I don’t touch my hair after it’s set unless I’m putting my buff on at night or putting it in a pineapple to work out. I think we touch our hair more than we think. I don’t mess with the part, no styling of my edges or anything. My hair looks however it looks. Another reason I spend a good amount of time on getting a good set.

Okay that’s just 2, but I think those are my main points! Otherwise I just cleanse, condition and style as usual.

I’m impressed that you don’t touch your hair. I have such a hard time keeping my hands away from my curls.

 

[sunshinebeautiful]

I’m impressed that you don’t touch your hair. I have such a hard time keeping my hands away from my curls.

Me too. I'm constantly playing with my curls

 

[toaster]

Tomorrow was supposed to be wash day, but my social butterfly of a husband has made plans for us all day.

Putting in olaplex steps 0 and 3 and then going to wash my hair and style with UFD and Jell-O shot!

 

[faithVA]

Tomorrow was supposed to be wash day, but my social butterfly of a husband has made plans for us all day.

Putting in olaplex steps 0 and 3 and then going to wash my hair and style with UFD and Jell-O shot!

He sounds fun. I hope you have a great weekend.