WSL common denominater?

D

dyh080

Well-Known Member
Excuse me if this has been asked before...I could have sworn I saw it but anyhow......
Have you found that one thing many WSL have in common is that they use a wash out conditioner as a leave in?
The few people I've seen on you tube... cynthiarf, teri laflesh of tightlycurly.com, etc. have long hair and use this regimen.
Has anyone damaged their hair by doing this?
 
I use conditioner as a leave in all the time. Keeps my ends moist in buns and gives me soft twistouts, plus my hair smells nice all day :)

Then again, I'm nowhere near waistlength :look: but I definitely haven't experienced damage. I think the condition of my hair has improved :yep:
 
I created a similar post about this a while back. The general consensus was that a lot of long haired ladies on this board kept some kind of conditioner in their hair. Which makes sense- the moisture is good for the hair (as long as it's balanced out with protein :) )
 
My mother has waist length hair and she has been doing this for years. Then again, she will also take blue magic grease and water and slick her hair back like that too. I know this sounds gross but she goes through periods in which she only washes it once like every 2 months or so. She really keeps it simple. I know my hair needs water so I do a lot of cowashing.
 
I just tried doing that last wash day ( Thursday) and my hair was so soft and managable. Works much better than a leave in.
 
Come to think of it, my mother NEVER deep conditions either. It could be because she is natural. I shudder to think how long it could get if she really took care of it. I think it just goes to show you that what works for some does not work for others...
 
Researching said:
I just tried doing that last wash day ( Thursday) and my hair was so soft and managable. Works much better than a leave in.
Click to expand...

Teri actually advised in her book not to use leave in conditioners and just use regular conditioner instead because leave ins are often too watery/light or contains ingredients that make the hair feel sticky, etc.


belldandy said:
Come to think of it, my mother NEVER deep conditions either. It could be because she is natural. I shudder to think how long it could get if she really took care of it. I think it just goes to show you that what works for some does not work for others...
Click to expand...

Teri also mentioned in her book that deep conditioning is unnecessary because deep conditioners usually contain the same ingredients as regular conditioners.


I agree that everyone'e hair is different and what works for one person may not work for another, but I think keeping it simple is best for growing natural hair long. I have been co washing and leaving conditioner in my hair since 2007 and my hair is now tailbone length. I started out at bra strap length with shoulder length as my shortest length. After growing out from shouder length I was stuck at bra strap. I only had waist length hair once during my early teen years. This is the longest my hair has ever been in my life.

I think for most natural hair, all that is needed is conditioner and perhaps a little oil such as Extra Virgin Olive Oil at times. I also finger comb and never deep condition either.

I have Teri's book and I love how simple and practical her regimen is. Even her hairstyles don't require a lot of skill.
 
Last edited:
I'm not WL but im about 3-4 inches from it. I always leave conditioner in my hair. When i wash with the intention of straightening it i leave some conditioner in. When I wash n go I leave ALL the conditioner in. My hair thrives from this.
 
belldandy said:
My mother has waist length hair and she has been doing this for years. Then again, she will also take blue magic grease and water and slick her hair back like that too. I know this sounds gross but she goes through periods in which she only washes it once like every 2 months or so. She really keeps it simple. I know my hair needs water so I do a lot of cowashing.
Click to expand...

Same for my mom. She'll wash maybe every month and a half and keeps her hair in a ponytail and has always had very long hair that I remember; it's probably the low manipulation.
 
i think low manip. is very important and i also think that hair length and regimen complexity are inversely related; as your hair gets longer, your reggie should get simpler. I am also 4 inches from wl, and even bsl and mbl hair is very old and delicate already so messing around in it constantly is going to screw up your retention.

thats why im trying something new, staying braided up for summer :)
 
belldandy said:
i think low manip. is very important and i also think that hair length and regimen complexity are inversely related; as your hair gets longer, your reggie should get simpler. I am also 4 inches from wl, and even bsl and mbl hair is old and delicate.

thats why im trying something new, staying braided up for summer :)
Click to expand...


So true, I reached BSL in December-ish and did a 3.5 inch chop in March. Most of that hair was 4-ish years old, pre-LHCF and had been badly abused. Once hair is damaged you can do temporary repairs to it but eventually it will have to be cut off. I am now just past APL and will probably end doing another big chop a year or so from now on the hair that I was self relaxing.
 
CelinaStarr said:
Teri actually advised in her book not to use leave in conditioners and just use regular conditioner instead because leave ins are often too watery/light or contains ingredients that make the hair feel sticky, etc.




Teri also mentioned in her book that deep conditioning is unnecessary because deep conditioners usually contain the same ingredients as regular conditioners.


I agree that everyone'e hair is different and what works for one person may not work for another, but I think keeping it simple is best for growing natural hair long. I have been co washing and leaving conditioner in my hair since 2007 and my hair is now tailbone length. I started out at bra strap length with shoulder length as my shortest length. After growing out from shouder length I was stuck at bra strap. I only had waist length hair once during my early teen years. This is the longest my hair has ever been in my life.

I think for most natural hair, all that is needed is conditioner and perhaps a little oil such as Extra Virgin Olive Oil at times. I also finger comb and never deep condition either.

I have Teri's book and I love how simple and practical her regimen is. Even her hairstyles don't require a lot of skill.
Click to expand...

Would you say that relaxed, texlax, and color treated long hair does need more in the regimen?
 
belldandy said:
Would you say that relaxed, texlax, and color treated long hair does need more in the regimen?
Click to expand...


I know you didn't ask me but I don't think so. I'm 3 inches from WSL and I don't deep condition either other than DuoTex once a month for protein. I think low manipulation and keeping the hair moisturized is all thats needed.

I hope I don't end up eating my words! We'll see by the end of this year, as I hope to be full wsl or longer.
 
DarkAngell said:
I'm not WL but im about 3-4 inches from it. I always leave conditioner in my hair. When i wash with the intention of straightening it i leave some conditioner in. When I wash n go I leave ALL the conditioner in. My hair thrives from this.
Click to expand...

So when you do WNG, you just put the conditioner in and leave it in? No rinsing?

This is like seriously a huge revelation to me! :lachen:
 
belldandy said:
Would you say that relaxed, texlax, and color treated long hair does need more in the regimen?
Click to expand...

Perhaps. I could never have completely healthy hair when I was relaxed. I always had split ends and was in need of a trim. That's why I was stuck at bra strap. When I had colored treated and relaxed hair together, I had to get it cut to shoulder length and even then I still had to get frequent trims. I had issues with dryness too despite the deep conditioning.

During my transition from relaxed to natural I noticed that my natural hair responded much better to co washing. My relaxed ends became so split and damaged that they started shredding despite all of the cowashes and finger combing. As a matter of fact, I remember getting broken pieces of relaxed air in my hands by simply running my fingers through it.

It's impossible for me to have healthy relaxed hair. I would think all of the moisture/protein balance and deep conditioning stuff would be more important for relaxed hair. My natural hair requires just conditioner and fingers to maintain. It doesn't need to be trimmed nearly as frequently as my relaxed hair either.
 
I am less than 4 inches from wl. I must say, when I had my hair relaxed bone straight I could not even get it to my shoulders. I am texlaxed now, I use a mild relaxer and rinse as soon as I apply. I only wish to loosen my curl a tiny bit. My hair is much thicker and stronger. Any damaged ends I have now are from dominican blow outs that i used to get. I personally have seen about 2 inches of retention from january to april due to the fact that i was deep conditioning 1-2 times weekly and also not manipulating my hair too much. I have never had retention like that before in my life. My hair was literally being chewed up as fast as it was coming out of my head. Now I stretch my touch ups for 6 months. My ends need that extra conditioning due to the abuse I used to put my hair through. I anticipate that once I get to wl, I will get bored and start to transition very slowly. But for me, deep conditioning is a keeper. Now I am doing an experiment for the next 5 months, a no heat diet (except for dc'ing) and protective styles (corn row my own hair). In sum, I am hoping dc'ing, protective styling and low manip. will get me these last 3 or 4 inches to wl. I am also dabbling not too deeply into ayurveda; lots of wl ladies have used it :)
 
milaydy31 said:
So can we use any conditionners or are there specific conditionners that can be used as leave in?
Click to expand...

My mom uses Sauve and tresseme i think its a vitamin e conditioner. She only does that in the summer b/c when its cold she barely washes her hair.
 
I do it all the time (per Terri's method) and have never had a problem. My hair has actually thrived from it because it doesn't get dry when. I can do wash and goes and have my hair still be moisturized and frizz free for days.
 
There may be a correlation. I wonder if this is so because buying leave-in conditioner would prove to be quite a costly endeavor for waist length hair, and using rinse-outs (since rinse-outs are typically larger in size and similar in formulation to most leave-ins) are a more economical choice with all that hair? You can buy VO5 for a dollar! Gotta cut corners somewhere, right? :grin:.
 
^^I am all for cutting corners. :) When I used to leave some of the condish in my hair, I would rinse most of it out and just add a little bit to the ends. Thats how my ma does it. but im wondering if i should have left more in :/
 
I'm sure this has been answered before somewhere, but it's too late in the evening and I am too tired to search; what does the "S" in "WSL" refer to?
 
I do that - it saves time and it saves money too, I don't need to buy a separate leave in conditioner. I just keep most of my regular conditioner in the hair after washing. :yep:
 
MarieB said:
I'm sure this has been answered before somewhere, but it's too late in the evening and I am too tired to search; what does the "S" in "WSL" refer to?
Click to expand...

I think it's just a mistake - it should really be WL.

The S is I guess, the S in waiSt. :giggle:
 
I'm not WL, but I have been doing this since right after my BC in June 2008 -- particularly in the summers -- and I always have the best retention when I do it consistently. I just stock up on my staple conditioner at the time (right now HE HH) and wet my hair, add conditioner, rinse, squeeze out my hair, and add more conditioner. I'm doing it again this summer, just with a partial kinky curly sew-in to protect my ends from the detangling, and I'm soooooo excited!
 
I don't think there is one common denominator. Many do leave conditioner in, but not all. I think the more common denominator is low manipulation.
 
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