Co-washing is an abbreviation used for conditioner washing. This technique is very popular amongst girls with frizzy or curly hair along with girls who have colour treated hair as their hair are much drier and in dire need of some serious moisturization. The process of co-washing simply involves the process of skipping the shampoo and just using the conditioner in order to cleanse your hair and it actually works for a lot of people. In this process, you have to apply the conditioner twice on your hair, first in place of your shampoo while massaging it onto your scalp. The second time you use it to condition your hair like you normally would.
Why choose co-washing?
As compared to the normal shampoo and conditioner washing technique, co-washing is much gentler on your hair and scalp. Normally, shampoos contain a lot of chemicals, harsh detergents, fillers, polymers and binders which lead to dry and brittle hair. When you don’t shampoo your hair the natural oils from the scalp remain on the scalp which usually get stripped off from the scalp when you shampoo your hair. When you use co-washing those oils doesn’t get washed off which are actually very important for a healthy scalp and also for a healthy growth of hair. If you have colored hair you can be assured that the conditioner won’t strip off your hair color.
Why should you not co-wash?
Though it works really well for some people, but still there are people who should steer clear of this washing technique. People with oily scalp should never try this technique no matter what. The conditioner will make your scalp even oilier, will cause product build-up and it will weigh down your hair.
What type of conditioner to use?
When going for co-washing always choose a silicone free conditioner. This is so because the silicones are not water soluble and thus are harder to get rid of from your hair. Also, make sure to use a conditioner which has a low pH level. This is very important because the pH level of the scalp is very low and a conditioner with a high pH level can create an imbalance.
How often you can co-wash?
You can use this technique as often as you want to as this technique is not going to dry up your hair. But there is one thing that you should be considerate of is that after a few weeks your scalp and hair will start getting oily and may look dirty. This happens because of the product build-up on your scalp and hair along with the dirt and pollution and other hair products. In order to get rid of all this build-up, you need to use a sulfate-free shampoo whenever your scalp and hair feel oily or greasy.
