How Many Times a Week Do You Cowash?

$hannon · 05-20-2010, 11:15 AM

Ok, please forgive me if this in a thread somewhere... Im still learning and looking for all the info!

So since learning about this cowash system, Im confused on how many times a week do you do this?

Before I found this site I was washing about every other day with organic sulfate free shampoo with a ACV rinse. Well my hair was always the same, wavy with frizz.
Well now learning that shampoo isnt the best way to go, I dont know how many times I should cowash? Or how often should I use the ACV rinse??

This morning I cowashed (with Suave Coconut) and I put frizzease mouse in it and some control gel I got off this site and the plopped my hair for as long as could before I had to leave the house, then blow dryed it a little and put frizzease secret weapon cream in it.
But it still looks the same and frizzy.... I always have a layer of frizz on top of my curls... I hate it!

And also this may be a dumb question, but what products have silicones in them? I have not found a direct answer to that yet... I did find the info to use clear gels... so does that mean that the frizzease secret weapon finishing cream has silicone in it?

Sorry if this is a repeat question! Thanks!

Roswenthe · 05-21-2010, 05:12 AM

I'm still working out the process of co-washing myself, but the Frizzease line does have cones. All you have to do is look for the word that ends in -cone.

I am starting simple with just a conditioner wash with Suave Naturals conditioner and a clear gel without cones. My hair is already a lot softer and less frizzy.

Here's the ingredients of the creme:

Quote:

Water, Propylene Glycol, Persea Gratissima Oil (Avocado), Phenyltrimethicone, Glycerin, C12 15 Alkyl Benzoate, Isostearyl Palmitate, Glyceryl Stearate, PVP, Ethylhexyl Methoxycinnamate, Triethanolamine, Sorbitan Oleate, Acrylates/C10 30 Alkyl Acrylate Crosspolymer, Cocamidopropyl PG Dimonium Chloride Phosphate, Steardimonium Hydroxypropyl Hydrolyzed Wheat Protein, Phenoxyethanol, Diazolidinyl Urea, Methylparaben, Propylparaben, Fragrance (Parfum), Red 40, Yellow 10

$hannon · 05-21-2010, 06:44 AM

Ok, I see now... I never knew that silicones were a big deal.. Thanks for the info. I will keep my eye out.. Thanks!

mitabird · 05-21-2010, 01:50 PM

I do a full CO wash (scalp and length) once a week and a scalp only CO wash 1-2x a week. I do an acv rinse weekly, usually when I do the full CO wash.

It's really all about trial and error. Silicones aren't bad, but you can't use them if you go the CG route. Most silicones need to be shampooed out to be removed from your hair.

smasters467 · 05-24-2010, 08:54 PM

When I cowashed, I did it everyday, I just like the routine of it, and I like starting with a clean slate daily. If the shampoo you were using was sulfate-free, and you liked it, then there's no reason that you can't continue to use it. You could try alternating it with cowashing if you like. Sulfates are what make shampoo a no no for curlies, not the shampoo itself. Alot of us use shampoos, but not ones with sulfates. It's called modified CG.

Kris&herKurlyKids · 05-25-2010, 12:10 PM

Can you explain why the ACV rinse? How often? I'm new to CG and trying to figure out how often to wash as well.

mitabird · 05-25-2010, 01:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kris&herKurlyKids

Can you explain why the ACV rinse? How often? I'm new to CG and trying to figure out how often to wash as well.

I live in an area with hard water and it helps prevent mineral buildup in my hair.

Kris&herKurlyKids · 05-25-2010, 01:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mitabird

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kris&herKurlyKids

Can you explain why the ACV rinse? How often? I'm new to CG and trying to figure out how often to wash as well.

I live in an area with hard water and it helps prevent mineral buildup in my hair.

Thank you, that makes a lot of sense. We have hard water here too. I'm going to give this a try.

Collette · 05-25-2010, 04:37 PM

I like to keep it simple and I co-wash weekly which is as much as I would wash when I used shampoo. I found that even the sulfate free shampoos dried my hair out. Here's my routine now and I am loving it. My curls are thanking me:

Co-wash: Aubrey Organics Honeysuckle Rose conditioner (whole foods or vitamin shoppe $8 for 11oz bottle). THIS stuff is the BOMB. All natural. They have a whole line. Just as an example here are the ingredients in the conditioner: Coconut fatty acid cream base, organic aloe vera,organic shea butter,wheat germ oil,organic jojoba oil,organic rosa mosqueta Rose Hip seed oil,extracts of fennel,hops,balm mint, mistletoe,camomile, magnolia; honeysuckle oil, carrot oil, vitamines a,c,e.

It's soo thick and creamy that you have to squeeze the bottle to get it to come out and my hair just melts in my hand when I'm putting it in. I leave it on for 15 minutes then rinse with cold water to seal in the moisture. I follow up with Shea Moisture Shea butter leave-in conditioner, my curls are soo defined and moisturized. Ingredients: Shea butter , deionized water, herbal complex, panthenol,centormonium chloride, glycerin, cocoa butter,aloe vera, jojoba oil vitamin e. after that I seal in all that moisture with 100% castor oil.

That's it and my hair is ridiculosly soft all day. I always do the wash and go thing. Oh and I smooth down my edges with eco syle gel (alcohol free).

Brosiaaa · 05-28-2010, 03:35 PM

I co wash daily and shampoo about every 2 weeks

vtcurlie · 06-03-2010, 06:08 PM

I cowash just about every day. I don't get second day hair that I'm happy with, so I need to wet my hair and start over with product every day. I've been cowashing (or at least using a rinse-out conditioner) everyday for months without feeling over-conditioned. If you've been using sulfates for awhile, your hair might be especially dry, so it might really appreciate the extra moisture each day.

Maci · 06-03-2010, 07:50 PM

I also cowash practically everyday and use a sulfate free shampoo every 1-1.5 weeks. At first, I had to shampoo every other day because my scalp was producing a lot of oil from daily shampooing. Eventually was able to shampoo every 3rd day and now 2-3x a month. My hair is medium to high porosity and an ACV rinse helps close the hair cuticle after a shampoo. It makes my hair a little silkier, shinier and easier to manage.

Go to the very first group of blog posts to learn about silicones and how to read labels. It's just like learning to read food labels when you're on a diet.

emthefantastical · 06-06-2010, 12:05 PM

i co-wash daily/every other day. i don't get fantastic 2nd day hair so i like starting with a clean slate. and i low-poo once a month/once every two weeks/if i feel build-upy. it's really all trial and error and what works best for your hair.

Miss Lynx · 06-07-2010, 10:44 PM

I only do the full scalp-scrubbing thing about every 2-3 days, but I do at least smooth a bit of conditioner through the length of my hair and rinse it out every time I shower (almost every day, though I skip days now and then). I do that mainly to help detangle and rinse out the previous day's gel.

My second-day hair (on days that I skip showering) is actually usually pretty decent-looking these days. It's one of the advantages I've found of doing the CG thing - before that, anytime I skipped showering, my hair looked terrible and the only thing I could do was pull it back into a ponytail. Now I just have to dampen slightly by running wet hands through it, scrunch a bit, and then maybe add a bit more gel, and it's good to go. So the co-washing seems to be very good for it.

curlieaggie · 06-18-2010, 12:08 AM

I shampoo about every 10 days and co-wash every 2 to 3 days. I use the mister right on the mornings after I don't co-wash. I spray it all over and do a little light scrunching and that seems to perk everything up again and it doesn't leave any build-up feel on my hair.

stefflynh · 06-20-2010, 07:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mitabird

I do a full CO wash (scalp and length) once a week and a scalp only CO wash 1-2x a week. I do an acv rinse weekly, usually when I do the full CO wash.

It's really all about trial and error. Silicones aren't bad, but you can't use them if you go the CG route. Most silicones need to be shampooed out to be removed from your hair.

When you do a acv rinse what do you do? I mean after cowashing, by itself, etc? I'm going to try a rinse, but not sure of the procedure....

dandy · 06-20-2010, 08:16 PM

i co wash maybe every 3 days.. just because my hair takes sooooo long to dry and i cant always give it that time

mitabird · 06-22-2010, 12:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stefflynh

Quote:

Originally Posted by mitabird

I do a full CO wash (scalp and length) once a week and a scalp only CO wash 1-2x a week. I do an acv rinse weekly, usually when I do the full CO wash.

It's really all about trial and error. Silicones aren't bad, but you can't use them if you go the CG route. Most silicones need to be shampooed out to be removed from your hair.

When you do a acv rinse what do you do? I mean after cowashing, by itself, etc? I'm going to try a rinse, but not sure of the procedure....

I do the acv rinse after I CO wash and before I do a second conditioning. I use a 7-11 big gulp cup (50 oz, I think), pour a little acv in the cup (enough to cover the bottom) and fill it up with water. I dip my ends in the mixture, pour it over my head and leave it on for about one minute. I then rinse it out and do my final conditioning.

Morgan_Adcock · 06-25-2010, 02:06 PM

Chemicals with names that end in -cone, -conol, or -xane are silicones. If the name begins with PEG, it'll wash out without harsh detergents, usually referred to here as sulfates or poo. However you can do a baking soda cleanse (I prefer to mix baking soda with the co-wash conditioner du jour, rather than with water), followed with an apple cider vinegar rinse (to reset the pH of your hair).

So you're going to need to poo or BS/ACV to get those cones out. Once you've done that after ditching the cones, IMO you'll rarely need to repeat it, although some people like to do it rather frequently.

You can co-wash or low-poo as frequently as you feel the need. To try to re-set the greasiness of my scalp, I immediately followed every low-poo with a co-wash, and that seems to have worked. I started out doing a daily cleanse, gradually upping the times I only co-washed, and decreasing the times I low-pooed.

innerbeautyy · 06-27-2010, 02:28 PM

I co wash daily with AO HSR