[Series] Mission Possible: De-bulking My Wash and Go | Attempt #2

Happy Mother’s Day to all the mothers, grandmothers, foster mothers, aunties, surrogate mothers . . . to  ALL those in the role of mother whether a birth mother or not! Our beautifully imperfect work as mothers is invaluable, and I hope you know it!

Continuing with my hair de-bulking mission, I completed attempt #2 at debulking my wash and go this morning. I like a LOT about this one! The inspiration for the method I used was the video below:

The Youtuber applied:

1. Design Essentials Deep Moisture Milk Souffle,
2. Lotta Body Curl & Style Milk,
3. Eco Styler Olive Oil Gel, and
4. Lotta Body Foaming Mousse.

Even though her hair’s volume increased over the six days, I love the look of it (especially on Day 1), and feel that I can use banding to keep mine low(er) in volume as the week progresses. 🙂

Products I Used

After last wash’s coated-feeling hair, I decided to use a chelating cleanser versus a regular shampoo. Chelating cleansers clean deeply, removing minerals. My hair felt almost stripped, but I didn’t mind. I was glad to have my hair free of that weird residue-y feeling. I wanted to deep condition with Shea Moisture’s Manuka Honey Masque, but I ran out of time. 🙂

Post-wash I applied the following:

1. Nature’s Ego’s Moisturizing Hair Lotion (purchased from Etsy.com; contains fermented rice water and ayurvedic ingredients. I really like it applied to wet hair.)
2. Bronner Brothers Firm Hold Curling Gel (purchased from the only place I could find it on the ground — a super large beauty supply store)
3. Texture ID Thermal Multi-styling Foam (purchased from Sally’s)

I tried to display the product photos below large enough so that the ingredients can be read.

Method I Used

Here are the details of how I used the products to do the wash and go:

1. I detangled my hair with Shea Moisture High Porosity Moisture Correct Masque, twisting my hair up as I went. I used my KareCo Tangle Buster Brush, hardly losing any hair at all.
2. I untwisted my hair, gave myself a side part, and twisted my hair back up. I installed 3 twists on one half of my hair and 4 twists on the other half of my hair.
3. In the shower, I washed my hair one twist at a time. The reason? I needed to be careful because I was using a chelating shampoo. It could have stripped my hair and caused a lot of tangles. Leaving my hair twisted up and working with just one twist at a time prevented that.
4. At the sink, working one twist at a time I applied product in the following order:
   1. Water from a spray bottle (I squeezed the water into my strands)
   2. Nature’s Ego’s Moisturizing Hair Lotion (praying hands method)
   3. Bronner Brothers Firm Hold Curling Gel (shingle method)
   4. Texture ID Thermal Multi-styling Foam (shingle method)
5. I clipped down each section with a (crocodile? alligator?) hair clip to try to aid in the de-bulking process. 🙂 The photo below shows two of the clips I used.
6. My ends dried rather quickly, but I sat under my HairFlair blow dryer attachment to dry the roots.

Results (Pictures)

My Assessment

I really like it. It shrunk more than I thought it would, but I feel really comfortable in this style. It doesn’t feel too shrunken or too short to me. I think this has a lot to do with the style — specifically the side part! Frizz is minimized with this wash and go (yay!), and I had touched my hair a lot as a shaped and fluffed it. I feel like this wash and go is highly replicable, too. I feel good in this style! 😀

What I Learned

1. I like that Nature’s Ego’s Moisturizing Lotion on wet hair. My hair definitely felt moisturized when I applied it, and I like that I’m getting fermented rice water and ayurvedic ingredients in one product that does not have to marinate and then be washed out. That is a major time saver. Lovely!
2. The foam made a HUGE difference. It stretched my hair and let it hang without tangling as it dried.
3. The crocodile (alligator?) hair clips left some demarcations, but they were worth it for their aid in keeping my hair’s volume low as it dried.

Conclusion and For Next Time . . .

1. Tonight I will band my hair to see if I can stretch this wash and go even more. 😀
2. I could have tension blow dried it for elongation after it was dry, but I was running out of time (needed to head out for worship service).
3. I’m going to try this product combination again with the following changes for comparison’s sake:
   1. Apply aloe water as my liquid, instead of simple water
   2. Apply the Bronner Brothers Gel OVER the Texture ID Foam, instead of the other way around (I’m just curious)
   3. Use Design Essentials Curl Enhancing Mousse instead of the Texture ID Foam (just out of curiosity)
   4. Try my Nairobi setting lotion maybe??? (I’m super curious about its performance over a gel)

I have a hair appointment at a salon this Thursday (I have one of these about once or twice a year to get my hair straightened and trimmed). I will thus try to get this wash and go to last with minimal frizz and increased volume until I prep my hair Wednesday night for the salon visit. I’ll try to remember to upload photos of how this wash and go looks on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday mornings.

So that’s attempt #2. What do you think?  Please feel free to share your thoughts, questions, and/or comments. As always, thanks so much for stopping by my blog and reading! Have a blessed week! 🙂

Yvette ❤