How Often To Wash or Refresh Curly Hair

There is so much information out there to sift through. Should I wash my hair everyday, once a week, somewhere in between? Should I use shampoo, co-wash, no-poo? I have found that everyone has an opinion and the perfect solution for you.  But the truth is everyone’s hair is different and what works for one curly girl may not work for another curly girl. Not to mention every curl texture or curl pattern. There is no universal answer that will work for everyone.  But I do think there are some basic guidelines that all curly girls can follow as they explore what works best for their specific curly hair.  

First things first, shampoo dries out your hair.  So, washing it less is the best guideline.  But less for you may not be the same as your other curly haired friends.  Some people can go a whole week but for others that is not practical.  If you play sports and are getting super sweaty every day it may be very unrealistic to go a whole week. Or your hair may be too oily to go that long. But overall a good guideline is less is more.  Shampooing once or twice a week is ideal if your curls can handle it.  

Part of being able to go longer between wash days is knowing how to sleep with your curls and also how to refresh them.  See my article for more information! In a nutshell, to help your curls stay tangle and frizz free you should sleep with a satin pillowcase at the very least.  It can also be really helpful to have a satin lined sleep cap or buff to keep your curls bouncy and beautfiul while you sleep.  If I sleep with my curls in a buff (like this one on amazon) I don’t even have to refresh them in the morning.  They look just as bouncy as they did the day before! 

Once you’ve gotten your sleep routine down, the next thing to master is the refresh.  The best place to start is with a mister bottle and your favorite early cream or gel. Section off your hair into smallish sections. Mist each section then rake through a small amount of cream or gel. Repeat this process across your whole head and finish with a good diffusing. Since you are only misting your curls, not drenching them, this entire process should take about 15 minutes. Much better than another wash day or defaulting to a messy bun!

Okay! We covered sleeping and refreshing!  Now you know the secret to going longer between your wash days.  This is the fun part- just play with it!  See how long you can go with just refreshing.  And sometimes us curly girls just have to embrace the frizz as part of who we are- day 4 curls won’t look the same as day 1 curls but they are all beautiful in different ways.  That’s what’s so fun about having curly hair, it’s always changing and evolving.