Water Only Washing......Beyond 30 days

After a warm/cold rinse

More than a year ago, I decided to for go using traditional shampoos and conditioners. I started whipping up my own hair products with some success, but nothing to brag about. Now I always have an assortment of butters, oils and essential oils, not to mention aloe vera, distilled water and honey. My bathroom cabinets look more like a pastry kitchen than a place to do your business! I wasn't exactly losing any hair and checking out new hair recipes was my quiet, me time. 

Through mostly browsing  the web I happened upon the water only method after trying the max hydration method (MHM) for about a month. Though I liked some of the results I was getting with MHM, it didn't have the simplicity that I was looking for. I was basically looking to do nothing to my hair, but I still needed to look presentable #sistagotaJOB, so I found the simplest method for WOHW from an article on BGLH. I couldn't believe I hadn't thought of it before. Not shampooing or conditioning or co-washing or anything for that matter. It couldn't get any easier than just using water, well I guess it could but I'm not that extreme. This method held my attention because at that point in my natural hair journey, I was sick of the smell of conditioner, sick of deep conditioning, desperately tired of the LOC method for sealing in moisture and just fed up with being a kitchen mixtress. I really just wanted to wash and go, which is funny because a WNG is never really a wash and go. I dove in, all the way. My hair didn't have much build up due to the max hydration method, but none the less, I clarified using Aubrey Organics J.A.Y Desert Herb shampoo, skipped a final condition and plaited my hair. Everyday I was massaging, scritching and preening to no end, even at work. Rinsing daily was fine with me and my hair was really feeling it, shoot, I was feeling myself, I felt like #Tweet-- I looked over to my left Mmm, I was lookin' so good I couldn't reject myself. Ha ha, okay.....I'm done.

An updo during my week of straightened hair

 My hair was beautiful, give or take the days when it was grey from too much sebum.Those days the mixtress in me came through and I was able to hang on by using some kitchen staples like honey, acv and in the naturalista world, baby food. Hair envy is a bitch though, a big nasty one at that. I continued to look at the progress of some MHMers and it got the best of me and off the wagon I fell. Fell hard, like a face plant on concrete. I returned to the world of conditioner, gels and way too much manipulation. My hair and schedule gave me the RBF, the conditioner smell made me sick and I was always wet from dripping hair, yuck. I knew I could no longer spend hours on my hair and back to the WO method I went. Happily!

Now, don't get me wrong, this WO method is the bomb dot com, but again, I was envious of the long hair gals and found myself having secret longings for straight hair. I gave straightening a go while utilizing this method and the results were fair, but I only lasted 1 week in updo's. I did get tons of compliments but my hair didn't feel good and there was breakage galore,  I was and still am chasing length and breakage does not equal length. My hair is shoulder length and even after attacking it with heat I still was not satisfied, so I'm now transitioning to locks.

 For years I've heard the question "Are you going to lock your hair, what are you doing with it?" And I would sometimes get offended by the words "what are you doing with IT".  I mean really, how dare someone have the nerve to ask me what I'm doing with my hair, I mean do all girls get asked that question? I doubt it, but going back to the locking aspect of the question, I'd always say "No, I can't commit to locks". Well now I'm entering the commitment. I took 7 days to install braidlocks. Now that my hair is contained in 400+ tiny braids, I am rinsing, at the least, 2 times a week and scritching and preening even less.  I think locks and the WO method marry together very well because the less I do, the faster my hair will lock. Crazy thing is, 2 months in and I'm envying my OWN loose hair. I'll be going through some old pics and start missing my puff or my big hair, crazy I know. I'm still not 100% on the locks. I hope to gain the length I want to achieve and continue with the lifestyle change that implementing water only washing has started.

My braidlocks

My kitchen chemist has reared her ugly beautiful head and taken a stronghold. I feel myself being very green in that I'm making my own toiletries, eating healthier every month and searching for ways to become whole.I'm trying my a hand at making my very own ACV, and can't get the thought of DIY makeup out of my head. I'm dragging my family down this road with me and my mom is starting to call me the guru!


Has using the water only method changed your perspective on things?? Let me know and leave a comment!

In Case You Missed It
Is Water Only Washing on you TO DO LIST?