Because of lockdown I changed the way I look after my hair

[Anordinarymum]

Always a brunette, and successfully dyed with box dye for years, perhaps once a month or so, but as I got older I had to do it more often to cover the new growth.

It was tedious. It became a chore and the colour was not so good now, coupled with the condition which was becoming dry.
I tried different dyes. I got fed up. Every time I coloured it it took a massive chunk out of my day. Enough... as they say.
Then lockdown came and I decided to stop. I gave in and welcomed the gray:)
I wanted to strip the old colour out. It's not as easy as you think and I only managed to remove some of the old dye so I started cutting a couple of inches off the length every so often and began a regime of conditioning the rest.

I have now found a way which works for me.

I'm co-washing with ASIAM. I condition and rinse out with cantu cream.
I wrap it in a towel (don't rub) and when it is not dripping I apply conditioner with my fingertips and leave.

It's not Curly Girl. I'm never going to be curly. I have wavy hair. I'm happy with it.
Now I have a head of frizz free super conditioned hair with the gray coming in nicely, and the old colour doesn't even look bad because the hair itself is in good nick.

I now feel ready to get it cut into a style. It has taken 18 months to get here but my hair is in the best condition it has ever been in.
If I had not been a mumsnet reader I do not think I would have got here.

It's been a journey :)

Could you post a picture OP? What conditioner do you use?
I’m fooling the CGM but my hair is more wavy and I think gel is too heavy for it. Is your hair thick or fine?
I also need to do something about the grey. So sick of dying it every 2 weeks.
Will you go for a curly cut so it’s cut whilst dry?

I have been co-washing for a little over a year. I started with As I Am but didn't get on with it: expensive and useless on my hair. Now I use my regular conditioner and when I remember I use the Garnier banana food for 20 minutes before getting in the shower. My hair has never looked so good.

@Wigglegiggle0520

Could you post a picture OP? What conditioner do you use? I’m fooling the CGM but my hair is more wavy and I think gel is too heavy for it. Is your hair thick or fine? I also need to do something about the grey. So sick of dying it every 2 weeks. Will you go for a curly cut so it’s cut whilst dry?

I am crap at stuff like this. I'll have to get my daughter to help me post a photo when she comes home :)

My hair is normally thick and wavy. I leave it to dry naturally - no blow drying or straighteners any more and it looks fine. I feel liberated.

I use any conditioner as a leave in - not much and mainly on the length, not so much on the top.
It's finding a way of managing your own hair. This works for me and that's why I thought to pass it on.
This is similar to my hair now minus the colour obvs bearing in mind my hair has not been styled.
styleeasily.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/44150517-lob-haircut-.jpg

I'll check the As I Am stuff ;)

I've been growing my grays for 2.5years but I'm recently tried to do a little bit Curly Girl since I realised DD2 has curly hair and I was destroying it

My hair looks so much less frizzy now! It is straightish with a little wave but CG makes it look much better than my mum's method

I'm really pleased for you - thanks for sharingm

I'm always pushing co-washing onto people. Its not just a curly girl thing. I have curly hair, don't do CG method but rarely touch shampoo.

My dd has wavy hair and she alternates between shampoo and co-wash which helps keep frizz at bay.

My tip to anyone thinking of trying co-washing is to cowash the lengths and ends of your hair but then shampoo the scalp. I always cowash first and then scalp shampoo with the conditioner on my hair.

I don't need normal wash out conditioner using this system