Co-washing? Hmmmm....does that really clean your hair?

So this past weekend,I did my first co-wash. Co-washing simply means you use conditioner to wash the hair. By co-washing, you avoid the harsh "moisture stripping" that goes along with washing the hair with shampoo.

"But isn't your hair still dirty with just using conditioner instead of lathering up with shampoo?"

Actually no. Most of what you are washing from your hair anyway is building from the 50 million products you spritz, spray and slather on between washings...oh yeah, don't forget fried on if you apply direct heat will using these products. If you workout, sweat is pretty much washed out of your hair with just rinsing anyway.

Since I decided to go natural, I don't use many products on my hair. After washing, I use a light leave in conditioner. For roller setting, I use a little Organics Loc and Twist Gel. Throughout the week, I use shea butter...not sure if this is the best thing for moisturizing (still learning about my hair so we'll see.) This means I have very little buildup...and since I'm still not working out the way I should (that's a whole other issue), I'm obviously not having to wash out lots of sweat.

Unless you are in an environment that lots of pollutants are constantly settling in your hair (but I think you should be more concerned about your lungs at that point) or you are just out wallowing in mud, co-washing really should be enough to clean the hair. If I find my hair seems to have some buildup that co-washing is not getting rid of, I'll do a quick shampoo just to break up the buildup. But then if I'm getting buildup, I really need to find out what is leaving it and stop using that product.