Ah, wash day… such a love-hate relationship. Don’t get me wrong, I love washing my hair and feeling cleansed but it can be such a hassle, especially when you’re trying to figure out what works. I’m here to give you a step-by-step guide to my natural hair wash day routine.

I think I’ve somewhat perfected my wash day routine over the years especially once I started my natural hair journey and have learned what products my hair likes, dislikes, and how to achieve certain styles. Now, my routine isn’t perfect and I’m still testing out new products and go through trials and errors but most importantly, I know which brands won’t work.

Growing up, my hair was healthy and thick but due to texturizers and a ton of tight sew-ins, my hair became extremely damaged. Once the natural hair movement became more popularized and everyone was big chopping and posting numerous youtube videos, I started investing in better products and learning the proper ways to care for my hair. Below I show a step-by-step guide to how I wash my hair with the routine that I believe helps keep my hair healthy and clean.

Step 1

The very first step is pretty simple – cleansing. I start off with dividing my hair into four separate sections and do the loc method to hold the hairs togethers. When I begin to cleanse my hair I do it in sections (I know, a lot of admin but it works). I love focusing on each section of my hair as thoroughly as I can and once I’m done they immediately back into locs and get towel dried. I am currently using the Organics Shampoo with Ginseng and Almond Oil and I don’t use conditioner since I haven’t found one just yet that I’m comfortable with. I usually find that it dries my hair out.

Step 2

Once my hair is damp, I immediately jump onto the masque so that while my hair pores are open it can take in all the good stuff. I love this brand called Vatika Afro Naturals Deep Conditioning Masque which has bentonite clay that restores and nourishes dry, damaged hair which I didn’t know much of since late last year. My hair appreciates the ingredients of this product and I know it keeps it in good condition. I then cover my hair with any plastic cover that’s around for about 20 minutes and proceed to rinse the product out.

Step 3

Once all the cleansing is done a weird habit I do is oiling my hair while it’s still damp. Another reason I do this is because I let my hair air dry and don’t want it to become worn out once it’s completely dried up so just applying any oil I have helps me comb through the hair nicely knowing it’s also moisturized. Still the Vatika brand I lean towards their hair oil which has shea butter and soybean oil which nourishes, strengthens and locks in moisture. I also occasionally use organic coconut oil, olive oil and hemp seed oil. Another product I use when I need that extra lift is the African Pride Olive Miracle which is good for dryness and split ends. Once all the knots are thoroughly removed and my hair is all oiled up I loc my hair and let it dry before I do any protective style.

Step 4

Once I’ve reached this step I know I’ve done the most and I without a doubt prep a cup of coffee or just some water before finishing up my hair completely. My go-to protective style especially when I just want it to breathe before braiding it or anything crazy is the benny and betty look. I love adding extensions to just give my hair character and it also creates that chunky look which I like. I would also go in with some hair food just to keep my scalp moisturized I am currently using this one from Black Chic which has coconut. Any hair extensions will do I’m using this one from the Ebony collection.