Conditioner Wash Only... Does it Work???

Recently I have been looking for new ways to condition and treat my hair. I was drawn in when I heard that Leesha (xsparkage from youtube) had tried Wen Cleansing Conditioner and was loving the results. I immediately checked out the site and was taken back by the cost of the product! I started researching other methods and found a similar product at Sally's, only to find out it is not available in Canada! My search started again and I was pleased to find a method where you can use normal conditioner to get similar results.

First I learned not to use treatment conditioners as they are too heavy and till not achieve what you want. I turned to my Tresemme conditioner for curly hair as I had it on hand and it had a pump ( something that you will want for ease of use when co-washing!). I actually used my conditioner as directed in the WEN infomercial so I had a clear guide I could watch. I soaked my hair thoroughly, then started by using approx. 6 pumps on individual sections of my scalp until coated! That's right... unlike normal conditioning where you avoid the scalp with co-washing you must coat the scalp so that the conditioner can wash and remove excessive oil from that area. I then added additional conditioner to the ends until coated. This method takes A LOT of product, but if you don't it WILL NOT work! I then combed the conditioner through and let it sit for 10 min ( also note you will not get a foam as you do with shampoo so don't be surprised). I then rinsed thoroughly and ended with adding a little conditioner as a leave in to soaking wet hair. (For this step I used a different conditioner, it was the one I get with my hair colour.)

For the first week I also avoided heat styling, just for the sake of my poor hair that gets tortured often!! LOL I could not believe how soft my hair was, even after only one time co-washing! Usually when I let my hair dry on it's own it feels dry, but my hair felt soft to the touch for the first time in a long time. My hair was not weighed down and felt as clean as it normally would with a shampoo wash!

I do find that I need to use a little shampoo on my roots once a week simply because they tend to be oily, but shampoo hasn't touched the ends of my hair in a few weeks now and I am loving the results!

There are a hundred and one youtube video's and blog posts on how to achieve a shampoo free life. I had to filter through a lot and do some trial and error before I found what works for me. So if my method doesn't work out the first time you try, make some alterations and try again! For me it is totally worth the results!