Sharing Wash Day With My Significant Other is a Vibe
Sharing Wash Day With My Significant Other Is a Vibe — Here's What We Use
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I'd like to think I'm good with sharing. Since staying home more frequently this year, it's become an inevitable event that I share beauty products with my partner — to the point where his skin-care routine now has grown exponentially past mine. But there are a few areas he still asks for my help, and that's with hair care. Before the pandemic, he regularly visited his barber for cuts and shape-ups, and I routinely opted for protective styles, but lockdown has thwarted the meaning of convenience and forced us to seek our own devices when it comes to beauty maintenance. Now, we have to make it work.
After successfully convincing Tariq to grow out his hair, I completely failed at explaining the amount of time and maintenance that comes with the extra length. I watched him fumble through products or grow frustrated with his longer hair. He reminded me of when I started going natural and the huge undertaking I went through testing products to figure out which ones worked for me. Fortunately enough, our hair textures are very similar, so I had to introduce him to wash day.
Being that we spend a lot of time together already, we decided to sync up our wash and trim days. While the process can be tedious with another person, the company has been nice and the products that we've discovered work specifically for our hair textures have been worth it. Here's what wash day for us entails.
Step 1: Detangle
For a pre-poo detangle, I use Mielle Organics White Peony Leave-In Conditioner ($13) because of how the foaming technology gently loosens the dirt on the hair and makes it easier to finger-comb out any knots. Glycerin works numbers on my hair because, since my texture is naturally dry, it's always thirsty for that humectant agent that makes my hair soft.
Step 2: Shampoo
Once the detangling is finished, I use Jane Carter Moisture Nourishing Shampoo ($5) and wash through our hair once to clean and to clarify. There's nothing I love more than a shampoo that does not make my hair feel stripped or like I'm starting with a completely dry base. For years, I've opted for moisturizing shampoos as the dry, cooler months are coming in because I feel like I can do less and still see amazing results.
Step 3: Conditioner
Conditioning is always the fun part. I feel like you can get creative with mixtures and since we both work from home, it's easier for me to see how our hair will respond to combination that I leave in for hours. So I always do a mixture of my own with a twist. I start with a base, and that's the Moringa & Avocado Power Greens Conditioner ($12).
Step 4: Oil
I pump four to five servings of the conditioner into a bowl, then add about two drops of Jamaican Black Castor Oil (I like the Tropic Isle Living Jamaican Black Castor Oil, Glass Bottle ($12)), plus tons of olive oil and avocado oil. After it's all mixed I rub it into our hair and we sit under a hair dryer for about 30 minutes. If it's a day where there are no Zoom meetings, it's fun to let it work through the hair until it's time for a glass of wine.
Step 5: Extra Oil (For Extra Hydration)
But if we're in a rush, I've realized that sometimes a little (more) oil does the trick, so we love grabbing Bread Beauty Limited Edition Favorites-Duo Hair Oil and Bread Puff ($28). Not only does the oil have the most amazing scent but it provides a finishing touch that locks in moisture and effectively adds a beautiful sheen to the hair.
I use the Bread Puff as a tool to section off the hair as I'm working in the oil. The silky material never pulls out hair like other scrunchies I've had in the past so I really love using it on days like this.
