Co-Washing: Are 2 Conditioners Better than One?

I am one of those naturalistas who just loves washing her hair.  Yea, I know about the great benefits of co-washing. (Co-washing is "washing" your hair with a conditioner instead of a shampoo, see my youtube channel for a demo).  I have also read that it is good to co-wash as often as every two days. Co-washing helps prevent natural hair from becoming too dry from frequent washing with shampoo. Knowing all of this, I always choose to wash my hair anyway. I just like starting my styling days off with fresh, clean, non-weighed down hair. My experiences with co-washing my hair have ranged from ok to just plain horrible.  The "plain horrible" experience left my hair feeling like it had a residue on it. This made it difficult to style.  

     Now that I have colored my hair, it's more important than ever that I properly condition my hair so that it will not be damaged.  With that being said, coloring my hair has made me revisit the idea of co-washing my hair more often.  I don't want my hair to break or my color to fade too fast. I set out to co-wash my hair yesterday and I was having a hard time choosing a conditioner.  I absolutely love the As I Am Coconut Co-Wash Cleansing Conditioner but I also love the Giovanni 50:50 Balanced Hydrating-Calming Conditioner. I could not decide which one to use, so I decided to use both of them. My results were amazing! My hair is really soft and shiny. It was also easier to detangle. The moral of the story is that if you have two conditioners that both offer benefits that you desire, don't be afraid to try them both.  You may be surprised at the results.  I will say that a good rule of thumb for selecting your co-wash conditioners is to be sure that they don't contain any sulfates or parabens. Also, stay away from silicones. These ingredients can make your hair heavy and also leave a residue.  Nobody likes weighed down curls. I followed my cowash with a brief deep conditioning using Eden BodyWorks All Natural Deep Conditioner.  When I got ready to style my hair there was no residue.  See my next tutorial to see the results of my first flat twist out!

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