Curl Warehouse Blog

You have probably read somewhere that shampoo and the Curly Girl / Curly Hair Method are a no go.  Maybe you’re in a FB group that doesn’t allow shampoo to be discussed.  Or you just don’t know which shampoo to...

In your mind picture a pinecone.  The ones laying on the ground with wide open scales would be high porosity, the ones on the tree that are turning brown and not fully open would be normal porosity, and the ones near the top that are still tightly closed would be low porosity. 

Your products might not be absorbing well into your lower porosity hair.  

So how can you help your low porosity hair get the most out of your routine?

Cowashing is simply washing with a conditioning cleanser or a regular conditioner.  A cowash is a specially-designed product contains ingredients to both wash and condition the hair. 

Let’s talk about the pros and cons of this original method of cleansing curly and wavy hair.

This week I saw a FB post that followed the advice of Lorraine Massey (creator of the Curly Girl Method / Curly Hair Method) and said the use of oils will just block your hair and cause problems.  There was a time that Lorraine encouraged the use of oils and now she does not.  But I digress… oils are still being used by many curlies and wavies.  Some love them, some do not. At the end of the day your hair (and scalp) will decide if this is for you. 

As you experiment and delve further into the Method, it is evident that even if you see and follow someone with hair that looks like yours – what they do may or may not work for you.

There are some of us who will experience what is commonly called “flash drying” with some ingredients. Aloe is one of them that usually takes the blame.  

Flash drying feels like all of the moisture is gone with contact of the product to your hair.  It then becomes hard, brittle, and difficult to manage.  So what is happening?  

Our hair will take in water and also release water frequently while wet or perhaps in a dry/humid climate.  Damaged or high porosity hair will do this even faster than medium or low.  The ability of aloe to do this is because of the starch molecules and the protein molecules made of essential amino acids that can hold (and also release) a lot of water. Is it always aloe that causes this flash-drying sensation?