Myths and Realities About Wash N Go Hair

Over at CurlTalk I see a lot of women asking for "Wash N Go" hair. They want to enhance their curl, but they don't want to have to work at it. And who can blame them? We all have so much going on in our lives, and some things seem like they should just be simple. And daily hair styles seems like one of those things. (Special event hair styles are another thing entirely.)

To me, enhancing your curl is like wearing make up. Do you have to do it? Of course not. You don't have to wear make up and you don't have to style your hair, and people will not lynch you if you don't. (Trust me, I've done the no make up and no hair style thing for over 40 years and except for that one time, I've never been threatened with a lynching. But that time doesn't count, because there were extenuating circumstances involving a mad scientist and his creation :)

Also like make up, you can either use one product or lots. (Some women won't go out of the house without putting on lipstick, other women won't go out of the house without putting on foundation, blush, mascara, etc.)

When you want to enhance your curl, you can use one product (usually a curl enhancer of some kind), or many (curl enhancer, mousse, gel, plopping, diffusing, etc.)

I think the two biggest reasons women want that mythical "Wash N Go and look fantastic" hair are time and feeling like a fraud.

Time? It really doesn't take that much more time to put some product in your hair. When you're new at it, it takes longer, but once you've had a week or two to practice, you get really fast :) I air dry my hair in the car while dropping my son off at school and driving to work (I turn on the heater). If I have an extra 10 minutes at home, I will diffuse my hair dry.

I think one big reason is "feeling like a fraud". They think that if they have to work at curly hair, they don't really have curly hair. I understand it, but it's not true. If you have to exercise and work at being fit, does that mean you're not really fit? If you wear make up, does that mean that you're a fraud? If you have to clean your house...ok you get it :)

Hair, like everything else in our lives, needs a certain amount of maintenance. That doesn't mean you're a fraud :) So give up the idea of "Wash N Go" hair, find out what you can do with what you've got, and then decide how much effort you want to put in your hair on a daily basis. As you improve your skills and your techniques, your time investment will become less, and you may discover that your idea of "Wash N Go" expands.