If you have natural hair, you know that wash day is about so much more than shampooing and conditioning. It’s a chance to restore the moisture your hair loses throughout the week and to remove buildup from styling products. It’s also an opportunity to treat damage to your hair, like breakage or frizz, caused by styling. It sets the stage for healthy, beautiful hairstyles for the days to come.
The right wash day routine for natural hair can help fight damage, restore your natural curl patterns, seal in moisture, fight frizz, and leave your hair more manageable in between washes.
Creating your wash day routine doesn’t have to be complicated. Even more important than choosing the right products is being consistent. When wash day comes around, giving your hair a proper cleaning, conditioning, and moisturizing, and using products to make the styling process softer on your strands, is important. This can keep your curls, coils, and other textures looking and feeling their best.
In this guide, we cover what you need to know to build the perfect wash day routine for natural hair.
The Process Starts Before You Wash
You might think that wash day starts when you lather on the shampoo. But for textured hair, this is a big mistake. If your hair has high porosity, it’s likely dry by the time wash day comes around.
And when it's dry, it's at its most vulnerable. Dry hair is easily damaged by styling. To combat dryness, your wash day routine should have a step prior to shampooing.
A pre-shampoo treatment should be part of every wash day routine. Used before shampooing, it can help soften the hair and make it easier to work through tangles before cleansing. Hair masks and oils serve a different purpose. A hair mask is typically used as a deep conditioning treatment after shampooing, while a hair oil is used after shampooing and conditioning to help seal in moisture and provide additional benefits.
Pre-shampoos and other pre-wash treatments, like the Moisture Miracle Pre-Shampoo from African Pride, are designed to be used every wash day.
To use a pre-shampoo, use your fingers or a wide-tooth comb to separate your hair into sections. Working section by section, work the pre-shampoo into your hair. This is not only a chance to make sure that you’re hitting every strand but also allows you to gently detangle your hair before the rest of your routine. This helps to reduce shedding and breakage and allows the other products you’ll use to be more evenly distributed in your hair.
Cleanse Without Stripping Moisture
It’s a common misconception that regularly shampooing curly, coily, wavy, or textured hair will leave it dry. However, regularly cleansing is an important part of keeping the scalp clean and healthy. Product buildup, excess oil, sweat, and other pollutants gather on your scalp and prevent moisture from reaching your hair. Without a healthy scalp, you can’t have healthy, beautiful hair.
The key is choosing the right moisturizing shampoo. The right shampoo will clean your hair and scalp while also preserving your hair’s natural hydration.
The Moisture Miracle Shampoo from African Pride is designed specifically for textured hair. Made with honey and coconut oil, it gently removes dirt and buildup without stripping away your hair’s natural oils. The formula is deeply hydrating but doesn’t add weight and leaves curls and coils soft, nourished, and shiny.
When getting ready to shampoo your hair, start by saturating it with warm water. Then, apply the shampoo to your scale. Use your fingertips, not nails, to gently work the shampoo into your scalp. The latter should cleanse the ends of your hair as you rinse out the shampoo. There’s no need to scrub away from your scalp. If your hair has a lot of buildup, you should shampoo a second time.
Follow With a Moisturizing Conditioner
The primary purpose of shampoo is to cleanse your scalp, setting the stage for other treatments. The first treatment is conditioner.
Conditioner helps smooth the hair cuticle, restores your hair’s softness, gets rid of any remaining tangles, and makes your hair more manageable. For natural hair, moisture is one of the most important factors in preventing breakage and keeping your hair soft and curls springy.
Start by choosing a great conditioner. The Moisture Miracle Conditioner from African Pride contains natural ingredients that fight tangles and add softness, like honey and coconut oil.
Apply conditioner generously, starting at your roots and working to the ends. Pay special attention to any parts of your hair that are particularly dry or tangled. If you do still have tangles, use a comb or your fingers to work them out while you’re conditioning.
Leave your conditioner on for several minutes. Then, rinse it away with cool or lukewarm water. This helps to seal the cuticle.
Target Trouble With a Deep Conditioner
Your wash day for natural hair doesn’t need to look exactly the same week after week. Some days, you’ll want to mix in special treatments to target any hair trouble you’ve been having.
One great treatment is a deep conditioner. If your hair is very dry, you might use a deep conditioner weekly. Otherwise, using it every other week can help to ward off dryness. Deep conditioning helps to restore moisture, improve elasticity, reduce breakage, increase softness, and leave your curls more defined.
In most cases, a deep conditioner is used after you’ve washed and conditioned your hair. You’ll apply it to your hair, working it from roots to ends, and then allow it to sit for the time specified on the container. This can range from a few minutes to a half-hour.
Always Apply Products to Damp Hair
Whether you’re adding a deep conditioner or pre-shampoo, it’s important to never apply hair products to dry hair. Natural hair absorbs products best when it's still damp. After you’ve showered, gently blot away excess water with a microfiber towel or cotton t-shirt. Then, apply your leave-in conditioner or other products immediately.
Damp hair helps to trap water inside your strands and gives your products something to seal onto.
Use the LCO or LOC Method to Lock in Moisture
If your hair tends to get dry between wash days, integrating the LCO or LOC layering method into your routine can help.
The LOC method is designed for high porosity hair. With the LOC method, you’ll start by applying a liquid leave-in conditioner to hydrate your hair. Next, apply hair oil to help seal in moisture. Finally, finish with a cream to add softness and help keep your hair moisturized.
If you have low porosity hair, you’ll still start with a leave-in conditioner. But next, you’ll apply cream to add extra moisture to your hair and make the curl pattern more manageable. Then, you’ll finish with oil to seal in the liquid and cream and protect your hair.
Rethink Your Styling Products
There’s no better feeling than styling your hair for the first time after wash day. Your strands are shiny, moisturized, and soft. Your hair is easy to manage, your curl pattern is restored, and hair styling products lock easily into your hair.
Unfortunately, the further you get from your wash day, the harder your hair may be to style as products begin to build up on your strands.
To prolong that fresh wash day feeling, opt for hairstyles that protect your hair and allow you to style it with fewer products. Twists, loose braids, and buns can all help protect your hair and require less manipulation to achieve. If you do use products, choose lightweight formulas that won’t weigh down your curl pattern.
Whatever style you choose, avoid pulling your hair too tight. This can stress your scalp and lead to breakage.
Building the Perfect Wash Day Routine for Natural Hair
Wash day doesn’t have to be something that you dread. With the right wash day routine for natural hair, you can get hair that’s soft, shiny, and easy to manage. Once you see how beautiful your hair can be post-wash day, you’ll start looking forward to it every week! And with a few changes to your styling routine, you can even prolong the time between wash days.
Ready to start building your own perfect wash day routine? Shop African Pride’s selection of natural hair products today!





