Quarantine has not been good to me when it comes to keeping up with my self care. My eyebrows haven’t been waxed in months, I ran out of my skincare products, and I’ve avoided washing my hair. Well, despite everything going into a wreck, I did solve one problem…washing my hair. As a black woman, wash day can be a whole process. I know for some women, they have to cancel the entire day. It’s literally a wash day. I’m not that advanced in my hair care (I know it’s bad…please don’t scold me), so it doesn’t take that long. Now, if I have my hair braided up because I’ve been wearing wigs, then it takes a little longer because I have to take the braids out and such. Otherwise, it doesn’t take me long at all.

Recently, I finally took my braids out and muscled up the energy to wash my hair. Doing this made me realize that I never showed you guys my wash day routine, so here it is. Keeping reading to find out what products I use and the process I go through to wash my hair.

Step 1: Comb and part

The first step is to comb my hair out (this takes the most work) and part it down the middle into two sections. I like to part it because it gives me smaller sections, which makes it easier to work with when washing. The combing part is probably the most work out of everything. Sometimes I need to take breaks because my arms get tired. I know I’m not alone on this. How I don’t have muscles from combing out my hair alone is beyond me!

Step 2: Shower and shampoo

So I like to wash my hair in the shower, like many other people. It’s just quicker and you’re killing two birds with one stone. I like to use the Shea Moisture Coconut and Hibiscus shampoo. It smells sooo good and it really helped with my curls. Although I’m happy with the shampoo, I do want to venture out and try other products as well, so I’d be happy to take suggestions. When I wash my hair, I like to wash both sides twice. First time I’m focusing on the outside of my hair and the ends. The second time I focus on the inner parts and my scalp.

Step 3: Condition and comb

After I wash my hair, I move on to using conditioner. I don’t have a specific conditioner that I use so I’d love some recommendations. For now, I use this conditioner that my grandmother has. It’s the Ogx conditioner in the purple bottle. I will say, it smells really good as well and has my hair feeling so smooth! I add a generous amount on my hair and then I wait about three minutes before rinsing it out. Don’t worry, I’m not wasting water. During that time, I’m doing whatever else it is that needs to be done while I’m in the shower. I then give my hair a nice run through with my comb (I need to buy an actual wet hairbrush, I know I know), and then I rinse my hair.

Step 4: Oils and air drying

Once everything is done and I finish showering, I just let my hair air dry just a tad to where it’s damp and I put some of my Jamaican castor oil on my scalp. I then just let my hair air dry and either I’ll style it or if I’m not going anywhere, I just let it be.

And there you have it! It’s a pretty simple wash day routine. Sometimes I may add in a clay hair mask, but that’s not every wash day. Like I said before, I would love some recommendations for shampoo and conditioner so feel free to drop those in the comments!

What’s your wash day routine like?