How I Maintained My Wash and Go for 5 Days

I never thought that I could actually get any style to last. Especially not for 5 days. Especially not a wash and go. And especially when I've never even had a presentable wash and go to begin with. But my wash and go from last week was pure magical. Not only was it beautiful on day 1---it was still gorgeous on day 5!

And I practially did NOTHING to maintain it. Legit y'all. No moisturizing or sealing. No reapplication of gel. No nada. Here's what I did:

BANDING

Every night, I banded my hair. Banding is a super simple concept and even easier to do. First, divided my hair into about 5-9 sections (the more sections you have the more stretch you'll be able to achieve), then used an extra wide hair tie to secure the section at the base. Next, I wrapped the the rest of the pony along the length my hair. I don't band the very ends of my hair to keep the curls in tact.

Banding elongates my curls without destroying the curl pattern. It also counteracts the ridiculous amount of shrinkage that I have. The best part about banding is that it's heat free, doesn't cause breakage, and it's incredibly gentle on my strands.

Related: How To Band Natural Hair 

Day 1

 

EXERCISING

I workout every morning---and night. During my morning workouts, I keep my hair banded and covered with a satin scarf. At night, I throw my hair up into a high puff.

Related: What I used for this wash and go!

Day 2 Wash and go

MORNING ROUTINE

On the mornings when I started the day with cardio---I noticed that my roots were a little damp. So I sat under my hooded dryer---on cool---for about 10 minutes until my roots were dry. Then I removed the bands, shook my hair, fluffed it a little with my fingers for some volume, then went about my business.

Day 3 Wash and go

NIGHTLY ROUTINE

After my night workout, I banded my hair into those same 5 sections. I didn't moisturize. I didn't seal. I didn't really do much of anything besides band my hair and cover with a scarf.

Day 4 Wash and Go

I'm not really used to one wash day a week anymore. I was afraid that my hair was going to be a dry frizz ball. But believe it or not, my hair felt amazing. I had a little frizz in the front---most likely from my time on the treadmill with covering my hair. *hangs head* So on day 5, I pulled it up into a high puff. I washed my hair the next day but I feel like I could have pushed it one more day in another high puff if I needed to.

Day 5 Wash and go

I'm feeling really optimistic about the future of my wash and gos!

Are you a wash and go girl? How do you maintain your curls?

Besitos!
KLP