5 Things Professional Hair Stylists Want You to Know About Wash & Go’s

A Hydrate & Define aka wash and go is an enhancement of the natural curl pattern of the hair. There’s a certain technique + application needed to successfully execute a wash and go. This blog post will outline 5 things professional hair stylists want you to know about wash and go’s.

#1: Wash & Go’s Are for Any Hair Type

Contrary to popular belief, everyone can wear a hydrate & define, even the “4C” folks. The question you must ask yourself is, what are your expectations of your final result? Your curls are going to look like your curls. With their tightness, looseness, shrinkage, elongation, and whatever combination of essential elements you have.

Climate, lifestyle, hydration level along with the condition of the cuticle of your hair are going to have the most impact on your product selections and finished results.

#2: You’re Not Literally “Washing & Going”

The name “wash and go” is the most deceiving name for a style yet because you’re not literally “washing and going” about your day. A wash and go is considered a set.

A set is just the physical transformation of the hair from wet to dry. It refers to the application of a tool to the hair to create artificial texture or a technique to enhance the natural texture of the hair. 

Setting is the foundation of all we do with our hair, but it isn’t always the style. When we set the hair, we’re looking to create our desired hair shape (curl, coil, wave, crimp, swoop, slickback, etc) and we are also thinking about how we want to place that hair in the direction we want it to lay, and how we are going to manipulate the finished set to style it in the way we want to present ourselves. 

#3: Setting Hair That Is As Wet As Your Hair Will Allow is Key

In a wash and set, the hair typically starts out sopping wet after being cleansed and conditioned. A film forming styler with hold, typically gel or styling foam, is applied to the hair for full saturation, then distributed throughout the strands from root to ends.

Once product and water are distributed through the hair properly the natural curl is defined through raking and smoothing. Once defined the hair is dried under a hood dryer or with a handheld dryer with diffuser attachment.

Wet sets create maximum definition and longevity when styling. The hair undergoes the physical change from wet to dry fully, which rearranges the salt and hydrogen bonds of the hair into your desired style. This bond is held until the hair is exposed to moisture, which causes the bonds to revert back to their original form.

#4: Using a Hood Dryer or Diffuser Is Ideal for Drying

We’re personally big fans of using a hood dryer to dry your hair. The heat from a properly working hood dryer is not dangerous to your hair. If your scalp or forehead skin can sit under the dryer and only feel like it is occupying a summer day in Florida, we promise the dryer heat is doing the same to your hair.

A hood dryer forces warm air around the hair to speed the air forming of a set. The hair is locked in place quickly and not given time to frizz, loosen, shrink, or expand. This creates sets that are close to what the hair looks like wet. We find that the hair strand also retains more of the smoothness created during the setting process and therefore the dry set result can end up having more sheen/shine than any other drying method.

A diffuser takes the high impact direct air from a hand-held blow dryer and “diffuses” it, softening the airflow and temperature by directing it to a larger area of the hair. Diffusing is great to build volume, but if you’re not looking for volume, a diffuser can be a style nightmare. We advise diffusers be used on tightly curly hair once the hair is at least 60% dry. The diffuser should be angled in a downward fashion and moved through the hair vertically and slowly to not disturb the created curl.

“For those of you that hate sitting under the dryer or hate drying your hair in general, using a hood dryer or diffuser for 10 minutes would be helpful. Otherwise, those seeking longevity in their style (5-7 days), sheen or shine, minimal frizz and shrinkage, using a hood dryer or diffuser until the hair is at least 90% dry would be ideal.”

Although we do not provide specific hood dryer recommendations, there are a bunch of suggestions shared by members of our course community, The SeeSomeCurls Visual Library.

#5: Wash & Go’s Can Provide More Volume

As stylists, when we discuss volume we’re referring to fullness. Wash and go’s can provide you with a more fuller look.

The takedown can make or break even the most perfectly hydrated set. It is imperative that the hair is 100% dry before take down or fluffing. If you’re air drying this can mean letting the hair cure for a minimum of 24 hours, but 48 hours is a better time frame for higher density and/or coarser hair.

For wash and go’s, fluffing would be done to scrunch the crunch of your gel and create volume. If you are looking for longevity in your curl set (wash and go), please allow life and your pillow to fluff your hair for you.

Want to learn how to perfect your wash & go? We cover all the natural hair fundamentals and more in our digital consumer education platform, The SeeSomeCurls Visual Library.

Our 1.1K+ course community of tight curl + naturals are shaving more than 50% of time off their wash day, being showered left and right with hair compliments, and are receiving direct support of a very encouraging community of tight curlies + naturals who have been exactly where you are.