How long does it take?

[lapushka]

For you to do your hair? Do you spend the whole day on it? What's your routine like?

Me? I get my hair washed every Sunday at around 11-11.15 AM. It comes out of the towel at around 11.45-12 o'clock. Sometimes it happens a little sooner, or a little later. It depends. Then it is left to airdry for about 1 to 2H lately. Then the diffuser goes through for about 4 min. So it's basically done and (mostly) dry at 2 PM approximately. More details are in my blog as I weekly blog my product use and routine (which is not much different from one week to the next).

What about you?

[catasa]

Hmm. I wash every other day, recently switched to scalp washing, currently I wash my lengths about every fifth wash/ten days (still experimenting with this). My after wash-routine and drying time is very similar regardless of whether I do a scalp-only or full-length wash though, since I do scalp washes as a "real" wash, i e getting all of the scalp really wet and thoroughly washed (not just a quick freshen-up of certain areas). But being able to avoid having cold, dripping lengths down my back every other day is worth a lot, even aside from sparing the lengths from excessive wetting and washing.

After wash I keep hair in a t-shirt wrap for about 10-15 minutes, depending on other after-shower acitivities. Then I normally air-dry, it usually takes about 2,5 hours to dry completely if hanging loose. Sometimes I blow-dry on cool for about 10 minutes after removing t-shirt wrap, that cuts maybe 0,5-1 hour from total drying time. So all-in-all about 2,5-3 hours, every other day, I would say. Sounds like a lot... but then I do other stuff while hair is drying, of course! :)

[Estrid]

I wash my hair every 3 days, and all my hair-care is during that event. I brush/comb it (only time I ever brush/comb it) and then I shower, takes about 10 min (shampoo, conditioner... will try to add oil now too), and after that I let it air dry (usually takes 2-3h). I might switch up where I part my hair while it's wet.

And yeah... that's it.

[Nique1202]

Every 3-5 days, I spend about 15 on it minutes in the shower where it gets two scalp washes, then I wash the rest of me while my conditioner sets. I let it sit in a towel while I moisturize (maybe 5-10 minutes) then it gets either a half hour of blowdrying on cool or about 4 hours of waiting for my hair to dry while I do other things. I'm lucky that my hair generally doesn't need much more than that.

[Eastbound&Down]

I wash my hair every 4-7 days, oil treatment pre-poo every Saturday. If I do wash it mid week, I do CO washes and save any shampooing for my Saturday wash. My oils generally include: JBCO, coconut, and sweet almond. S/C are Hello Hydration by HE for now, I may switch it up after these run out, it's been almost a year since I've had to buy new shampoo because I only use about a dime size once a week for my scalp. This routine has really worked out well for me over the past few months. As far as drying? I only air dry, usually overnight, and it's most times still damp in the morning. I'm not actually sure about how long it takes to air dry otherwise, I don't keep it down long enough.

[Magalo]

Wash every other day during my 10-12 min shower. Get out, towel dry, tangle teezer to detangle, then I dry my bangs and a bit of my scalp. Put leave in. Let the rest air dry for 30 min and it's done!

[MsPharaohMoan]

Daily styling takes less than 5 minutes... Daily detangling can take anywhere from 20 mins to an hour (if I go longer it's because I have the time and patience to do some self care). Lately I've added scalp massage-detangle-BBB-detangle to the routine before washing. Took me 45 mins last time I believe? Washing itself depends on shower activities. Drying takes maybe two + hours? I don't mind waiting though.

[pailin]

I wash daily in the shower, at night. Wrap up in turbie twist while I dry the rest of me, apply face cream, put on pj's, etc. then the hair comes down and air dries. It's usually more than half dry by the time I go to sleep; dry by morning. Then I detangle in the mornings. Usually a few drops of oil as well, then braid or bun.
But I assume I'll have to switch that up as it gets longer.

[chen bao jun]

I do it every 7 days--should really be every 4-5.

Detangling with conditioner in it and removing some of the shed hair--about ten min
I leave the conditioner in my hair as a washing conditioner sometimes but sometimes separately do an SMT
Putting in three loose braids--one minute
If I pre-condition at this point (which is just slapping on a plastic cap and maybe or maybe not going under a hot dryer, can keep inthis stage for 15 min--or 5 hours (but I can do other things meanwhile). I don't do this every time.
Washing scalp with shampoo either over shower or sink and rinsing conditioner out of hair, doing a protein treatment if I feel like it, doing oil rinsing--maybe half an hour but can be way less-hard to tell since I'm also showering and doing other things then. Can be 15 min over the sink.
towel dry hair slightly (cotton t-shirt), put in leave in conditioner while taking out the rest of the sheds, either putting hair in a wet bun or two new loose braids--about ten minutes.

Whole process is 40-50 minutes once a week

And then daily, take out of the two braids for the night and either slap up in a bun or wear loose--5 min. in the night, put kimberlily spray on the ends and a little oil and put in two night braids, about 10 min. So 15 minutes a day.

compare this to, when I blew dry and flat ironed AND dealt with the detangling dry--wash day was literally the whole day. 14 or 15 hours. When I did 'braid outs' (type 4's know what this means, when I went natural, I was told you 'have' to do 'braid outs' or 'twist outs')-- still 14 or 15 hours AND unbraiding those tiny braids every day--and putting them back in--a conservative estimate is 1 hour to put in and 1 hour to take out--2 hours dealing with braids DAILY. the idea is that you're supposed to do them once and then leave them in all week, but with a type 3 hair type, impossible.

My big issue now is that it takes 2 days to dry without blowdrying. But I don't have to DO anything while it's drying and its presentable, either in a wet bun or faux crown braid. this is partly a high density hair issue, partly a low porosity hair issue and partly that I have to use leave in (I use tressemme smooth n silky or garnier fructis triple nutrition), or have straw for hair, yes it gets that dry and oil alone does nothing.


***I am not exagerrating about the amount of time to blow dry and flat iron. When I used to go to the salon, it would take two people, professionals, with two blow dryers on high an hour to get my hair dry, and then the two of them would take another hour, using two flat irons, to flat iron the whole thing. yes, two hours, not even counting the part where they washed. I had to let my hair dresser know in advance and pick a time when she'd have a large block of time and someone else there and PAY her. I have what you call 'resistant' hair, you can't alter it without a GREAT deal of trouble, whether chemically or with heat. This type of hair is a well known type for Asian people to have, in fact the words, 'coarse resistant Asian hair' pretty go together as a stereotype. It's not a common hair type for a black person to have at all, which creates confusion, inability to know how to care for it and resentment on the part of the person that has to work with it.

I honestly thought I had the most difficult hair in the WORLD to deal with.

I wish I would have known that all I had to do was LEAVE IT ALONE and DO NOTHING. Just don't even try to alter it, its so not worth it. Its a hairtype that you can't fight--you won't win.

At least I learned finally and --I know not to even TRY to dye it. I don't have a choice about being a renegray--dye would just be another chemical that would not take (when I was relaxed, they had to use the strongest one and leave it on forever and my hair STILL wasn't straight). I am not going to bother, my hair looks fine the way it is and is now no trouble at all to me. Sigh of relief.

[maskedrose]

This winter I've stretched washes to 1x per week. In the summer it's every 3-4 days. It takes me 30 minutes in the shower to WCC (I mix a generous amount of avocado oil into the last C). Detangling takes 2 minutes out of the shower, and then I let it air dry for as long as I can, usually about an hour. I wear my hair down on wash days, but the wave pattern can be wonky, so when it is 75% dry I put it into a simple rope twist bun and let it dry for another 2 hours or so. Then I take the bun down and enjoy my pretty waves. So, total time from beginning to end is roughly 4 hours. Daily detangling/styling takes 15 minutes max.

[mermaid lullaby]

For me, if it's winter I will take a shower in the morning and leave it to dry all day. I like to use the air dryer when my head starts to get cold and dry it as much as I can. I will detangle and braid in the evenings. In the summer it takes three hours and I detangle and leave it down

[Nesoi]

I am Mrs Benign Neglect. Every four days or so I brush my hair with a tangle teezer; CWC; turbie twist, scrunch in a bit of panacea, takes about seven minutes in total. I leave it to dry then bun. Bun, bun, and bun again for four days until wash day and out comes the tangle teezer. I never brush in between. I'm so lazy!

[delitebrite]

I wash my hair every 5-7 days, only at night, because it takes so long to dry. It averages about 6-10 hours, but it has taken more than 24 if I put it in curlers. If I can get in the shower early and let it get some circulation before I go to bed, that helps reduce the time but I usually shower late (around 11PM - 2AM) so when I wake up, it's not fully dry but around 60-75% dry. I usually lean towards a week between washes due to not wanting to dedicate time to it, but I've been trying to get to 4-5 days because my hair is finely textured and has more volume and better wave on post-wash days 1-3.

In the shower, I don't really spend that much time on my hair. I put shampoo in right away, rinse it out, put in heaps of conditioner, detangle (this takes the most active time, and because of my hair texture, is the best time for this), and then clip it until I rinse out the conditioner - which is the very last thing I do after I get out of the shower. I'm moisturizing while I do the rest of my shower routine. When I get out of the shower, I scrunch it to emphasis natural wave.

In the mornings, I spend very little time styling it. I comb my bangs usually, finger comb my hair if it seems particularly ratty (but usually I don't bother because I want to keep the waves/volume). I usually scrunch it some and I take my fingers and suss it up around my scalp to lift the roots (volume). I like the bedhead look, haha. If it's looking a little straight, I might spray it with plain old water and scrunch it up again to "refresh" my waves.

I think the longest part of my hair maintenance routine is trimming my bangs, but I try to avoid doing this as long as possible because I find it so miserable. This can take me like 2 hours, mostly because I'm a perfectionist. I also dye my hair every 4-6 weeks, which I also find extremely tedious. Takes about 20-30 minutes to apply the dye, I let it sit for 30-60, and then I hop in the shower, wash it out (which can take quite a while), and condition/detangle as normal.

[Robi-Bird]

I wash twice a week-ish and use a deep treatment twice a month. A normal wash routine takes around 5 mins to WCC where I finger detangle in the shower. A quick comb just out of the spray and then I twist it up into a microfiber towel where it sits until the towel is saturated, so 20 or thirty minutes. Sometimes I use a leave in or oil, other times not. After that it air dries.

I brush before I bun it on day two because no matter what I am a poof ball post sleep and then it's up into a bun. Apart from when I have to wait for my hair to dry, none of this takes all that long.

[FallingDarkness]

I wash my hair every 5ish days or so, but am probably gonna start washing my hair more often than that in the near future, due to more frequent exercising! :P I try to put on olive oil on my length before washing, but that's not always a realistic expectation. Sometimes an SMT. Anyways. I CWC when I'm in the shower, and do a scalp-only shampoo (can't even remember the last time I washed my length!). I let my hair air dry, which takes 3ish hours, but that's fine and totally worth it. I sometimes use a leave-in conditioner. It sounds like a lot, but it's really not that long. I might spend like half an hour in the shower on wash nights instead of 5 minutes, but I deserve a long shower from time to time :P

[lapushka]

I CWC when I'm in the shower, and do a scalp-only shampoo (can't even remember the last time I washed my length!). I let my hair air dry, which takes 3ish hours, but that's fine and totally worth it. I sometimes use a leave-in conditioner. It sounds like a lot, but it's really not that long. I might spend like half an hour in the shower on wash nights instead of 5 minutes, but I deserve a long shower from time to time :P

You might want to clarify the length once in a while though, :flower: I'm sure it will cut down on the drying time as well when there is no build-up on the hair (and there will be some after a while of doing that routine). I know that when my hair is full of conditioner (WCC + LOC), it dries more slowly. Just... you know, thought I'd mention it. I hope you don't mind. :o

[fiðrildi]

I wash once a week, every 6-8 days, always at night before going to sleep.
It takes me quite long on wash days, because usually the only time I detangle my hair is while it's wet and full of conditioner (during the week, if it's very very tangled I fingercomb). So it's normally 45 minutes to one hour. Lately I shampoo only the scalp (when I have more time, it's conditioner only). Then I rinse the shampoo, and put a lot of "cheap" conditioner on the whole length, detangle with an "Eternally in Amber" wide tooth comb (that I got from the lovely SWR in the 2014 winter swap :crush:).

I rinse the conditioner, put some of the "good conditioner" with olive oil from mid length to the ends. I make a knot bun, shower the body, and after around 5 minutes I rinse the conditioner with coldish water, squeeze the water from the hair, and get out. Then I wrap my hair in a towel and squeeze it again, gently. I detangle for the last time on the sink, and then squeeze again with an old t-shirt. I go to sleep with all the hair loose, and the morning after it will take around 45 minutes to be completely dry after I've waken up.

The rest of the days, I make a LWB everyday before going to work (takes me less than one minute). And a side English braid when I'm at home (around 1 minute). Once or twice a week I put a bit of coconut oil on the ends. And that's it, really. It's funny because people assume you spend a hell of a lot of time styling your very long hair, and really it takes me an average of 1,5 hours a week :P A bottle of shampoo lasts me 6-7 months. I'm lazy and practice a lot the benign neglect :rolleyes:

[chen bao jun]

I wash once a week, every 6-8 days, always at night before going to sleep.
It takes me quite long on wash days, because usually the only time I detangle my hair is while it's wet and full of conditioner (during the week, if it's very very tangled I fingercomb). So it's normally 45 minutes to one hour. Lately I shampoo only the scalp (when I have more time, it's conditioner only). Then I rinse the shampoo, and put a lot of "cheap" conditioner on the whole length, detangle with an "Eternally in Amber" wide tooth comb (that I got from the lovely SWR in the 2014 winter swap :crush:).

I rinse the conditioner, put some of the "good conditioner" with olive oil from mid length to the ends. I make a knot bun, shower the body, and after around 5 minutes I rinse the conditioner with coldish water, squeeze the water from the hair, and get out. Then I wrap my hair in a towel and squeeze it again, gently. I detangle for the last time on the sink, and then squeeze again with an old t-shirt. I go to sleep with all the hair loose, and the morning after it will take around 45 minutes to be completely dry after I've waken up.

The rest of the days, I make a LWB everyday before going to work (takes me less than one minute). And a side English braid when I'm at home (around 1 minute). Once or twice a week I put a bit of coconut oil on the ends. And that's it, really. It's funny because people assume you spend a hell of a lot of time styling your very long hair, and really it takes me an average of 1,5 hours a week :P A bottle of shampoo lasts me 6-7 months. I'm lazy and practice a lot the benign neglect :rolleyes:

fibrildi, I was starting to think I was the only with a 45 minute washing once a week. I had thought this was short, after reading the others, its seeming still long!

[fiðrildi]

fibrildi, I was starting to think I was the only with a 45 minute washing once a week. I had thought this was short, after reading the others, its seeming still long!

Could be because we both detangle while the conditioner is on (and apparently that's a really good thing to do, especially for wavies and curlies like us). And detangling takes time :laugh:
BTW, I'm so glad that you're embracing your natural curls again, you've got a wonderful texture! :flower:

[chen bao jun]

Thank you! Your hair is stunning.

Yes, I am suspecting that curly hair is what is creating the time difference. Although I did detangle a little girl with very straight hair once that was remarkably tangled, it took a good 30 minutes. Her mom said this was always the case. Odd thing, her sister appeared to have the exact same hair and I had washed her hair too (favor for a friend, her two daughters) and SHE had no tangles. Go figure.

[Beborani]

If I am not wearing it at maximum curly (which needs diffusing and scrunching) total time is about an hour out of which 20 min is spent actively doing things to my hair. Oil prewash generously and pull out some sheds (5-7 minutes). Cowash--apply, massage for a minute or two, let it soak while doing other things and rinse while pulling out sheds. Use another conditioner--apply, do some other things in shower and then rinse while detangling. This step takes a bit of time as my hair is slippiest at this point so all sheds need to come out. As it gets longer I linger in this step for 5 to 10 minutes which is longer than a minute or two I used to take upto tailbone length. Once this conditoner is completely rinsed out and hair feels detangled, apply a third (actually fourth as I use slightly different conditioners for scalp and length during cowash) and comb it through. Pull out lingering sheds/ broken hair strands. Apply gel, put it up with thin towel for 5 min. Change towel to soak up more and then use dryer for 3 or 4 minutes in 30 second blasts--warm or hot. I am 80 percent dry at this point and let the rest air dry.

For curlier hair--I diffuse for a long time. But with breaks. About 30- 45 minutes is spent on styling, so I do this only on special days.

I love freshly washed hair but can only manage about twice a week.

[lapis_lazuli]

I wash every 7 days on Saturday, usually in the morning. It takes me about 45 minutes to wash my hair. I towel dry it before using a wide toothed comb on the last few inches of my hair to start the detangling process. I then leave it to air dry for 4-6 hours before finger combing, brushing, then braiding. It's a full-day job :p

[Dessi]

Well, let's say the preparation and the washing take about 1 hour. Then another 3 hours for air-drying and 1 more hour for fingercombing, combing and hairstyle for the day. So this would be about 5 hours in total.

[restless]

I wash it every evening with shampoo (scalp only most of the time) and conditioner because I just cant take streching washes. This probably takes 5-7 mins or so in total and afterward I wrap it up in a towel for 10-15 mins before I let it airdry for another half an hour. Then its just slightly damp and I put it up in a lazy wrap bun on top of my head and go to sleep. Its usually dry by the morning.

[lapushka]

Some of you guys, with quite long hair already, spend quite short amounts of time on your hair. I am surprised! I thought my routine was generally no fuss and didn't take that much, just a couple hours from washing to dry. But... wow! Stunning! :)