Y’all know I hate co-washes, right?
I could be writing a blog on underwater basket weaving and still find a way to include how much I can’t stand the conditioning shampoos/ cleansing conditioners we know as co-washes (also spelled cowashes by some companies”>.
I do cowashING, but not co(-“>washES, because washing my hair with actual conditioner leaves my high porosity hair moisturized, whereas using products labeled as co-washes makes my curls feel like the tortured offspring of burnt straw and glass.
So when Fantasia’s co-wash from their Curly & Coily line came into my hands, I was highly suspect, but a job is a job, and I had my favorite coily hair masques on standby if anything went wrong.
What I was NOT expecting was how RIGHT everything went.
What’s it like?
It’s incredible is what it’s like. I really can’t believe how amazing this stuff is!
My hair is dense, coarse, and porous in the extreme, so wash day after taking my protective styles out is like defusing a bomb. On one hand, I always want to give my hair a deep clean after taking off the box braids, but on the other, my hair will dry out if you look at it funny. And hell, something just MIGHT explode.
But Fantasia had my back with this coconut-scented co-wash.
On Slippage
I’ve started to detangle my hair after I wash it, because I realized I always end up detangling MORE after I’m finished in the shower anyway. So I finger-fluffed, and got to it.
The slip this co-wash gave me was unbe-(family-unfriendly-curse-word”>-lievable.
I felt like I needed to put up a ‘Slip Hazard’ sign so that my fingers couldn’t sue my scalp.
Yes. It’s THAT good. I could get my fingers through my hair easily and repeatedly within just a few minutes, and that only happens with my holiest of Holy Grails!
Hallelujah!
On Cleansing
My routine for post-protective style washdays usually involves shampoo, then conditioner, as opposed to just conditioner. But this one product got my hair cleansed and…dare I say plush? I feel like that’s the best word for it.
I wasn’t stripped squeaky clean, but I definitely didn’t feel like anything was left behind, which IS a hazard of cowashing at times.
Oils make up a good portion of the ingredients: olive, castor, shea, argan, and coconut, and glycerin (a humectant”> also comes into play, so it does make sense that this was a highly-moisturizing and softening wash!
Bonus, although I personally don’t care about silicones, this co-wash is silicone, paraben, and sulfate free. It is however not fragrance-free, so if you have sensitivities, please bear that in mind!
Let’s talk packaging
A big pet peeve of mine is unfriendly package design.
Sure, I’m a sucker for big, glass jars. But I’m also pretty keen on watering down an expensive product by opening it while the shower’s running. I’m also not good with breaking all of my toes in the tub when gravity, oil, and water conspire against me with that same jar.
So I was extra glad that the co-wash came in an ‘upside-down’ squeeze tube!
The formula is thick, so a pump would have taken forever, and a hard plastic bottle would have trapped everything inside. I actually might have forgiven a tub in this case, but this works SO much better when you’re standing and washing.
I will say this though, they still could use an update…but just a cosmetic one.
The multitude of fonts and 90’s color scheme make me think I’m looking at something that’s an oldy, not a goody. If I saw this in the hairshop, I’d have passed right by it!
There’s definitely something to be said for keeping your brand the same, saving the money, and passing that savings on to customers, but the branding geek in me says it’s time for a makeover.
Bottom line?
I’ll shout it from the rooftops: I love this co-wash!
This has earned a spot next to my more bougie favorites, and if you told me it would do so a week before this review, I’d have called you insane.
I’m not going to run out to test-drive every new co-wash I see, because I’m not willing to go back to ‘Scarecrow hair’; but Fantasia came through and gave me hope!
Nicely done.
Do you have a product you thought you’d hate, but now you can’t live without it? Tell me about it in the comments!
