How to Elongate Curls

Last updated on November 16th, 2019 at 08:30 pm

I have a love-dislike relationship with Wash ‘n Go’s. Why?

On the one hand, wash and go’s are pretty. They reveal the beauty of naturally curly hair. They are also considered a low manipulation hairstyle which helps with length retention.

On the other hand, wash and go’s usually come with a LOT of shrinkage – especially for those with tightly coiled hair.

While my hair is not as tightly coiled as some, I still get a ton of shrinkage. Plus, my crown is more tightly coiled than the rest of my hair. That’s why, I believe the method of banding your DRY wash ‘n go can help elongate your curls to give your hair some nice hang time, (if that’s what you’re looking for).

Notice, I said banding your DRY wash ‘n go. Why dry hair? For starters, you want your curls to “set.” If you band your hair while it’s wet or damp, you risk flattening out your curls. Hence, all of your hard work of raking, shingling and shaking (after applying your precious products no doubt) to set your wash ‘n go is all in vain.

Here’s how I do my wash ‘n go to elongate and preserving my curls:

Washed hair and sealed the cuticles with a final rinse using Aloe Vera juice. It’s important that your cuticles are smooth or it will be very difficult for your curls to smooth and clumped nicely.
Used the raking method of applying a moisturizing product 1st, followed by a holding product. On this day, I chose to use Shea Moisture’s Curl Enhancing Smoothie (moisturizing) and Curling Soufflé (holding). You don’t have to rake the product through your hair. You can smooth or shingle it in. I prefer raking because it gives my curls the most definition.
Allowed hair to air dry (well almost….it was late and my roots were a little damp so I blasted them with a cool dryer to complete the drying process).
Once hair was totally dry, I pulled it back in a ponytail and banded the length of the ponytail, leaving the ends out.
Donned my satin scarf for bed, in the morning removed the bands and fluffed my curls.

voila, less shrinkage and elongated curls:

Now, I don’t mind the shrinkage sometimes. As you can see, it actually makes the hair look much fuller, especially since I have these annoying layers. However, it’s a matter of what look you’re going for at the moment. On this day, I wanted a little more “stretch.”