The Wash-Day Essentials This Wellness Brand Founder Can’t Live Without

Golde CEO Trinity Mouzon Wofford breaks down her love for cold showers, apple cider vinegar, and braiding as meditation.

The Wash-Day Essentials This Wellness Brand Founder Can’t Live Without

Healthy hair is beautiful hair. And for Black women, wash day is often a sacred act of self-care, since our kinks, coils, and curls require a little more TLC. In our series Wash Day Diaries, we’re asking influential women to break down exactly what goes into their routines so you can copy their tips, tricks, and products that work for your texture and style.

If life in quarantine has taught us one thing, it’s that being home 24/7 isn’t a magic ticket to feel like you have the same number of hours in a day as Beyoncé. Despite time saved from eliminating a daily commute, weekly happy hours, or whatever took up your time pre-pandemic, it can be a struggle finding time for self-care when your work-life balance becomes blurred. Anyone working from home can relate, and business owners know the struggle all too well. Take it from Trinity Mouzon Wofford, cofounder and CEO of superfood self-care brand Golde: Quarantine or not, finding regular “you” time isn’t the easiest feat, especially when it comes to hair.

“Starting a business had a major impact on my hair routine. I ended up being too busy and too broke to do anything with my hair,” says Mouzon Wofford. “Before Golde, I was much more into getting braids, or dyeing my hair, or trying out a keratin treatment. I was always trying something new, always fussing with it. When I started my business, the only thing I’d bother to do was wet it down, put it into braids, and deal with it again in two weeks. I started to notice my hair was growing like crazy—it’s the longest it’s ever been, because I just left it alone.”

Mouzon Wofford’s relationship with her hair wasn’t always so low-key. Growing up in a predominantly white town in upstate New York, she had very few classmates with her hair texture, and representation was sparse in the media. “Prior to the mainstream movement toward inclusivity, teen magazines would have sections on hairstyles for my texture, and it would be either curly or relaxed—those were the options,” she says. 

Because of that, she didn’t have anywhere to turn for natural hair inspiration. And then YouTube came along.

“YouTube was the first real place I went to learn about my natural hair—it inspired me to do the big chop, but I was still trying to get my hair to be a certain way, instead of just letting it be,” she says. “I first went natural when I was 17, then had relaxers on and off through my early 20s. Finally, I realized I just didn’t have time to be frustrated with my hair. A major shift for me was learning to ask myself what I can do for my hair, instead of what my hair can do for me. The best thing you can do is just be patient with it and listen to it, and it will show you what it wants.”

There’s no denying that having grace for your natural texture can be a challenge, but nailing down a wash-day ritual that works for you is a huge step in the right direction. Ahead, Mouzon Wofford breaks down the secret sauce for her biweekly ritual, from her affinity for cold showers to braiding as a meditation practice.

Cleansing + Masking

Whenever I notice my hair is quite dry, I know it’s time to get it back in shape. I use Bragg Apple Cider Vinegar to cleanse—it gets rid of any product buildup without stripping my hair, and it also makes my hair really smooth and shiny. I start out by pouring about an ounce of ACV into a mason jar and diluting it 1:1 with water. I use it to wet my hair completely as a pre-rinse, and on days I want a deeper cleanse, I’ll turn it into a hair mask with bentonite clay.  It’s messy as hell and such a process—but it’s really incredible for a deeper weekend treatment.

Bragg Organic Raw Apple Cider Vinegar

Bentonite Clay

Conditioning + Detangling

After the ACV, I twist my hair into into four to six sections, depending how lazy I’m feeling. I take one section at a time and soak them with water. Then I use Briogeo Be Gentle, Be Kind Avocado + Quinoa Co-Wash (the directions say four to eight pumps for your whole head, but I do like 10 pumps per section). After I fully saturate my hair with that, I run my hair briefly under water again to make sure it’s fully saturated with the product and water to get a really good slip, and then I finger-detangle before twisting each section. I don’t use a brush or a comb because they disrupt my curl pattern—my curls just don’t look right after. Finger detangling allows me to be more gentle, so I don’t feel like I’m ripping tangles out.

When finger detangling, I start at the ends, and work my way up to the root. It takes around 20 minutes, which is enough time to really let the product sink in and help my curls form. If I use a heavier deep conditioner that comes in a tub, it’s too thick and buttery, and I don’t get that good slip. But if I do anything that’s too lightweight or too curl-enhancing, it dries my hair right out, and my curls don’t really form. So this is like a Goldilocks product for me.

Be Gentle, Be Kind Avocado + Quinoa Co-Wash

A Cold Rinse

Once that’s done, I rinse my hair with extremely cold water because it helps to lock in shine and cut down on frizz. It’s not my favorite thing to do in the wintertime, but it’s really, really good. In the summertime I take totally cold showers. It’s so good for your body to immerse yourself in that cold, and it tightens everything up, so I feel very energized and like I just did a crazy workout after. Even if I go out for a walk on a really cold day, my skin always looks great. When I rinse, a good amount of the product washes out but not necessarily all of it. There’s definitely still product in my hair, but not, like, visible white conditioner.

Drying + Stretching

The next thing that I do is grab the softest cotton T-shirt I can find, and tightly wrap my hair up in it as if it were a towel, and tuck it in at the nape of my neck. It combats frizz while my hair dries, while stretching the curl pattern. I’ve found that the biggest difference in being able to manage my hair has been getting it relatively stretched, rather than a straight wash-and-go (otherwise it’ll get super frizzy). This is when my hair is in its most fragile state, so I leave it alone and let it dry about 80% in the shirt, and get dressed while I wait. Ten or 15 minutes later, I remove the T-shirt and my hair is mostly dry and somewhat stretched.

Hanes Men’s Crewneck T-shirt (3-Pack)

Locking In the Moisture

Next, I apply some kind of oil to lock in the moisture. Lately I’ve actually been using this body butter by my friend’s company, Yesfolk. They mostly make kombucha, but they have this crazy awesome product that’s totally natural. No fragrance or anything. It’s just a really nice natural blend of butters and oils, and I realized it’s great for my hair. I just dab my finger in there and rub it between my hands to melt it, smooth it through my strands as much as possible, and get to my next step of stretching by letting my hair dry 100% in braids. I divide my hair into two sections down the middle, rub the product in, and make sure to get my baby hairs, my ends, and up near my roots, where I tend to get a halo of frizz. I’ve found that the more natural it is, the better it will work for my hair, but if I really want to slick things down, I’ll use a little bit of Jamaican Black Castor Oil before adding a scarf.

Yesfolk Body Butter

Tropic Isle Living Jamaican Black Castor Oil

Braiding + Maintenance 

I’ve really come to love the braiding portion, which used to be a point of frustration. I used to be so resentful at the fact that I couldn’t just do a wash-and-go, because I’m very low maintenance. But the braiding part is actually so cathartic. I aspire to have a meditation practice, but at this point, braiding my hair is my meditation. I tightly wrap my hair up in this satin scarf I’ve had as long as I can remember to help prevent any fizziness (my biggest culprit) on top as it dries. I leave it on for at least 20 minutes, and then I have my hair in the two braids, fully dry, and I usually just leave it for few days before I wear it out. Or I’ll rebraid it into small individual sections—almost like box braids, but minus the extensions.

Briogeo Paradise Pink Satin Scarf

This story originally appeared on: Glamour - Author:Erin Parker