I decided to see how my hair would react to a $5 complete hair routine. Why? It’s easy to get pulled into an expensive wavy hair routine. Many “good” products are over $20 per item. Unfortunately, that mentality causes us wavies to overlook some items at the drugstore. And there are a LOT of great drugstore items, soI decided to dig deeper. What was the cheapest I could go for a FULL routine: meaning wash, style, and “tools” ? I found that $5 covered it all well enough. So here is my $5 complete wavy hair routine, and how I used the products/tools.
Step 1: Cowash
I’m not normally a huge co-wash person, but I’ve used this one enough to be satisfied. It’s the Vo5 Extra Body and Bounce Conditioner. I bought mine at Walmart for $0.78! This was the normal price, not even on sale. In other stores I’ve seen this cost $1 or under.
How I Use:
I use a LOT, like a large palmful total, and I coat my scalp, then scrub my scalp with my fingernails. I just add more and scrub more until my hair and scalp feels really moisturized and has enough slip. You can kind of feel any previous product has been removed. Then I rinse completely.
Step 2: Condition
I use the same $0.78 vo5 conditioner to condition.
How I use:
I add more into my hair by doing the “squish to condish” method. I scrunch for a full minute, maybe even more to help my hair form a better wave. The reason is that my hair can get weighed down from co-washing, so this helps with definition. Especially since, spoiler alert, I won’t diffuse my hair at all. Then, I rinse out completely. If I don’t, my hair gets limp. If your hair needs a lot of extra moisture or you have a tighter wave pattern, rinsing out 95% may work better. That allows the conditioner to act as a leave-in. I don’t use a leave in, so I completely rinse it out and finish by flipping my head over and rinsing with cool water to help combat frizz.
Step 3: Styler
Since the budget is so tight, I had room for one inexpensive styler. I chose to do a mousse because those give my hair the best hold without weighing it all down. I used the Herbal Essences Totally Twisted Curl Boosting Mousse. It’s $2.99 from Target {link!}
How I use:
After I have rinsed my hair with cool water, my hair is typically in clumps (if there are tangles I carefully rake through and immediately scrunch for several seconds). Then I scrunch in mousse. My hair is shoulder length and I probably use a palmful total. I just go in about a quarter sized amount at a time and cover the hairfrom root to tip in clumps. I take care not to add too much into the roots.
Step 4: Plop overnight
I plop my hair in a t-shirt quite tightly and then immediately go to bed. My hair takes forever to dry, so when I wake up it’s still about 10% wet.
Step 5: (More) Mousse and Clip
My hair is 90% wet at this point, so I add in a bit more mousse on any clumps that appear to have any frizz. I also then clip my roots with metal clips I got at Dollar Tree for $1. These look very similar to Deva Clips but cost $1 vs $14. SAVE YOUR MONEY. They are just metal clips either way. So I clipped my roots and allowed to air dry.
Step 6: Scrunch Any Crunch
Depending on how much mousse I’ve added, there might be a cast from the mousse to scrunch out. If there is a cast, I lightly scrunch that area out until it is touchable. Be careful not to over-scrunch or you will lose the definition. See my “before and after” from scrunching.
The Final Look: $5 Full Wavy Hair Routine
Pretty happy with this! Everything looks and feels clean and defined.
Hope that gives you an idea of a really affordable hair routine! It’s hard to beat a $5 full wavy hair routine. Let me know you’re favorite REALLY affordable products or routines! Another great option is flax seed gel, but I didn’t have any made up at this time (click here to see how to make flax seed gel)
-Rachel