Last Updated on May 19, 2025 by Doris Jean
Wavy hair tends to be on the drier side so washing it very often isn’t good for it.
You should wash 2b hair once or twice a week with sulfate and silicone-free products. Also, unless you have a super oily scalp, substitute shampoo for a conditioner and co-wash your hair.
We’ll explain why you should only wash your hair sparingly. This article will also cover how you should wash 2b hair and what products you should use to do so. Keep reading.
Why You Shouldn’t Wash Your Hair Regularly
At most, you should wash your 2b hair twice a week.
2b hair are loose waves. While they aren’t super curly, they tend to be on the drier side. So this means they won’t get very oily naturally.
If you shower every other day because your scalp gets oily, you will be surprised by our recommendations. But we still think you should abide by them. This is because most shampoos strip your hair of natural oils.
When you use too much shampoo, your body will lose a lot of essential oils, and try to compensate for the losses. This typically leads to an overproduction which makes you think you have oily hair.
Once you start reducing the frequency of wash days, your body will adjust. It won’t produce as much oil. This will take a week or two, so you’ll need to deal with oily hair during that time.
In addition to this major irregularity, washing your hair too often also makes it frizzy.
How Overwashing Makes Your Hair Frizzy
Shampoos contain ingredients like sodium laureth sulfate and sodium lauryl sulfate. Both of these compounds are drying. Since wavy hair is already naturally dry, these products can over-dry it. Not only does this make your waves rough, but it also causes frizz.
While you can use styling products to get your curl formation back and reduce frizz, you can very easily avoid the problem altogether by washing 2b hair twice a week.
Washing Dyed 2b Hair
If you have dyed your 2b hair or had any chemical treatment, you should wash your hair once a week at most. Sulfates in shampoos are super damaging for colored hair.
Your dye will strip faster, and you’ll further the damage caused by bleach. Moreover, since the color will wash out quickly, you will have to dye your hair more often than you should have to. That in itself is a nuisance and a costly expense.
Washing 2b Hair – The Best Hair Care Routine
Now that you know when to wash your hair let’s look at how you should do it. There are a couple of things to remember. These include:
- Using the right products to wash your hair
- Drying 2B hair safely
- Styling the waves without damaging them
Each one of these is extremely important and something you should be super careful about.
Using The Right Products to Wash Your Hair
Appropriately spacing out washing days across the week is as important as using the right products when it comes about. If you want healthy waves, you should:
- only use shampoos and conditioners that are sulfate and silicone-free
- apply leave-in conditioner at the end of your shower
- co-wash if you’re okay with having slightly oily hair
Sulfate and Silicone-Free Shampoo and Conditioner
Both these ingredients are harmful to your hair. There are a bunch of companies that make sulfate and silicone-free hair care products, and you can easily find some in a department store near you. They tend to be a little more expensive than the typical shampoo and conditioner but are great for 2b hair.
Leave-in conditioner
Brush a leave-in conditioner through your hair to hydrate it. You’ll reduce frizz and make the waves easier to style later on.
Furthermore, most leave-in conditioners are designed to make your hair shine. So if you’re going out somewhere or planning on meeting friends, this product will do wonders for your overall look.
In the long term, using a leave-in conditioner leads to stronger hair. This happens due to the hydrating properties that ensure your roots are getting all the nutrients they need.
Co-Wash
Co-washing stands for conditioner-only washing. It implies substituting shampoo for conditioner completely. The only downside is that you won’t get the same sparkling clean hair with this method. Instead, you’ll end up with hair that looks like it was washed a day ago.
Most people don’t mind this as it allows them to remove shampoo from their hair care routine. Having already established the harms of shampoos, you may understand why they choose to do so.
However, co-washing does not work for people who have exceptionally oily scalps. If you fall under this category, you will need shampoo to remove the oil.
Drying 2B Hair Safely
The next part of washing your 2B hair correctly is drying it safely. Unless absolutely necessary, you should avoid heat tools. This includes hairdryers and diffusers. Even though diffusers can get you gorgeous waves with minimal frizz, the heat is damaging to your waves.
If you do need to use heat tools, generously apply a heat protectant before you start. Ensure that every strand is coated before you let any heat near your hair.
Plopping: The Ultimate Heat-Free Method
Plopping involves squeezing out excess moisture from your hair with a cotton t-shirt. Spread out the shirt on a flat surface and bend forward. ‘Plop’ your hair onto the shirt and wrap it around your head. Use the sleeves to make knots if necessary. Then tuck in any excess fabric.
Avoid using this technique with a towel. They tend to be rough and pull on your hair leading to a lot of breakages. Cotton t-shirts are softer, so they make a better choice.
Throughout the drying process, you should be very gentle with your hair. This is also the only time you can brush it. Use a wide-toothed comb if you want to at this point.
Styling The Waves Without Damaging Them
The last part of a 2B hair care routine is styling. You can do a couple of things here, including:
- Scrunching
- Pin curling
- Overnight braiding
All of these are heat-free styling techniques that won’t damage your hair. Start with wet hair for each. Use a heat protectant if you want to style your hair with a straightener or blow-dryer.
Scrunching
Apply a styling product like mousse or gel to your hair with your fingers. Then scrunch small portions towards your scalp like you were compressing a coil. Do this a couple of times on each section and work your way all around your head.
Pin Curling
Pin curling gives you slightly tighter waves than scrunching. Apply a styling product and then take a few strands of hair. Wrap them around your finger and secure them with a bobby pin. Do as many portions of your hair as you want.
Since this takes more effort than scrunching, a lot of people prefer only applying this technique to some portions of their hair. For instance, you could only pin curl the front. However, you can go all the way around your head if you want to.
Overnight Braiding
The last technique gives you the tightest waves. Apply product and braid your hair before going to bed. Depending on the type of curls/waves you want, you can make two big french braids or many smaller braids.
Open the braids when you wake up. Apply more product and scrunch where necessary.
Products for 2b Hair
- HAIR CREAM FOR CURLY HAIR: Formulated with Not Your Mother's Rice Curl Complex—a blend of rice, keratin amino acids, and enzymes—this curl cream delivers maximum hair definition, seals in hair moisture, controls hair frizz, and adds hair shine
- HAIR GEL FOR CURLY HAIR: Formulated with Not Your Mother's Rice Curl Complex—a blend of rice, keratin amino acids, and enzymes—this hair styling gel delivers maximum hair definition, provides a flexible-firm hold, and controls hair frizz
- HAIR MOUSSE FOR CURLY HAIR: This activating mousse adds hair definition and hair volume, enhances curls, controls hair frizz, and provides a lightweight, touchable hold
- SAFE FOR ALL CURLY HAIR TYPES: Safe for all curl types (2A, 2B, 2C, 3A, 3B, 3C, 4A, 4B, 4C); Safe for natural hair and color-treated hair
- MADE WITH GOOD VIBES ONLY: Sulfate surfactant-free, silicone-free, paraben-free, and drying alcohol-free
- Shelf Life: 36 months
- SheaMoisture Coconut & Hibiscus Frizz-Free Curl Mousse, blended with Fair Trade Shea Butter, helps make your curly hair beautiful and bouncy
- Our volumizing hair mousse enhances natural curl memory and wave pattern, with no residue, to create shiny curls with high impact volume and a soft finish
- SheaMoisture Coconut & Hibiscus Frizz-Free Curl Mousse, blended with coconut and neem oil, helps to control frizz while adding a brilliant shine to your curly hair
- This styling mousse, blended with Silk Protein, leaves your wavy, curly hair smooth, silky and obviously bouncy
- All SheaMoisture hair care products, including this mousse for curly hair, are ethically traded, sustainably produced and cruelty-free
- The frizz free hair mousse is formulated with no silicone, no sulfates, no parabens, no phthalates, no mineral oil and no petrolatum
- SOFTEST HOLD AND FEEL. With the softest hold, Miss Jessie's Pillow Soft Curls cream delivers the softest, touchable, fabric softener fresh curls.
- BIG OR SMALL CURLS. Our curly hair cream is ideal for achieving big or small soft curls that we all dream about.
- GLUTEN, STATIC, AND CRUNCH FREE. This curly hair styling agent is gluten, static, and crunch free, leaving your curls full and bouncy.
- SMOOTH AND LIGHT. Our lotion for curly hair spreads smoothly and feels as light as a feather on your curls.
- EASY APPLICATION. Evenly distribute a capful or more of the curly styling cream to damp, freshly washed, conditioned, and detangled hair. To dry your hair after application, either air dry it or use a diffuser attachment on a blow dryer.
- SHAMPOO AND CONDITIONER FOR CURLY HAIR: Naturals curly hair shampoo cleanses, tames frizz, boosts shine, and defines curls; Curly hair conditioner intensely nourishes to define curls; Peach Coconut fragrance
- MADE WITH 98% NATURALLY DERIVED INGREDIENTS: Dermatologist-Tested and infused with an intensely hydrating blend of Tahitian Gardenia and Mango Butter
- SAFE FOR ALL CURLY HAIR TYPES: Safe for all curl types, including curly, coily, and wavy hair; Safe for natural hair and color-treated hair
- MADE WITH GOOD VIBES ONLY: Sulfate surfactant-free, silicone-free, paraben-free, dye-free, and drying alcohol-free; Packaged in a bottle made with 75% PCR
- USE TOGETHER: Lather and work into wet hair, then rinse thoroughly and follow with conditioner; Apply conditioner from mid-length to ends, then rinse thoroughly
- Dreamed Up By You, Made by OUAI - After working with 150 community members over one full year of testing, we created a do-it-all curly hair cream for all curl types—from curly to coily and fine to thick. OUAI Curl Crème style cream defines curls, delivers frizz control, and adds shine.
- This Is What Cremes Are Made Of - This hair styling cream is carefully formulated with linseed and chia oil work to form and shape curls, control frizz and help protect hair from humidity while Coconut oil helps to seal damaged cuticles and hydrates. Then we add babassu oil for hair to condition, soften, and enhance shine.
- OUAI Means Yes - In that casual Parisian way. OUAI is about being better IRL. It's about having honest conversations with our community. It's about letting go of unrealistic expectations and embracing your imperfections.
- Made For Effortless Routines - All OUAI hair care products including this curl defining cream are carefully crafted to cut styling time and nourish your hair health. We put the good stuff in and leave the bad stuff out, without ever sacrificing quality.
- Live Life Your OUAI - OUAI offers luxury hair products at affordable prices that are user-friendly — no glam squad needed. Use this curling cream on wet or dry hair in any routine, from twist-outs to wash-n-go's, for soft and defined curls. Unlike other hair curl cream, there's no residue, sticky fingers or crunchy curls.
- Black Vanilla Shampoo and Conditioner Set: Our shampoo and conditioner transforms dry hair with moisture into shiny hair that's easy to manage, detangle and style. Includes 2 items. Packaging May Vary. What you receive may not be what is reflected on site
- Sulfate Free Shampoo and Conditioner: Our color safe shampoo gently cleanses and restores your natural moisture without adding weight to hair while the hydrating conditioner takes unmanageable hair and leaves it detangled, soft and easy to style
- Wavy, Coily and Curly Hair Products: The Black Vanilla Line infuses hair with softness and shine with moisture rich recipes to revive dry, brittle hair. Created for natural hair with 4C, 4B, 4A, 3C, 3B, 3A, 2C, 2B, 2A curl types
- Shampoo and Conditioner Routine: Apply shampoo to wet hair and gently massage into hair & scalp. Rinse well until suds are gone. After rinsing, work conditioner into wet hair. Massage gently into scalp and hair, especially ends. Leave in for 3-5 minutes
- Black Woman Founded: Lisa Price founded Carol's Daughter in her Brooklyn kitchen in 1993. She created this collection of hair products to help natural hair regain its natural balance of moisture, manageability, shine and softness
- The Luseta Curl Enhancing Coconut Oil Shampoo is a gentle cleanser that can rid the hair strands of build-up adding more bounce to your curls. The formula is lightweight, but since it contains coconut oil, it still packs a lot of moisturizing power. Even dry hair will have more shine and luster. Plus, this curl enhancing shampoo will also add plenty of overall volume to the hair. It also contains plenty of vitamins and beneficial fats which promote hair growth.
- The Luseta Curl Enhancing Coconut Oil Conditioner adds intense moisture to all types of curly hair. It penetrates deep into the hair strands to soften and condition the hair while adding definition and bounce to the curls. You will get soft and easy to manage curls, and the Coconut Oil Conditioner won't weigh your hair down. Plus, it gently detangles which helps prevent breakage when combing and brushing.
- Coconut Oil: Packed with vitamins C, E, B1, B5 and B6 and contains beneficial fats and fatty acids.
- Rosemary Leaf Oil: Rosemary Leaf Oil is an essential oil. The essential oil can help stimulate hair growth giving you a thicker and fuller head of hair. Plus, it can help slow down the effects of premature graying, and it can help treat a dry and flaky scalp.
- Suitable hair type: This product is suitable for all curl types, adds definition to waves and curls.
Final Thoughts
You should only wash 2B hair twice a week. However, if your hair is dyed or has undergone chemical treatments, wash it once a week.
While this may seem absurd and unhygienic to some people, it is the best thing for your hair. Such a routine allows your hair to retain an appropriate amount of natural oils at all times. You avoid stripping it too much which leads to overdrying and frizziness.
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