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\n Photo-Illustration: by The Cut; Photos: Cheyenne Parker-Tyus\n <\/p>\n
WNBA champion and Las Vegas Aces player Cheyenne Parker-Tyus is making wash day work for her. Balancing motherhood and her basketball career, she keeps her hair-care routine for her type-3<\/a> curls easy and manageable. \u201cI have loose curls. At any given moment they have a mind of their own and choose if they want to cooperate,\u201d she says. While her current hair-care routine isn\u2019t as in depth as it used to be when she opted for multiple steps, she still tries to incorporate products that keep her hair healthy<\/a>.<\/p>\n She would focus on her hair in sections, defining with a curl brush<\/a>, scrunching the curls<\/a>, or twisting her hair to further define the curls. \u201cIt\u2019s time consuming and expensive because it takes a lot of products to maintain.\u201d Her main focus now is maintaining her hair between workouts and maintaining her daughter\u2019s hair as well. Here\u2019s her wash-day routine.<\/p>\n \n From left: Photo: Cheyenne Parker-TyusPhoto: Cheyenne Parker-Tyus\n <\/p>\n \n From left: Photo: Cheyenne Parker-TyusPhoto: Cheyenne Parker-Tyus\n <\/p>\n Prewash: I don\u2019t think sweating helps, but I don\u2019t really have a dry scalp. Every once in a while, I\u2019ll use castor oil, rosemary oil, or argon oil before I wash my hair. I\u2019ll put it on my scalp.<\/p>\n 5 p.m.: I wash it with a good shampoo from Innersense or Rizos Curls. If I don\u2019t have access to something that doesn\u2019t have all the excess parabens and alcohol, I\u2019ll wait because those things really dry out my hair and scalp. I scrub the heck out of my scalp, all the way to my ends, and get it sudsy. If it\u2019s been more than two weeks, I\u2019ll wash it two or three times, but if it\u2019s not dirty like that, I\u2019ll wash it once. I like Pattern, too. I had a couple of samples from Pattern in China, and I didn\u2019t have my usual products, but the pattern was really good.<\/p>\n 5:10 p.m.: I\u2019ll put in conditioner from Rizos Curls or Innersense and leave it in for three to five minutes while I\u2019m in the shower. I\u2019ll shave my legs, wash my body \u2014 leave it in a bun and then wash it out. If I\u2019m in the mood, I\u2019ll comb it out in the shower while the conditioner is still in it. Or I\u2019ll wait until I get out of the shower and instead of using a towel I\u2019ll wring out my hair, kind of like how you wring out a rag, then I\u2019ll use a Denman curl brush to detangle and not a comb. I always lose a lot of hair, and that\u2019s hair I assume I\u2019m supposed to be losing, like dead weight. That\u2019s how I look at it.<\/p>\n I love the Rizos Curls. I found them back in the day when I was trying to get my curls to pop. I never paid attention to my curls until 2019, that\u2019s when I was really trying to nurse them, and their products really helped that process, and I never wavered. I use that the most. I recently tried the C\u00e9cred deep conditioner, too.<\/p>\n \n From left: Photo: Cheyenne Parker-TyusPhoto: Cheyenne Parker-Tyus\n <\/p>\n \n From top: Photo: Cheyenne Parker-TyusPhoto: Cheyenne Parker-Tyus\n <\/p>\n 5:20 p.m.: I like the Innersense leave-in conditioner. I got a curly cut in 2024, and the stylist suggested this brand, so I picked up the whole line from Ulta. It\u2019s very good but very expensive. When I was really into doing my hair, I would diffuse my curls, but being a mom, I don\u2019t have time to do that anymore, so I\u2019ve been air-drying for the past couple of years.<\/p>\n Photo: Cheyenne Parker-Tyus\n <\/p>\n 9 p.m.: At night, I\u2019ll use a silk bonnet with a tie because the other ones always slide off. My hair retains water for a while. Once I wash it and let it air-dry, it stays wet, so I\u2019ll double up and put on two bonnets. And by the morning, my hair is still pretty damp, so I\u2019ll let it air-dry. I don\u2019t put it up at night because I feel like my hair is always up since I play basketball. So I always take my hair out of the ponytail when I go to bed. My mom taught me that to help maintain my edges, because the pulling makes your edges thinner.<\/p>\n The next day: Usually, I\u2019ll refresh my hair in the morning with a spray bottle of water and leave-in conditioner. I\u2019ll spray it just a little to refresh the curls, and I\u2019ll add a curl cream to remoisturize it. If it\u2019s been a couple of days, at that point, I have enough product in my hair so I\u2019ll use water and let it do its thing.<\/p>\n On hair maintenance and motherhood: On her game-day style: Sign up for the Cut Shop newsletter.<\/p>\n A stylish weekly guide to help you make good choices about what to spend your money on.<\/p>\n Vox Media, LLC Terms and Privacy Notice<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/dd15220ae6c487d8771a828e9cb810514d-IMG-3116.rdeep-vertical.w460.jpg\")
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Now that it\u2019s grown out a little more, I\u2019m maintaining. I had a moment in China while playing, and I was so busy that I let my hair get super matted and tangled. I had a big ball of knots in the middle of my head from not doing anything to it. It took me two hours to comb it out. I was so frustrated and in tears that I thought about cutting it off. That was the first time I genuinely thought about doing that; I even brought it up to my husband. I already have to worry about my daughter\u2019s hair and taking care of my son and all that comes with being a mom. It was overwhelming. I ended up talking myself off the ledge because I did not go through with that.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ll wear a headband sometimes, but I really like slicking back with a nice, strong edge control so my hair can stay slick. I do sweat a lot, so it\u2019s rare that it stays that way. My hair has to be out of my face, and most of the time I\u2019m rushing. I rarely let the curls rock out. I like the slick back. I feel like I\u2019m ready for war. I\u2019ll use any edge control that\u2019s in front of me; thankfully, the team always has one available.<\/p>\n