If your hair is curly, or even just plain wavy, these next few paragraphs could change your life, well according to reports we’ve read online anyway. Washing with conditioner only, or co-washing as it’s been nicknamed, is the latest hair care trend from across the pond and it’s about to change the way that British ‘curlies’ wash their hair too.

Out are the super-foaming SLS-laden shampoos, in are the new nourishing 'cleansing' conditioners. Yes that’s right, you use conditioner ONLY to wash your hair and the results are supposedly softer, more hydrated, shapely curls.

While we can’t place the exact origins of co-washing (did somebody just forget to buy shampoo we wonder?), we do know it’s been championed by author of Curly Girl the handbook and US corkscrewed guru, hairstylist Lorraine Massey. Co-washing has also become huge in Afro-American circles due to the gentle, fro-sculpting properties it can bestow.

But before you get too excited and start pouring your shampoo down the sink, there are a few guidelines. First up, you will still need to use a gentle, sulphate-free shampoo up to once a week to cleanse any styling product residue from your hair. Second up, be sure to really rinse the conditioner out thoroughly to avoid any oil slick moments and thirdly, do invest in a good quality nourishing conditioner (preferably silicon free) made for textured or curly hair. At the end of the day it could make the difference between a Michael-Bolton-esque head of super springy curls and a greasy looking spiral perm. You’ve been warned.

To see our edit of the best co-washing conditioners, click through the gallery above.