You may be washing your hair every day to keep it clean and nurtured, but you may be doing that completely wrong. Your hair’s shine, bounce and health depend a lot on the correct washing technique. However, making some common mistakes may mean damage to your hair without knowing it.
In this article, you will find tips on how to properly wash your hair. These tips were provided by the best hair experts in New York.
1. The first step is rinsing
Wet your hair completely before using shampoo. Your hair needs rinse like the laundry need water before adding detergent. The cuticle of the hair will open with hot water. This is excellent for cleansing the hair from any product or dirt in it. Moreover, rinsing the hair with warm water will loosen the natural oils through the scalp and the open pores will allow the oil in the conditioner to be absorbed.
2. Use a conditioner before a shampoo for long hair
If your hair is beneath your shoulders, apply a conditioner and rinse before using a shampoo. This will protect the fragile ends of your hair from further damage and dryness. This trick will keep the ends healthy, fill the holes in the cuticle with moisture and your hair will become shiny and smooth.
3. Lather up at the scalp only
Shampoo your hair at the scalp only. The youngest part of your hair is closest to the scalp and this area is the oiliest. On the other side, the ends of the hair and the most fragile, driest and oldest part of the hair.
You only need to use a quarter-sized amount of shampoo. Use double of this amount if your hair is thick or long.
4. Gentleness
Frizz and breakage are often the result of damage to the hair’s cuticle which was initially caused by friction. Wash your hair very gently and carefully.
Start by shampooing the roots with medium pressure and vertical strokes. This will stimulate hair growth and blood flow. Circular motions can tangle the hair, so avoid these movements.
Continue lathering up towards the ends in a straight stroke. Don’t do back and forth motions or scrubbing since you can damage the fragile ends.
5. Don’t wash your hair twice
You don’t need to shampoo your hair twice, except if there was no lather the first time or your hair is extremely dirty.
6. Apply conditioner from middle-length to tips
Rinse your hair of the shampoo, squeeze the water out of the hair and apply the conditioner. Use a hair clip to hold your hair until you are done showering and rinse at the end. The conditioner will be absorbed better if it stays on longer. Don’t use conditioner on the roots of your hair.
7. Finally a cold water rinse
A cold rinse will shut the cuticles and make your hair shiny.
Extra tips
Use products according to your hair type. For instance, for dry hair use moisturizing shampoos and conditioners, and for colored hair use color-safe products. Shampoos for volume make the hair dry, so use moisturizing products as well.
If your hair is oily, wash it every day and if you have dry or normal hair, wash it three times a week.
To filter the water from minerals and rust that make the hair hard, dry and with a dull color, use a shower filter.
