How many of us out there take a simple daily/every other day task for granted? Hands up! I know I do. I mean, you take a bit of shampoo, lather on your head and rinse, right? I’m a curious girl by nature and something led me to just see if there was a way to wash my hair wrong – I thought this because every time I go to the hair dressers, they seem to have a technique to it and my head always feels so clean.
Am I doing something wrong, I thought? Bare with me for a minute. I know some of you might think, meh I’ll just keep doing what I do. But trust me, a few tweaks could make a difference!
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1. Your showers are too hot
Now i’m guilty of this. I LOVE my showers nice and hot, I’m not talking warm here. I love the water to be hot enough to feel like my muscles are loosening up and there’s no reason to feel even the slight bit cold in my shower. I don’t like the cold. But water that is too hot can actually cause your hair to dry out and lose its moisture – extremely bad when you already have dry hair (chemically damaged, curly, or bleach dyed). The cooler the water the better. Since I know I can’t compromise on my hot shower, I give my hair a nice cold rinse just at the end.
2. Don’t shampoo more than once
Some practice the rinse-and-repeat method where they shampoo their hair once to get ride of the outer layer of grime, rinse, and then wash again. This works if your hair is exceptionally oily or filled with mud or anything of that sort, but if it’s a regular wash then don’t do this daily. You’ll be drying your hair and getting ride of the natural oils that are good for you.
3. Shampoo the scalp
4. Condition only the ends
Again, I used to make the mistake of applying conditioner to my whole head. I did this because I have curly hair so I thought applying it to the whole head would help tame my frizz and keep the curls hydrated. It only weighed my hair down and made it super oily. Condition only from midway to the ends.
5. Use a clarifying shampoo
My go-to product is TREsemme, I love their deep cleansing shampoo that clears your hair of product build-up and whatever other stuff you might have there. It’s key to use this once a month, or once every two weeks, just to make sure you give your hair a good wash. You’ll feel the difference once you make this a regular habit. Sometimes even conditioner doesn’t get washed out thoroughly and causes product build-up.
6. Don’t rush through the conditioner step
Leave it on while you do other things like soap your body, or give yourself a shave. Don’t rush this step. It needs time to work so give it time. Also, a little habit I do is I wring the excess water from the ends of my hair before I apply conditioner – this ensures the conditioner doesn’t just drip off my excessively wet hair.
Give these few tips a try and see if you notice a difference!
– Cover Image: popxo.com
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