‘Hair Washing’ is something you have been doing for all your life. How can you not know the correct way?
Exhibit A: You were taught to wash your hair every day when you were a child. Later you learned that you shouldn’t. Do you still know how many days is the perfect time to wash your hair in?
Skip all the years of treating your hair disrespectfully and keep reading the article. Take notes.
THE PROCESS
Pre-preparation –
You should oil your hair not more than 2-3 hours before shower. Massage the oil into your hair and make sure that you apply pressure from the tips of your fingers to let the blood flow. Skip oiling if you have an oily scalp. You can try coconut, olive or mustard oil. Follow oiling with brushing to let the blood circulation flowing and detangle your hair.
Note – Hair serum is an alternative to oiling. Reasons why serum is better than oil – it settles as a layer on your scalp and hairs and protects them from dirt and the sun.
The serum also makes your hair extremely shiny and healthy looking. Cons; it isn’t natural like oil and adding chemicals (it is always Silicone based ) to your hair can cause damage eventually.
Pre-shampoo conditioning –
Condition your hair before you shampoo if you have long hair. This may sound unheard of but the more distant your hair is to your scalp, the weaker it is. So, if you have longer hair, you need additional protection.
Apply a Rupee coin sized amount of conditioner to your palms and massage it gently into the ends of your hair.
Have to start with a rinse –
Firstly, wash your hair with only water. Consider rinsing to be your WARM up! If this is how you will remember, you will also remember that you are suggested to rinse with warm water. Not hot, not cold. For two reasons;
Your hair cuticle will open up, letting the oil to break in. Thus, leaving your hair not only moisturized but also preventing the chemicals from getting in your cuticles.
Hot water will loosen your cuticle. It will help in removing any filth off of your hair.
Shampoo –
Hold your heart and get a chair to sit. Because this is one of the major areas where women are committing the biggest mistakes. And their hair is paying for them.
Quantity: a quarter-sized amount of shampoo is enough. If your hair is particularly long or extremely volumized, don’t hesitate to double the amount.
While washing, increase blood flow to the scalp and stimulate hair growth by using vertical strokes with medium pressure. NO CIRCULAR MOTION. Your hair isn’t cookie batter.
While washing away from the roots, use straight stroking motion and don’t be coarse like you would clean a rag.
Make sure to wash the hair at the nape of your neck.
Don’t follow the infamous; rinse, lather, rinse, repeat technique. You don’t need to ever shampoo your hair twice in a single wash. Unless it didn’t lather the first time or you have applied a hair mask.
Conditioner –
Thumb rule, start conditioning down your ear. Squeeze out the water from your hair before touching conditioner. Apply conditioner. Don’t put conditioner at the roots of your hair; the natural oil from your scalp is more concentrated there. Also, don’t force it on the tips. It isn’t necessary. Leave it on for 2-4 minutes and then rinse it out thoroughly. It’s important to properly remove the conditioner. Any excess amount or leftover conditioner can cause a greater buildup of oil in your hair.
The longer the conditioner stays on your hair, the better it absorbs.
If your hair still feels unmanageable and lacks shine, use a leave in conditioner after you have showered and shampooed your hair. It is perfect for people who wash their hair daily.
Cool end –
Just wash your hair in some cold water; it will shut the cuticles tight. Minimizing the hair loss and also sealing the outer layer which will give your hair a healthy shine.
Drying your hair –
This may not seem vital, but it is. After your shower, make sure you shake the excess water out of your hair and untangle it. Wrap it in an old t-shirt or soft cloth. Don’t use a towel and let it rest for a few minutes. If you have time, the best option is to let it air-dry.
If these steps seem too much work to you. Just imagine how Japanese must be doing it. Since 90% of Japanese wash their hair twice a day. It is okay if you screamed, so did we.
Let us tell you some cool scientific things about the hair on your head.
Science Behind Your Hair
The hair at ends is the most fragile part. Thus it needs no SHAMPOO.
Hair is 20% more fragile when it is wet and also it can stretch up to 30% more.
Your hair is 50% carbon, 21% oxygen, 17% nitrogen, 6% hydrogen, and 5% sulphur.
Balding only begins to become visible once you’ve lost over 50 percent of the hairs from your scalp.
Only 90% of your hair grows at a time and 10% rests.
Answering Common Hair Related Queries
How often to wash your hair?
If you have extremely oily or fine hair, you may need to shampoo daily. Normal or dry hair can lather up closer to three times a week. It is okay up to 7 days depending on your lifestyle. Whatever you do please don’t try the ‘no ‘poo method’.
How to know if your hair is damaged or not?
There are obvious signs like lack of shine in your hair, extreme breakage, too many tangles. But, there is one sure-shot sign, if you have extremely damaged ends like spilt-ends or the ends seem irregular and isn’t having a structure and instead taking a wavy shape.
Which is the correct shampoo for you?
Everyone has different needs and expectations. We suggest you visit the doctor for a detailed examination. Meanwhile, here are the various types and why to choose them –
Moisturizing Shampoo: When your hair is so coarse and dry that even conditioner gives up.
Volumising Shampoo: This type is especially for people who have extremely thin and sleek hair or people who got their hair straightened.
Silicone based shampoo: This is especially suggested to tame the wild curly hair.
A volume controlling shampoo: If you have too dense hair. You can also try Shampoo with Avocado in it.
Keratin based shampoo: This is for people with damaged hair.
Vitamin overfilled shampoo: People with colored hair need to maintain the vibrancy of their hair.
It can be done through this shampoo. Also, if you have highlighted the tips then you can even use a normal shampoo. Just make sure not to apply shampoo on the tips and also fill your conditioner bottle with a little color to keep refreshing the color, every time you condition.
Dandruff cycle: Keep changing your shampoo every two months if you have dandruff.
Ending on a fun fact, the average time a woman spends to wash, dry and style her hair is 1 hour and 53 minutes a week. What is your count?
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