The dominant topic of my today’s post is hair. Also, I’ll try to deal with one issue: Why the majority of us DON’T KNOW how to wash hair correctly! Indeed, this only seemingly prosaic activity – instead of beautifying and improving – damages the strands. How is it possible? It appears that we either wash hair incorrectly or we use mismatched hair care products. Today, I’m going to present you the most appropriate way of hair washing, I’ll tell you what products should be used and how often hair should be cleansed. Enjoy!
Why hair washing is important?
This trivial question appears to be a really tricky one. Trust me, hair dislikes being washed! Scalp likes it because it produces sebum, but hair – unless you don’t use hair styling products – doesn’t like being often washed. It should be realized that not only does washing sluice dirt out but also deprives hair of minerals and other essential nutrients. Basically, it depends on the shampoo you use daily. Actually, there are some regions in the world where women use natural oils to clean the hair. Women belonging to Himba tribe don’t use water at all… We soak the hair, make it damp, lather and rinse. The lather can produce different effects, therefore it’s better to find out what it is made up of. And this is the first tip on HOW TO WASH HAIR.
How to wash hair and scalp?
Choose the right shampoo
The core of the problem is mismatched hair care products. Let me put it this way, if you want to achieve a particular effect on hair, look for shampoos that are dedicated to your hair type. For example, dry hair seeks reinforcement and moisture boost, fine hair needs volume boost, greasy hair wants to be cleansed and get sebaceous glands fixed. To conclude, while choosing a shampoo for yourself, have the hair needs in mind.
Use SLS-free and paraben-free shampoos
What are parabens and substances such as SLS and SLES? In short, they are synthetic ingredients that are responsible for preserving a particular cosmetic and/or create lather. Undoubtedly, they don’t improve the state of hair. Actually, they have rather negative effects on hair.
Don’t use too much shampoo!
Neither will you wash the hair better nor the strands will become healthier and shiny if you use up half bottle of a shampoo for one washing. The optimal size of shampoo that should be used is when you can freely cleanse the strands. How to define it? Start from distributing a small drop of a shampoo and massage it into scalp. If you notice that the amount of lather created covers hair length, this means that you used the adequate amount of shampoo. Okay, if you still need me to give you an image of the size – distribute a bean-size (or two beans) drop.
Don’t pour shampoo directly to the scalp!
Before you treat your hair with a shampoo, pour it first into the palms and mix with water. Thanks to this, you will thin the shampoo and make it lather. This in turn will help you spread it evenly all over the scalp.
Focus on the scalp
Basically, shampoo should be spread on the scalp, the lather combined with water should cover the hair. Keep washing the hair to let the lather flow down through the strands freely. Most of us apply the shampoo to strands but such practice damages hair shaft and contributes to dehydration.
Wash hair twice if necessary
In most cases oily hair needs to be washed twice. Therefore, if you feel that the hair isn’t clean enough, go ahead and wash it again.
Don’t use too hot water to rinse the shampoo off!
Trust me, hair isn’t a fan of hot water. Cool water is able to smooth out cuticles and improve blood flow therefore it’s considered as better for hair. In light of this, try to use lukewarm water to rinse the shampoo off.
Don’t rub the hair with a towel!
Gently wring the hair out and wrap the head with a cotton towel. Under no circumstances should you rub a rough towel against wet hair. It must be realized that wet strands are more prone to damage and vigorous rubbing seriously damages hair structure.
Okay, I guess all the issues I discussed above will help you wash hair more consciously. Now you are aware of the common hair washing mistakes that should be avoided to enjoy healthy and thick strands. However, I think that there are two things left that I should explain.
First, how often you should wash the hair. Well, as often as you want to 🙂 Please, don’t get me wrong but the best piece of advice that I may give you is that you should just observe the hair and when you see that they need cleansing, do it. You can wash the hair every day.
Secondly, how to wash hair quicker? Well, there’s nothing to speed up. Therefore, if you don’t have much time, just reach for a dry shampoo. But do it occasionally and when the situation really requires using such an alternative.
And this is everything I wanted to tell you. Enjoy washing your hair! 🙂
