Shampooing, and how you might be doing it wrong...
I know what you’re thinking…”Emaley, I have been shampooing my hair since I was a little kid, I know what I’m doing!” And hey, maybe you are absolutely right! However, you might be surprised at how often I have to educate clients on proper shampooing habits. Sometimes the solution to your problem can be the tiniest detail, for instance… how and when you shampoo can greatly effect the style and manageability of your hair. Ok my lovely ladies…and gents? Here we go…
“Shampoo, rinse… repeat?”- YES!! So, like, I dunno, a lot of years ago some dude in a marketing campaign told his company that adding this to the back of a shampoo bottle would make people use more and buy more of the product.. so when this got out, a lot of people stopped “repeating” which is very unfortunate because if you are using a sulfate free shampoo (we will cover this topic soon don’t worry) then you absolutely NEED to “repeat”. The first shampoo merely breaks up the dirt and oil from your scalp while the second and depending on how long since previous shampoo, maybe third will actually remove the dirt and oil from your scalp.
Sulfate free- I am sure you have heard this floating around the ‘pooverse, its the real deal. It’s like, basic 101 good start if you are using a sulfate free shampoo. Sulfates are what draws the line between the product you use to wash your hair and what you use to wash your towels. While both will inevitably get you clean, you may be worse for wear if you use a hard core sulfate laden shampoo. Basically, its just super drying and unnecessary. Sulfate free shampoo does not lather as much as traditional shampoo which is why “repeating” is so important.
Directions- A little goes a long way! Most people poor a handful of product into their hands and then gob it on and start mashing… please.. please try to reform yourself… You only need to shampoo the scalp area… yeah, that’s right… apply about a quarter sized amount to your wet palms and then emulsify to loosen up the shampoo. Next, apply to scalp area and massage with fingertips, taking care not to tangle the ends of your hair. Pretend your dealing with a handful of delicate necklaces. Rinse. And, you guessed it… REPEAT. Follow this with conditioner in a downward motion to the mids and ends of your hair. Side note, If you have very fine limp hair and typically do not use conditioner then, simply skip this step and apply the leave in conditioner.
Toweling- Y’all, we are not puppy dogs… no more roughing up your hair with a towel as soon as you get out of the shower. Wrap the wet hair with a towel and then when ready, apply leave in conditioner and then comb.
Frequency- This varies from person to person, and hair type to hair type. Ideally I like my clients to be shampooing at LEAST once a week for scalp health even if you do not see oil in your hair. The products in your hair eventually dry and flake and land on your scalp so its always good to clean house. The goal for most people is twice a week. I know that sounds crazy but it is an attainable goal but wont be reached overnight if you are currently shampooing daily. You can extend your clean hair by using dry shampoo but try to limit this by one use between shampoo’s. Start by adding one day to your current routine and eventually your scalp will stop producing as much oil as it previously produced. Your body reacts to its environment, so if you are constantly removing the natural oils from the scalp then it will start overproducing to compensate, and vice versa. For the more athletic ladies who work out every day you may have to blow dry your hair if its only a little damp from sweat, I know it sounds weird but unless you ate handfuls of garlic it should smell just fine. This does not work if you come out of a workout looking like you jumped into a pool, you will most likely have to shampoo your hair every time.
Happy shampooing
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xoxo- Emaley