Turns Out, We’ve Been Washing Our Hair Wrong All This Time

 

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A post shared by MATILDA DJERF (@matildadjerf)

Could you imagine in your late 20s being told that you’re washing your hair wrong? Well, I was.

A recent conversation with my hairdresser left me both red-faced and intrigued. Telling her about my haircare routine, I very smugly informed her of how I brush my hair with a wide-tooth comb when it was wet, always applied a decent helping of heat protection, and always, always gave my hair a quick blast of cold water before hopping out of the shower – for shine. Yet still, none of that really mattered as I discovered that my actual hair washing was trash.

Well, not trash, but it certainly leaves room for improvement let’s just say. While I give my hair a quick shampoo rinse and repeat, it seems I should give my hair a little more TLC than just that.

 

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A post shared by Verona Farrell (@secondhandhuns)

Here’s a step-by-step on how your hairwashing routine should go down, according to an expert.

Starting off with shampooing. You should always give your hair two shampoos. This is because the first shampoo loosens up all the dirt, oil, and grime on your scalp, and the second washes it away. Your shampooing should go – rinse – shampoo – repeat.

When you’re working the shampoo into your hair take your time. Be sure that your whole scalp is evenly lathered up and take the opportunity to give yourself a little scalp massage. There are plenty of massage tools on the market to use for this, or you could just use your hands. Either way, be sure to massage your shampoo for at least 1-2 minutes, this helps to exfoliate and renew your scalp encouraging faster and thicker hair growth.

Then, for the part that we all slip up on, the conditioning. This shouldn’t be a slap-dash job, but rather another integral part of your routine. My hairdresser recommends splitting your hair into two sections, or more if you have thick hair, and applying a medium amount of conditioner to the ends of each section. From there, you should take a wide-tooth comb or shower brush and very gently brush through each section of hair to evenly distribute the conditioner, ensuring that no strand is left behind. Conditioner should be left in for five to seven minutes, allowing it enough time to get to work.

From there, the rest of your routine is up to you. As I mentioned above, I give my locks a quick cold blast with the shower hose to add some shine in. Then, it’s recommended that you gently towel dry hair, applying detangler and/or heat protectant to get rid of any knots before blowdrying and styling.

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• Hair care