Hair Washing 101: How To Properly Shampoo And Condition Your Hair

Good morning everyone,
       I hope you had a great weekend. School starts this week, which means my summer is officially over. I spent 3 hours at Walmart yesterday buying school supplies. I have to go to my son’s orientation/sneak peek today. My daughter has hers on Tuesday. And school opens on Wednesday. So my husband and I are back to our regular 6:00 AM routine. On top of that, now we have 3 kids instead of two. Yes, my niece is staying with us. I know. It’s a long story.
         Anyway, I realized a few days ago that I have been washing my hair the wrong way. I read an article about how to properly wash your hair, and it dawned on me that everything that I thought I knew was wrong. According to Wendy Belanger, the global artistic director of Pureology Serious Care, you should rub a quarter-size dollop of shampoo in your palms  with some water to create a lather. Apply the mix to your scalp and work the shampoo in with your fingertips. Avoid using  your nails as they can scratch the scalp and create permanent damage. Here’s the part that shocked me! Gather your hair into a ponytail in one hand and apply conditioner to the tail only using your other hand, says Wendy Belanger. Since your ends are the oldest part of your hair, they are the only part that needs extra hydration. You can section your hair into four if you have short hair. Leave the conditioner on for about 2-5 minutes, then rinse with cold water to close the cuticles.

             Did you know you can reverse the way you wash your hair?
No! I didn’t either. But you knew that washing your hair too often with shampoo can dry up your hair, right? According to celebrity stylist, Mark Garrison, you can flip your hair routine. Condition your hair first if you must wash your hair everyday, apply the conditioner all over your hair, then add a small amount of shampoo and work it through. Since all the ingredients in the conditioner already worked their magic, the ingredients in your shampoo will not remove too much oil from your hair – we call that a co-wash in the natural hair community, minus the shampoo – then rinse your hair with cold water and apply your leave-in conditioner.
           
            There is a science behind almost everything that we do in life, but I never thought that something as simple as washing one’s hair could be one of them. Things like reversing the way I wash my hair never really crossed my mind. Slathering conditioner on my hair was my favorite part of my hair washing process. Now I understand why my ends are always dryer than the rest of my hair. The only thing I tried a couple of  times and really worked for me was mixing my shampoo with my regular conditioner. Some women just quit using shampoo all together, but according to experts, it is not a good idea.
            I love sharing my discoveries and experiments with you. Leave a comment below if you have any questions or suggestions.