I often hear complaints of damaged, sulky, or frizzy hair from my clients. They often say that despite having numerous treatments, the results never last long. When inquiring about their haircare routines in daily life, especially the way they wash their hair, I usually come to this conclusion: The main culprit has always been the incorrect way of washing hair.

While this might not be true in all cases, but in various complaints of my clients, this has been a very simple mistake they all have been making. If you are also among those who believe that a good hair wash is about regular three-in-one shampooing, blow-drying, wetting, and rinsing – you are surely in for a big surprising NO!

So, what are those hair wash mistakes you might regularly be doing while taking a shower? I will talk about those in this article and advise you on how to wash your hair correctly to minimize bath-inflicted damage.

A Wrong Shampoo for Your Hair Type:

Almost everyone among us uses shampoo during a shower. But what most of us are not doing is using the right kind of shampoo for our hair. Shampoo that is not right for your hair type is among the main reasons for having frizzy, dry, or uncanny hair.

You cannot use each or any kind of shampoo for your hair. To solve this is very easy: get to know about your hair type and then find the right type of shampoo for it. For example, if your hair type is a dry one (consider the environment as well), the best shampoo for you must be the one with natural moisturizing ingredients (e. g. coconut oil, argan, vitamin E/B5).

Finding the right type of shampoo these days has become way lot easier than, probably, say, a decade or two ago. Beauty products these days are required to have the most detailed labeling about every ingredient/composure in the product – from the biggest ounce to the smallest atom! Therefore, read every bit of detail to know if it is the right kind of shampoo for your hair.

As for knowing your hair type, they can be judged by determining the texture and density. In general, there are four major types of hair textures found in humans:

• Wavy Hair -: This hair type is an amalgamation of curly and straight hair with loose waves at the end.

• Coily/Kinky Hair -: These are voluminous hair with tight coily ringlet-style curls

• Straight Hair -: These are flat hair without any curly patterns and with varied levels of thickness

• Curly Hair -: This hair type is defined by having tight spiral curls with varying thickness

There are a few more details to look for when decoding the perfect type of hair, but as a starter, the above indicators are just fine for all my readers. Therefore, next time you go to a store to buy shampoo, make sure you choose the right type for your hair.

Using Overtly Hot Water During Hair Wash:

Don’t get me wrong! Using mild warm water is good for your hair. However, when you resort to an overly hot water shower for your hair, this is something bad for them. Water that is high in temperature rips off the natural oils found in the hair cuticles, known as sebum.

The result of such a wash would be hair fall, extreme dryness, and brittleness in your hair. Additionally, taking regular very hot showers can also dry up the scalp which in turn contributes to itchiness and dandruff in a recurring form. In addition to all of this, hair roots can get weak by continued use of hot water which makes your hair too frizzy and contributes to an early gray.

So, what should be the best way to enjoy a hot-water hair wash? First and foremost, always go for a warm water shower. Instead of incurring any kind of damage, warm water helps clean off your hair from the dirt and grime you collect throughout your day out. It also unclogs hair follicles by penetrating deeper into your hair and cleaning right from the deepest inside to outside ends, leaving hair looking healthier and cleaner.

Don’t Ever Use a Towel-Turban After Shower:

This is one of the most common mistakes most females make post-shower: piling up your hair and suffocating it under a turban-styled towel wrap. The reason for avoiding this right after a shower is very simple – it damages your hair cuticles severely. The damaged cuticles will result in your hair being severely tangled, increasing the chances of your wet hair falling as well as making it too difficult to manage them.

Instead of wrapping up your hair in a huge pile and depriving it of much-needed natural air, keep it open and carefully caress each strand of hair slowly with your fingers. You can throw your hair either on one side or at the backside, just like your hairdresser does while backwashing your hair in a salon.

By doing so, you minimize the chances of damaging your hair cuticles, and in turn, avoid your hair becoming too tangled and prone to breakage.

Your Hair Wash Frequency Should Be ...:

Apart from the above recommendations, another important thing is to keep a check on how many times you wash your hair in a week. Although, there are many things to consider when formulating an ideal hair wash routine (e.g. hair type, scalp, hair length, etc.,) most experts across the beauty and haircare industry recommend a hair wash frequency of not more than twice – or thrice for too oily hair – a week (source: sciencealert).

However, to get a more concrete hair wash routine that is exactly made for your hair, you should go ahead and determine the type of your hair and skin: texture, styling, and hair length. But to make things easier for now, I will give a general recommendation on each hair type and their washing routine by the American Academy of Dermatology Association (AAD):

• Chemically-treated hair: Once every week or two

• Oily hair: Once every other day

• Textured/Coily hair: Once a week

• Over-50 hair: Once every two or three weeks

Not Rinsing Correctly:

Even if you get the perfect shampoo for your hair, the one thing that you might not be doing correctly is rinsing (if is applied here). The actual meaning of rinse, when exclaimed in beauty care, is to rinse and repeat the process.

Whenever you apply shampoo to your hair, make sure you rinse and repeat it at least twice in the same go. If you do not rinse your hair thoroughly with the shampoo, it will not make its way into the deepest places of the scalp and some patches of your scalp will be completely devoid of shampoo’s nourishment.

The recommended method of rinsing is to take some ounce of shampoo on your palm, rub it on your hands, and then apply it across your wet hair slowly. Use your fingers to go deep into your scalp and massage the entire head at least twice. Take a little more ounce of shampoo, if needed.

Conclusion

So, these are some of the very basic etiquettes of hair wash that all females should follow during showers. The result of strict adherence to these hair-washing rules will get you cleaner, less damaged, and healthier-looking manes. And when you do see the results, make sure to share them with us on any of our social channels by tagging us @westporthairco! We will share those updates with our members by tagging you as well.

And oh, do you have any specific hair-washing routine of yours? Is it doing better for your hair or otherwise? Share with me your input and I will be happy to know!