Have you ever heard you shouldn't wash your hair every day? If you would ask me I would give you the typical response "this is true, let's see why you are washing your hair every day". I am 50% wrong! You should be washing your hair as often as you feel necessary, I believe so often we do not take our own intuition and trust it, your hair is no exception. However there are a few tips and tricks I like to share to keep your scalp and hair healthy.
1. PUT DOWN THE BOTTLE
The age old question, "how much shampoo should I be using?" is quite complicated, so bare with me! If you have never used a salon shampoo and you take a look at the size of shampoo bottle that sits on a salon shelf and the price, you may be thinking "I will go through that bottle in a month!" I hear you girlfriend, I couldn't pay that every month either. I am here to tell you a salon secret... salon products are more concentrated than over-the-shelf shampoo, therefore, lasting 3x longer, when used properly. By "properly" I mean 1/3 the amount you are used to using. I like to measure usage based on pumps, as a quick guide: short-medium hair half a pump, med-long one pump, long-extra long one and a half pump. Again, this is per wash and of course use your own judgement! I have found when first switching you may need to use more the first two weeks, but I encourage you to hold back after that to see what happens
2. WASH TWICE
This always comes as a shock to most, and is often the "root" cause of that pesky "I don't want to wash my hair every day, but it looks greasy" remark. I'm here to shout, "Wash your hair twice." One wash removes all the product, debris, and play-dough that we encounter everyday, wash two actually gets in and cleanses the hair shaft from excess oil and dandruff. During wash one you don't need to use more shampoo, you may actually find you should use half of what you typically use, and the other half for wash two. By wash two you should feel a nice lather on your scalp and hair.
3. HOT VS. COLD
I am guilty of reminding folks and myself of this trick, but let this not be the one rule you forget. (After all, if the student is wiser than the teacher; I've done my job.) For those looking for a deeper or a "I haven't washed my hair for a week" clean, use warm water. The warm water will open the cuticle and allow the shampoo to get into the hair to allow a more penetrative wash. For those who struggle with frizz cold water will close the cuticle. At all costs avoid hot water! Hot water will dry out the skin and hair.
What would a typical wash cycle look like?
"I hit a cold shower after washing and conditioning my hair. Yes, I submerge my entire body in cold water until I don't feel warm water rinsing out of my hair." -Brandi Berg
4. SKIP THE SHAMPOO
Say What? I know, I know, you may be wondering why I just went through shampoo amount, washing, and temperature only to tell you to skip shampoo! If you are experiencing build up, dry scalp or dry hair, and have the need for washing your hair every day. Try skipping the shampoo every other day, heck every third day shampoo, would be worth a try. Let the water do the cleansing.
Rinse with warm water, massage your head like you would with shampoo, but remember just water, rinse, massage again, rinse, condition your ends, and rinse with cold water.
"non-shampoo" recipe: take an old glass bottle, fill with water & 10 drops of lavender essential oil. Shake the bottle before each use. On "non-shampoo" days use this water/lavender combination instead of shampoo.
I do feel compelled to warn you: do not permanently ditch the shampoo! Your scalp and hair need to be cleansed, shampoo helps balance your pH. Skipping once in awhile is OK! Happy #nopoo adventure!
5. HYDRATE
This may not be something you would expect from your hairstylist, but I need to remind you to drink your
water. Consuming 1/2 your body weight in water will change your body in many ways, but let's just look at your scalp and hair health for now. I struggle with a patch of psoriasis on the back of my scalp, when I get my water intake right, my struggle with flare ups is reduced! (Sugar and inflammatory foods play a role in this also, but water has drastically made a difference.) Dandruff? Drink h2o. Greasy hair? Drink h2o. I don't know the exact science, but drinking more water helps balance your pH and filters toxins that may be keeping you from a healthy happy scalp.