How Often Should I Shampoo and Condition My Hair?
Put that shampoo down! And drop that bottle of conditioner too while you're at it! Listen, you don't need to wash, rinse, and repeat every day to keep your hair healthy, shiny, and clean. A little known beauty tip is that a head of hair that is properly shampooed and conditioned with the right product only needs to be shampooed every few days. You may be doing more damage to your hair by washing and conditioning it every day. So, the rule of thumb I suggest is to only shampoo and condition your hair as you feel it needs it.
No one else knows your hair as well as you do. On a good hair day, it's your best friend. And on a bad one, it's your biggest enemy. But either way, you still know your hair and everything it does, good or bad. So use your gut and trust yourself to know when you need a good date with your shampoo. Even though most of us have a pretty good idea how to wash our hair, here are some basic tips to ensure that you’re properly maintaining it:
Wash your hair with WARM water. Hot water can not only dry out your hair, but it can irritate your scalp; and a healthy scalp equals health hair. Additionally, hot water fades hair color faster than warm water.
With the warm water, begin to rinse your hair thoroughly to help wash out any debris that might be in your hair.
When your hair is fully rinsed, apply the right type of hampoo best suited for your particular type of hair. If you’re not sure which product is right for you, ask your knowledgeable Maximum FX stylist what to use . Gently massage the shampoo into your scalp and throughout your hair. Don’t feel the need to rub very hard as a gentle massage technique is effective and soothing.
When you feel that you’ve thoroughly massaged the shampoo in to all of your hair, rinse out the product with warm water. Now you can add conditioner to your hair to moisturize it, give it extra protection, add shine, reduce static, and make it easier to untangle.
Apply the proper conditioner to your hair about an inch below the scalp. Minimize the amount of conditioner that gets on to your scalp. This helps to keep your hair from looking overly greasy or feeling heavy.
Leave the conditioner in for about 2-5 minutes and then thoroughly rise it out with warm water. To help maintain your hair’s health, try to use a conditioning treatment at least once a month to add protein to your hair for strength and moisture to control frizz and flyaways.
Towel dry your hair and brush it with a wide tooth comb. Your hair is weaker when it’s wet, so a wide toothed comb will help keep your hair form breaking.
Everyone's hair is different, so always consult your stylist about the proper shampoo and conditioning products to use.
Together with these basic tips, you‘ll be able to have the great healthy look you and your stylist want without having to wash, rinse, repeat your hair to death.
Your turn: How often do you shampoo and condition your hair? Have you noticed a difference when you don't shampoo and condition every day?