What to do in the shower...

How To Wash Your Hair

...In case you were wondering.

So over the past few years, I've been researching a lot about how I should be washing my hair. I'm not going to promise I'm an expert, but I have learnt a fair few things about what to do and what not to do for different hair types. My own hair is long, thick and naturally curly/frizzy (see below), which makes it really hard to control!

So here are some of my tips and tricks for thick, curly hair:

1. First of all, DO NOT WASH YOUR HAIR EVERY DAY. This really applies to all hair types, even those with naturally oily hair. If you wash your hair every day, you are stripping it of all it's natural oils and goodness. You are doing more damage than good! The natural oils in your hair help protect it from damage, but also gives you natural volume and curl. If you've noticed your hair has become flat, and you wash every day, try and hold out and do it every other day instead. Even if you think your hair is too greasy, try and add some dry shampoo or throw it up into a bun on that second day; after a couple of weeks you'll notice that you actually don't need to wash it as much and will become fuller as your hair has had time to absorb your natural oils. This will also help with hair growth.

I used to wash my hair every two-three days until I read that the singer Lorde, only washes her hair once every two weeks. I haven't gone as extreme as this, but I found it so easy to train my hair so I only need to wash it every 5-7 days, and most of the time it isn't even greasy on the day I wash it.

I promise this is the easiest, most healthy thing you can do for your hair. Not even 100 years ago, women were only washing their hair once a week. I'm not saying you have to do this, but just try and extra day without washing for a while and see what you think!

2. SHAMPOO - Stay away from the cheap stuff. If you have dry hair, like mine, it's hard to find a shampoo that actually works. So I always go for the branded stuff which says it's for dry/frizz-prone hair. What I'm using at the moment is TRESemme's silky smooth shampoo and conditioner, which leaves my hair feeling so soft. 

Cheaper shampoos will often have similar chemicals to household cleaning products, such as sulphates, so have a look at the label before you buy. These chemicals will be harsh on your hair and will dry it out more, actually having the opposite affects to the ones you want.

Another way to tell if the shampoo your using is not healthy for your hair is how much it lathers in the shower. If you find yourself fully encased in foam, your shampoo is not helping your hair (foam = chemicals). The less it lathers, the more it will do for your locks.

3. ANTI-DANDRUFF SHAMPOO - Most people who use anti-dandruff products are not actually using them effectively. I read about this one recently. Usually, with shampoos, you would rub into your hair and rinse it straight out, but for anti-dandruff shampoo, you're meant to take your time with it. You don't need to treat your whole hair with it, so take a dollop and massage it gently into your roots and scalp and then LEAVE IT IN FOR 5 MINUTES. This gives the shampoo time to treat your scalp effectively, or else you might find snow on your shoulders again the next day... So if you find that nothing works for your itchy scalp, this might be where your going wrong!

4. CONDITIONER - This is perhaps the most important stage of the washing hair process for people with dry, thick, curly hair! As I said above, I'm currently using TRESemme's silky smooth conditioner, (but I also like Herbal Essense's one for dry hair, but I've left it back at home, so I can't remember the name, sorry! It's smells like orange though, yum!) which literally leaves my hair silky smooth. BUT, before you even think about applying conditioner to you hair, there is something very important you need to do first! And that something is to squeeze the water out of your hair first. If you've just dipped you head under the shower and straight away applied conditioner, you've gone wrong my friend. Where is the conditioner meant to go? Because if your hair is dripping wet, the condition is just going to slide straight off. You need to give it a chance my friend. So try and squeeze as much water out of you hair as possible, just so you hair can effectively absorb all the moisturising oily goodness of your conditioner which is what is ultimately going to to give your hair that lovely soft feeling and silky glow. 

After you've left it in for about five minutes, if you're brave enough, wash it off with cold water. What this does it closes the cuticles in your scalp (prevents hair from falling out when you dry it) and leaves you hair with a nice shine. 

---Bit of science for you... when you feel cold, you notice the hair on you arms will stand on end; this is to prevent your body losing heat, and they go down when you're warm again. This is the same principle as the hair on your head - when you rinse with cold water, it makes your hair stand on end, preventing them from escaping.  

5. DRYING YOUR HAIR - With dry and frizzy hair, it's best not to towel dry your hair, as the fibres on towels will cause your hair to go frizzy, undoing all that you have done so far to prevent the frizz. So it would be better to use a micro-fibre one, like this pretty little thing below which I got at poundworld, and acts like a turban;

Or, if you don't want to use one of these, then you can always use a cotton t-shirt, which is soft on your hair.

Whilst it's still wet, you can add some smoothing serum (I've started using the Bleach London Split Fix Serum, which has changed my life) or I sometimes use a curling mousse to keep my curls in shape... Wella Shockwaves Curls and Waves 3

                                    

And I think that is everything! I have a funny feeling I have totally missed out a step... But I hope this helps some of you out there anyway. I know I had major trouble trying to manage my hair, so I hope I've been able to put everything I know and have researched and tested into an easy step by step for anyone else out there who has problems taming their hair.

Thank you x

<3