Health Upp Introduction
Washing your hair the right way might seem like a no-brainer, but good intentions may often end up causing crucial hair washing mistakes, doing more harm than good. While we all long for the ‘fresh-out-of-the-salon’ sweet look for our locks, common mistakes you didn’t realise you’ve been making can lead to dehydration, breakage, or even scalp infections. From not spending enough time taking care of your roots, to skipping the conditioner, even though washing your hair isn’t all that complicated a task there’s always room for improvement in every routine.
Foam All Over the Head
One particularly popular mistake: you pick up the shampoo, apply copious amounts of it to your hair, and then rub it extensively all over your hair. You might also massage your scalp while doing this. What feels wonderful, however, damages the head of hair. The scalp massage causes sebum glands to expel more fat. This means that you have pleasantly clean hair shortly after showering, but that it is greasy again within a very short time. And the ends of your hair should not be rubbed with shampoo, otherwise they will dry out.
How is it right? Treat the hairline only briefly with shampoo, because the rest will be washed off when you wash it out anyway.
Conditioner All Over the Head
Exactly the opposite of what happens with shampoo, conditioner does. This has no place on the scalp. It is used to make the lengths and ends of the hair shine and to keep them from drying out. If you use too much of it or apply the conditioner directly to the scalp, the hair will only weigh down and look flat.
The Wrong Water Temperature
Of course, you don’t have to take a thermometer into the shower to properly care for your hair. But it is worth noting the water temperature completely. If you use water that is too hot, on the one hand it roughen up the cuticle and on the other hand, moisture is removed from the hair. Fortunately, these two things can easily be prevented. Simply rinse the shampoo out of your hair with lukewarm instead of hot water or even rinse your head with cold water at the end. This is also refreshing for the rest of the body.
The Wrong Shampoo
Not every shampoo is suitable for every hair type. The reason for this lies in the surfactants that shampoos contain. These are substances that allow the water to mix with the fats in the hair and allow the hair to be cleaned. It goes without saying that especially oily hair needs a shampoo with a lot of surfactants. Hair that is more prone to dryness, on the other hand, should be cleaned with the mildest possible shampoos and fewer surfactants.
Too Frequent Washing
There is no one single right answer to how often to wash your hair. However, most people tend to wash them too often. The more often you treat them with shampoo, the more their natural protective layer is attacked. The consequence: tips dry out and the hairline begins to grease faster.
Rub the Hair Dry
How do you dry your hair? If you are the type of person who rubs your hair like a promising million dollar lot after you wash it, then you are well on the way to destroying your hair.
The rubbing roughens the hair surface. The hair can develop split ends and even break. Much better: squeeze the water out of your hair and then wrap it in a cloth. Looks more elegant than a half-dry messy head anyway.