How you wash your hair will change the condition and manageability of your hair.

How often are you washing your hair? Every day? Perhaps twice a day for those people that frequent the gym?

If I told you that over washing your hair can make it more oily – would you believe me? Our sebaceous (oil) glands produce a lot of oil on our scalps to keep our hair and scalp healthy. By over stimulating the scalp when washing, you in turn produce more oil. This why we see the ‘dirty’ hair.

Take a look at the photo below and follow my step by step instructions on how to wash your hair to get the best results for your hair type.

What you’ll need

– Shampoo (that suits your hair type)

– Conditioner (that suits your hair type)

– Wide tooth comb

– soft towel

– tepid water and cool water (optional)

– section clips for very long hair

1. Only use around a 20 cent to 50 cent size of shampoo on the palm of your hand. Apply to wet hair and ONLY to the roots of your hair. See the photo below, do not add the shampoo to the pony tail section. When applying the shampoo to the scalp area, ensure you have evenly spread the shampoo around the scalp, not just on the top of the head. This is where you will find you can get build up and dry scalp. Place a little bit all over the scalp.

Tip – Add a little bit of tepid water to the scalp and emulsify the shampoo. Depending on how dirty your hair is, you may need to rinse and repeat, but only if your hair is very dirty.

Thoroughly rinse your hair free from shampoo. When you do this, the shampoo will rinse through to the ends, so there is no need to apply shampoo to the ends.

– Remember not to scrub your scalp too much. You don’t want to activate the oil glands on the scalp to produce more oil. This is how people end up with oily hair, then wash it every day and so the oily hair cycle begins.

2. Squeeze out excess water from your hair. Using a small amount of conditioner – 20 cent to 50 cent size, apply this to the ENDS only of your hair.

It is important that excess water has left your hair, otherwise you are wasting product. Just as you wouldn’t apply face moisturiser on your wet face, same rules apply with your hair.

3. Using a wide tooth comb gently comb through the conditioner starting from the base of your hair and working up the hair towards your head. Leave this on for at least 1 minute. I like to commence with washing my hair first, then while the conditioner is on, I can continue with my shower.

There is no need to add conditioner to the scalp area, by the time you have combed through the conditioner, what is left on the comb will be enough. If you have very dry hair, you are welcome to use what is on your ends to gently glide through your hair. Remember not to over saturate your scalp with conditioner.

Tip – For long hair -I like to section my hair a bit to help with the combing. Avoid using a brush on wet hair. Wet hair is fragile and is susceptible to damage if stretched unnecessarily when wet.

4. Using tepid water or cold water, rinse your conditioner thoroughly. The reason for using tepid water is not to damage the hair with overly heated water. This can dry out the hair shaft.

Applying cool water to your hair (as cold as you can manage it) is excellent for helping close the hair cuticle and seal in moisture. This provides a very shiny result once hair is dry.

5. Towel dry your hair gently. What I mean by towel dry is to gently squeeze all excess water from your hair then place a towel over your hair and pat dry.

I like to wrap my hair up and let the towel really soak up the moisture. Using a wide tooth comb again, I like to give it one last comb through to remove any left over knots or tangles.

Apply your favourite leave in conditioner or serum, then style.

Tip – Do not rub your hair vigorously with your towel. This will knot and tangle your hair.

Then you’re ready to style your hair!

Let me know if this method makes a difference to your hair and scalp.