How to Shampoo Hair the Right Way

Washing your hair can have damaging effects on it and on your scalp if you don’t shampoo correctly. Discover what you may have missed and find out how to shampoo hair the right way .

“Lather, Rinse, Repeat” seem like simple enough instructions, but some people either use too much shampoo or they simply don’t apply it correctly. Find out how each step of the shampooing process really works.

Lathering Correctly

When you reach for the shampoo, you should start with a dime-sized quantity. Don’t even try to apply it evenly on your hair, the first step is simply meant for your scalp.

All the natural oils on your hair come from the scalp and you should run your fingers through your hair to massage the scalp and start with the part that has the most oils. Don’t worry if the shampoo doesn’t produce too much lather in this first step. The cleaner your hair will become, the more lather will be produced.

Focus on the back as well, down to the nape, an area usually missed by a lot of people who mainly shampoo the crown. The natural oils, product build-up and dirt can be harder to clean in the back of your head especially if you mostly sleep on your back.

Rinsing

Rinsing is just as important and you shouldn’t do it for just a few seconds until you can’t feel or see any lather anymore. You should rinse for at least 30 seconds to make sure all the sebum and dirt get cleaned out during the rinsing process. Keep running your fingers through your hair for the entire duration of the process. If you have really thick hair, rinsing is very important and you should always do it with your head held back, to avoid getting shampoo and dirt in your eyes.

Repeat… How Many Times?

Normally, the first repeat, with a smaller quantity of shampoo is enough to clean your hair and you’ll see a lot more lather this time around. Work the shampoo along the entire length of your hair for 30 seconds before rinsing. If you wash your hair daily or every other day, you don’t need to repeat more than once.

Doing it twice when you shampoo your hair daily can actually strip too much of the natural oils from your scalp and hair.

More and more hair stylists recommend to their clients to skip daily shampooing. If your hair feels dirty, you can use dry shampoo in the days where you skip this step in the shower.