Are you washing your hair the proper way?

( Image source from web )

I am sure many of you would say "Hey, that's easy peesy. Just squirt a good amount of shampoo to the hair, add some water and wash away...". The more it lathers, the cleaner your hair will be, right? Errr...well, more suds doesn't mean it's good for you. The greater it foams means the greater SLS agents are in the products.

Ever since I started switching to more organic or natural based products, one thing I noticed is it does not lather as much as normal drug store ones. Drug store brands typically include more "bubble making" agents to create lather because we all like lathers. Foams or lathers somehow give us an assurance that all the dirt and grime are washed away.

Starting with scalp or hair?

The first step is not to wash your hair, but rather to clean your scalp and remove the sebum ( oil ) and product that has accumulated since you last shampooed your hair. The right way is firstly, emulsify a 50 cent sized amount of shampoo in your hands by rubbing your shampoo between your palms. Apply the shampoo to your semi wet scalp using your fingertips and work the shampoo vigorously into your scalp about 30 seconds. Make sure you work the shampoo into your entire scalp and do not neglect your back.

Rinse

Rinsing do seems easy but most people do not rinse properly, leaving hair with unwanted sebum, product build-up and left over shampoo. A good rule of thumb is to rinse for at least 30 seconds. 

Re-shampoo

When using natural or organic shampoo, I usually re-shampoo my hair because my scalp tend to be on an oilier side.  I repeat the same routine as I did in the first step, but this time, I use a little less amount of shampoo. This time, work the shampoo into your hair from scalp to ends for at least 30 seconds. Here, you will noticed that the shampoo would lather more than in the first step. 

Rinse again

Rinse well for at least 30 seconds. You may rinse longer should you have thicker or longer hair. Just make sure that no shampoo remains in your hair.

I wash my hair on alternate days now and I would usually follow the steps mentioned above by shampooing twice. However, if you wash your hair on a daily basis, you would just need to do the first step but making sure you work from scalp to hair ends.