When I was little my mom would scrub the crap out of my scalp when she washed my hair. My head would be bobbing all over and it hurt. Whenever my grandma washed my hair it was worse. She would use her nails to scrub my scalp. I wanted to cry and probably did, I just blocked it out of my head.
This is a classic way of learning to wash your hair. Pour the shampoo on the top of your head and push it around until you had a mountain of suds. Over the last seven or so years, companies have been changing to sulfate-free shampoos. And nowadays it is more common for sulfate-free shampoo then not.
If you don’t know who I am, my name is Jen and at the beginning of my career, I worked at a kids salon for 4 years. I saw a lot during that time.
The biggest thing that I noticed was that 70% of the people/kids don’t know how to wash their hair right. Kids and teenagers would come in with greasy hair that was sticking to their head and causing breakouts on their forehead and cheeks. And/or so much build up on the scalp and hair that it was flaking off and looked like dandruff.
Since they were old enough to wash their hair parents assumed they were doing it right. They would switch the kids to a dandruff shampoo to fix the situation.
But if you don’t know how to wash your hair in the first place it won’t matter what products you use. When they sat in my chair I would wash their hair and explain what I was doing and teach them how to do it correctly step by step.
The older they were the better understanding of how to wash their hair.
So before we get into how to correctly wash your hair. Let me just say, children do not have the dexterity to wash their hair correctly until 13 or 14 years old. Yet we let our kids wash at 6 or 7 years old. If this is you, that’s okay. I would recommend once a week to wash your child’s hair to help remove the build-up of product.
The average person should use no more than a quarter size shampoo. Size will vary depending on the size of the head, and how thick your hair is. Shampoo amount has nothing to do with how long your hair is. That’s right, the shampoo does not go on the middle or ends of your hair. The shampoo’s job is to remove buildup, oils, sweat, and dirt off your scalp. This helps remove odor and the oils that come from our scalp. Applying shampoo to the middle and ends of the hair will cause your hair to dry out.
You must emulsify the shampoo in the palms of your hair before using it. Emulsify means to rub it around in your hands to break up the product and get it ready for use. If you do not do this before using shampoo it will stay in one area verse going over the whole scalp. This will cause you to use more product then is necessary. This will also cause buildup on the hair in the areas where you first applied the shampoo.
Make sure your hair and scalp are wet enough. Putting your hair in warm water for at least 30 seconds before shampooing will make sure your hair is wet enough for the shampoo to be used. This also helps remove dirt that is on the hair before you get started.
With shampoo on both hands start at the perimeter and make a full circle on your head to distribute the shampoo all over the head. Most people focus on the top of their heard the forget about the hair near their ears and the nape area.
Use the pads of your fingertips. You can still get a great clean scrubbing with just the pads. If you use your nails you will cause abrasions and small cuts on the scalp. This can lead to inflammation and infections. Not to mention if you get your hair color will cause your scalp to burn while the color is on your scalp.
A rinse and repeat aren’t always necessary. If you are washing your hair every day, there is no need for a second wash. If you don’t use a lot of product it isn’t necessary. If you want to just out of habit use only a dime size. With your scalp already clean you will need only a little bit and the shampoo will suds up faster.
Tip for thick hair. Use smaller amounts of shampoo and wash your hair in sections to make sure you are getting to the scalp and not just your hair.
Rinse until the water runs without soap in it. Sometimes over using product can take a long time to rinse out. If you experience this frequently then use a smaller amount of shampoo.
With these steps taken, you will save time, money and product. Your hair will thank you for it.