Wondering if you're washing your hair the right way? The truth is that many of us aren't cleansing our hair and scalp properly, which can lead to a host of issues. But getting the basics of washing your hair makes all the difference. Want to nail wash day like a pro? Here are the top six tips for how to wash your hair the right way.
1. Make Sure To Actually Wash Your Hair
Washing your hair is just as important as moisturising and styling it. A balance between removing and adding afro hair care products will help you build a healthy hair care regimen and lead to hair growth. To cleanse your hair and scalp of debris and dead skin you should shampoo your hair every 7-10 days (or more often if you are active) even during protective styling.
2. Use Massage On Your Scalp
Why not give your scalp a bit of TLC? As well as making sure to wash your hair regularly, also make sure you wash your scalp using a gentle, circular movement with your fingertips. This will dislodge dirt, encourage blood flow to the scalp and help you avoid itchy scalp issues.
3. Choose A Gentle Shampoo
Sodium lauryl sulphate (SLS) can cause skin irritation especially for eczema sufferers. It is extremely drying on afro hair as it strips the hair of its natural oils. So why not switch to a mild, sulphate-free shampoo? Our shampoo, Swish, was formulated to be gentle enough to use once a week. It will give your hair a crisp clean and removes buildup without stripping your hair of moisture.
4. Use Your Conditioner Properly
We know it’s become trendy in the natural hair world to use co washes instead of shampoo but conditioners have positive charges in them. When you massage these charges onto your scalp, they tend to stay on. They are not designed to stay on your skin for too long because they can irritate sensitive skin.
The regular conditioner applied has charge, irritating the skin which has no charge. Because of this your skin thinks that something is wrong, or that there is an “intruder”. It starts to give you external red flags such as itching, redness (erythema) and dry skin.
Use a milder sulphate-free shampoo with a silicone-free conditioner. Our conditioner, Swirl, which is silicone-free and still provides great slip making detangling easy. Just remember to focus your conditioner on your hair (mid lengths and ends) and keep your shampoo focused on your scalp.
5. Dry Your Hair With A Microfibre Towel
You may have noticed when using a regular cotton towel that you have frizz. This is because of the friction which raises the cuticles of your hair strands and friction causes frizz. Microfibre towels are designed to create less friction (which means less frizz!) and prevent breakage so it’s a win-win for your Afro.
Using a towel turban makes it easy to put your hair up to dry and go hands-free. So you can easily do something else whilst saving time and drying your hair!
6. Moisturise Your Hair Post Wash
After washing your hair, moisturising your afro hair is vital because dry hair is prone to breakage. We’re big fans of the LOC/LCO method, this is the layering of products (liquid, oil and cream) to effectively combat dryness and maximise hydration.
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