Mistakes you should avoid at all cost when washing your hair

Washing our luscious locks, no matter how long or short, is part of our weekly routine. Some people actually take the time to spruce their hair up every day, while others wash it at least once a week. The task seems rather simple to do for what’s so hard about shampooing your hair and rinsing it off? Theoretically nothing, but there’s a lot more to haircare than just lathering product all over the place. Any missteps and you can end up withbrittle, dry, and damaged hair.

Discover our latest podcast

If you want to avoid mistreating your hair, then here are some things you should avoid doing at all costs.

Washing your hair in hot water

We know there’s more than just a handful of you out there who love to take a shower in scalding hot water. No matter how relaxing it is, remember that it’s terrible for your hair. In fact, experts suggest washing your hair out withlukewarm water so that the extra product gets out of your hair and your scalp is not irritated by the heat.

Rubbing your hair

When shampooing, we often think that we have to scrub it until it's squeaky clean, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. If you rub your hair too hard, it will excite the large sebaceous glands on your scalp. As a result, the scalp will begin to produce more sebum and hence your hair will get oily way faster. Therefore, it is better to gently massage your head when shampooing so that you activate the blood circulation and boost the oxygenation of the hair, without irritating the scalp.

Likewise, when you are drying your hair, make sure you are not rubbing it with the towel. Your hair is at its weakest when it's wet, and the friction caused by rubbing can increase hair loss and breakage. Instead of wringing out your hair, put it up in a turban or a microfibre towel for a few minutes so that the material can slowly absorb the water.

Applying conditioner or a hair mask to the roots

Shampoo on the scalp, and conditioner on the tips. This should be your haircare mantra. Lather on the shampoo just on your scalp, so you can get rid of any dead skin, oils, and impurities. There’s no need to drag the product down to your tips. Why is that? Because the upper part of your hair and scalp is young and doesn’t need as much care.

The lengths and tips of your hair, on the other hand, are older and have already been brushed and washed countless times. By applying a nourishing conditioner or mask to those areas, it'll bring it back to life.

How many times a week should you wash your hair

Nicole Petty, a hair expert, tells the Mirror how many times a week we should wash our hair.

The frequency of hair washing depends on your hair type and lifestyle, but over-washing is a common mistake that can damage your hair.

She explains that excessive washing can damage your hair, even though it is tempting to want to spend each day with clean dry hair.

Excessive washing can strip the natural oils and dry your locks out, leaving it prone to breakage and thinning, dulling the natural shine and increasing oil secretion to recoup lost moisture and stripping hair colour faster.

Nicole Petty says that, as a general rule, you should avoid washing your hair more than 2 or 3 times a week.

Hair that becomes oily quickly may indicate that you’re over-washing or over-stripping the hair. If this is the case, try training your hair by using dry shampoo to increase the longevity of time between washes and avoid using overly stripping ingredients such as sulfates, parabens, and alcohol.

Certain parts of this article have been translated from Gentside FR.

Sources used:

Mirror: Hair wash mistake we're all making can be fixed with expert's easy '38 rule'