It can take months and years to build the perfect regimen. Until then, it is important to make an intentional effort to pay attention to your hair’s needs over time, especially on wash day. Oftentimes wash day is dreaded, especially if you live an active lifestyle. The focus of wash day should be cleansing and replenishing the hair and scalp, in which both steps can be thwarted if done improperly. Want to know why your hair is dry only hours after washing it? Here’s why.
1. Rubbing your hair
Shampoo commercials and sensual movie scenes make disheveling your hair with shampoo and piling it atop your crown appear to be appealing, but it is actually detrimental to your strands. Tousling your hair not only induces tangles but also further lifts the hair’s cuticle. Shampoo expands the cuticle in order for it to effectively cleanse, so you want to stroke the hair downward to encourage the cuticle to lay flat. When scrubbing your scalp, the hold the ends of the hair taut with one hand and massage the scalp with the other hand. Remember to be gentle, as hair is elastic and prone to break when wet.
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2. Co-washing after clarifying
Clarifying is a necessary and co-washing is optional. Clarifying is meant to thoroughly remove all product buildup, excess sebum, and debris from the outdoor elements. Co-washing is meant to refresh the hair with moisture while gently removing some buildup. Both are cleansing methods and should not be done subsequently. If you choose to clarify, then deep conditioning afterwards is important. If you want to co-wash, you do not have to follow up with a deep condition but you certainly can.
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You Need to Clarify: Signs that Co-washing is Not Enough
3. Deep conditioning before cleansing
Deep conditioners are to be used after cleansing, not before. Shampoos usually have a pH balance of 8, which is slightly alkaline, enabling the hair shaft to swell and raise the cuticle layers for thorough cleansing. Deep conditioners have a pH balance of 3.5-6 to close the cuticle and seal in moisture. Both have surfactants that function differently. Cleansers attract dirt and oil while conditioner leave a film containing moisturizing properties on the strands. If your cleanser is so harsh that your deep conditioner cannot restore the moisture, then change your cleanser, deep conditioner, or both.
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4. Not applying a leave-in conditioner or moisturizer
It is essential to apply a leave-in conditioner or moisturizer after washing your hair. Although conditioners leave a film on the cuticle, it is not sufficient to maintain moisture. It is important to apply a moisturizer or leave-in conditioner while the hair is damp or wet to trap moisture in the strands. Moisture comes from water, so it is important that there is a trace of water on the hair before applying a moisturizer. Going directly from rinsing off a deep conditioner to applying a styler will certainly leave your hair dry, especially if the styler is not formulated as a 2-in-1 product.
5. Not sealing
This may not be applicable to everyone, but there have been many testimonies and scientific backing for sealing your hair with an oil or butter after applying a moisturizer. This method is commonly known as the
LOC method and it creates an extra barrier will also help to reduce moisture depletion after wash day.
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How do you prevent moisture depletion on wash day?
