Hair Care Preparation and product

Preparation

Indeed is a good preparation required to get the best result out of your washing routine. Don't jump into the shower, pour the shampoo on and start rubbing. The lady in the left image certainly does it wrong!

"Oh, you have so silky soft hair!" - isn't this what you like to hear? Well, then you better start to believe that your hair is like silk. How do you wash your silk clothes? Do you throw them into the washing machine at high temperature, choose the cheapest washing powder, get a high rotation factor, and let it tumble dry afterwards?
Well, if you ever did this, you know the result.

Product

See the Product section about ideas on the "right" product. I hope that you found your individual product(s) already - if not, don't give up. You are going to be very happy as soon as you found it. I had many ladies reporting very bad experiences with their initial product, and how wonderful their hair got after they found the right "stuff"!

Regarding the pricing: I know a couple of fortunate ladies who use a very cheap product from a low cost distribution market, and it really does it for their hair. So the best product is not necessarily expensive - but it may be, if your hair needs that specific product. If so, don't spare your money - if you clearly feel that the expensive product does work best for the hair, then buy it!

Water

See the tips about water for some hints concerning water quality. With bad water quality you will kill the beauty of your hair on the long run. Take precautions on that matter.

Use water of room temperature for your hair. Usually you will use the lowest temperature you can bear. Hair is not sensitive, so bend over, and have a final rinse of the lower hair part with cold water. If the water does not touch the skin, who cares? And it is good for your hair.
Why is cold water good for hair? Warm water does more easily dissolve the natural scalp oil, which is distributed over your hair during brushing or combing. This oil gives protection and shine. Let's better keep it, add-on products as Jojoba oil are good, but never as good as the original.
Furthermore does warm water open the hair scales, making the hair shaft more vulnerable.

Please do not use hot water on your hair, and in fact you better don't use it on your skin either. Many skin irritations these days result from the every day washing, with water which is too warm.

Brush or comb

Ready to enter the shower? Not yet! Take your comb or brush, and give your hair a few strokes. This aligns the strands, and prevents that you get out of the shower with a lot of tangles.

During the washing you shall try not to move your hair. This keeps the hair strands at the position they were before, they won't move upwards and wrap themselves around other strands, resulting in unbearable knots.
You remember what I said before about the lady in one of the upper images? She rubs the hair on top of her head, and the hair strands have wonderful opportunities to knot - more work for you!

Water on the run

Adjust the water temperature. Make sure you get enough water to soak your hair completely.

Wetting down your hair while it is still at your back (left image) is not clever - you need to bring it to the front for the shampooing anyway, and it will tangle when you do that.

Have your hair already in front when you wet it down (right image), and leave it there during the whole session.

Shampoo application

Wrong! Shampoo is used to clean the hair, and not to cover your head in white foam. It is easy to measure the right amount of shampoo, and to apply it correctly.

Take some shampoo into your palm. Rub both hands together. Then run the palms of your hands over your head (not yet down the string of hair). With the right amount of shampoo you will get a somewhat glibberish coverage, which shall not start to foam. If the shampoo starts to foam, you used too much. See the image on the left, it shows well how it should look like.

If you have accidently too much shampoo, you can distribute it down the string of hair by letting the string slide through your fist. It is helpful for detangling to run your fingers through the string of hair, from top to bottom.

The shampoo will take away the dirt, which lays on the top layers of your hair. You do not need to bend over and start washing your hair inside out - the shampoo suds will penetrate these layers briefly when you wash it out, and this is sufficient.

The shampoo shall flow over the lower part of your hair when you wash it out. Help a bit with your fingertips to release the soap from your head. Running your fingers through the string of hair helps detangling, and ensures a more thorough penetration of the hair by the suds.

Make sure that you wash out all of the shampoo. When you think all shampoo is gone, allow another half minute of constant water flow to ensure that residues are gone.