First of all, your hair is not a garment that needs to be scrubbed. So ladies with long locks, if you are scrubbing your ends in your hands and making a nice mound of knots, Stop!! The proper way to shampoo hair is to massage the scalp to remove any dirt, oil or dandruff. A nice gentle scrub with finger tips is sufficient. You may even need to do it twice and that's ok. But there is no need to scrub the ends like you are starting a fire. This creates nothing but knots and has no benefit at all. Truth is that the chemicals in the shampoo are designed to remove and take away any dirt and oils. They essentially have a head and a tail. The head grabs it and the tail takes it away. More than 99% of the hair products and air borne odors are water soluble which means that a stringent shampoo nor a good scrubbing is necessary these days. By using your fingers as a large comb, run your fingers with the lather down through the ends. Voila, clean hair with out additional knots or issues of breakage.
Secondly, you'll likely condition after a shampoo. Most of us need to and choose to do immediately after the shampoo and in before our other Shower time chores. If you have shampooed as mentioned above, you'll be ready to condition your ends. I like to say, "From the pony tail down". Why? Because it's likely that your first few inches of hair from your scalp are fairly healthy and haven't been subject to as much damage, if any at all, from any chemical services or sun/chlorine.
After putting the conditioner directly to your ends down, you can then apply the residual conditioner from your hands on to the scalp area if needed. Wait the duration of time recommended and there you have it. So that's it then? No not at all. On to the next steps.
After you ready to towel dry your hair, you may want to take heed and remember, Your hair is not a sponge nor are you drying off a pooch! You want to gently pat your hair dry, but again don't rub it like you're trying to put out a fire. So many do this and now is probably the worst time to do that. Hair can stretch up to 75% or more of it's length at this time. Pulling and twist and yanking is about the worst thing you can do, especially to more fragile hair types. Gently pat your hair dry but leave it in it's state.
Most think, ok, I know what to do now. Grab my brush or comb and get any tangles out, right ? Nope, not yet! What you do at this step will greatly improve your hairs luster and shine and its manageability. I highly recommend some type of Moroccan oil, serum or other natural oil to the ends; the pony tail down. These products restore and protect the hair from damage caused by hot tools and natural elements. If you have not tried this step, I recommend you try 2-4 pumps or drops of oil each time. I have med-fine hair and med-light density and I put 4 pumps of Moroccan oil daily. You will experiment to find your balance.
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| Moroccan Oil Products |
Ok, now you're good! You grab that comb and start combing. Seems logical. Yes, intuitive actually. But there is a proper way to comb medium to long hair. Hold the hair as if a pony tail and start combing from the ends up. Yes, from the ends up. If you have a knot, it will come out easier if you start from the bottom. Plus, by holding the hair in a pony tail, securely, you can comb well without much pain at the scalp. This is especially helpful if you are combing someone else's hair.
I bet now with each shampoo and conditioner, towel dry and comb through, you'll notice a difference as well as get a chuckle. I have heard, "I never knew this information" more times than I can tell you. But one thing I know: It does make a huge difference.
