Hi, friends! Boy, do I have a doozy for you today. I actually had a whole different post scheduled for today, but I saw this pin on Pinterest and it made me change everything. Yes, it was that outrageous--I couldn't resist sharing! (Side note: If you don't follow me on Pinterest, you really should! I'm addicted but shh that's not the point of this post!).
The pin links to a blog post on Barbie's Beauty Bits titled, "Reverse Hair Washing...Have We Been Washing Our Hair Wrong?" It's actually a post from back in February, but since I didn't know of her blog before this, I just came upon the article now.
The premise of Reverse Hair Washing (RHW) about how you should be using conditioner before shampoo. The reasoning is that most people don't fully rinse the conditioner out of their hair, so they're left with a residue that makes for limp, flat hair. Understandable, but lady, there are other ways to go about fixing that. Like staying in the shower for an extra few minutes. In her defense, she states she saw the headline in Glamour Magazine first (possibly this one), so it appears we can blame the mainstream for this ridiculousness. Shocking, I know.
The premise of Reverse Hair Washing (RHW) about how you should be using conditioner before shampoo. The reasoning is that most people don't fully rinse the conditioner out of their hair, so they're left with a residue that makes for limp, flat hair. Understandable, but lady, there are other ways to go about fixing that. Like staying in the shower for an extra few minutes. In her defense, she states she saw the headline in Glamour Magazine first (possibly this one), so it appears we can blame the mainstream for this ridiculousness. Shocking, I know.
I did some research, and apparently this is a thing! There are people talking about it all over the interwebs! Who knew?
There are so many things going through my head that I almost can't get my thoughts straight. Let's try and narrow it down.
1. It messes with your hair/scalp's pH.
Naturally, your scalp and hair have a pH of between 4.5 and 5.5, which is in the middle between acidic and neutral. Most shampoos, especially ones containing harsh detergents like sulfates, have a way of changing the pH level of your hair and scalp. What conditioner does (besides, well, conditioning the hair) is return that pH level back to normal. This makes for healthy hair. When you reverse that, you're leaving the hair at an unnatural pH, which can dry out your hair in the long run. Who thought this was a good idea again?
2. It doesn't make any sense???
Apart from #1, the point of conditioner is to restore moisture to the hair after washing. If you use conditioner first, you're adding more moisture to hair that probably already has enough, since it hasn't been washing in 1+ days. Your scalp's natural oils (sebum) have probably done their job of hydrating the hair. So you're going to add hydration to already hydrated hair, and then take all of that away when you shampoo. Does anyone else think this is stupid?
3. This method already kind of exists in a different form.
Ever hear of Co-Washing (Conditioner Washing)? It can vary depending on hair type, but in general, it's about washing your hair with only conditioner and leaving the shampoo on the shelf. Many people with dry hair, especially curly-haired folk, use it to keep their hair hydrated without stripping it of its naturals oils. It's pretty popular. Cleansing Conditioners are now hitting the drugstore shelves from brands like Herbal Essences. This is different than RHW, but unlike RHW, I've heard a lot of success stories about it. I've tried it, and although I find it doesn't get my hair clean enough, I know plenty of people who swear by it. So why invest in two products if one of them is going to be pointless, anyway?
The author of the blog post I linked below was new to this herself, so she wasn't much more informed than I was. She suggested that it might be a good idea to do this weekly rather than every time, which I think is slightly less weird, but I feel like it'll just be like skipping a washing. Now, I don't know about you guys, but I don't wash my hair every day. It's long, and it'll get dry and gross. And in the summer, it's important to keep your hair hydrated and protected if you're going to be in the sun a lot.
Someone please put me out of my misery. Do you do this? Let me know! I want to be educated. Right now, I stand by the fact that no, we are not washing our hair wrong.
Want to see more DIY Disaster posts? Check out this post I did about why lemons are not as good for you as they seem!
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