Hot water is bad for curly hair. Why? Because it strips the hair of it's natural oils. How? It opens the hair's cuticle making it frizzy and overly porous. So, we should be using warm water to wash followed by a cold water rinse to close the cuticles and lock in shine and moisture. Cold water rinses feel great when you're beating the heat of if you're fresh out of the gym, but not so much any other time. So, what I do is start of with warm water and gradually decrease it until it's cold so that it's not that big of a shock. I don't stay under the cold water that long, 30 seconds to one-minute — tops. I just stay under long enough for it to reach every strand. This may be torture when you try it at first, but you will see a difference in your hair. I know I did. Cold water rinsing also locks in your skin's moisture, so don't dodge the water by just rinsing your hair. Do not sleep on this tip. It's a small thing, but it will make a huge difference. It can be really invigorating if you need a wake-me-up. Don't believe me? Try it for yourself.
Do you rinse with cold water? Share your experience in the comments.
I've found a way to do them that's a little less tortuous. I stand with my body far away from the shower head--as far as I can go, but still have my head in shower head range. I make sure I adjust the shower head to a narrow stream. Then I hold my hair away from my face/head and let the cold water flow over the hair only. Then I lightly squeeze most of it out--still keeping the cold sopping wet hair away from my body. (My wet hair is shoulder length.) It's still a little cold on my scalp for a minute, but the rest of my body is not freezing.
ReplyDeleteI started doing this a while ago and it takes getting used to it but it make a difference in your hair. I got the idea from my hair dresser, at her shop they use cold water to rinse after conditioning.
ReplyDeleteI do cold water rinses in the sink after washing my hair in the shower and it really does seal the cuticles and add shine. This should be in everyones regimen.
ReplyDeleteI do rinse with cold water and love what it does for my hair. I swear my hair is more manageable and shiny because of them.
ReplyDeleteDitto. This makes such a difference in the way my hair looks and lasts.
ReplyDeleteIt's good to start out with warm water to open up the pores. I end a wash with cool water after I conditioned.
ReplyDeleteI'm 100 percent if this is for hair as well, when I was forced to take cold showers I learned that it was better for the skin because it circulated blood better than hot. Maybe this is the same for the scalp?
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