Wash Your Hair Backwards

No I don't mean stand the opposite way in the shower, that would just be silly! I mean, condition then shampoo! Why? you may ask, let me explain....

So while reading my wonderful copy of "No more dirty looks" (if you haven't read it, you should), I skimmed over a small side box talking about washing my hair backwards and the reasoning behind it. I didn't think to much of it but then one day (I was having a particular bad hair week), I figured, why not try it.And I have to say my hair was pretty amazing. Usually, after rinsing the conditioner, my hair is too dry in some spots and then too much conditioner hides in other spots, making my hair greasy and just overall ridiculous.

So why it works.....
back in the day, no one had shampoo, but was their hair really horrible and greasy and smelly and just plain yuck? I am inclined to think it wasn't so bad. And although, I will never become an extremist and give up on my wonderful smelling shampoos and conditioners , I have to think there is something too not shampooing. You see, I used to have to shampoo my hair daily, otherwise it was flat and greasy. But someone told me to try every other day and now I can sometimes go 3 days without shampooing.

So, back to the idea behind washing your hair backwards, our ancestors created shampoo as a way to cleanse our hair and make it smell pretty. But you are stripping your hair of it's natural oils and thus leaving it brittle and dull. So, in comes the creation of conditioner, meant to restore the shine and oils back into our hair but these are not natural oils and just create build up and make your hair greasier. So, why washing backwards works. If you apply the conditioner (from root to end - not the usual but try it) first, you are coating your strands and the conditioner actually breaks down the dirt and grime in your hair and on your scalp (without stripping the natural oils). Then you use the shampoo (just at the roots, give yourself a good scalp massage to increase blood flow to your roots and promote faster hair growth) to whisk away the conditioner and broken down dirt and you are left with shiny, voluminous, and beautiful hair (that sounds like a shampoo commercial).

I was totally skeptical at first, but my hair has been amazing (and I have been doing this for about 3 weeks now), my scalp is less dry and my hair doesn't get greasy for at least 3 days! So give it a shot and let me know what you think!

-Kristin