Thanks for taking your time to read our information why you should use shampoo and conditioner. For those of us who like to look after our hair, we will of course use both products to help keep it healthy and shiny.
Throughout the day, our hair can actually take quite a lot of abuse from the environment such as bad smells, harmful sun rays, wind, rain and also from a variety of oils, both natural and unnatural.
To counteract those, we use shampoo and conditioner, to help balance the overall condition of our hair. In the most basic terms a good quality shampoo is what actually cleans our hair and improves the condition of the scalp, and a conditioner is about giving the hair some added protection.
Is Regular Shampooing a Good Idea?
It is really all about getting the balance right for your hair type. There is a temptation, especially if you live in a larger city, to be tempted to wash your hair everyday. However, that may not be the best idea, as over washing of the hair can very quickly lead to a dry scalp.
Just below we explain the best use of both shampoo and conditioner to help get you the best results.
What Makes Your Hair Dirty/Greasy?
We mentioned some of the issues earlier, but we think it is important to better understand these. When you get the full picture, then it means you know what to look for. Let's quickly go through the issues to explain this better.
Day to Day Activities
Just have a think about the range of things that you do easy day. It could be as simple as running your hands through your hair, where the natural oil from your skin gets rubbed into your hair and scalp. Many of us can easily get caught in a shower and rain can damage our hair.
Even in the sunshine the UV rays can also harm our hair and scalp.
Any type of over exertion, such as running for a train or bus, can cause sweat which also impacts on your scalp. Now this is just a short summary of everyday activities that can damage hair.
Use or Over Use of Hair Products
Many people use hair spray, hair gels, hair colours etc. These are of course useful for a quick fix, and yes they can help us look our best. Over time though these types of products can damage our hair and even alter the ph of our scalp.
It may seem negligible when starting out, but over the weeks, months and years, they will damage your hair.
It is best to stick to, where possible, a good quality shampoo and conditioner.
Pollution
This will definitely have an impact on hair quality. It really is a great deal worse for those who live in cities or large towns, than for those who live in a rural environment. Think of car fumes, bus fumes, dust and cigarette smoke to name but a few.
All of these can make our hair smell and also create grease, which is something that you always want to avoid.
Natural Oils
Our skin, including our scalp generates natural oils. More of those are produced when we are younger and they reduce gradually as we age. While some natural oil production is good for the skin, and especially the scalp, over production of these oils can leave our hair feeling greasy.
A build up of oil can also cause itchiness. Many things contribute to over production of oil and that includes our genes, our diet and our overall health.
Why Use a Good Shampoo?
Just below we explain the importance of using a good shampoo. Underneath that, we then explain why you should use a good conditioner.
As you can see from the short list above, there are a number of things to consider, if we want to have clean and healthy hair. If left untreated, a combination of the above damages, can leave our hair in very poor condition.
We wash our face and cleanse it, or at least we should. Failure to do that on a regular basis, or not do it properly, can lead to blocked pores, spots and grease. It is exactly the same with our scalp. A healthy scalp, producing the right amount of natural oil, can lead to a very healthy head of hair.
Shampoo helps remove this build-up of natural oils dirt/dust, pollution, and other hair products and also restores the balance and health to our scalps.
Using a good quality shampoo once a week will achieve a healthy scalp.
How Does Hair Shampoo Help?
For dry hair or normal hair, use a shampoo about once a week. If your hair tends to be greasy, then twice a week will be better. Some people choose not do use a specific hair shampoo, and may resort to just using a general shower wash.
However, over time, or though lack of regular washing the scalp will start to dry out and become itchy. This itchiness is caused by a build up of dust/dirt and mainly air pollution from various fumes. As we mentioned earlier this can then impact on the PH balance of the skin on your scalp, which then becomes really itchy and may even start to flake.
The best solution is to find a balance of when to wash your hair depending on your activities and any other hair products that you may use. Shampoo, specifically made for hair will help prevent a dry scalp and that in turn will prevent you from any itch, flake or inflammation.
Always make sure to use shampoo properly. Make sure you have enough time to thoroughly massage the shampoo into the scalp as it is this action which will remove all traces of grime and build-up. Once you have achieved that, then it is also equally important to rinse thoroughly.
This is really important as any remaining traces of shampoo can cause your hair to become dirty even faster.
How Does Hair Conditioner Help Damaged Hair?
We have explained above the importance of using a good quality shampoo. Now, in addition to this there are other things that can damage your hair, and a good quality conditioner can most certainly help with those problems. Just below we have listed what can harm your hair, and then explained how a hair conditioner can help.
Just remember, that hair conditioner is made to protect our hair strands from some external factors and also from various hair treatments.
UV Rays
Most people will know that the sun can cause some real damage to our face and skin. That damage is caused by UV rays and in some people this can lead to skin cancer. That is why we are always advised to use a sun cream when going out in the sun.
Unfortunately, we can't cover our hair with that, though there are some hair products that stop our hair being damaged from the sun. You can of course use a sun hat. That may be fine on holidays or when we are relaxing, but not that suitable for our day to day activities.
The sun has two types of UV rays; UVA and UVB. These can damage the hair cuticle (where our hair is attached to the scalp) and over time that will leave the hair strand very weak.
Using a good hair conditioner really helps improve the condition of the scalp, and also increases the shine of our hair.
Heat Damage to Hair
In the great British summer, the sun can also apply heat to our hair. However, heat damage is usually caused from the heat of a hair dryer or from hair straighteners. Many people will use these to dry and to style.
Excessive heat from any of the above will dry out hair, and that makes it very brittle. It is this which is the case of many split ends.
The best way to dry hair is to allow it to naturally dry, and then blow dry when it is close to drying out. We do understand that people don't always have the time to do that, but if you do, this will go a long way to preventing split ends and hair damage.
Hair Products
There are a lot of hair products on the market such as hair dye, heat protection, styling creams, wax, gels etc. Some of these may contain harsh chemicals, such as bleach, peroxide or ammonia. These chemical elements will break down the protein structure, known as keratin, and will result in weak, brittle hair.
It has also been shown, that some hair products, especially dyes can also cause hair loss if used too much or over a long period of time.
Hair Brushing
Gentle and careful is the order of the day. Many of our mums thought very little of pulling a brush through our hair, and many of us will remember that particular pain. Aside from the pain of a root being jerked out, hard brushing is actually very bad for your hair.
Pulling of any kind can very easily damage and break our hair strands. We should also mention that the same effect happens when we over tighten hair in pony tails or pigtails. Hair that is stretched and then wrapped with a band too tightly will start to break.
Any tangled hair should be brushed out with a wide tooth comb. Only after that has taken place should you gently and carefully brush your hair.
Why Use a Hair Conditioner?
Daily life means we have very little choice when it comes to exposing our hair to the sun, rain and general air pollution. Likewise, we need to dry and brush our hair and also to keep it in some style that we like. It is hard to avoid doing that.
This is a where a good hair conditioner can really help a lot. We mentioned earlier that any good hair conditioner protects the strands against everyday harmful conditions. In addition to that it also smooths out the strands and helps prevent the hair from tangling. That makes it much easier to brush as well.
Many of the better hair conditioners now have building proteins which restore lost proteins into the hair, keeping it strong and preventing breakage and brittle hair.
How Does Hair Conditioner Help?
Most hair conditioners, just like shampoo need to ne rinsed out when they have been applied. There are now a range of conditioners, known as "leave in conditioners" that are specifically formulated to leave in all day. That type of conditioner will increase protection and hydration of the hair strands.
It is also worth knowing that the better quality leave-in conditioners don’t coat your hair with an oily finish, as they have been scientifically formulated to work for your hair type.
They will keep your hair smooth and untangled throughout the day. For those with curls or specific styles these are also good to treat with a a nutrient-rich conditioner.
Leave-in conditioners also help prevent sun damage. The conditioner should be applied to the hair and much less than the scalp. You should then use a wide tooth comb to comb and brush through your hair.
Hair Shampoo & Conditioner Conclusion
We fully understand that life does on and we all get busy. It is close to impossible to live our lives with our hair permanently covered up. The minute our hair is exposed, then we run the risk of it being affected by air pollution and our normal day to day activities.
There are a wide range of health and beauty products to assist us in living our lives and to keep our hair in great condition. Unless absolutely necessary avoid products such as dry shampoo, as they really make the problem worse over time. Don't be afraid to pay a little extra for a good quality hair shampoo and conditioner.
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