Our in-shower hair care regimen is pretty straightforward: you detangle your tresses, drench them in shampoo, and coat the lengths with dollops of conditioner. And that's it. Or is it? Let's play with this idea for a second. You step into the shower, soak your hair, and massage the tips with a conditioner before proceeding to cleanse your scalp with shampoo. Spot the difference? Yeah. We reversed the routine. Enter a new way of washing your hair. Known as 'reverse washing', this trend deviates from the conventional order of beginning with shampoo and concluding with conditioner. But what's the hype about, and why are we even putting it to the test?
- 01. Really...reversing your routine? But why?
- 02. How do you go about the process?
- 03. Who should try reverse washing?
01. Really...reversing your routine? But why?
When you shampoo your hair before conditioning, you're not just cleansing your hair, and ridding your scalp of impurities like sweat, dirt, and grime. You're stripping your strands of natural oil. This robs your hair of moisture and dries them out quickly. And you try to compensate for this loss of moisture by layering the lengths of your hair with conditioner to rehydrate them. Sounds counter-productive, doesn't it? What's the point of washing your hair in this order if the process results in dry, lifeless, and limp locks? When you condition before shampooing, you're priming your hair, and nourishing your hair cuticles effectively. You're enabling the conditioner to form a protective layer over your strands that prevent the shampoo from stripping off the natural oils. Your cuticles are also likely to absorb more moisture when conditioned first. In other words, you're deeply hydrating your hair. By that logic, shiny, soft, and healthy hair isn't such a far-fetched dream, no? And when you're shampooing your hair later, you're washing away any residue left behind by the conditioner. This leftover layer of conditioner may be responsible for the limp texture of your hair. When you're washing your conditioner off with shampoo, as opposed to just rinsing it off, you're cleaning your hair thoroughly. And this prevents them from turning greasy.
02. How do you go about the process?
It's pretty simple. Wet your hair thoroughly. And smear a generous amount of conditioner like the argan oil-infused TRESemmé Keratin Smooth Conditioner over your tips, and work your way toward the mid-lengths. Leave it on for about 20 minutes, and wet your hair once again. Proceed to apply a shampoo like the TRESemmé Keratin Smooth Shampoo, and wash it all off once you're done. You can follow this order any time you wash your hair. Or want to add a little bit of texture to your tresses.
03. Who should try reverse washing?
If you have dry, thin, fine hair, or oily, flat strands, you can try this out. But steer clear of the technique if you have thick or frizzy hair. It's important to note that shampoos have a high pH, and they cause your hair cuticles to swell (swelling leads to the appearance of fuller hair, making it ideal for those with thin hair).
Written by Urvi Shah on Feb 10, 2022
A professional writer by day, and a poet by night, I'm a journalism graduate with experience in the news, travel, and food sectors. A frantic compiler of excerpts from books I've read, you can count on me to incorporate quotes and phrases into everyday conversations without a warning. On days I'm not working, I station myself in front of my laptop, and try to work my way through month-old drafts of my writings.