Reverse shampooing

All our lives we've been taught it was shampoo first and conditioner second.

But since I started making my own shampoos and conditioners, I sometimes have had to reverse the order. Turns out this is a thing. It's called the reverse shampoo method.

I put on my hair mask and let it sit for 30 min. Then I rinse it out, but because it doesn't contain all the convenient chemical stuff of commercial conditioners to make it rinse clean, my hair feels greasy unless I wash it.

Commercial conditioners contain insoluble silicones to make your hair FEEL thicker, FEEL stronger, smoother and make you feel better about the fact that you've conditioned your hair. However, what you've really done is coated your hair strands with PLASTIC! That plastic isn't gonna wash out unless you use a shampoo containing SULFATES, which is drying and damaging. So you enter this typical poo cycle.

The silicone makes it hard for your hair to absorb any real nourishment or moisture. So it doesn't matter how much argan oil, rosemary, thyme and basil (still awake?) you're putting in your hair and scalp--you're not gonna benefit from it!

Even if you use store-bought products, you could give reverse shampooing a try. It's a huge paradigm shift in itself, I know!

The first morning after I tried reverse shampooing, my hair had some mad volume. My son kept telling me "Did you brush your hair? It's super frizzy today." I wasn't even insulted. All I could think was, "It worked!"

Benefits of reverse shampooing

• You get the nourishment of the good raw ingredients you're putting in your hair treatment/DIY conditioner.

• You get the cleansing benefits of your DIY shampoo, while also removing the excess oils.

• Your shampoo won't be stripping your hair's natural oils, just the excess ones (there's a fine line)

• Your hair won't be weighed down by too much good oils---no flat hair, please!

• Prevents build-up and product residue that makes your hair dull and lifeless AND CLOGS YOUR HAIR FOLLICLES. (Horrors!)

• You can go longer between washes.

• Your hair may have more volume, shine and LIFE.

“Even if you don't make your own hair products, you could give it a try. It's a huge paradigm shift, I know!"

The moment Dave caught me taking a picture of my volumous hair in the bathroom mirror. "Oh and what are you doing?"