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The Things We Do To Our Hair For Love

Published 01.03.2007 | Permanent Link | Comments (6)

Dear Amalah,

In 20 days I will be traveling to a foreign country where the showers are OK in temperature, but water pressure? The water pressure is akin to a girl scout shower at daycamp, where they know you are going home in two hours anyway and where merely showing you how to poke holes in that water jug in order to appease your pre-pubescent need to destroy things.

As a girl with decently long hair, I have a major concern just being able to rinse shampoo and conditioner out of my hair-- or even get the water all the way through my hair in the first place.

I have three options:

1. Just rinse until the product washes out. This leads to a lack of hot water (the apartment is unheated, you DO.NOT. WANT.THIS.) as well as possibly running out of water all together which may or may not be replaced in a few days. I cannot take that option.

2. Shampoo and just have to rip my hair apart when I brush it later, also? The static!

3. Find a quick-rinsing, light shampoo and conditioner.

This is where I was hoping you could help with option 3. Do you know of any especially light products that rinse quickly and cleanly? I have to look good, I am seeing my husband for 10 days, for the first time in 6 months.

Super huge thanks,

Julianna

S7E16_The_Shower_head.jpgOkay! I have thought long and hard about your question. I have done most of that thinking in the shower. My new shower, which actually HAS water pressure. For the first time in five years, I no longer have to worry about getting out of the shower and discovering a big clump of shampoo still in my hair. This is why I now do all my best thinking in the shower. I may make dinner and a salad in there later, like Kramer.

Anyway! In response to your three options, I have three possible solutions. (Yes, I maybe have a touch of an OCD tic when it comes to number symmetry, sorry.)

1) Wash your body in the nice hot shower, but wash your hair in the sink, using cold water. I know! Icky. Annoying. And cold. But did you know that cold water is actually better for washing and rinsing long hair? Something about closing up the follicles, I don’t know, I can never ever stand to do it. At least not in the shower while the rest of my body is all naked and wet. But in the sink, while dressed, I can handle the cold water on my scalp.

You could wash your hair right after your shower, letting your hair get as wet as possible. Then jump out, dry off and throw on a robe, and then take your time washing and rinsing without worrying about using all the hot water up. You could try practicing at home to see how long it takes you, perhaps, if you’re worried about using ALL the water up, and you can even get little sink attachments that create a spray to make it easier. (My mom washed my hair with one for YEARS because I had a thing about getting water in my eyes – although I now actually think what she used was really meant for bathing dogs, haaaa.) dogshower.jpg

2) Use a quick-rinsing, light shampoo (or shampoo & conditioner combo) and then follow up with a really, really good leave-in conditioner. Which will help with the tangles and the static as well.

What IS a quick-rinsing, light shampoo? Well, probably anything labeled “sport” or “frequent use” or “clarifying or something like that. Think swimmers and athletes washing their hair in the locker room, surrounded by dozens of other naked people, wanting nothing more in the world that to be Done With Their Damn Shower So They Can Put Their Pants Back On. I’ve found Pureology and Kiehl’s to rinse out fairly quickly, but for a 10-day trip you might just want to pack a bottle of Pantene and be done with it. Cheaper shampoos are generally designed to rinse quicker than the salon stuff.

(Hardcore campers and backpackers out there might also be able to recommend one of those “no rinse” shampoos and body washes, but that would probably be taking things a leeeetle far. Especially in light of the “I haven’t seen my husband in six months” thing. Not exactly the time to be emulating the astronauts and stuff.)

As for the leave-in conditioner…I’ve recommended a few before. Kiehl’s also makes one, and Emily recommended Loreal’s Studio Line Leave-In Conditioner in the comments. (Oh, and everybody in the entire WORLD loves the Garnier Fructis line. Except for me. I am guessing the products I tried were the duds, or else I need to try them again. I don’t know, but that stuff did NOT like my hair one little bit.)

3) A little from column A; a little from column B. From experience I know my hair can tolerate two, maybe three days without a really good and SEPARATE application of conditioner. I completely forgot my own shampoo and conditioner on vacation once, and while the hotel offered very nice Aveda toiletries, they only offered a shampoo and conditioner combo. After two days I could NOT get a comb through my hair, no matter how much detangler I used. I ended up buying a bottle of SOMETHING, I don’t even remember what it was, in the hotel gift shop.

So maybe do the combo thing for a couple days, and then on day three or four break down and do a full-on conditioning or deep-conditioning treatment in the sink. (Although if the apartment is unheated, walking around with wet hair for 30 minutes while you let the deep treatment set in might not be such a great idea. So maybe just use your regular conditioner a couple times during your trip)

Oh, and even after all of this, if you find a mess of icky, unrinsed hair after your shower? A little cornstarch or (if you’re not a blonde or light brunette) Bumble & Bumble Hair Powder will help hide it.

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Comments (6):

linda said:

I have a couple of other thoughts, but first the caveats - I have wavy/curly hair that's a bit oily, but not super greasy. YMMV - all of these things are meant to be tried at home first!! (And I'm one of those people who likes the Garnier Fructis leave-ins, so take this with that grain of salt, as well.)

1. Don't shampoo every day. Use a light conditioner instead. Scrub your scalp with the conditioner, rinse as much as you want. It's OK to leave some in.

2. Use a baking soda scrub in lieu of shampooing. Mix one tablespoon of baking soda into one cup of water. Pour over scalp, scrub, rinse. It rinses out really, really quickly. Follow with leave-in conditioner. You probably don't want to do this one more than once per week. It's especially good if you're doing the conditioner-only washes other days.

3. Follow your shampoo and quick rinse with a vinegar rinse. Mix 1/4 cup apple cider or white vinegar into one cup of water. Pour it over your head (do NOT get in eyes!). It'll get the final soapy stuff out of your hair and it seals the cuticle, leaving your hair soft and shiny. Again, follow w/ a leave-in conditioner.

Good luck! And be sure to enjoy your time with your husband - I'll bet he's not going to care that much about how your hair looks:-)

Posted on January 3, 2007 10:46

mary ann said:

Get a gallon jug or a large plastic cup. Fill with water. Dump over head to rinse. One gallon does it for me for shampoo and conditioner, but I am weak and the heavy gallon jug over my head scares me, so I use a plastic cup.

Anyway, I've found that collecting the water and then pouring it over my head makes it much easier to rinse in bad water pressure situations.

Posted on January 3, 2007 14:54

LGraves65 said:

Don't they still make that stuff called "Pssssst!"? It was a dry shampoo that you sprayed it and then brushed out.

That might work.

Posted on January 3, 2007 16:37

LGraves65 said:

Oooo, they do!

http://www.drugstore.com/products/prod.asp?pid=94840&catid=11936&aid=336064&aparam=xsp207555

And they haven't changed the packaging in 20+ years, either!

Posted on January 3, 2007 16:39

April said:

Amalah, I hate Fructis as well. You are not alone!!

Posted on January 3, 2007 17:09

Goingape said:

There's a whole faction of women out there with curly hair who rarely to never use shampoo. I never thought it would work, with me having Exxon like levels of oily skin and hair, but it does!

Pick a nice conditioner that works well for your hair. If you have to, wet your hair before you get in the shower and apply the conditioner. The important thing is to scrub your head well, just like they do at a nice salon. Just slapping on even shampoo and then rinsing isn't as good as some conditioner and a good scrub. Then rinse your hair in the shower. I haven't used shampoo in 2 years, and I promise I have the best hair I've had in years.

There is one caveat, this same school of thought requires that you use no hair products with silicone or its derivatives. That's b/c these products cause a buildup that can only be broken down with the harsh chemicals in Shampoo.


My own personal combination, due to a grad student budget are Suave Humectant conditioner and some curls up gel by got2b.

Good luck!

Posted on January 3, 2007 18:45

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Amalah is a pseudonym of Amy Corbett Storch. A Washington D.C.-based freelance writer. The Smackdown is published on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. You can follow Amy's daily mothering adventures at www.amalah.com. Also, it's pronounced AIM-ah-lah.

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