It may sound a little silly, but there are some guests out there who don’t know the proper way to shampoo and condition their hair. Or we have pre-teens/teenagers in our chairs that haven’t yet learned the correct way to cleanse their hair. At Sisters Salon & Day Spa, we pride ourselves on being able to teach our guests about their at home care, including shampoo and conditioning because even though it seems basic, it’s very important. We also love to educate our guests on the differences between professional and non professional products and where to purchase them.
Shampoo
Shampoo is defined as washing of the head or hair. In a nutshell, shampoo is for the scalp. It removes natural oils, product build up/residue, and minerals. Once the hair is wet, emulsify (rub the shampoo together in the hands), and apply to scalp. We often get compliments at the salon on how good getting a shampoo feels – the head massage. This is how it should feel at home too! Be sure to use firm pressure with fingertips (or nails) to scrub all over the entire head, including the nape of the neck. Once you’ve cleansed the scalp, bring the shampoo down to the ends of the hair as well. Rinse – rinsing well is very important because leaving shampoo behind on the scalp can cause buildup, itching, irritation, and oily scalp. Use your hands to comb through the hair as you’re rinsing to help remove all the shampoo.
Most guests have trained their hair to go longer between shampoos. Shampooing every day can be drying to the hair and takes more time out of your busy day so, using dry shampoo is a great alternative to shampooing every day. However, this usually means that there is more product to remove when you do shampoo. Typically, when this is the case, you WILL NEED to shampoo TWICE!
Professional shampoos are very concentrated, they contain less water than large retail store shampoos. Which means you need less – less is more! This emblem from Pureology is a great visual for how much product you need. Above the shoulder or shorter length hair can use a little smaller than this (or about the size of a pea) amount. Longer than shoulder length hair should start with this and add more water if you’re not getting the suds that you like. Or wait for your second shampoo, the suds will be better because the hair already cleaner.
If you like to keep liter sizes in your shower and have pumps on the bottles, train yourself to only use the right amount, NOT a whole pump. We must remind our teens/kids of the same, that it’s not ketchup!
Conditioner
Step 2 in cleansing the hair is conditioner. It softens the hair to add moisture, makes it more manageable for combing and styling. Conditioner is for your ends! Again, using the emblem as a guide, apply to midshaft and ends of the hair and work towards the scalp (only a little bit). Rinse well, leaving conditioner behind can also leave the hair oily and feel weighed down. As with shampoo, shorter hair should start with a small amount while longer hair should start with the emblem and add a tiny bit more if needed.
Professional vs Nonprofessional
We know you have choices when it comes to purchasing your haircare products. We also know that you have a beauty budget to stick to. Professional products are more concentrated, they contain less water and more actual ingredients, so you don’t need as much as nonprofessional. In terms of coloring your hair, we know that you spend your hard-earned money on your color every 4-8 weeks – using nonprofessional products that don’t protect your hair from fading or can leave build up on your hair, making your color look dull.
Be on the look out for professional products at big retail stores. Many of them are not the real deal, they have been diverted (bought from a retailer and sold to another one, and possibly tampered with). We can’t guarantee these products are what they say they are. Purchasing your products from us not only helps us out as a small business, but it also helps us earn our continuing education classes! We offer several different brands with different price points to make sure you stay in your beauty budget.
Making sure that our guests are informed is very important to us, even when we’re just talking about shampoo and conditioner. As always, if there are ever any questions about what shampoo/conditioner to use, how to teach your kids the proper way to shampoo, or where to purchase your products – we are here to help!