Hello, lady riders! Welcome back to Catwalk. Our last segment received great feedback and several questions regarding hair care for the lady rider and we are excited to bring more information your way! If you recall, our debut segment Preventing Hair Damage, was how to mitigate as much damage to our hair as possible. Today’s segment will focus on what to do when we didn’t listen and our hair is a dry, tangled mess as a result.
To make watching and referencing the information easier we broke the video into three parts. All three parts can viewed in The Catwalk Playlist below. Each video is also included in the blog post below in the section it pertains to, Enjoy!
I’ve done it. You’ve done it. We’ve all done it. We went for a ride and either left our helmets at home or let our hair free flow below our helmets. I don’t know about you but sometimes, I just can’t help myself. I love the wind in my face and in my hair. There isn’t much that feels better. But you know what feels a lot worse? Trying to rip through matted, grime coated tangles in our hair.
So, what do we do when our hair is in a fragile and compromised state? Here are some tips to restore your hair and mitigate further damage in the process.
Step 1 – Cleanse
Believe it or not, shampooing and conditioning BEFORE attempting to detangle is the safest bet. Clean hair always detangles easier than dirty hair. The road grime and many of the tangles will be gone, leaving you and your Wet Brush with less work to do, and your hair with significantly reduced stress. Now, as simple as shampooing seems, I have noticed that most of us cause way more tangling than tangle removal during the shampoo process. Never, ever, ever scrub and rough up the hair. It isn’t necessary and only compounds the tangling and weakens the hair strand. When applying shampoo, it’s only necessary to apply shampoo to the scalp area. Most shampoos will produce enough lather to gently flow down the mid lengths and ends. If your shampoo doesn’t lather, or you don’t shampoo at all, that’s fine. There is still plenty of residual product to get the job done.
Gently massage the shampoo onto the scalp. Don’t scrub. I know it feels like it won’t get clean enough if we don’t scrub but I promise a gentle massage is all our scalps need to get clean. Over scrubbing causes excess oils to be produced, excess tangling and slight abrasions unnecessary for a healthy scalp. Once you have thoroughly massaged the scalp, gently run your hands down the strands of your lengths. By manipulating the hair in a downward motion, you have already begun the detangling process. You can do these downward manipulations several times, depending on the thickness and texture of your hair. Of course, fine, thin hair won’t require as many manipulations as coarse, thick hair. Rinse thoroughly and gently squeeze excess water from the hair. By reducing the amount of water in the hair, you’re allowing less dilution and more absorption of conditioner.
Step 2 – condition
The conditioning process is similar to shampooing in that the application should be in a downward motion. The difference here, is to focus the conditioner on the mid lengths and ends, and minimally applying it to the scalp. Continue your downward manipulations for a few minutes. Allow the hair and conditioner to rest and absorb for the duration of your shower. Rinse in cool water. It doesn’t need to be an ice bath. Cool water is sufficient in closing the opened cuticles, further reducing tangles.
Step 3 – towel dry
Another common mistake is roughing up the hair when towel drying. It may seem faster to rub the hair with the towel to hurry the drying process. However, rubbing the hair will not help a towel absorb faster and it will only create more tangles, lengthening the comb out process. Wrap your towel around your hair and gently squeeze. This will absorb enough water to prevent dripping. Of course, the more porous the hair is, the more squeezing may be necessary. Be sure to squeeze in a downward motion. Notice a trend, here? It’s fine to wrap your hair in your towel and let it dry a bit before moving on to the next step.
Step 4 – prep
After you have absorbed enough water, it’s time to prep the hair for the remainder of the detangling process. As I shared in our last session, hair oils are a fine tool for protection. I use my Aquage Silkening Treatment Oil before every ride and I use it after every time I shampoo and condition. But there are many prep products that will aid in restoring healthy hair and minimize tangles. Leave in conditioning creams and sprays are a great tool to use. Whatever product you choose, be sure to apply it…can you guess…in a downward motion. Similar to conditioning, focus these leave-in products on the mid lengths and ends. The hair at the scalp is healthiest and rarely needs as much replenishment as the rest of the strand.
Step 5 – detangle
Removing the remaining tangles is our last step. After this step is complete, you can proceed with your blow-dry styling or air dry styling of choice.
Who ran out and purchased The Wet Brush? It’s amazing, isn’t it? I don’t understand how it works. All I know is it’s the best detangling brush I have ever used. I’m 23 years in being a hair designer and it became my favorite brush the first time I used it. If you haven’t gotten one, get one! It’ll rock your locks. When you begin brushing your hair, start at the ends. Remove all the tangles from the ends before moving upward. If you start brushing closest to the scalp, you’ll only compact your tangles and increase your chances of breakage. Only move up the hair lengths, one section at a time, once the tangles in the previous section have all been removed. All your diligence in following steps 1-4 is to aid you in this final step. You most likely will still have tangles but they should glide out much easier than they ever have before, all with minimal breakage or none at all.
Thanks for tuning in to Catwalk! We are looking forward to hearing your thoughts, answering your questions and reading of your successes! Ride beautifully!
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Awesome, a hair designer that knows something about hair! I’ve had hip length hair for most of my life and you’d be surprised how many hairdressers haven’t got the first clue. One actually told me she’d never worked with long hair before (I left the shop). I’ve had to instruct them how to brush it out, shampoo only the head, etc. I never let my hair free flow though. Even with all the care in the world, it’s not worth the damage to me.
Thank you! It’s an unfortunate reality: not every hair designer knows enough about hair or various hair types. In my industry, it’s so important to be as knowledgeable as possible. Kudos for protecting those locks!
I use Cowboy Magic detangler. During riding season I use it while drying my hair if there is any chance I will be riding.
It can also be used on dry hair. My hair is thin and fine so I try to avoid this, but it still works.
If by chance I go for a short ride without it in my hair, all I need to do is run Cowboy Magic through my hair and the brush goes through tangles easily.
Glad to hear you found something that works for you!
With your fine hair, if you’d like to try something to protect, replenish, and detangle without weight or coating the hair shaft, check out “It’s A 10” products. They’ll blow your mind and rock your locks!
Looking forward to trying ‘It’s A 10’….I have quite a bit of hair but very thin! Thanks for the suggestion!