Are you washing your hair properly? Something we do our whole lives, but how many of us do it properly?

Award winning hairdresser, Mary Geoghegan, breaks down the fundamentals of washing your hair properly, depending on your hair type.

Big Question: Do we need to shampoo our hair once or twice?

1) Hair types 1 & 2 e.g. straight and wavy hair

If you wash your hair everyday or every other day, one shampoo wash will be fine. 

If you go for 3 days or more before washing your hair, you will need to shampoo your hair twice.

The first shampoo removes excess oil, product and environmental dirt. The second shampoo cleans your scalp removing any dead skin. Make sure you scrub your whole head thoroughly, if you miss an area, this can cause your scalp to itch, feel irritated & look flaky.

When Conditioning your hair you want to focus on the bottom half of your hair e.g. the mid lengths and ends (not your scalp).

The bottom half of your hair is older, has had more wear and tear, making it dryer and more fragile. Your roots are new hair that's exposed to natural oils quickly. If you put conditioner too close to your scalp it will make your hair feel and look greasy.

If you have long hair, while your conditioner is on, this is a perfect time to detangle your hair. Use a tangle teezer or wide tooth comb and ease your way through your hair, this will make combing your hair pre styling so much easier.

2) Hair textures 3 & 4 (curly, coiled, afro)

As you will know, it's much harder for your natural oils to slide down your hair through the kinks and coils, so you want to try and leave your hair longer between washes.

I’d recommended washing your hair once a week and then shampooing your hair twice.

You can apply conditioner over your whole head and right up to your roots, as you want to nourish all of your hair. Your hair will be thirsty, if it's not been saturated with product, that's when your hair is going to frizz.

My Top tip is to work through your hair in sections, to be confident all your hair is coated with the conditioner.

The same technique applies with styling products.

About Mary

​Mary is a multi award winning hairstylist who grew up in Burton Upon Trent and moved to Nottingham in her mid 20s to enhance her career. She worked hard to get into the artistic, editorial territory of the hairdressing world.

Mary is a keen advocate for continuous development and staying abreast of the latest trends and techniques within the hairdressing industry, harvested by going on numerous courses all over the country and winning multiple industry awards.

Mary has won:

• Eastern Hairdresser of the Year for the British Hairdressing Awards

• Wella Trend Visions Silver Colour Award

 Winning the above awards has helped her to master her craft that she’s been honing since she started her apprenticeship many years ago. Fast forward 15 years and having done thousands of colours, cuts and blow dry's, I still maintain a tenacious desire to give all my clients a personalised service. 

 Mary takes the time to understand the unique needs of each and every client who sits in her chair-underpinned by being very good at what she does (Hair)!

Mary believes this is the perfect formula, that allows all her customers to express themselves easily, naturally and beautifully.

For more haircare advice follow Mary on Instagram @maryg.hair and check out the blogs on my website

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