15 Rules To Follow If You Want To Shower Right

15 Rules To Follow If You Want To Shower Right

Showering is something most of us figure is quick and brainless. You hop in, lather rinse, repeat, hop out, dry off and you’re ready to run. But if you’re going to go through the effort, it pays to remember some tips to shower right and get the most out of your shower time.

Brush your hair before your shower: Having straight, non-knotted hair means you can get your hair cleaner, and it’ll mean less pulling when you brush your hair after your shower. It seems simple, but it’s easy to forget.

A note on water temperature: Experts almost uniformly agree that a piping hot shower isn’t the way to go. It dries out skin. Go lukewarm with your shower.

Only shampoo troubled areas half of the time: Most of our hair doesn’t need to be washed every day, since that can actually strip hair of beneficial oils and lead to breakage from drying. Every other day or so, consider just washing your roots, letting the shampoo run down the rest of your hair.

Same with body soap: Body soap is also very drying for the skin, so on days when you haven’t been too active, try to wash only the troubled areas that get sweaty.

Watch the lather: Speaking of soap, soaps with very high lather tend to be the most drying. If you have chronically dry skin, your super sudsy wash may be to blame. You may need a natural, organic product with less of a lather.

Beware the loofa: Scrubbing with a loofa can make you feel more clean, but these things actually tend to harbor bacteria, mold and yeast. Either use a washcloth, or make sure your loofa is hanging to dry and replace it every couple of months, at least.

Conditioning time: The verdict is honestly out on how long you should leave your conditioner in. Some people say leave it a couple minutes, others say it soaks in right away. Do what feels right for your hair. If you have dry hair, leave the conditioner for a couple minutes while you wash. If you have oily hair, rinse right away.

Rinse well: A common issue people can run into is not rinsing their bodies well, which leads to irritated, dry skin.

Exfoliate before you shave: To help reduce and release any ingrown hairs, scrub before you shave.

Shave last: Shaving first seems like a good way to get excess hair off later and wash any nicks, but shaving last means you’re not getting grime mixed up with hair removal.

An Arctic blast: One trick for getting smooth hair is to rinse it once in cold water before the end of your shower, if you can handle it. That seals the cuticle of the hair, locking in moisture.

Deep condition only weekly: It can be tempting to glob on as much conditioner as possible for the softest locks, but that could lead to product buildup. You only need to deep condition weekly.

Pat dry: Many people scrub their bodies with a towel, but that can also be irritating and drying to sensitive skin. Pat dry for a more delicate treatment.

Don’t delay on the lotion: When your body is still damp, that is the best time to put on lotion. It helps trap the moisture in the skin before it evaporates.

Wash your face after the shower: You can wash your face in the shower or out, but make sure you do it after the rest of the shower. That will give the steam and moisture time to open your pores for better cleansing.