Whether you need to plan your hair wash days in advance or simply enjoy the process, learning how to use shampoo and conditioner can turn your routine into something more enjoyable and effective part of your self-care.

Let’s explore the best techniques to help you get the most out of your shampoo and conditioner for the ultimate hair day every time—leaving your hair looking like you just stepped out of the salon.

How To Use Shampoo And Conditioner

Shampoo and conditioner serve two different purposes and should be applied in specific ways depending on how often you wash your hair. Learning how to use shampoo and conditioner correctly can make a big difference in keeping your hair healthy and manageable. Here’s a step-by-step guide to wash your hair effectively and condition it for the best results:

1. On wet hair, add preferred amount of shampoo into the palms of your hand.
2. Rub your palms together to jump start the lather process and place your palms at your scalp.
3. Massage your scalp ensuring you reach all areas of your head including the tricky places, i.e. your nape and the back crown area.
4. Once you have lathered your entire scalp (only) rinse the shampoo.
   TIP: if you experience a weak lather, repeat the above steps.
5. Once your strands have been rinsed from all signs of shampoo, step away from direct water contact and wring out excess water from your hair.
6. Pour desired amount of conditioner into the palms of your hands and rub hands together.
7. Now, grab your hair like a ponytail motion and apply conditioner on mid-strand through ends while avoiding direct application to the scalp.
8. Work the conditioner through your strands by using your fingers to comb and separate your hair ensuring all your length has conditioner on them.
9. Wait 1-3 minutes before rinsing with cooler temperature water.

Difference Between Shampoo And Conditioner

Understanding the difference between shampoo and conditioner is key to building an effective hair care routine. Each serves a unique purpose, targeting different needs to keep your hair healthy, clean, and hydrated.

Shampoo is created to cleanse away dirt, grime, product build up and unwanted excess oil from your scalp.

Shampoo will encapsulate all of the unwanted from your scalp and will rinse away residue as it rinses down your strands.

Due to the targeted cleansing power, it is best to shampoo at your scalp only and to avoid directly shampooing your ends.

Conditioner is made to quickly replenish moisture and hydration, as well as turning negative ions left behind by your shampoo into positive ions (this reduces static), while helping to detangle, reduce frizz and friction.

Conditioner will help balance your hair nutrients in places your scalp’s natural oils cannot reach which is why you will focus on the lengths of your hair -or mid-strands and ends.

How Often To Shampoo And Condition Hair

Finding the right balance between shampooing and conditioning can make a big difference in the health and appearance of your hair. Here’s what to consider:

While shampoo is great for removing excess buildup, oils, dirt, and grime, it doesn’t need to be used every time you wash your hair. In contrast, conditioner can be applied daily to restore hydration and moisture, especially if you focus on the mid-strands and ends.

If you allow your scalp's natural oils to develop, you might notice healthier, shinier hair. For this reason, it’s best to avoid shampooing every day and instead focus on conditioning to maintain your hair’s hydration.

Once you achieve the results you’re looking for, you can return to using shampoo and conditioner as a complementary pair to maintain balance.

How Long Should You Leave Shampoo And Conditioner In Your Hair?

Once you have a nice lather of shampoo all around your scalp it is recommended to indulge with at least a minute of a scalp massage before rinsing this out.

The reason for this is it allows the shampoo to melt to areas you may have missed around your scalp as well as invigorating blood circulation that may be beneficial to hair growth.

Your daily conditioner was created for quicker results when compared to a hair mask, but should still be kept on your hair for about three minutes before rinsing away with cooler temperature water.

Is It Better To Condition Hair Before Shampoo?

Depending on your hair type, conditioning hair before the shampoo may be beneficial for some.

The benefits of conditioning hair before shampooing may help deliver nutrients, help curb dehydration and may help detangle your hair prior to shampooing your scalp.

Remember, shampoo will still leave behind negative charged ions, so don’t skip the conditioner again after you have shampooed your strands.

Can You Use Shampoo And Conditioner At The Same Time?

You may use shampoo and conditioner back to back but ensure your shampoo is rinsed out prior to applying your conditioner if you are looking for the best results.

Due to the two separate jobs your shampoo and conditioner serve, you will want to avoid using them at exactly the same time.

Is It Ok To Condition Your Hair Everyday?

If your hair has a natural texture, is experiencing severe dehydration, or is on a routine to mend damage, it is okay to condition your hair length everyday.

Your scalp's job is to create and regulate natural oils so you will want to avoid applying conditioner directly on your scalp so that you do not disrupt this natural process.

However, focusing on your mid-strands and ends you may see the results you are looking for by conditioning everyday.

What Happens If Conditioner Is Applied To The Scalp?

Applying a daily conditioner to your scalp may disrupt your scalp’s natural process of creating its own source of nutrients through oil production.

I understand that some may cringe at hearing scalp oil, but understand that a well balanced scalp produces good oil that provides the exact nutrients your hair needs and not the oversaturated, feeling dirty kind of oil.

In addition to this, applying conditioner directly to the scalp may confuse your scalp and in turn the scalp may create a defense against it and produce more unwanted oil that will weigh your hair down.

Can I Use Conditioner Without Shampoo?

 Conditioner cleansing will not free your hair of the unwanted grime and oil build-up and may lead to dirty looking hair.

While there are some conditioning shampoos on the market they still have a job to cleanse the hair, though it may be the most gentle cleanser it will still cleanse to some degree.

Not all conditioners are made this way so it is best to research the correct conditioning shampoo that was formulated to provide that experience for you.

Does Conditioner Cause Hair Loss?

No, conditioner will not cause direct hair loss because conditioner is made to spot treat your mid-strands and your ends, and hair loss is determined underneath the scalp at your follicle.

Avoiding conditioners directly on your scalp will help moderate the oil production your scalp produces as well as avoiding unnecessary build up in the follicle as well.

Should You Shampoo Everyday?

It is best to not shampoo everyday.

What happens on a scalp level is that your body wants to produce the right amount of nutrient rich oil to protect your skin (the scalp) and nourish your hair.

If you shampoo this nutrient rich oil away every single day, your scalp will turn on you, over-react and start pushing out too much oil because it thinks it has to produce more oil quicker because you are going to shampoo it away too quickly.

If you are experiencing an over oily scalp you may be disrupting your natural oils too quickly (shampooing too much) or may be over-using products that are irritating your scalp.

If you are having a mild reaction to a product or an ingredient your scalp will produce more oil to defend itself.

Rest assured, your scalp and oil production are trainable and will calm down over-time if you give your body some time to readjust itself.

What Happens If You Don’t Wash All The Shampoo Out Of Your Hair?

If you do not rinse all of the shampoo out of your hair you may experience dandruff, dry, itchy scalp and some areas on your head may still look dirty and or oily.

It is important you rinse away all of your shampoo to avoid a complete style out only to find yourself having to jump back in the shower to start over again.

How Do I Know If My Shampoo Is Still In My Hair?

Leftover shampoo can affect your hair's texture, scalp health, and styling results. Here are some signs to watch out for:

1. You may hear the suds in some places on your scalp
2. Your hair feels more dry than it did prior to your shampoo and conditioner
3. Hair feels oily or dirty in spots along the scalp
4. You cannot reach your desired volume or overall body in your finished style
5. It takes a long time to dry your hair
6. Dandruff looking flakes are developing on your scalp or throughout your hair strands

Should You Shampoo Twice?

If you wait long in-between shampooing or just came home from a weekend of glam, it is a good choice to shampoo your hair twice.

This allows for the shampoo to get evenly distributed around your scalp.

Rule of thumb is, if the first shampoo isn’t giving you much of a natural lather, rinse and shampoo twice.

Which Is The Best Conditioner For Hair?

Goldie Locks^® Ultra Hydrating Signature Conditioner is the best conditioner for all hair types and textures, especially for those who wear extensions or have color-treated or highlighted their natural hair.

Due to the expansive list of naturally hydrating ingredients, it will replenish needed nutrients while rebalancing hydration and moisture.

Your hair's overall strength is mostly hydrogen and salt, which Goldie Locks^® conditioner targets to add to your strands, making this a great choice for any person. In addition to that, the types of ingredients used to deposit the hydration and moisture is not fatty so it works by penetrating the hair rather than weighing hair down and sitting on top.

For those that are feeling dry, rough, dull, or easily tangled hair will surely be amazed at the rejuvenation benefits Goldie Locks^® Ultra Hydrating Signature Conditioner will bring to your strands, including those with weak or splitting ends!

Which Is The Best Shampoo For Hair?

Goldie Locks^® Ultra Hydrating Signature Shampoo is a laser focused shampoo that is not only gentle, but it’s powerful enough to cleanses unwanted oil, grime and build-up while leaving behind essential nutrients your hair needs to stay healthy.

It's the unique signature complex of natural ingredients and the sulfate-free cleanse that acts as a magnet to attract grime and rinses away without a trace of harsh chemicals that would otherwise leave hair feeling dry and depleted.

In addition to this, Goldie Locks^® Ultra Hydrating Signature Shampoo is vegan and free of sulfates, parabens, gluten, dmdmh and phthalates, so it will protect your color, the overall integrity of your natural hair texture and is the only recommended shampoo for hair extensions.