When aiming for that perfect hairstyle, you have to start with a healthy hair care routine, and healthy hair, ladies and gentlemen, starts in the shower! Hairstylists know that special care should be taken when washing your hair, and we learned about their biggest pet peeves...

If you are not properly cleansing and moisturizing your hair, your mistakes are very likely leaving you wide open for breakage, split ends, frizz, dull color, and build up. You don't want to have to struggle with your hair. These pet peeves can help you keep your hair beautiful.

These nine simple tips, tricks and things to avoid, will ensure that you’re hair is looking it’s best. Trust us, your stylist will thank you! They'd know... they can't stand these mistakes.

1. Getting Started The Wrong Way

Before you ever step foot in the shower, make sure to take a moment to brush out your hair. This helps to loosen dirt and stray hairs so that your shower is more effective. It will also
make your hair more manageable in the shower, and after. This is the core foundation.

2. Incorrect Temperature

Water temperature in the shower is vital to hair care. Many of us love jumping in a nice, hot shower, but when water is too hot, it can actually cause your hair to frizz and dry out terribly.

Instead, try starting with warm water to wash your hair, and cold water to rinse it. The warm water opens your hair up for a deep clean, perfect for the shampoo portion of your shower. Cold water, however, closes your hair cuticles, which is what you want to happen after you condition your hair, so it can help retain moisture and prevent any dryness from occurring.

3. Not Knowing Your Hair

Once you are in the shower, it’s important to be using the correct products for your hair. Start with knowing your hair type. Do you have thin hair? Thick hair? Wavy? Curly? Once you have that figured out, skip the fancy shampoos that promise everything in a bottle, and opt for gentle cleansers that are silicone, sulfate and paraben free (they are very harsh on hair).

4. Washing Improperly

Now that you’re are ready to start washing, here are a few pointers because believe it or not, there is a right and a wrong way to wash your hair. We know. It shocked us to discover this.

Shampoo is not intended for an all-over clean, instead, it is intended to remove oil and dirt from your scalp. Focus your washing there for best results. Over-saturating your hair with chemical-laden shampoos is not going to help you maintain the health of your strands.

It’s also not a good idea to scrub too hard, or your scalp might actually begin to produce more oil, which defeats the purpose of washing your hair in the first place. (Pro tip there.)

5. Conditioning Improperly

Just like your washing technique, there needs to be a method to your conditioning for best results. While shampoo is for your roots, conditioner is ideal for your mid-length and ends.

If applied in the correct locations, it not only helps prevent frizz and breakage, it won’t weigh your hair down as much as it does when applied to your whole head. Remember to rinse all of the conditioner out of your hair, or you will run the risk of acquiring some nasty buildup.

Stylists also caution that there is no need to do the holy hair trio (wash, rinse, repeat) as this can actually be bad for hair and cause build up. Doing it correctly the first time is more than enough. One and done, as they say. Don't over-wash your hair. It will do nothing good for it.

6. Inconsistent Hair Care Routine

Like many things in life, repetition is boring, and not always helpful. The same is true for your hair. Using the same conditioner each and every time can be tempting (if it works, why change it?), but the pros tell us to change it up, so it's important to heed that advice.

Alternating between a few good conditioners will help your hair from getting too used to one product, and thus not work as well with any others. Hairstylists also suggest that you lightly condition the ends of your hair prior to washing, wash, rinse and then condition again.

7. Washing Too Quickly

Speed is really the enemy of proper hair care. When we rush through our hair care routine and showers, we are paying attention to the details, and can often skip important steps that keep us from having the most beautiful hair possible. We want to prevent that if we can.

For example, take the time to make sure your hair is completely wet prior to shampooing.
It seems simple, but if your hair isn’t wet enough, your shampoo simply cannot do its job.

It’s also important to make sure you wait at least three to five minutes after applying conditioner before rinsing it out. Again, if you are moving too quickly through this step, you are not allowing your product enough time to work right, which wastes your time and money.

We also tend to rush through the rinsing portion of our shower, but it’s better to slow down and make sure your hair is totally rinsed out so you don’t get build up, a much worse issue.

8. Rinsing The Wrong Way

Rinsing is the key to preventing product build up. When rinsing your hair, make sure to do it gently, and thoroughly. Build up can lead to dry, itchy scalp, which presents its own difficult problems, so really pay attention during your rinse. It’s also important to remember to use that cold water, as above, to help seal in moisture and prevent the scalp from over-drying.

9. Infrequent Washing Habits

How often we should wash is often debated, especially when we are active, hot, and sweaty. We worry that by skipping that extra shower, we are damaging our hair (or that we’ll smell unpleasant). However over-washing can lead us to stripping our hair of it’s natural oils. Instead, try rinsing your hair, or using a gentle cleansing cream until your next shower.
You'll solve a handful of those issues you might be unnecessarily worrying about.

Having truly stunning, healthy hair doesn’t have to be difficult. When we take the time to do our research, and review these nine easy tips, tricks and mistakes to avoid, we can build a routine that works for our hair and fetches the approval of the most discerning hairstylists.

You’ll not only feel cleaner, and more confident, but it’s likely that your hair will be softer, your scalp will be healthier, and your stylist will be happier! You can't go wrong with these 9 tricks.