Did you ever wonder if there is a right and a wrong way of cleaning your hair? Indeed, there is! Washing your hair upside down has multiple benefits. And on the other hand, rubbing your manes together to cleanse them with shampoo has a few downsides.
Why is it good to wash your hair upside down?
While it is to your preference how you want to wash your hair, the upside-down method has the support of some experts. They believe that it better cleanse your hair and prevents damage. Also, it is better at avoiding hair breakage while your hair strands after bleaching or coloring.
Washing hair upside down has been given a specific name, the inversion method. And its most famed benefit is that it stimulates hair growth by increasing blood flow to your scalp. However, no studies have been done to support or disavow this notion.
We have discussed the benefits of washing your hair upside down and listed certain situations when this cleansing method takes the lead in protecting your hair against damage. So, let’s get into it!
Possible Benefits Of Washing Hair Upside Down
While employing any hair washing technique and not being aggressive at rubbing the hair strands is perfect for your manes, doing it upside down can have some extra benefits. How?
1. Prevents Hair Breakage
While it is entirely normal for a few hair strands to break or fall away when you wash them, a bad hair washing technique can make you lose more. When wet, your hair is weak and prone to breakage because water opens the cuticle and breaks hydrogen bonds.
While these bonds reform and cuticles close when your hair gets dry, being even a bit aggressive when washing your manes can cause damage.
Washing your hair upside down is safer, minimizing breakage because you leather the shampoo in the scalp, and water takes it through all of your hair. It is the best way to cleanse your hair strands while not rubbing them into each other using shampoo.
Hairstylists emphasize washing hair upside down, especially after bleaching or other chemical treatment to prevent breakage, frizz, and dryness.
2. May Stop Split Ends
There are multiple causes of split ends, including heat, chemicals, towel drying, and UV exposure. But did you know that washing your hair the wrong way, especially rubbing its tips with shampoo to clean them, can also result in split ends?
The friction produced from this rubbing damages your hair strands and can be one of the causes of split ends. Also, headbands, pony bands, and head coverings can render the same.
Washing hair upside down is the most smooth and friction-free method that helps you prevent split ends. It also keeps natural oil onto your hair strands because you don’t rip it off aggressively as usual hair washing techniques do.
3. Make Hair Dye Last Longer
The hair dyes consist of small color molecules that give your hair tint by getting trapped under the cuticle, which the developer opens. To make the color stay longer, you need to be careful about certain things.
The first thing you need to be mindful of is to bathe your hair. Washing it upside down involves gentle rinsing of the hair strands, which means it is less abrasive and will not open or damage hair cuticles. As a result, the color molecules will not escape the middle layer.
Also, if you want your hair dye to stay longer, don’t use coconut oil too often and avoid excessive and aggressive washing of the hair.
4. Washing Upside Down May Help Grow Hair Faster
There is no shortage of hacks claiming to increase your hair length within days. One of those is to use the inversion technique that proclaims to enhance hair length one to two inches per month. So, is it true that washing your hair upside down will help you with hair growth?
Experts acknowledge that while this method increases blood supply to your scalp for a few minutes, there is no authentic study to prove washing hair upside down helps with growth.
The inversion technique or upside-down idea goes back to ancient yoga. According to anecdotal evidence or people regularly doing a headstand, the upside-down posture helped improve hair growth by increasing blood flow to the scalp.
So, it is better to wash your hair upside down and see it yourself if it aid in increasing hair length and texture.
How To Wash Your Hair Upside Down?
Washing hair upside down takes a bit more time than the usual way. So, be patient and enjoy the process while following these three steps.
1. Oil Your Hair
When you oil your hair before washing, it gets you smooth and vibrant hair strands. Oils help the hair retain moisture, especially when rinsed out using the upside-down washing method.
So, gently massage your scalp with any beauty-graded essential oil and let it soak in your hair for 15 minutes or more.
2. Create Shampoo Leather On Scalp
Flip your hair upside down and wet it with water. Subsequently, apply shampoo to your head area only and massage it to create leather.
Why is creating good shampoo leather on your hair crucial? It is because water will easily carry it through all the down to your hair tips.
3. Let Water Run
Shower your scalp and let the water run upside down onto your hair strands. Make sure you don’t rub the manes together while rinsing the shampoo out to reap the benefits of upside-down washing.
4. Use A Conditioner
When you thoroughly rinse out the shampoo from your hair, apply a good conditioner, and wait for five minutes. You may flip back your hair to a normal position during this time. However, you may need to revert the hair to an upside-down position when washing out the conditioner.
Wrapping Up
There are no studies to confirm the benefits of washing hair upside down proclaimed by people. However, it helps with a few things that usual washing tactics don’t. It reduces the rubbing and abrasive rinsing of shampoo through hair strands, which minimize hair breakage and split ends, and may make hair color stay a bit longer.
