Cashmere hair: 5 tips for soft and silky hair From water temperature to acid rinses
Who doesn’t dream of having silky, soft, shiny hair? In other words, healthy-looking hair. Well, that’s exactly what cashmere hair is all about. Not a blowout, not a haircut, but a soft, lightweight texture, with full-looking lengths that look strong and healthy. And yet here we are, standing in front of the mirror with dry, dull, stiff ends that seem to have completely lost hope. At that point, it’s almost tempting to give up before we even start. But let’s give our hair one last chance: there are a few small changes you can make to your hair routine that, with a little consistency, can genuinely make a difference. Here are some of them.
Cashmere hair: 5 tips for soft, silky hair
Water temperature
@duygu.cdc Did you know washing your hair with super warm water can cause dry hair? Opt for lukewarm water instead. #hairwash #hair #shampoo #shower #hairgrowth #dryhair #hairtok Headlock - beatbylip
Let’s start with something so simple that we probably never even think about it: water temperature. I see you, and I’ll admit I sometimes do it too, taking showers in water hot enough to make even hell nervous. They’re incredibly relaxing, almost impossible to give up. But washing your hair with water that’s too hot isn’t exactly the best way to keep it soft and shiny. The reason is pretty simple: excessive heat can increase dryness in the hair fibre and strip away more of the sebum that naturally protects the hair and scalp. The result, especially on already treated or dry lengths, can be hair that feels rougher, frizzier and harder to manage. So, during shampooing, it’s better to turn the temperature down a little and opt for lukewarm water: warm enough to help remove sebum, dirt and product residue, but without unnecessarily exposing the hair fibre and scalp to excessive heat.
Cold and acidic rinses
@dalmalaluna Friendly remibder - healthy hair - apple vinegar #curlyhair #curls #curlyhairroutine #healthyhair #longhair #bleachedhair #curlygirl #hairttips #curlyhairtips La foule - Remastered - Édith Piaf
At the end of your shampoo, you can add one small extra step. The first is the classic cold rinse. But let’s make one thing clear straight away: cold water doesn’t magically seal the cuticle, but it can help the hair fibre feel more compact and less prone to frizz. And when the surface of the hair is smoother and more even, it reflects light better, making it look shinier and silkier. If you want to take things a little further, there’s also the apple cider vinegar rinse. Hair generally does well in a slightly acidic environment: when we use overly alkaline products, the negative charge on the surface of the fibre increases and, as a result, so does the friction between individual hairs. And more friction means more roughness and more frizz. An acidic product such as apple cider vinegar can therefore help bring the pH back towards levels that are more suitable for the hair fibre and make its surface smoother. Apple cider vinegar has a pH of around 2–3, so it’s too acidic to use on its own. It should therefore be diluted in cold water, using around one or two tablespoons per litre.
Reset your hair from hard water
@madamesweat #howto reverse the effects of #hardwater on your hair #hairtips Jazz Bossa - Smooth Jazz
We’ve established that water can be both good and bad for your hair in different ways. Guess what? We can add hard water to the list too. It contains minerals, especially calcium and magnesium, which can gradually build up on the hair fibre. This can leave your hair feeling rougher, duller and drier, even if you’re using super-hydrating and expensive conditioners and masks. So if it feels like your products have suddenly stopped working, it might be time for a little detox. Every now and then, you can add a chelating shampoo to your routine, specifically formulated to remove mineral deposits and other buildup that can accumulate on the hair fibre. It’s not a shampoo to use every wash, as it can be a little more cleansing: once every week or two should be enough. Once you’ve removed what has built up on the lengths, your products can get back to doing their job, leaving your hair soft, lightweight and shiny.
Stop hating on silicones
@abbeyyung Inspired by my text rant with @alex | cosmetic chemist this weekend This whole debate over silicones being good vs bad because they “coat” our hair makes no sense because any good conditioning product (conditioner, hair masks, leave in conditioner, etc) is literally supposed to create a film around our hair. That’s how it protects it! Going to film a video exposing our text convo so her expert cosmetic chemist POV can get the exposure it needs
If you want that soft, slippery, shiny hair effect, there’s one category of ingredients you may have been overlooking for too long: silicones. For years, they were treated almost like the ultimate enemy of haircare, but in reality, they can be very useful, especially on dry, porous or treated hair. Their job is actually key to achieving exactly what we’re after: they coat the surface of the hair fibre with a lightweight film that reduces friction between the hairs, helps control frizz and makes the surface smoother and easier to brush. And, as we’ve already seen, a smoother surface reflects light better. So yes, that soft, glossy finish we associate with healthy-looking hair can be, at least partly, thanks to the very ingredient you might be trying to avoid: silicones. So don’t be afraid of ingredients such as dimethicone, amodimethicone or other silicones in your conditioners, leave-ins and serums. They don’t damage the hair, they simply coat the strands, temporarily improving their appearance. The only thing to avoid is piling layer upon layer of product onto the hair without ever properly cleansing the fiber, because that can leave you with heavy, dull-looking hair instead of cashmere-soft locks. And this is exactly where our purifying and chelating shampoos come in handy.
Learn to understand your hair’s porosity
@kalawetzel This is my emergency pack that will cure high porosity hair!!! #highporosityhair #dryhair #damagedhair #hairtip #frizzyhair @shu uemura original sound - Kala Wilson
One last tip, and perhaps the one that can really change the way you choose your products: understanding how porous your hair is. We’ve written a detailed article on the subject, but in simple terms, porosity refers to how easily the hair fiber absorbs and loses water. Highly porous hair, often bleached, chemically treated or damaged, tends to absorb water quickly and lose it just as quickly. This is why it can feel dry, swollen and frizzy even immediately after using a hair mask. In these cases, filling your routine with ultra-nourishing products isn’t always the answer. In fact, too many oils and heavy formulas can weigh the hair down without actually addressing the problem. It’s better to alternate conditioning and film-forming ingredients with targeted treatments that help smooth the hair fiber without coating it in product. If, on the other hand, you have low-porosity hair, the problem is almost the opposite: it tends to absorb certain products less easily and can become weighed down much faster. Here, lightweight, low-oil formulas tend to work better.