When I got my hair done last night (gotta dye those gray hairs!), the woman shampooing my strands went through the whole lovely shebang of a scalp massage and full, salon-level cleanse. And then she asked: “Would you like me to now rinse with cold water?”
Cold water is something I avoid at all costs when showering, but I went with it because, well, she’s the professional. It turns out, there’s a serious perk to changing up the temperature in your tap. “Rinsing your hair with cold water seals the hair cuticle, and acts as an ‘anti-inflammatory’ in a sense,” says Edward Tricomi, co-founder and master stylist at Warren Tricomi salon. And okay, okay, a strand of hair can’t be inflamed the same way that skin can, but sealing the cuticle can add max shine by helping the shingle-like layer lay flat.
It can just be kinda hard to execute in the shower if you’re not into cold showers (despite their benefits)—you have to be a contortionist, arching your back like crazy to just get your hair without freezing your body, or I guess you can kneel upside down and use the bath faucet. The good news is that you can reap the benefit from your blow dryer too. “When using cold air from a blow dryer, the cold air not only freezes down the hair, but helps it stay in place,” says Tricomi. “Both methods result in a healthy, beautiful shine.”
When my freshly rinsed hair was then blow dried, I did notice an impeccable gloss—so much so that I couldn’t stop running my fingers through my hair and swiveling my head in order to show it off as I strutted about town. Pretty cool trick.
You could also try these supplements for thicker, healthier hair, or eat these foods for shiny hair.
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