What Do I Do After Using a Hair Mask?
Chances are you know how to use a hair mask – apply it to your damp hair, allow it to process, and rinse thoroughly. But what do you do afterward? How exactly should your hair routine look after rinsing it out? If you don’t know, this is the right article for you. In it, we’ll share step-by-step instructions for what to do after using a hair mask.
Shampoo Your Hair (Optional)
After using your hair mask and rinsing it out, you can shampoo your hair. But you’ll only do that if necessary. Most of the time, you don’t need to shampoo out your hair mask, but there are a couple of instances where it might be necessary. Here are a few:
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The hair mask smells bad and rinsing it out doesn’t eliminate the smell.
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The hair mask contains ingredients that are supposed to be rinsed out.
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The hair mask residue leaves your hair feeling coated.
If none of these bullet points apply in your situation, you can skip the shampoo session.
Condition Your Hair (Optional)
Some hair masks condition your hair rather well; in these cases, you won’t need to condition your hair. But if that’s not the case, you’ll want to give your hair a conditioning treatment afterward. For this step, you can use your regular rinse-out conditioner or a deep conditioner (the latter will give your hair a more substantial and longer-lasting conditioning treatment).
Detangle Your Hair
Just because you used a hair mask doesn’t mean that your hair will become (or remain) tangle-free. You’ll still need to detangle your hair afterward to keep the dreaded matting away and make styling easier. You’ll wet your hair, apply a detangling product, and run a wide tooth comb or your fingers through your hair.
Apply a Leave-In Conditioner or Serum
To further boost your hair’s hydration and manageability after your hair mask, you can either use a leave-in conditioner or a serum post-hair mask treatment. You can use either, regardless of your desired style.
Air Dry or Style
You’re getting closer to the finish line – it’s time to air-dry your hair or style it. Before air-drying, you can apply any styling product that’s appropriate for your desired look. Then, simply wait for your hair to dry.
For other styles, you may need a gel, mousse, a curling iron, a flat iron, or other products and tools to create your style. Remember that you should always use a heat protectant before applying heat to your hair. Doing so will guard against the damage usually associated with heat application.
So, there you have it – everything you need to know about what to do after your hair mask. Some of the steps featured in the instructions aren’t going to be necessary in your case – use your judgment and the information in the article to determine which steps apply to you. We hope you found all the information you were looking for, and we wish you the best with your hair now and in the future!
Author: Andrea Reyes
Andrea is a mother, wife, writer, and natural hair enthusiast of 15 years. Currently on her natural hair journey, she’s been trying countless products and techniques to understand and embrace her natural hair. She is the creator of NaturallyTextured.com, a new website featuring informative articles that share tips, tricks, and techniques aimed to help others learn to love their hair through proper hair care. She writes with the hope of making hair care easier to understand and implement.