How To Pre-Poo Your Hair & Make The Most Of It

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The first time I ever came across the term “pre-poo” it made me chuckle because I can be immature like that sometimes.  I had no idea what it was all about but I definitely wanted to know more about it.

At the time I thought here we go this is just another step to complicate things because I really did not understand what it was all about and what benefit it could possibly be to me.

The more I began to look into it the more I could see why someone would choose to do it. I needed to work out how to pre-poo in a way that worked for me because the last thing I needed at the time was to spend even more time on my hair.

 

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What Is Pre-Pooing?

Pre-pooing your hair is simply doing some kind of treatment to your hair before you shampoo it.  

There are a few different schools of thought on the best way to pre-poo but the more common way to pre-poo your hair is to use an oil.

Using oil as a treatment is said to help protect and to keep your hair better moisturised before shampooing.

I guess you could say that pre-poo your hair is similar to doing a hot oil treatment.

 

Why You Should Pre-Poo

There are quite a few benefits to pre-pooing your hair especially if you suffer from having very dry or dull looking hair.

Adding oils before you wash your hair could actually give your hair a nice boost in vibrancy.

Also, the “slip effect” that you get from the oils can make detangling a lot easier too.  This can help those that suffer from breakage.

 

How To Pre-Poo

Pre-pooing is pretty easy to do.

I prefer to divide my hair into sections as it makes it much more manageable.  If you have quite dense hair I would suggest you use sections too.

6 or 8 sections is usually a pretty good place to start.

Take each section and loosely twist it or use sectioning clips like this one to keep the sections apart.

Use a spray bottle to slightly dampen the first section of hair.  Next, take your oil and apply it to the section of hair making sure all the strands are well covered with oil.

I like to use this time to also detangle the sections of hair too.  You can do this using the finger detangling method or if you are not comfortable with that you can use a wide-tooth comb like this one. 

Retwist the section again once finished and then move onto the next until all the sections of your hair have been done.

Some people like to leave it there but I like to cover my hair with a shower cap for about 30 minutes to allow the oils to penetrate the strands of hair. This is similar to the greenhouse effect.

After 30 minutes I head to the shower and begin to rinse off the oil with warm water.

 

The Best Oil To Use For Pre-Pooing

The oils below are really good for pre-pooing because they are penetrating oils which means that they will not just sit on the outside of your strands.

 

 

 

 

Can You Use Conditioner To Pre-Poo?

You most certainly can!  I love to also use conditioner to pre-poo my hair and have done it many times in the past.

For me personally the benefit of using a conditioner means that I can really allow my hair to soak in the conditioner before I head into the shower.

I find that this cuts the amount of time that I need to be in the shower washing my hair for.

I have low porosity hair and pre-pooing my hair with conditioner and then covering with a shower cap makes my hair easier to wash.

 

Other Ways To Pre-Poo

Oils and conditioner are not the only ways to pre-poo your hair.  You can also do so using aloe vera gel which is very moisturising for natural hair.

Some people even like to pre-poo overnight.

Although I don’t really recommend that you pre-poo overnight with conditioner on your hair you can do it with oils.

You can even pre-poo during the daytime and cover it all up with a simple headscarf like this one.

That’s the thing I love about headscarves they really can cover up so much!

 

How Often Should You Pre-Poo?

It really doesn’t matter too much. You can do it at every wash or you can do it once a month there is definitely no set rule on how to pre-poo hair.

If you like you can always switch it up a bit too by sometimes using conditioner, sometimes aloe vera and sometimes oils.

It’s always best to see what works best for you.  Hair is very much an individual thing and what works for one person may not necessarily work for you too so don’t’ be afraid to experiment with it.

 

Does Pre-Pooing Help With Natural Hair Growth?

I’ve not personally seen any actual evidence that proves that pre-pooing helps with natural hair growth but that doesn’t mean that it can’t help.

Pre pooing may mean that you get a lot less breakage and therefore you hold onto your strands making your hair seem as though it is growing more than usual.

 

How To Use Aloe Vera Gel To Pre-Poo Your Hair

 

Final Thoughts On How To Pre-Poo

Pre-pooing doesn’t have to be complicated at all.  It can, in fact, help your hair out before you head to the shower to wash it.

If like me you can’t spend a long time in the shower then pre-pooing can be a way to save you time as you can do all your detangling before you even start to wash your hair.

Do you pre-poo?

 

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How to maintain your natural hair growth