By Julyne Derrick
 
It probably won't surprise you that you're likely not shampooing your hair correctly. In fact, most of us make several mistakes every time we lather up. We don't spend enough time scrubbing our scalps, we don't rinse thoroughly and sometimes we skip the conditioner.
 
And those are just a few things we're all doing wrong. In this article, I share exactly how to properly wash and condition hair (it should take you about 15 minutes max) so that you're left with hair so squeaky clean it will feel as if you just got a professional shampoo at a salon.
 
My hair is a testament to these tricks actually working. Now that I wash my fine, oily hair correctly, I can go several days between shampoos (with the help of Klorane Dry Shampoo on Day 2). My hair has never been silkier, softer and just plain awesome. Now I just need to perfect my blow-drying technique and I'm set.
 
Here are the 9 biggest mistakes people make when shampooing their hair (plus, how to fix them)....
 
They Don't Wet Their Hair Thoroughly
I recently read a comment from a celebrity stylist that stayed with me because I have probably broken this rule every time I've shampooed my hair. He said most people don't wet their hair thoroughly before applying shampoo. Every strand needs to be soaking wet in order to truly get clean.
 
The good news is, it just takes about a full minute standing under the shower stream to ensure every strand is drenched. I can sacrifice that.
 
They Use Too Much -- Or Too Little -- Shampoo
Most people have no idea how much shampoo to use in the shower. I have a pump on my fancy bottle of Kerastase shampoo (I'm such a sucker) and I always pump it twice just out of habit. That's a lot of shampoo (probably about 3 tablespoons worth) that would plop into my palm. At $80 a bottle, I have been washing a lot of money down my bathroom drain.
 
At the same time, using too little shampoo won't get your hair clean enough.
 
Turns out there's a magic size when it comes to shampoo and it's all based on coins. For short hair, aim for the size of a nickel. For medium-length hair, aim for a quarter. If you have long hair, a half-dollar will do you. Squeeze the shampoo in your palm, and then using your fingers, apply the product to your hair starting at the scalp and crown.
 
They Don't Focus Their Attention on the Scalp
If you've ever had a professional shampoo at a salon, you know how much time they spend on your scalp. I always thought the long shampoo was really a head massage -- a luxurious perk that went along with the $200 bill for my fancy NYC haircut -- but it turns out scrubbing the scalp is a very important step in an effective shampoo.
 
Most people (myself included) do not spend enough time scrubbing their scalps.
 
From my research, experts agree we should scrub our scalps for at least 3 minutes. That's the magic number: 3 minutes. No matter your hair length or hair type, we should all be scrub, scrub, scrubbing our scalps with the pads of our fingers -- not our nails -- for 3 minutes. And we should do this in a brisk, circular motion. Now I will be the first to admit that 3 minutes is about 1 minute too long for me. I have tried to abide by this rule and I simply can't, so for those of you who, like me, have Shampooing Attention Deficit Disorder, I say do your best.
 
In her article, "How to Shampoo Your Hair," About.com women's hair expert Kendra Aarhus explains that focusing your initial shampooing efforts on the scalp helps remove dirt, sebum and build-up that collects there. Spending 30 seconds to a minute on your scalp scrub as I used to do is like quickly running a mop over a dirty floor rather than scrubbing the surface of its grime.
 
In fact, Aarhus recommends using this initial shampoo to focus only on the scalp, not the actual hair, which brings us to...

They Don't "Rinse and Repeat"
I always thought the directions on the back of every shampoo bottle to "rinse and repeat" was a bunch of BS meant to get us to buy more shampoo.
 
Turns out some of us should rinse and repeat, especially those of you with long hair. If you have short or really fine hair, you can skip the R&R.
 
It works like this: After you've scrubbed your scalp for 3 minutes, it's time to rinse. A quick 15-second rinsing should suffice. Then it's part 2 of the shampoo, only this time you'll be focusing your efforts on your hair, not your scalp. To do this, take about a dime-sized amount of shampoo and apply it to your hair. Focus on massaging the shampoo into your actual hair strands. You can spend as little as 20 seconds on this part or longer if you are a product junkie and you use lots of sprays, serums, mousse or gels.
 
All these rules! I know. But it's no wonder that before I learned them I went through a bottle of dry shampoo a month to buy some time between shampoos. It turns out I was doing a half-assed job my entire life. Now that I know how to properly wash my hair, I'm washing it less often. And my guess is you will, too.

They Don't Thoroughly Rinse the Shampoo Out of Their Hair
If you're like me, you can't wait to get over the work part of your morning showers. I can stand there in a meditative state for a long time under the spray of water, especially in winter (oh the havoc I wreck on my skin!), but when it comes down to the actual work part of scrubbing my hair, I aim for fast and efficient.
 
This means I typically whip through the rinse portion of my hair washing process. And likely, you do, too. Aren't we a fine bunch of sorry hair washers?
 
It turns out we are doing more harm than good because it's actually shampoo that causes build-up on hair, not conditioners, according to the experts at NYC's Le Salon. This is why it's important to spend at least a full minute rinsing hair of shampoo before moving on to the next step.

They Skip the Conditioner (and They Don't Apply it Properly)
Yeah, I have fine hair and therefore I have always thought of conditioner as an "Evil, Grease-Causing, Weigh-Down-My-Hair-Even-More-Why-Don'tcha" product that belongs solely in the bathrooms of people with dry, coarse and/or frizzy hair.
 
Well, it turns out I was wrong.
 
Fine hair is susceptible to knots and tangles, which is one reason it's good to use conditioner even on fine, oily hair. The trick is to use conditioner only on the bottom 2/3rds of hair. Do not let the conditioner touch your scalp.
 
Another mistake we tend to make is in applying conditioner because who knew there was a proper way? According to NYC stylist Eva Scrivo in her book, On Beauty by Eva Scrivo (buy it from Amazon, it's worth it), it's best to first squeeze hair of the excess water before applying a dime-sized amount of conditioner on the ends first and then working the product up the hair, applying more as you go. It's important to really work the conditioner into the hair. And while there's no need to let it sit on hair, unless it's a deep conditioning treatment, I recommend you let the conditioner work it's magic while you wash the rest of you and/or shave your legs.
 
I have to admit, I was really skeptical about conditioning my hair, but now that I'm following the rules and using conditioner, my hair has never been softer and silkier. I rarely put it back in a ponytail anymore and it's lost all traces of frizz. Consider me sold.

They Don't Comb Their Hair in the Shower
I never knew those fine-toothed combs all the beauty writers tell us we should use to get out the tangles belonged in the shower. And I surely didn't know they were meant to be used while the conditioner was in the hair.
 
According to this article I love on PureWow, it turns out if you want to avoid tangles and hair breakage (who doesn't?), brush conditioner through hair with a wide-toothed comb or a boar's bristle brush.
 
PureWow reports it's also a myth that you must use a wide-toothed comb, a brush will work as long as you use it on hair before the conditioner is rinsed out.
 
I have to admit that I skip this step, but I recommend you try it if you suffer from tangles and hair breakage (I don't).

They Get Lazy and Don't Thoroughly Rinse The Conditioner Out of Their Hair
I have never been guilty of this because I have never used conditioner. Yeehaw! 
 
But it turns out many people with dry hair make this mistake a lot. They think leaving a little bit of conditioner on their hair will make it softer and easier to manage. This is a myth. Conditioner will just sit on hair, making it look dull and flat, according to Scrivo. Scrivo (who is not only brilliant, but my friend, smile) says women with dry, coarse hair are better off using a leave-in conditioner instead.

They Don't Finish Off Their Hair With a Cold Water Rinse
It turns out that rumor you've read over the years in magazines that rinsing your hair with cold water will make it shinier is actually....true.
 
Scrivo writes, "It's a good idea to finish your shower with a cold rinse. A hot steamy shower raises the cuticle, while a colder temperature makes it contract. A flatter cuticle has a smoother surface that reflects light and look shinier."
 
I will always be guilty of this because I'm a cold water wuss, unless I'm showering outside in 100-degree heat. But if you are a brave soul who is thoroughly committed to having shiny hair, then you should go ahead and move that tap to the left, or right, or whatever direction leads to "cold. Really, really cold."
 
Happy shampooing my friends!
 

​Maybe you think no one notices the bald spot where you over zealously trimmed your beard this morning. Or  cares that you used enough hair gel to seal the bricks in your fireplace. But someone does — and he'd like to tell you about it. Meet your long-suffering barber: The man who bears the brunt of your amateur-hour grooming aspirations. In fact, your barber has seen more grooming bloopers and styling gaffes in his years of practice than you will (hopefully) encounter in your lifetime. "As a third generation barber who has been cutting hair for over 20 years, I've pretty much seen everything," Greg Zorian, owner of Gregory's Barber Shop in Albany, NY, says. It only makes sense then, that if you want to know what not to do to your hair, he's the man to ask. “The short answer is, if you're not sure whether you should do something to your hair, you probably shouldn't," he adds. Here, seven cardinal sins of grooming ye shall not commit.

The Dry Shave
You overslept. Your meeting was bumped up to 7:30 a.m. You are in a hurry. None of these unfortunate occurrences excuses you from attempting to remove your facial hair with nary a shave gel, foam can or, for God's sake, plain old water in sight. What happens to your skin when you dry shave? "Oh, it's bad," Alexia Saras, barber manager at Fellow Barber in Manhattan, says. "Dry shaving causes ingrown hairs, rashes, and skin burns. You really don't want to go there." At bare minimum, you need a pre-shave oil, she says, to soften the skin and help the blade glide smoother over the surface. "Then, follow the oil with light shave cream that you apply with or without a brush."
 
The Goop du Jour
The hair on your head weighs, at best, half an ounce. The pomade in that jar?  Five to ten times as much. So simple math would suggest that your hair can't hold much product before it looks like crap. "You’d be surprised the guys who just dip their hand in the jar and put it right on their head," Saras says. "The specific amount you use is going to vary depending on the product and your hair type, but as a rule, always start with less than you think you need. You can add, but you can't subtract once it's in your hair." Also, work up the product in your hands first until it's smooth, so there are no big chunks going right into your hair. If you're still unsure, ask your barber to demonstrate. "I always show my clients how to apply it," Saras says.
 
The Self Trim
In most towns, you can get a barber to cut your hair for about 20 bucks. That's a beer and a burger at your local pub, or a few cups of coffee at your overpriced espresso joint. So why must you insist on grabbing your kitchen scissors, or beard trimmer, and attempting surgery yourself? "Proceed at your own risk," cautions Charles McCoy, master barber at Kiehl's Barber Shop in New York. "You may find yourself with patches left over and a poorly finished head of hair." What’s that? You're just trying to even out your neckline? "I have a friend who sees a little hair on the back of his neck and grabs a razor to 'fix' things," Zorian adds. "From the front, it looks okay, but what he can't see is the little tail he leaves in the back from the spot he missed." Worse, Zorian says, are the guys who turn their razors upside down and shave the back of their neck up into their hairline. "I'll go to trim it and there is a huge hold underneath the hairline from running the razor too high." At better approach: Pop into your barber shop for a trim every four to six weeks — unless you're going for a buzz cut, in which case "it's fine to do solo, as long as you understand the fundamentals of proper hair care," McCoy says. In other words, see a pro.
 
The Helmet Head
We get why you want your hair to hold its style. We don't get freezing your hair into a permanent state of hardness, so that your barber needs WD40 to loosen it up before your cut. "There will always be guys who use half a bottle of gel and their hair looks like it won't move for the next year," Zorian says. "You're not going to talk them out of it." For everyone else, a dollop the size of a nickel is plenty to start. "Rub it down into the roots, comb it through the hair, and let it dry," he advises. If you still want more hold after that, add a finishing paste to dry hair, not more gel, which will result in something akin to helmet-head. Another tip: Using a gel on overly-wet hair won't work, Zorian says, because most gels are water-based, meaning they dissolve in water and will lose their potency. Shower, towel dry, then apply. 
 
The Comb-Over
Everybody knows the guy who does the comb-over. You laugh about it, and wonder if he thinks he's fooling anyone. Then one day, you wake up and discover your hair is thinning. And in the midst of your premature midlife crisis, somehow you become that guy. "I have many clients in this situation," Saras says. If you find yourself caught between a comb-over and a bald spot, "covering it up is never a great option." Better move: Get your hair trimmed close in the area that's thinning (usually on top), and leave it longer on the sides — it will look fuller, Saras explains. The other choice: Shave it all off. Because at the end of the day, if you are going bald, all the clever styling and trimming in the world isn't going to disguise your predicament for long. The only thing that will: A clean shave that leaves people guessing what your hair might look like, if you had any. 
 
The Patchy Beard
It's not soul patches, but that hole in your beard that drives barbers crazy. "Most beards don't grow in perfectly even — some areas of your face will grow more hair than others," Saras says. You can try to spread the wealth of hair that you do have by using beard oil or mustache wax to smooth out curly areas, which can help cover thin patches, but ultimately, "this is a job for a professional." What your barber can do: "If the bald patch is under your chin, I will fade the beard down to that spot, so it looks natural," she says. "If it's higher up or on your cheek, we can move the beard line below the spot." The better overall care you take of your beard, the less likely you are to find thin patches. "Apply a moisturizer or beard oil every evening before bed," McCoy says. "It will keep your beard and the skin underneath in great shape."
 
The Brow Beater
Being aware of your unibrow is half the battle. (Barbers say many men sporting the single hairy strip do so in blissful oblivion — it's their significant other that sends them in for help). Ridding yourself of the caveman look takes practice. "If a client has just a few longer hairs, I will use a scissor-over-comb approach to even them out," Zorian says, who adds that he doesn't think eyebrows should look too perfect, but thinks waxing is right for guys who want shape. "Waxing is effective if you have a high pain threshold," McCoy agrees. For a more natural finish, he uses tweezers — "it might sting a bit but it's better than shaving, which can leave dark follicle marks between the brows, and hair can regrow with a vengeance."

1. Take Baby Steps
“Start slow; don’t do a lot at first,” suggests Bumble and bumble’s Jimmy Paul to bang virgins. “See how a few wispy bangs look first. You can always do more if you love it, and if you don’t, you can just push them aside.” That said, Paul loves how bangs can also function as a curtain. “They’re great to hide behind, and they’re gentler on your forehead than Botox.”

2. Go Long at First
“Start off a little longer than you think,” advises James Pecis. “Hair always shrinks and retracts, especially if it’s cut wet or has a natural wave. You can always cut more,” he says. “When they’re too short, you feel exposed—sort of like forgetting to wear pants in the morning.”

3. Bangs Can Be the Best of Both Worlds
“If you have long hair but don’t want to cut it all off, bangs are a great way to make a big change while keeping the length,” says Orlando Pita. “I tend to prefer long, sexy bangs, anyway.”

4. Consider a Cowlick
“If you have a cowlick, don’t get a straight fringe,” warns Pecis. “Unless you’re ready for the constant maintenance of fighting the cowlick every morning.”

5. Plan Ahead
“Ask your Stylist for A ‘grow out’ clause,” says Sally Hershberger. “Some bangs, if they’re long enough, can blend into layers in a matter of one haircut cycle.”

6. Embrace Your Natural Texture
“I love curly hair with bangs,” says Paul. “It’s a look that’s not for the faint of heart, but it’s wildly fashionable. I also love a wide, thick bang, but that’s really a commitment. It’s the hardest to grow out.”

7. Go Against the Grain
“Blow drying them yourself takes practice,” says D.J. Quintero of Serge Normant at John Frieda. “When you’re drying them, guide them in the opposite direction that they naturally fall.”

8. Bangs First
“I always begin with the bangs [in a blow out], for two reasons,” says Bricel Perez of DreamDry Blow Bar in New York’s Flatiron district. “First, I want to tame annoying cowlicks while they’re still wet. But, for stylists, doing them first also means we still have the clients’ attention. That way, we can ask how she likes them to look before she loses focus and goes back to her phone.”

9. Spray. Stay.
“I always finish with a bit of hair spray when I’m done,” says Serge Normant, who taps his Meta Luxe Hair Spray. “It’s kind of insurance that they won’t misdirect. Just don’t use a heavy, wet spritz.”

10. It’s Just Hair
“We’re going through a short fringe moment right now,” says Pecis, who uses Oribe Matte Waves Texture Lotion. “This season of shows had a surprising amount of girls who went for the above eyebrow chop. Hair grows back. Cut a fringe and be cool.”

​There’s so much you can do with men’s hair these days that you’ll begin to wonder whether the sky is the limit! And for those men who have one of many reasons to add volume to their hair, there are many options available to them as well.

But, before we get down to finding the ways to increase the volume of your hair, it is important that you understand why increased volume is liked by more men these days.

One reason for men’s liking for more volume in their hair could be that they want to give a feeling of being younger in the workplace.

Another reason could be that they’re required to attend a special occasion, like a costume party, for which they’re required to add volume to their hair.

Whatever the reason, the good news for men is that there are a few ways to add volume to their hair in a short period of time.
 
Follow this link for cool ways to add volume to your hair