What Is Hair Cycling?

Hair cycling is a personalized hair care regimen that involves rotating different shampoos, conditioners, and styling products to cater to your hair's unique needs at different stages of the hair growth cycle. Similar to skin cycling, hair cycling is a simple yet effective way to improve visual hair and scalp health while preventing damage.

By understanding your hair type, attributes and unique needs, and alternating between products, hair will look and feel its best. To create a hair cycling routine, simply identify your hair type and specific concerns, then choose the products that address those needs. Alternate between products every few weeks or as needed to keep your hair in optimal condition. Saltair also recommends consulting with a professional hairstylist for personalized recommendations to get the most out of your hair care routine.

Is Cycling Good for Your Hair?

Cycling through different hair care products can help enhance and maintain optimal hair health, and protect hair from damage caused by heat styling, chemical processing, and overuse of the same products.

By rotating shampoos, conditioners, and styling products that cater to your hair's specific, and often changing, needs, you can prevent product buildup on your scalp, which can lead to irritation, breakage, dehydration, and hair that looks and feels dull. What’s more, finding a balance between products intended to deeply cleanse and products intended to hydrate, nourish, and protect, ensures you get the most out of your arsenal.

While lifestyle factors such as stress, hormonal changes, and nutrition can affect your hair health, a well-rounded hair care regimen can help ensure your scalp and hair receive the care they need, precisely when they need it.

How to Start a Hair Cycling Routine:

There's no one-size-fits-all solution when it comes to hair cycling. While your natural texture, and styling routine are just two factors that determine your specific hair care needs, we recommend rotating a clarifying shampoo to combat buildup, a damage repair shampoo to fortify strands, and a shampoo that directly addresses your styling needs as a good place to start when building your hair cycling routine.

First Wash - Clarifying & Detoxing

If you’re looking for a quick and easy way to refresh your scalp, look no further than a clarifying shampoo! Formulated to combat dullness and greasy roots by breaking down buildup caused by hairsprays, gels, hard water minerals, and more, clarifying shampoos leave you with softer, shinier, and healthier feeling strands.

While clarifying shampoos detoxify the scalp and hair, it’s important to remember they are not intended for everyday use and can be harsh if used improperly.

If you color-treat your hair, are prone to dryness or have a sensitive scalp, we recommend consulting with a hair-care professional to make sure your clarifying shampoo won't strip your color or cause irritation.

Second Wash - Repairing & Strengthening

One of the easiest ways to combat and prevent hair damage is to fortify hair with a reparative shampoo, like our Recover & Restore Damage Repair Shampoo, which works to prevent and repair hair damage by strengthening and conditioning the hair cortex.

Some of the most common causes of hair breakage and damage are heat styling, bleach, aggressive brushing, and over-washing. By incorporating a damage repair shampoo in your hair cycling routine, you can expect long-term benefits like stronger, more elastic hair that is less prone to breakage, dryness, and frizz.

Third Wash - Preparing Hair for Styling

Lastly, choosing the right shampoo based on your hair type can make a significant difference when it comes to preparation for styling. Since hair types differ greatly in texture, thickness, and level of oil production, selecting a shampoo specifically designed for your hair type ensures your hair feels clean, nourished, and primed for styling. Luckily Saltair offers numerous types of shampoo designed for specific hair types, like our Curl Defining Shampoo for curly or wavy textured hair, our Beach Blonde Purple Shampoo that neutralizes brassiness and enhances tone for blondes, and our Hydrating Shampoo for hair that leans on the drier side.

Final Thoughts on Hair Cycling

No matter your natural texture, rotating your hair care products not only helps you address specific hair concerns but also boosts the effectiveness of the products you regularly rely on.

To further improve your hair health, it’s recommended to take a rest day from washing and styling to give your hair a chance to absorb naturally occurring oils that promote overall hair health and shine.