If you go to a beauty store and look down the haircare aisle, you’ll see a lot of products that say they can clean nourish and soften, add volume or even lengthen your hair besides shampoo and conditioner, it can be hard to know which products are really worth the money you worked so hard to earn.
Pre-shampoo treatments, which are a group of hair oils serums creams, and gels that are put on the hair before shampooing, used to be a niche product category that started with people with coily and curly hair and has since become popular. It can be hard to add an extra step to your everything shower but for some people, a pre-shampoo treatment can make the difference between a good hair day and a great one. Valerie George, a cosmetic chemist and co-host of the podcast “The Beauty Brains,” says, “And when you have a great hair day, it’s like, ‘Wow, I’m unstoppable wow I’m unstoppable.'”
Valerie George is a cosmetic chemist and co-host of the podcast “The Beauty Brains.” Tonya Lane is a cosmetic chemist and the creator of Curly Chemistry, a website that uses science to help women take care of their textured hair. Candace Witherspoon is a natural hair expert and the owner of the Candace Witherspoon Salon in New York City. Dr. Alicia Zalka is a board-certified dermatologist, an associate clinical professor of dermatology at Yale University, and the founder of Surface Deep.
Experts say that not everyone needs pre-shampoo treatments, so don’t open your wallet just yet. Ahead, a dermatologist, a hair stylist, and cosmetic chemists explain what these products do, how they help your hair, how to use them correctly, and whether or not they should be a part of your hair care routine in the first place.
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What is a pre-shampoo treatment, and how do you use it?
Pre-shampoo treatments, also known as pre-wash treatments or pre-poos, are a group of products that you put on your hair to protect nourish and hydrate it before you wash it. You may have seen more and more pre-wash treatments on store shelves in recent years, but the idea of getting your hair and scalp ready for a deep clean is not new. Tonya Lane, a cosmetic chemist and the founder of Curly Chemistry, a website that helps women learn how to care for textured hair using science, says, “I know that in the natural hair community, it’s always been a thing.” “I remember doing pre-poo treatments even ten years ago.”
Depending on the product, you will use a pre-shampoo treatment in very different ways. But experts say that you usually put the treatment on dry hair, use your fingers or a comb to spread it evenly through your hair, and then leave it in for anywhere from three to thirty minutes. You could say that a pre-wash treatment is like a hair mask that you put on before you take a shower.
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Because the products can be used in many different ways, it’s important to read the instructions for each pre-shampoo treatment carefully. George says that some treatments are made to be used on both the hair and the scalp and have cleansing and clarifying properties.
Lane says that some oils are heavier and may cause acne, so they should only be used on the hair shaft. Putting them on the scalp could mess up the scalp microbiome, which is the ecosystem of microorganisms that helps hair grow. She says that these oils can also clog hair follicles and make the scalp inflamed, especially if they are used on hair that is already dirty or not rinsed out well.
But no matter what the treatment is for, pre-shampoo treatments are usually fully rinsed out after the amount of time specified for that treatment has passed. Then you can use the shampoo you like!
What good things do they do?
George says that pre-shampoo treatments can be very good for your hair, depending on the formula, and that they should be a part of your hair care routine. So, once more, make sure to read the labels on products carefully so that you choose one that meets your hair care needs. Here are some of the most common and useful benefits of these products in the meantime:
Help with Getting Rid of Knots
The feeling of having clean hair after shampooing is great, but have you ever noticed that your hair can get more tangled while you’re doing it? According to Candace Witherspoon, an expert on natural hair and owner of the Candace Witherspoon Salon in New York City, one of the best things about pre-wash treatments is that they can make it easier to get rid of knots.
Lane says that a lot of pre-shampoo treatments have oils and a group of ingredients called cationic polymers. These conditioning agents coat the hair shaft and make it easier to slip, which can help you get rid of knots. Lane says that people with hair that tends to get tangled easily, like those with curls or coils, dry hair, or hair that has been dyed or heated, may find it helpful to use a pre-wash treatment and detangle their hair while the product is still in it, instead of waiting until wash time to use shampoo or conditioner to get rid of knots.
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If a treatment is meant to help with detangling, the label will usually say so. Lane says that if you love science, you should look for polyquaternium-10 and guar hydroxypropyltrimonium chloride on the list of ingredients. Try saying that three times fast! (These are two common cationic polymers that help smooth the hair cuticle.) Lane says you can also look for hydrating ingredients like glycerin, which help the hair stay moist and slip. Lane says that these kinds of ingredients can “make detangling on wash day so much easier and [make for] less time in the shower, too.”
Protection from Stripping
Lane says that sulphates are cleaning agents that stick to the oil and dirt in your hair so that water can wash them away. Many shampoos have sulphates in them. Sulphates and other strong cleaning agents in sulfate-free shampoos can make the hair shaft swell and the cuticle lift, though, because they work so well at getting rid of buildup. This can make your hair more porous over time and take away its natural oil, which could lead to split ends, frizz, and breakage.
And part of the reason shampooing can be so hard on hair is because of the water in the shower. Lane says that every time your hair gets wet, the fibre swells, and when it dries, it shrinks. She says that hair strands can get stressed out and damaged by hygral fatigue when they swell and shrink over and over again, especially when the cuticle is already lifted from washing it a lot.
Some pre-shampoo treatments may help with these problems by putting a thin layer around the hair fibre, which keeps water from getting in and makes washing easier. Alicia Zalka, MD, a board-certified dermatologist, associate clinical professor of dermatology at Yale University, and the founder of Surface Deep, says, “You’re either skiing on nice, powdery snow or you’re skiing moguls.” She says that using a pre-wash treatment makes shampooing feel a lot more like skiing on powder. “When you put that on, it feels nice and smooth.” Here we come with smooth, shiny hair!
Better health for the scalp
A lot of the pre-shampoo treatments you can buy focus on conditioning the hair strand. George says that some of the other products are made to clarify, exfoliate, or otherwise help the scalp. You can find oils and serums for your scalp, but you can also find masks and scrubs with tiny beads that give you a sensory experience while they exfoliate.
She says that scalp pre-washes can be especially helpful for people who have too much buildup from sweat, natural oils, dead skin cells, and product residue. Pre-shampoos for the scalp can also help with dandruff and calm a dry, itchy scalp. George says that sounds a lot like the benefits of double washing your hair with shampoo as part of a hair cycling routine. She says, “From a functional point of view, [a cleansing pre-wash and a shampoo] do the same thing.” “I believe you could get the same results with a shampoo and good finger action.”
Still, there are many reasons to think about trying a pre-wash treatment. It can be hard to choose which products are worth it when there are so many to choose from. Here are some suggestions that experts agree on:
Experts Love These Pre-Shampoo Treatments
Best for hair that is hard to untangle
Moisture Miracle Aloe & Coconut Water Pre-Shampoo from African Pride costs $8 at Amazon. Thanks to African Pride This cheap pre-wash treatment has coconut water and aloe vera in it, which will make your hair easy to comb and feel healthy and hydrated on wash day.
Olaplex No. 3 Hair Perfector is the best for damaged hair. It costs $34 at Amazon and $30 at Nordstrom. Thanks to Olaplex You don’t have to spend an extra half hour on your hair care routine if you use a pre-shampoo treatment. This one only takes three minutes to make hair look and feel stronger and softer.
Super Slip Pre-Wash Primer is best for dry hair. CURLSMITH Super Slip Pre-Wash Primer is now half off. You can get it for $14 at curlsmith.com. Thanks to CURLSMITH On wash day, no one wants hair that is dry and brittle. This treatment for before shampooing is made to keep the hair safe from harsh cleaning chemicals and keep its natural moisture from being stripped away.
How can I tell if I need to pre-shampoo my hair?
George says that hair care is very personal, so there isn’t a set rule about whether or not you should pre-wash. If you’re interested, go ahead and try it. But a few things will affect whether or not your hair will actually get better.
Witherspoon says that people with thick, coarse, dry, curly, or coily hair are the most likely to benefit from a conditioning pre-wash treatment. These kinds of hair are already more likely to get tangled and break, so this step can help make wash day go more smoothly and quickly. Lane says that people with naturally fine, thin, or oily hair may find these products too heavy, especially if they don’t rinse them out well.
If your hair doesn’t usually get tangled after you wash it, a pre-wash step might just add extra time to your routine. If you like to wash your hair twice to get rid of product and dirt buildup, the same is true. George, who has tried a lot of pre-wash treatments for her job, says that double shampooing often does a better job of cleaning the hair and scalp. “I’m an old-fashioned person,” she says, “but I think you already buy things in your shower that do the same things these pre-wash treatments do.”
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George says that you can also get some of the benefits without adding more products to your shower caddy by putting conditioner on the ends of your hair before you wash it. Reverse hair washing is the name of this method. It can help give you that extra slip and protection that some pre-washes do.
You can also find good pre-shampoo alternatives in your kitchen. Lane loves cold-pressed, unrefined coconut oil, and studies show that it is good for hair. For example, a 2022 review in the International Journal of Trichology found that coconut oil can get into the hair shaft, cover the cuticle, and lower the friction on strands. This makes it easier to untangle hair and keeps it safe from damage while washing.
Lane says that these benefits come mostly from the high amount of lauric acid in coconut oil. Lauric acid has a small molecular structure that lets it bind to and protect keratin, which is the main structural protein in hair, and keep it from breaking. Lane also likes to use cold-pressed, unrefined babbasu oil as a pre-wash for the same reasons.
Dr. Zalka says that pre-shampoo treatments can improve your hair care routine and make a boring, “robotic” wash day into a relaxing self-care ritual. And the best part is? They don’t have to cost a lot of money. Lane says, “It doesn’t even have to be a real product.” “It could be something you already have at home or something you buy at the store.”
