Lather, Rinse, Repeat

I don't know how many times I've read (or not read) these instructions on my shampoo bottle. Every bottle has them, but who actually follows them? I had always thought of them as a colossal waste of time.

Repeat? Who has time to rinse twice when there are things to do during the day much more important than washing one's hair? And besides, I reasoned, wouldn't lathering and rinsing once get my hair clean enough? Surely the shampoo companies only included these instructions on the bottle to get us to use more (as they say in the hair-cleansing industry) "product."  Well, apparently not.

According to cosmetologist Kendra Aarhus, the first lather-up only gets the first layer of oil (sebum) and old shampoo out of one's scalp.  It is actually the second lather-up that gets your hair clean.   So, I tried it.  And guess what?  She's right.  Fancy that.  I have been lathering, rinsing and repeating for a couple of weeks now, and, yes, my hair is significantly cleaner, even when I don't wash it everyday (which I don't consistently do anyway, out of laziness and a somewhat cat-like dislike of getting myself wet).

So now I'm wondering, what other basic instructions have I been ignoring my whole life that it might be worth following after all?

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