Cold Water For Hair?

[Urchin]

I read on The Internet (which is obviously always correct) that cold baths and showers are good for the hair and skin. Is this fact or fiction? Anyone have personal experience?

Thanks in advance.

[Patrycja]

I rinse with cold water(at least as cold as I can stand it)after my last C.Cold water closes the cuticle and makes the hair shinier.

[WritingMum]

Cold water will make the hair shinier, but if you are using it to rinse out product it will not get all the shampoo, etc. out. That's why it is recommended as a final rinse.

[TheHuman]

Fact. Hot water is drying for both skin and hair.

[Legend]

Cool water prevents loss of protective natural oils. I usually wash my hair with luke warm / cool water.

[meichigo]

Japanese people traditionally douse themselves with straight cold water at the end of a bath... Cultural note, though it doesn't prove or disprove anything. I think it's actually straight hot water then straight cold water "for health" or something, as tradition would have it. Anyway, I've heard that an abrupt change in the temperature like that can actually be bad, for your skin, at least, because the shock of it can break your capillaries, i.e. bruise your skin. However, I've never noticed that happening when I wash my face.
If it weren't so darn cold I would rinse my hair with cold water after conditioner since theoretically that will lock in the moisture from the conditioner whereas hot water would release it. (And yet I wash stains out of my clothes with cold water... I'm not sure where the logic in that is.)

[sahasralah]

I'm not much for a cold bath or shower, or even lukewarm really, but a cold final rinse does seem to help a lot with smoothing the hair out.

Here's what I do--when I'm just about to get out of the shower, I turn off the hot water side completely, turn around and tilt my head back and do a quick cold rinse--just 5 or 6 seconds of it... Then I reach back and tilt the shower head diagonally away, and hit the shower release thing with my foot to keep the cold water away. Yikes. cold... shiver.. anyway, it works for me.

[chrissy-b]

I've noticed that my hair is shinier and less tangly when I rinse in cold water. I've also alternated hot and cold water showers (final rinse in cold) as it really helps with circulation issues.

[Phalaenopsis]

I've also alternated hot and cold water showers (final rinse in cold) as it really helps with circulation issues.

I do that too. Brrr, than I'm always cold when I get out of the shower. But eventually, it feels great. :)
I also rinse my hair with cold water. It really helps, I think.

[willowcandra]

Since I started washing my hair in cooler(just warm) water and doing a final rinse with cold water I have been able to go longer between washes....hot water seems to get my scalp really greasy. I moved to a new house and had a shower at home for the first time I was rinsing out in hot water and coming out with icky feeling roots that got greasy in a day. So now I have turned the temp down my hair is much happier.

The theory is that heat causes the hair shafts scales to open which can make it look frizzy and it tangles. Cold closes the shaft and leaves it smooth and less prone to tangle.

I can only say good things for cool water.

[Nevermore]

I use warm water for shower-y things, then use cold water at the end for a final hair and body rinse. It makes me feel refreshed/awake and makes my hair shinier, less tangle-prone and makes it dry faster.

[ChloeDharma]

I remember Kissedbyfire i think it was started a thread a couple of years ago because she had noticed that when she had done cold water rinses her hair grew faster. I tried it but it was a bit of a disaster in a slippery bath bent over backwards and not quite grasping how bad the brainfreeze shock was going to be.

But i was talking to my dad not long ago and he hangs out with some travellers and he said they wash their hair completely in cold water......and some do have lovely long hair. I decided it's not worth it though, but i do like a slightly cool hairwash.....just not freezing cold.

[aney]

I use cold water as a final rinse! I wouldn't wash my hair with it 'coz I don't think I would achieve much!

[jojo]

i wash my hair in lukewarm water and rinse in cold water and have been doing this for about a year now, my hair gets less splits, is shinier and is easier to comb when wet.

Heat, i believe be it from water or hair dryer damages hair, i also believe that cold water stimulates the scalp, which may increase hair growth, only anecdotal evidence but i believe this.

[kimki]

I'm too much of a baby to shower in cold water. :) But I normal wash my hair serperatly and that's in lukewarm water and final rinse with cold water.

[pariate]

This is quite a good article about contrast showers - http://ezinearticles.com/?Tired?-Cold-Hands-and-Feet?-Do-Contrast-Hydrotherapy-in-Your-Shower&id=80142

[jojo]

very interesting article, i must stress i dont shower in cold water, i tip my head over the bath to wash my hair! but i might try the hot/cold shower thing to wake me up though, sounds refreshing!

[MermaidGirl]

I wash everything (body and hair) in warm water, then do the final rinse of my hair only in the coldest water my shower will produce! My shower head is the kind attached to the end of a long hose so its adjustable/moveable and I can rinse my head without getting cold water on my body.

I often get comments on how shiny my hair is and I tell everyone that I rinse in cold water and that's what makes it shiny.

I used to rinse my entire head in cold water, but lately I've just been doing the hair itself and trying not to touch my scalp with the cold water, because I am concerned that the temperature difference would be too much of a shock on my scalp and could possibly cause minor hair loss. Am I just being paranoid? Anyone care to comment?

[Lamb]

Cold water does wonders for my skin, all blemishes, breakouts vanish when I take cold showers for a time. As for hair: I have heard it makes hair shinier (it does indeed), but I have also heard it is not so great for some people's scalp. Mine is OK with it, though, so I like to do a final rinse with cold water.

[AJoifulNoise]

I wash my body in hot water, my face in cold water, and rinse my hair in even colder water. The last few seconds on my shower are ice cold. I like cooling myself off before I get out.

[Darian Moone]

I almost always wash my hair with warm to hot water. I can't stand cold water on my scalp or on my body. I do, however, rinse my length one final time in cold water starting about 1 inch down from my scalp. I work hard not to get the cold water on my scalp or skin. And yes, i feel it improves the shine.

[sahiba]

I always use cold water for bath and headbath.

[Tapioca]

I have Hashimoto's (an autoimmune thyroid disorder) that makes my skin and hair dry, dry, dry. If I take warm showers, I get the itchies. So, nothing warmer than lukewarm for me.

Note: Going from extremely warm water to extremely cold is not reccomended for people with heart conditions! However, it's wonderful for the circulation in healthy folks.

[Peggy E.]

I have a "roll-in" shower with a seat - talk about lazy! Anyway, there's a hand-held shower gizmo and I do the tilt the head back so that the cold water doesn't touch my skin and kill me bit as described in an earlier post.

My mother always rinsed her hair with vinegar and cold water, so this is a carry-over, without the vinegar. Though I haven't noticed much difference between my hair final rinsed in warm water and my hair final rinsed in cold.

[birdiefu]

I will sometimes put a bit of cold water on my length with the handheld showerhead so nothing touches my body or scalp, but not that often. I have Raynaud's syndrome so my fingers and umm...the place the baby nurses :P...will vasoconstrict and get painful when I get cold (and not just cold on those parts). Didn't think of that when I put cold water on my scalp once, and eeek that sucked!

[lora410]

I love my cold water hair rinse., and as far as a cold bath or shower; err no thanks.

[Exodus]

Well, as I have told before. My scalp loves cold water. My hair des not. Not even lukewarm. It just makes my hair dull. My hair may be weird, but for me it is cold water that makes my hair dull, more likely to get tangles and dry. Warm, and a little hotter water makes my hair smooth and shiney.

[Lamb]

Well, as I have told before. My scalp loves cold water. My hair des not. Not even lukewarm. It just makes my hair dull. My hair may be weird, but for me it is cold water that makes my hair dull, more likely to get tangles and dry. Warm, and a little hotter water makes my hair smooth and shiney.

That may be because warm water dissolves shampoo etc. better, so you can get all product out of your hair if you rinse with warm water. Cold water tends to leave some residue in your hair. That's why I always wash with warm water first, rinse with cold after.

[Haith]

I do a final rinse with cold water. When I'm done my shower things, I just turn the hot water down more and more until its as cool as I can stand. I really think that cool rinses make my hair shiny and happy.