Ice for shine?

[bluesnowflake]

Many people here ( including me) swear by a cold-water rinse to make hair shiny and flatten the cuticle. However, I know for me I just have to tolerate it for 30 seconds- it's uncomfortable and I do it for the hair benefits. So I was wondering, would an ice pack on hair do the same thing? Obviously not when it's wet or it would freeze. It seems like it could be a good alternative that doesn't freeze the rest of your body- thoughts?

[einna]

I always do cold water rinses. I just bend and put my hair in front of my body, so just my head gets cold water on it. Simple solution.
Have no idea about the icepack though, but I dont have a good feeling.

[pop]

I do a final rinse with cold water too..but with my head upside down, so the cold water doesnt effect my body at all

[christine1989]

I rinse with cold water and I think it helps with shine. I also notice that my hair behaves better and has a silkier texture when it is really cold out so the ice pack idea may well work. :)

[Lostsoule77]

I do a cold water rinse, but I just arch back a bit so that only my hair and head are in the water stream. I don't know if the ice pack would work, but I'm thinking it wouldn't.

[jaine]

I do a cold water rinse, but I just arch back a bit so that only my hair and head are in the water stream. I don't know if the ice pack would work, but I'm thinking it wouldn't.

I do the back-arching thing too ... only my scalp gets water on it so it's much more tolerable than letting it run down everything!!

[girlcat36]

I used to bring a plastic pitcher of cold water in the shower with me and pour it over my head while I was standing in the hot water. Yes, my hair is shinier with a cold rinse.
Now I take cold showers instead. I discovered that my shower-time hair loss was massively reduced by using only lukewarm water to shampoo with, then finishing with a cold rinse. All over. It's truly not as bad as it sounds, and I don't think I will ever be able to take a regular hot shower again. :D
And----I am a cold person, always freezing with bad circulation. The cold showers are helping improve that.

[Anywhere]

Not sure. I don't think anyone's done that before.

I don't do cold rinses, only lukewarm rinses. I feel sick when my scalp has icy cold water on it, and I do a super back arch. My back is pretty much parallel with the shower floor when I do it.

[pepperminttea]

I do a cold water rinse, but I just arch back a bit so that only my hair and head are in the water stream. I don't know if the ice pack would work, but I'm thinking it wouldn't.

I'm another who arches their back. :)

I'm a bit doubtful that an icepack would have the same effect; wouldn't it only affect the canopy and miss the underlayer? Might be worth an experiment though. :)

[halfbroke]

Sometimes after a shower get a tupperware fill it with cold water and ice and pour that over my head while leaning over the tub. I find that it helps with the frizzies, shine and itchiness. I also use it on my face to reduce redness and it makes it really soft! :)

[omnivore]

'petting' the hair with an icecube from scalp to ends might work, but you'd still get cold water on your shoulders and whatnot. when do my icy cold water rinse, in the kitchen sink (while fully clothed :D) i open my eyes as wide as they will go and breathe in deeply through my nose. i read about the wide open eyes in a book about natural birth, and have found it to be very helpful on many physically uncomfortable/painful situations.

[Igor]

I have always been suspicious of the cold water rinse. I mean; If cold water makes the cuticles flat, will they not ”stand up” again as soon as the hair reheats to room temperature?
But a lot of people swear by this, so there must be an explanation to it :shrug:
Anyways.
I have always said that if the heat or cold doesn’t hurt your skin, it is safe for hair. So if your cold pack doesn’t feel painful or uncomfortable on hair, it should be fine.
I’m still sceptic of the effect though :wink:
One thing I would advice is to not involve ”wet” freezing. You don’t want the water inside your hair to freeze and expand.

[Madame J]

I'm another back-archer, but out of instinct when I feel the cold water on the top of my head. If I can control myself, I try to douse my whole body in cold water at the end of a shower because it's good for you. I tend to be more likely to actually do it in the summer, though.

[Fufu]

I'm a back archer too, I was figuring how to avoid cold water on my body until one fine day.

[Braidy]

I used to bring a plastic pitcher of cold water in the shower with me and pour it over my head while I was standing in the hot water. Yes, my hair is shinier with a cold rinse.
Now I take cold showers instead. I discovered that my shower-time hair loss was massively reduced by using only lukewarm water to shampoo with, then finishing with a cold rinse. All over. It's truly not as bad as it sounds, and I don't think I will ever be able to take a regular hot shower again. :D
And----I am a cold person, always freezing with bad circulation. The cold showers are helping improve that.

That's what I call courage! Even though I know cold showers are good for your skin, I just can't put myself to doing it. So until I have your courage I'll keep on doing what I do now: bending over in the bath tub to cold rinse my hair.

About the icepack: I have my doubts about that... I've had snow frozen in my hair after skiing in bad weather and even had literally frozen hair from walking outside in cold weather after a swim. Didn't feel too good...

[eterea]

Hello lhc ;)

I used to make icecubes with flax seed gel + orange essential oil (I have dry threated hair) to use it on my ends, as leavein, that was amazing!
I think I can try it also with camomile tea bags and lemon for extra shine!
:p

[Sunshineliz]

I used to bring a plastic pitcher of cold water in the shower with me and pour it over my head while I was standing in the hot water. Yes, my hair is shinier with a cold rinse.
Now I take cold showers instead. I discovered that my shower-time hair loss was massively reduced by using only lukewarm water to shampoo with, then finishing with a cold rinse. All over. It's truly not as bad as it sounds, and I don't think I will ever be able to take a regular hot shower again. :D
And----I am a cold person, always freezing with bad circulation. The cold showers are helping improve that.

I had no idea cold showers helped circulation. I wonder what the science is behind that....?

[selderon]

I had no idea cold showers helped circulation. I wonder what the science is behind that....?

Contrast showers would improve circulation by causing forced cycles of vasodilation and vasoconstriction.

Cold showers would cause vasoconstriction, which prevents the body cooling itself as much. Temporarily of course.

You've probably noticed that the veins in your hands and feet stand out more when you're hot. The blood vessels have opened to allow more blood to flow through (and dump heat the way a car dumps heat through the radiator). If the blood vessels are left dilated, the cooling process continues.

Cold water can be applied to constrict the vessels. The body will still lose heat through radiation, but at a much slower rate than when vessels were dilated.

In hydrotherapy treatments meant to warm and maintain the body temperature at a higher level, the patient is often cooled quickly at the end of the warming process to help trap the heat in the body.

Um... Did that help at all?

[hyettf16]

We don't have cold water in Florida :P I just use the coolest possible, which I can handle even though I'm never warm enough anywhere I go.

[Sweet Beat]

I do so too :)
Hm... I'm just guessing here, but I don't think ice would be a good idea. I mean, things that are really cold use to be easy to broke...?

[Sunshineliz]

Contrast showers would improve circulation by causing forced cycles of vasodilation and vasoconstriction.

Cold showers would cause vasoconstriction, which prevents the body cooling itself as much. Temporarily of course.

You've probably noticed that the veins in your hands and feet stand out more when you're hot. The blood vessels have opened to allow more blood to flow through (and dump heat the way a car dumps heat through the radiator). If the blood vessels are left dilated, the cooling process continues.

Cold water can be applied to constrict the vessels. The body will still lose heat through radiation, but at a much slower rate than when vessels were dilated.

In hydrotherapy treatments meant to warm and maintain the body temperature at a higher level, the patient is often cooled quickly at the end of the warming process to help trap the heat in the body.

Um... Did that help at all?

Yes, thanks! I always like to know WHY things work.:D

[TheMechaGinger]

I read in a seventeen magazine or glamour or something like that that some celebrities run ice cubes over their hair to seal the cuticle and make it shiny. That was like 4 years ago, but on dry hair I can't see it hurting anything so maybe give it a go?

[berr]

They has this on the doctors today. Liv Tyler supposedly runs an ice cube down the cuticle of her hair to relax it.

[Jimothea]

I've not tried ice in any way, but the last time I had long hair, I used to stick my head in the freezer and shake it back and forth really hard until my hair was cold to the touch, and my scalp was cool. It was waist length and went all over the frozen peas and whatnot, lol. Very high-tech cuticle sealant, lol.

I didn't realize at the time there was science behind it making my hair nicer, I just knew it felt good and cut the frizzies pretty well. That was back in high school; my mom would get sooo mad about letting all the cold air out into the kitchen, lol.

Think I might try the flax gel ice cube thing....?