Dry, dull hair can be a real bummer, making you feel like a lifeless mop head that’s seen better days. But fear not my frizzy friends, for there is hope! With a little TLC, a viral Tiktok trend and some magical potions (aka hair products), you can transform your lacklustre locks into a shiny, smooth mane that even a unicorn would envy.
Enter TikTok’s Viral Hair Cycling trend which promises to help you achieve your best hair ever. It’s had over 2.3 billion views and counting and has been one of the top hair care tips trending on TikTok for a while now, showing no signs of slowing down.
This trend may just help you say goodbye to your days as a walking tumbleweed and hello to a fabulous, glossy-haired future. After all, who says you can’t teach an old mop new tricks?
What Is Hair Cycling?
So just what is ‘hair cycling’, we hear you ask? Well, the good news is that the concept is very simple; you just alternate between the products that you use, to give your hair and scalp time to rest…
You might already be cycling without realising it! Whether you wash your hair once, twice of thrice a week, you’ll likely reach for that deep conditioning shampoo if your hair is in desperate need of some moisture, or that cleansing shampoo should your hair have so much product build up that it’s become as dull as a gloomy day in the UK.
Hair cycling is this, but more regimented. It’s all about practising a consistent routine to keep your both hair and scalp healthy and clean.
The idea behind hair cycling is to rotate different products instead of sticking to the same shampoo and conditioner regimen every time you wash your hair, all while incorporating different products based on your specific hair type, texture, and needs. This flexible and personalised approach allows you to address your hair’s specific needs and achieve healthier, shinier, and more manageable locks.
Hair cycling is based on the a popular skincare hack ‘skin cycling‘ where rather than applying the same products every day, skin cycling involves applying products with ‘rest’ days.
So why does rotating your hair products work? One significant advantage is that it helps you avoid overusing your products. Applying the same powerful active ingredients week in, week out can cause irritation to the scalp and damage to the hair. Hair cycling gives your scalp the chance to breathe between products, especially conditioning products that can lead to product build up and hygral fatigue if used too often.
In case you’re wondering; hygral fatigue is damage to the hair follicles, occurring when too much moisture penetrates the hair strands, causing them to repeatedly swell and unwell. Over time, this can lead to opposite of what you’re trying to achieve with your hydrating products; frizz, dullness, and being more prone to brittleness and damage. Yes, you read that right, too much moisture is a bad thing.
By incorporating hair cycling into your routine, you can ensure that your hair receives the right balance of nourishment and cleansing without causing harm. With all of that in mind, we’ve asked hair care experts behind Harklinikken share their top tips on how to hair cycle…
A Guide To Hair Cycling
The easiest way to cycle is to do a ‘cleanse’ wash and a ‘hydration’ wash and alternate between the two, but it depends on your hair type. The best thing about hair cycling is that you can completely tailor it to your hair and scalp needs. It might take a little trial and error until you get it right, but it’s easy to begin with the basics:
Wash One: Cleanse
Step 1: You need to start with a gentle exfoliation to loosen the product build up, sebum, and dead skin cells on your scalp. You can do this with products, or dry brushing using a natural fibre brush. It’s important to be gentle when exfoliating, as being too rough and over-exfoliating can cause microabrasions on the scalp, and can even cause your scalp to produce even more oils to replace what’s been lost.
Most experts agree that it’s best to exfoliate your scalp only once a week to start with – finding the right cadence for your hair type may take a bit of trial and error. If your scalp is on the drier side, you may want to exfoliate bi-weekly.
Step 2: Next, double shampoo with a cleansing/clarifying shampoo. You’ll need a good quality sulfate-free, paraben-free and preferably fragrance-free shampoo for the job. Choosing a product with these qualities will help balance out your scalp pH and support the scalp microbiome for this.
Step 3: The first cleanse will remove the product build up and the second will purify the scalp. After condition with a lightweight but hydrating conditioner, something that will add moisture to your hair without weighing it down and replacing all the products you’ve just removed.
Step 4: Finish with a light hair oil or serum to help spilt ends and lock moisture.
Ideal Tip: When it comes to clarifying shampoos, here at IDEAL we’re fans of Aveeno Apple Cider Vinegar Blend Shampoo, which is an affordable clarifying shampoo retailing at £7.99.
Alternatively, if you’re willing to spend a bit of money on our cleansing shampoo, then both the OUAI Detox Shampoo and Olaplex No. 4C Bond Maintenance Clarifying Shampoo will get the job done brilliantly, especially the latter, which has a award-winning patented formula for doing so.
Oh, and a shoutout also goes to Harklinikken’s award-winning shampoo, uniquely formulated to help manage excess sebum and stabilise the scalp microbiome to promote conditions for optimal hair growth. In other words, it gently cleanses your scalp and hair follicles, restoring shine, lustre and bounce to dull and dry strands.
Wash Two: Hydrate
Step 1: As in wash one, double shampoo, but use a more hydrating shampoo designed for your hair type, rather than something clarifying. You don’t need to exfoliate and detox this time, as you did it in the previous wash.
Step 2: Follow this with a moisturising hair mask – you could also wrap your hair in a hot towel to help the product work its hydrating magic.
Step 3: Depending on your hair type, finish with a leave-in conditioner, or apply a nourishing hair oil.
The Bottom Line
So is TikTok’s viral hair cycling trend worth trying? The answer is yes, no matter what your hair type. If you’re looking to revamp your hair care routine and give your locks some much-needed TLC, why not give hair cycling a try? With its customisable nature and focus on addressing individual hair needs, it might just be the perfect solution for achieving your hair goals.