Cold Water Rinse?

[Morag]

I don't get the "freezing in the shower" effect, because I wash hair separately. That way, the rest of my body can stay warm and dry while I'm gradually decreasing the warmth of my rinse water. If I change the temp gradually, I can get it pretty cool without feeling a shock.

This won't work after my crown layers grow out, though. Right now I just bend over and stick head under the tub tap. That gives 18 inches, at best, for hair to hang down from the crown before being sucked into the drain. :euuch:

I had to answer "not sure" because I started doing the cold rinse and the CO at the same time, and my hair is infinitely softer and slippier, but I don't know which action is responsible for what portion of that change.

[Jeni]

I do a cold rinse, I think it makes me hair shinier, but I've never really done a comparison study. I mainly do it to get myself out of the shower. The final rinse is cold=unpleasant which means I want to get out of the shower, if I leave it warm I tend to linger under the warm water. In the winter I usually cant bring myself to make the water cold, so I do a cool rinse.

Jeni

[Vela]

I've only done it a few times, but I don't because I normaly have to coverup with a heavy blanket for 15-20mins to warm back up. (Cold and me SO do not mix!)
There is a big diffrence with my hair when I do do a cold rinse, I just don't do it so often because of how cold I get.

[Shirlpunzel]

I do a cold water rinse every time I wash, and have done so for years.

I started doing this when I first started growing my hair and saw cold water rinses mentioned on tlhs. It made a huge difference! I have much more slip when my hair is dry, and the wet hair seems easier to work with too(though my hair always wants to stick together to some degree when it's wet). It seems to make my hair shinier too, but in my case, the slip is the primary benefit, as my hair tangles super-easy.

as far as avoiding the body freeze aspect, leaning back works well, and leaning to the side works well for me too. In our shower, to the side seems to work a little better than back. If you happen to have the type of shower head that you can move around, that helps too because you can adjust the direction that the water moves in. Something else I've learned is that (if you can stand it taking slightly longer to rinse) you can avoid creating tangles by lowering the water pressure as low as you can - that way the force of the water isn't moving your hair around.

If you just can't stand the cold water on your scalp/skin, perhaps at least try rinsing just the length with cold water after rinsing the scalp however you normally would.

[AJoifulNoise]

I do a cold rinse. I find that it smooths down my hair. And, I find it refreshing. I generally do all of my washing in hot water then rinse my hair and face (WO on face anyway) with cold water then do an ice cold rinse on my hair before hopping out.

[1nuitblanche]

Usually I shower right before bed, so cold water is pretty unappealing, except in summer sometimes. But, even when I did, I didn't notice a big difference.

[Nevermore]

I've been doing cold-as-my-shower-provides rinses for hmmm...around a year I guess. Sometimes I don't do them and my hair gets tangled pretty easily (whereas, with the cold rinse, it barely tangles at all ever), my scalp gets oily faster, my hair is less shiny and feels rough-ish.

I enjoy the cold rinse on my body too, most of the time. If I can't possibly stand the cold water as an end to the shower, I cold rinse my hair quickly, squeal madly, squeeze most of the water out with the shower still on, put my hair up with a knitting needle (it's so much gentler on my hair wet than the cheap plastic sticks I use normally) and use nice hot water on my body with my hair out of the way.

[XtinaXposed]

i don't see a difference. so i let it be, because i hate the cold. i also think that when the cold water closes the hair shaft then oils are useless because the hair isn't able to absorb it, or am i wrong?

[Newniepg]

I started cold rinse and CO at the same time...I think it makes it shine more, but the general softness I attribute to CO. Sometimes though (like today) I just can't hack the chilliness!

[lora410]

For me it makes my hair softer, smoother, and alot shinier. I did a comparison between the cold and warm and the cold wins hands down for me. I lean back as far as O can, ring out gently, place on top my head, and then get under the warm warer for a second so I don't get cold.