Doing a scalp-only wash

Washing your long hair daily may result in unnecessary damage and dryness, and yet some of us(especially those with an oily scalp) must wash daily or risk having greasy, limp hair and even scalp pimples.

Thus, it is beneficial to be able to wash one's scalp without washing the rest of the length, but how does one go about doing this?

There are many different methods of scalp washing, one of which is to wrap the length in a plastic bag or shower cap before proceeding to wash the scalp. However, I find that water always somehow seeps into the plastic bag, and I end up with a tangled mess. Therefore, I will be introducing a different method which I personally use, and find more effective, albeit a little more complicated.

Details of the full scalp wash method can be found here, where a highly useful article complete with pictures guides you through the steps required. However, I did make some minor modifications to the routine in order to make it more convenient for myself.

Firstly, I find it impossible to handle a shampoo bottle with only one hand (the other being busy holding the braid up), so i pour some shampoo into an old drink bottle beforehand, fill that up with water, and shake vigorously to get a sort of shampoo-mix. This is also useful for those who prefer to use their shampoo diluted.

Secondly, I prefer to use a squeeze bottle with a nozzle to wet my hair. I find that I can get my scalp thoroughly wet quicker and with less manipulation this way, as I can position the nozzle on my scalp and squirt to wet the inner layers first before moving outwards.

Lastly, I do a scalp wash daily (when not doing a full wash including length), but only use shampoo on alternate days. On other days, I do a water-only wash using the same method, except that I skip the shampoo and simply massage the scalp after wetting it down.

Do try out and perhaps even create your own method of doing a scalp wash, one that works for you. Feel free to post your method under comments!