If anyone knows the secrets of full and shiny hair, it’s Chris Macmillan. Even if you don’t know his name, you’ll definitely know his most famous work – The Rachel haircut for Jennifer Aniston. Yes. THAT.
Chris has now unveiled the ‘huge’ mistakes he sees many women making; ones which scupper a hairstyle before it’s even had a chance to rise and shine. Because according to Chris, our hair is doomed to fail unless we get the basics right, starting with our washday regime.
‘Good hair always starts clean,’ he says on a new Instagram post, outlining the key ways we’re going wrong in the shower.
Mistake one: Only shampooing once
‘The first shampoo is only going to break up the dirt,’ he says. ‘So you definitely need a second shampoo. Always.’ If you’re only doing it once ‘you probably won’t get enough shampoo to get your crown and your nape’, meaning you’ve not laid the right foundation for swooshy hair.
Mistake two: forgetting the key support spots
In case you didn’t get the memo, Chris wants us to really work shampoo - twice over - into the areas that support root lift. ‘I think that the nape of the neck and the crown of the hair [are] the most neglected. So, you might have to add some more shampoo [there], add a little bit more water on that first shampoo, break up all that dirt, get rid of it, and do it again.’
Mistake three: Not lathering properly
This is probably something you’ve not thought of, but Chris says we need to pay attention to the consistency of our shampoo froth, using it as a guide to show we’re working it into the hair sufficiently.
'You want that foam to be not soupy,' he says. 'You want it to be like pillowy, billowy, and lathery.'
Mistake four: Conditioning the wrong area
This one should be a no-brainer, yet Chris says he sees people who ‘take the conditioner and dollop it right on’, slathering it onto roots where it’s really not needed.
‘The focus when conditioning your hair isn't first going straight for the top of your scalp,’ he says. ‘I want to keep that freshly shampooed top and those really conditioned mid-lengths and ends.’ So condition from the ears down only, if you want full, Jen-worthy hair.
Mistake five: skipping the back-up rinse
It’s not enough to just lather up, you need to ensure you’re taking away any residue that might weigh your hair down. ‘If you think you're done rinsing, keep rinsing!’ says Chris. ‘You gotta rinse your hair thoroughly! Each shampoo, just make sure you rinse it out. Rinse your conditioner out. If you think you're done, give it another rinse just as a backup rinse. I always say that.’
And for an extra bonus, make that last rinse a cold one. ‘If you really want to do what I like to do, turn the cold water on,’ he says. ‘Fun fact: it makes your hair shinier.’
If it gives us hair a smidge closer to Jennifer Aniston’s, we’re in.
