Rinsing your hair with cold water to make it shinier: fact or fiction?

Running cold water over your head after ashampoo kind of sounds crazy, especially during the colder months. But many people have made a habit of doing just that because, rumour has it, rinsing your hair with cold water makes it shinier and is good for your scalp.

Fact or fiction?

Cold water can, in fact, be great for your hair. According to Schwarzkopf:

Cold water is good for hair structure. It automatically tightens hair cuticles, which makes them less dull and less fluffy. Several very famous people swear by cold water to keep their hair healthy and silky.

Hair experts from Jean-Louis David say that it 'activates microcirculation in the scalp, which promotes growth, limits hair loss, and tightens pores, thus protecting the scalp.'

It can be beneficial, but...

There are cons, too. Rinsing your hair with cold water after applying moisturizing hair products may prove useless. Why? Because it doesn't remove fat. But, there's more. Because splashing cold water over your head isn't exactly pleasant, we tend to expedite the process and, therefore, end up with poorly rinsed, dull hair. So, it's best to rinse use lukewarm water to rinse out conditioners and masks, then rinse withcold water.

One thing's for sure: hot water is not your friend. Excessively high water temperatures can burn your scalp, weaken your hair follicles and cause greasy hair by over-stimulating the sebaceous glands.

So maybe it's time to start opting for colder showers?