Why You Need a Pre-Shampoo Oil, Conditioner, or Primer | Pre-Poo 101

When you go to wash your hair, do you usually start with shampoo? This is the most common way to wash our hair, but did you know it may be causing unnecessary breakage and damage to your hair, especially if you have fragile naturally curly hair?

I’m sharing why you should be using a pre-shampoo treatment, and showing you options such as oil, conditioner, and primers.

What is a pre-shampoo treatment?

A pre-shampoo treatment is done before you use some type of conditioning or penetrating product. This can be an oil that can penetrate such as coconut oil, a conditioner, or a primer.

Adding in a pre-shampoo step to your routine will prevent damage to your hair during washing and detangling. Protected, healthy hair is shiny, strong, and not dry or brittle.

The outermost layer of our hair is the cuticle, which protects the inner layers of our hair. When our hair gets wet, it swells, which makes it weaker and susceptible to damage. Wet hair is more fragile than dry hair.

Additionally, our cuticle layer becomes damaged by regular wear and tear such as friction, detangling, and the sun, but can also become severely damaged by using heat or bleaching your hair. 

When the cuticle becomes damage, it gets cracks or holes in the cuticle, making it weak and susceptible to protein and moisture loss, especially when it becomes wet.

How to Use Pre-Shampoo Oil

Look for an oil that contains coconut oil or coconut-derived ingredients such as “Coco-Caprylate/Caprate.” Coconut oil is one of the only oils that has been proven through research to protect the hair’s cuticle. Read more on that here.

Step 1: Apply oil to dry hair in sections. Detangle with fingers. Let it sit for 5 minutes minimum, ideally longer.
Step 2: Shampoo or clarify
Step 3: Condition or deep condition

The oils below are some of my favorites because they absorb quickly, so I don’t have to wait for them to soak in very long before shampooing.

How to Use a Pre-Shampoo Conditioner

Any conditioner or deep conditioner can be used to pre-treat the hair prior to shampooing.

Step 1: Apply conditioner or deep conditioner to wet hair. Detangle with fingers. Rinse lightly.
Step 2: Shampoo or clarify
Step 3: Condition or deep condition

How to Use a Pre-Shampoo Primer

Primers are products that are designed to be used before shampoo. The TreLuxe one featured below can be used before styling or when refreshing as well.

Step 1: Apply conditioner or deep conditioner to wet hair. Detangle with fingers. Rinse lightly.
Step 2: Shampoo or clarify
Step 3: Condition or deep condition

What do you do when you’re short on time?

• Apply oil the night before you wash
• Apply a lightweight, fast-penetrating oil right before you wash
• Apply conditioner and detangle before shampoo

Faster detangling wet hair with a brush does not mean it’s better. This just means you’re breaking your hair and ripping through tangles and you can’t tell. When your hair is dry and you’re using your hands, you will feel and breaks.

Who should use a pre-shampoo treatment?

• Damaged & high porosity hair
• Poor length retention or breakage
• Those who use heat
• Bleached/highlighted hair
• Dyed hair
• Gray hair
• Tangly hair
• Very fine hair
• Coarse, brittle hair
• Swimmers
• In the sun a lot
• Before clarifying & using strong shampoos

Who does not need a pre-shampoo treatment?

• Super healthy hair 
• Low porosity hair 

Who should not detangle dry:

• Super tight curl patterns 
• If you used a very strong hold gel or hairspray
• Those low elasticity – severely lacking moisture

Mistakes when using pre-shampoo treatments

• Using too much oil
• Not letting it soak in
• Using raw coconut oil and leaving it in
• Using very heavy, thick raw oils like castor oil
• Not applying it evenly
• Not effectively washing it out
  • Not using enough shampooing
  • Not shampooing all areas long enough
  • Using co-washes
• Dry detangling without oil
• Using a brush

If you have damaged hair and would like to repair it and prevent future breakage, check out my recent video comparing protein treatments to bond-repairing treatments to determine which is best for you.