What is the hair cycling trend?

It seems just about everyone is talking about hair cycling these days—from hair care professionals to stylists, to popular hair care brands. So, what exactly is this trendy hair care regimen? We’re answering all your burning questions, guiding you through the process and letting you in on the best products to achieve healthy, beautiful hair with hair cycling.

• What is hair cycling?

• What are the benefits of hair cycling?

• How to incorporate hair cycling

• The best products for hair cycling

What is hair cycling?

Hair cycling is simply rotating your hair care products to account for the changing needs of your hair. External factors like stress, pollution, hormones and even the weather can affect your scalp’s pH and sebum levels, along with the vibrancy, elasticity and overall health of your hair.

Hair cycling encourages swapping out products each time you wash your hair, creating a cycle of purification, hydration and repair over the course of six to nine days.

What are the benefits of hair cycling?

Beyond healthier, shinier hair, there are a variety of benefits to hair cycling. To start, hair cycling helps to balance the natural oils on the scalp, which can alleviate excess oil production, buildup, dryness and inflammation.

Highly concentrated products with potent active ingredients can cause scalp irritation and damage hair. Hair cycling helps you avoid overusing your products, keeping your hair and scalp healthy while extending the life of your products.

Additionally, hair cycling allows you to target multiple hair concerns with different products. For example, if you struggle with frizz and breakage, alternating between a shine enhancing and reparative shampoo addresses both concerns with minimal effort.

The best part? Hair cycling is easily adaptable to all hair types and needs. You can customize your routine by mixing and matching products based on your hair needs and concerns.

How to incorporate hair cycling

You’ll want to tune into your unique hair type, but in general, it works best to cycle between purifying, hydrating, and repairing hair products. Experts recommend washing your hair every three days.

Start with a purifying shampoo to remove buildup and excess oil. On your next wash, reach for a hydrating formula to nourish and rebalance hair. And on the third wash, choose a reparative shampoo to restore healthy bonds and mend damaged hair.

For conditioning, try using an intensive moisturizing formula on days when you’re detoxifying hair, and a weightless moisturizing conditioner on days when you’re hydrating and repairing hair to prevent excess buildup.

As for styling products, try swapping out a few formulas based on your hair type. For example, if you have fine or thin hair, try a volumizing leave-in styler or a lightweight hair spray to keep hair in place without weighing it down.

Lastly, add a more intensive treatment or hair mask into your routine once a week or every few weeks to rejuvenate and replenish hair.

The best products for hair cycling

OLAPLEX No. 4C Bond Maintenance Clarifying Shampoo

This purifying shampoo is the perfect first step in your hair cycling routine. The gentle formula uses a broad-spectrum clarifying system to remove damaging product buildup, excess oil, hard water minerals, chlorine, heavy metals and pollutants for soft, beautifully clean hair.

Pureology Hydrate Shampoo

Perfect for the second wash of your hair cycle, this hydrating shampoo deeply moisturizes hair strands. Nourishing jojoba, green tea and sage provide superior replenishment for touchable softness and extraordinary color protection.

OLAPLEX No. 4 Bond Maintenance Shampoo

This ultra-popular shampoo is ideal for the third and final wash of your hair cycle. OLAPLEX's patented ingredient, Bis-Aminopropyl Diglycol Dimaleate, is proven to repair damaged hair bonds transforming brittle, dry strands into soft, shiny hair.

Pureology Hydrate Conditioner

For intense hydration that leaves hair manageable and beautifully soft, reach for this moisturizing conditioner. The smoothing formula replenishes healthy hydration that nourishes each strand from root to tip.

OLAPLEX No. 5 Bond Maintenance Conditioner

This ultra-reparative daily conditioner actually repairs broken hair bonds within each hair strand for healthier, shinier hair. The breakthrough bond-building formula provides hair with weightless moisture that leaves hair silky soft.

OLAPLEX No. 7 Bonding Oil

Tame frizz and flyaways with this nourishing styling oil. This multitasking treatment adds softness, shine and color vibrancy to hair while strengthening strands. Apply to dry hair for instant smoothness or use on damp hair for optimal heat styling protection.

Redken Acidic Bonding Perfecting Concentrate Leave-In Treatment

This reparative styler revitalizes damaged over-processed hair, repairing weakened bond for smoother hair. The lightweight leave-in formula provides heat protection up to 450 degrees and helps to balance hair’s pH.

L'ANZA Keratin Healing Oil Hair Treatment

With a blend of natural oils and ultra-healing keratin protein, this nourishing styler instantly replenishes moisture and boosts shine. Healing ingredients strengthen strands and restore elasticity, leaving hair vibrant and smooth.

OLAPLEX No. 3 Hair Perfector

This weekly in-shower, pre-shampoo treatment reduces breakage and visibly strengthens hair, improving its vitality. Similar to other OLAPLEX formulas, this bestseller works to repair broken hair bonds for shinier, healthier hair from root to tip.

Now that you know how to master the hair cycling trend, learn more about preventing dry hair this winter.