Pre-Poo: What Is It & What Are the Benefits?

Pre-poo. It’s a term often referred to by curly girls and guys - one of those ‘if you know, you know’ phrases. But, if you don’t know what it is, the chances are you will be very confused at all the talk of ‘pre-pooing’.

For those who have heard of the term and vaguely understand the meaning of it (at least that it’s not actually rude), this article will help you to understand the benefits of pre-pooing and why it is a preferred method of deep conditioning for many curlies.

 What is a pre-poo?

Pre-poo is the method of applying a treatment to the hair before shampooing - pre-shampoo. Some people choose to pre-poo with an oil, like coconut oil, and others prefer to pre-poo with a deep conditioner.

*Fun Fact*

In the curly world, the word shampoo is often shortened to ‘poo’ - no-poo, low-poo, pre-poo.

 What are the benefits?

• Protects hair from cleanser

After cleansing with a shampoo, hair can often feel a little too clean or stripped. By pre-pooing, your cuticles will already have some kind of barrier (especially if using an oil) and so will prevent hair from feeling stripped of natural oils.

• Prepares cuticle for further manipulation on wash day

Washing our hair can be a stressful experience for our cuticles, with all the scrubbing, scrunching and other manipulation. Pre-pooing will help to moisturise hair, prepare it for wash day and prevent breakage.

• Prevents low porosity hair from getting weighed down

If you have low porosity hair, you’ll know that adding too much product can cause hair to get weighed down and lose definition. Pre-pooing can prevent this.

• Helps with detangling

During your pre-poo routine, you will detangle your hair which means when it comes to actually washing your hair, it will be much easier to run your hands through and you will not have as much fallout.

• Saves time

When you pre-poo, you’re getting one part of your wash day routine out of the way. You can leave your deep conditioner in while pottering around the house, running errands or even at the gym!

Pre-pooing for Low Porosity and Fine Hair

Many people with low porosity or fine hair find that deep conditioning after shampooing leaves hair feeling over-moisturised, weighed down and lacking curl definition. To prevent this, you can instead deep condition as a pre-poo. This will prepare the cuticles for any stress about to be incurred during the washing and styling process.

Additionally, because you will be thoroughly washing all the deep conditioner out of your hair during your wash routine that follows, hair will not be as weighed down with moisture. If you lack curl definition after deep conditioning the ‘standard’ way, why not try the pre-poo deep conditioning method below?

How to pre-poo?

To pre-poo with Boucléme’s Intensive Moisture Treatment deep conditioner, follow this basic routine:

1. Wet hair

Use a spray bottle to dampen hair, or use the shower to fully wet hair. For low porosity hair, fully saturating hair with water can help the product to soak into cuticles faster.

*This step can be skipped if you prefer to add product to dry hair*

2. Apply deep conditioner to hair in sections

Apply a generous amount of deep conditioner to the hair in sections, lightly finger detangling from the tips of your hair upwards.

 3. Detangle

Grab your favourite detangling brush or comb and begin to detangle hair from the tips upwards, like in the previous step. Continue to brush through the hair until all product has been distributed evenly. 

4. Squish to condish

Cup your hair from the bottom and lightly scrunch to the top of your hair and pulsate until you no longer hear the ‘squishy’ noise. If you have not previously wet your hair, you can add water at this step, simply cup water into your curls from the bottom, up.

5. Add more product if necessary and smooth any flyways down

Squishing hair can get rid of some product, so if you feel you’ve lost a lot of product when squishing, add a little more.

6. Tie hair up

Hair can be either tied into a bun or into a few different sections, depending on personal preference.

7. Cover hair with shower cap

When shower cap is on, you can add heat with a hairdryer, or opt to purchase a special heat cap.

8. Leave for 30-60 minutes

Depending on how deep of a condition your hair needs.

9. Rinse out and go ahead with your wash day routine

Shampoo, condition and apply products.

10. Achieve moisturised, hydrated and defined curls.

Now that you know all about pre-pooing, what it is and how to pre-poo, it’s time to try it out for yourself!

By Hannah Cook - @hanzcurls