Will ‘bowl-washing’ my hair give me better-behaved curls?

The hack
Unruly curls? Try leave-in conditioner, then rinsing your hair in a bowl.

The promise
A quirky if convoluted TikTok hack suggests that “increasing your hair’s contact time” with products by repeatedly washing it in the same water will improve its condition.

The test
The first step is a cinch: I just wash and condition my hair as usual, then comb through a curl cream (I like Bouclème Curl Cream, £19, because it’s silicone-free, so super lightweight), followed by a leave-in conditioner. Then I exit the shower, fill a bowl with warm water and, in a step that seems as if it’s washing out the product, flip my hair over my head and dip it into the bowl. Using my hands to scrunch the curls, I dunk again in the same water and repeat, then leave it to air-dry. A TikToker called curlyzia.xo dunks hers four times to “reduce frizz, hydrate curls, dilute and distribute [the] product, and help with curl clumps.” My fourth rinse is thwarted by the doorbell ringing.

The verdict
I wasn’t bowled over (sorry). Water could help smooth hair for added curl definition, as could leaving in your product for longer. But mine didn’t look that different. And my bathroom is now a swamp. For me, the key to curls is the right products (see above) and using a protective silk scarf in bed.