I must admit, I really don’t enjoy washing my hair. It always feels like such a chore. Unless I have some lovely new shampoo or conditioner to test out – then I can hardly wait. But usually, I’ll wait until I can no longer justify being seen in public before I cave in and wash it. I know, I’m lazy.
But the thing is – washing your hair too often isn’t good. This is especially true if you have dry and coarse hair. Too much shampoo will strip your hair of it’s natural oils and leave it looking and feeling even more dried out.
What’s more, every time you wash it, you are more likely to use a heated appliance to blow dry it or style it.
How Often Should You Wash Your Hair?
This will very much depend on both your hair type and your lifestyle. If you are a regular gym goer, or work in a location where you are exposed to undesirable smells, you are more likely to want to, or need to, wash it more frequently. If you do need to wash your hair every day get generous with the conditioner. Consider a weekly deep conditioning treatment to soften up your locks again.
If you have normal hair (neither too oily or too dry) I would recommend you wash your hair every 2 days if you can. If your scalp feels itchy before then, or your hair looks oily/greasy then wash it before that time is up.
If you have dry hair, try and hold out for as long as you can before you wash it.
Can I Just Use A Conditioner?
Absolutely. It might be that your hair just needs wetting and conditioning, skipping the need for shampoo. Using a natural conditioner is even better, less chemicals to stress out your hair.
Can I Wash My Hair Every Day?
You can, and it might be that your hair copes very well with it. This is definitely more the case for those with oily hair, just ensure you use a shampoo suitable for your hair type. However, for most people it would be preferable to limit how often you wash it.
The problem with washing your hair every day can be that you end up making your hair get greasier more quickly. Because you are stripping your hair of it’s natural oils your scalp will work harder to produce more oils and unfortunately make your hair greasy again, forcing you to wash it again – a bit of a vicious circle.
Should I Use Dry Shampoo?
Dry shampoo is as the name suggests, shampoo in powder form, without and water added. Dry shampoo has grown in popularity in recent years, the convenience of cleaning our hair of oily roots is ideal, especially when we don’t have time to wash, dry and style it. By reducing the styling time we are also protecting our hair from too much heat damage.
Can I Skip Using Shampoo Completely?
There is a bit of a movement going on called the ‘No Poo Method’ where people are not using shampoo at all. Instead of using commercially made shampoo, followers of the no poo method are just washing their hair with water, or using natural, chemical free alternatives. Shampoo free hair is gaining in popularity as people reaped the rewards of natural chemical free hair. So much so, there are blogs and books to help you through the transition period.
And if you can’t quite face being shampoo free, follow these tips for washing your hair the right way…
- Start with a rinse – always rinse your hair through with warm water. This helps to get the oils moving from your scalp as well as wash out any initial dirt.
- Go easy on the ends – focus most of the shampoo on the roots of your hair rather than the ends. Hair growing at the roots is newer and stronger than the drier ends.
- Massage your scalp – give yourself a massage as you was your hair. This will help to keep your scalp healthy and promote new hair growth.
- Only use a little shampoo – there is no need to use lots of shampoo to wash your hair, and there certainly isn’t any need to wash it twice as some bottles suggest. This will only dry your hair out further and you’ll lose even more healthy natural oils from your scalp.
- Be generous with the conditioner – use lots of conditioner on your hair but focus it on the mid to ends of your locks. Leave the scalp to use your own natural oils.
- Rinse with cold water – go on, you can do it! By using cold water to rinse your hair your cuticles will seal up more effectively and produce more shine.
How about you? How often do you wash your hair? Could you go shampoo free?