Wednesday, June 18, 2014

How to Not Wash Your Hair Everyday

Most weeks I wash my hair twice a week. That doesn't mean I don't shower everyday. I promise I do. But washing my hair everyday makes it extra oily on top and really dry at the bottom. When you wash your hair everyday your body produces a lot of oil, because you're stripping it of oil everyday.

So when people say they have to wash their hair everyday because it's super oily, I think it's oily because you wash it everyday. 

Before Peace Corps I decided to give it a try, I started washing my hair every other day. I'm going to be honest, in the beginning, your hair is going to be super greasy on the second day while your body adjusts. After a few months my hair was adjusted and things were great.
Then in Peace Corps I washed my hair once a week because it's pretty terrible washing your hair when you don't have hot water, or even running water. But my hair got really gross, and full of dandruff; so I started washing it everyday.

Which meant I had to then go through the process again of lengthening out the days between washing. This time, after each washing I went as long as I could before I'd wash my hair. Some days large hairbands or elaborate hairstyles would hide the grease, other days I'm pretty sure I just looked kind of nasty at work. I think the longest I went was 8 days without washing.

For some reason this time it took longer for my hair to adjust, and I still had dandruff from Cambodia; but I'd say after 3 months or so I could go three days before washing my hair and it wouldn't look bad. I'm now on a pretty steady schedule of washing on Mondays and Thursdays every week. Sometimes I'll go more, sometimes I'll go less.

In my journey I've amassed some tips to making the process of lengthening out between washing.

1. Don't wet your roots of your part on your off washing days. Obviously that's where you're the oiliest, and for me; if I wet my my part roots it makes my hair greasier much faster. I do wet my hair everyday because it's curly and after sleeping on curls, you have to wet them to start over, but if you don't need to wet your hair everyday to have it look good, don't; and it will be less greasy. Shower caps will be your best friend. I get them from hotels and hoard them. I just put the shower cap around the very top of my head to cover my part and then I'm good to shower like normal.

2. This one is going to be terrible for some people. Don't wear your hair up at the gym. I read this somewhere and now I 100% believe it. If you're sweating and your hair is plastered against your head, it's all going to get greasy. But if you wear it down it dries quickly and actually gives it a lot of volume. There are some exercises when I do wear my hair up, but it's rare. Don't believe me? The below pictures were both taken at the gym. The one on the left is one days after washing, and the one on the right is freshly washed that day. 


















3. Every once in a while wash with dandruff shampoo. Lengthening out often dries out a scalp, and dandruff shampoo every once in a while on a wash day will fix that right up. I also keep at least two sets of shampoo and conditioner in my shower and switch off to prevent buildup. 

4. Corn Starch is a cheaper dry shampoo. I've heard, and have no idea if it's true that dry shampoo isn't very good for your hair. It can also get kind of spendy. But the ultimate solution to that is corn starch. It works the same, it's uber cheap and a container will last you forever. Word of caution, a little bit goes a long way.

5. Find hairstyles that work on greasy hair. A lot of people just throw their hair in a ponytail when it's greasy. For me that's the last thing I'm going to do. Putting it in a pony just exposes the greasy sides and it looks even worse. A lot of times buns look good on greasy hair, because it is pulled tight anyway, so the greasiness doesn't show. Braids also work great for greasy hair, especially french braids.
And I promise you, if you lengthen out, you will have the best hair days you've ever had on the days you wash your hair.   

3 comments:

Torrie said...

I hate showering, so I only shower and wash my hair every 2-3 days. Gross to some people? Maybe. But I'm not super greasy, maybe because I've been in this routine so long.

Hats off to not washing!

Autumn @ Autumn All Along said...

It totally makes me feel better that I'm not the only one that hates showering, Torrie!!

My hair is curly so it is naturally super dry. I wash my hair about twice a week. I start it off with a straight style and put it in a bun on the top of my head every night. I still exercise with my hair up etc. My hair gets curlier as I go throughout the week until it is at it's natural curl. Dry shampoo was a major game changer for me because it has kept me from putting heating products on my hair as much.

Selma @ Crazy Little World Of Mine said...

I have started to not wash my hair every day. I skip one day, sometimes two, and yes, the hair looks fabulous when it's washed again. Great post, girl!

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