I’ve received a few emails recently asking about how often a girl should wash her hair. I did a little research and it’s an interesting topic because there really seems to be a big divide in what people recommend.
So, how often should you wash your hair? Personally, I was always taught to shampoo my hair every day. Over the years, however, I’ve learned that daily washing really dries my hair out.
These days, because I get highlights and my hair is damaged, I only shampoo 3 or 4 times a week. This has definitely helped my hair a lot: it’s much less dried out without the constant shampooing and blow drying.
Celebrity hairstylist Ken Paves, who does Eva Longoria and Jessica Simpson’s hair, agrees that you shouldn’t wash your hair every day. According to Oprah.com, Ken says that “certain hair types and textures only require washing once a week, where others work well washing 2 to 3 times a week.”
Thursday’s New York Times style section had an article about hair washing frequency, only to the extreme. Of Course I Washed My Hair Last Year (I’m Almost Certain) talked about how lots of women wash their hair just once a week and some only wash once a month! The average seems to be around 3 times a week. Apparently it’s trendy to spend less time on your hair.
As someone whose hair gets oily after just a few days, I can’t imagine only washing your hair once a month, but maybe it would work well for those with dry hair? The idea does sound tempting – who wouldn’t want to spend less time doing their hair each week? I just don’t know how it would really work for the average woman.
What are your opinions on this? Do you wash your hair every day or do you think once a week is best? Leave a comment and take the poll below! I want to hear what you think!
I think Black Women need to find products that will make their hair look better by washing it every 2 or 3 days. How gross not to wash your hair. They are always scratching their head, their hair looks like wire. It really seems to be a problem, but they don’t want to do anything about it. Has lazy entered anyone’s mind????? Just wash the hair please. It will look better, feel better, and smell better.
A lot of cheap shampoos, Suave, VO5, and those types have a lot of wax in them. If you have a little money you are better off spending a little more money on Redken, Matrix, Paul Mitchell, or another salon brand. I have found that since I started using nice shampoo my hair has the right ph which should be anywhere from 4.5-5.5. Yes hair has it’s ideal ph. I learned that in beauty school.
I am a red head with medium thickness hair. I wash my hair every 3 days. I have TRAINED my hair to be able to do this. I used to wash my hair every single day but with research I have found it better not to wash ever day. The way i trained my hair was I started washing my hair everyother day, and every day in the weekend; this last about 2 -3 weeks. After the 3rd week, i continued to wash my hair everyother day but now included weekends. When i felt my hair was ready for the next step, I started washing my hair once every 3 days. It takes some time for your hair to get used to it, and the first few weeks are the hardest because your hair will look a it greasy. But if you take the right steps you can train your hair. Its so much easier not to wash it everyday, and my hair is so much healthier. Try it out.
P.S. my bestfriend has very thin, big black curks, and very long hair. She washes her hair every 2 weeks. She had to train her hair to do this as well, and her hair is some of the most healthy hair I have seen in a long time. I envy her hair even tho it has taken her months to get to this point. Point of the story? – You can train your hair to do whatever you want…it just takes time. 🙂
I shower 2 times a day. I wash my hair 2 times a week. My hair doesn’t get greasy anymore since I have used this amazing shampoo and conditioner
ALBERTO BALSAM
It’s great I am currently using the pommergranite one though you can get blueberry and apple too!
I highly recommend it ^-^
I never wash my hair anymore. I used to wash it every day, and it always seemed like it got greasy towards the end of the day. I also had pretty bad acne and super dry skin, plus eczema. It wasn’t pretty. In college, I stopped showering every day because I got so busy. At first, it would be greasy on the day I didn’t shower, but I would just pull it back and eventually my hair reached a point where it was no longer greasy on the days I didn’t shower. As time went on, the time between my showers got a bit longer, so that I was showering about 2 or 3 times a week.
Then I heard about water only washing. I eased myself into once a week washing with only water over the course of about 12 weeks by using baking soda and vinegar whenever I felt my hair was too greasy, but otherwise washing with water only every few days. I also stopped used soap on my body at this time.
This has been one of the most liberating experiences of my life. It’s been 3 months since I washed my hair with any kind of cleanser, and I look and feel fantastic. I was afraid my acne might get worse, but it is unchanged, perhaps slightly improved. More impressive is how beautiful and full and soft my hair is. But far and away the best part has been the disappearance of my dry skin and eczema! I used to slather lotion all over, every day, for YEARS, feeling sticky, spending time and money, saturating myself with chemicals… and now I don’t need to. The only place I still have eczema is on my hands, as I still use soap to wash them, not wanting to spread disease.
I highly recommend that anyone who can try to ease themselves off of using soap for washing. Water takes care of all my hygiene needs, and I look better than I did before, I feel wonderful, and I save oodles of time and money on shampoo and styling products. But do it slowly or understand you may have to wear a greasy-hair-day style for a few months while your body adapts.
well i dont think there is a way that you can not make it look completley greasy…im half chinese so my hair is straight and dark brown and i tend to just put it in a bun for school if its looking too greasy. mostly i have to wash my hair every second day because otherwise it tends to feel and look gross but now that its holidays im going to try and cut back on the washing because apparently thats a good way to stop it from getting greasy all the time! oh, and for all those people with beautiful wavy or curly hair….DONT STRAIGHTEN IT! IM SOOOO JELOUS THAT YOU HAVE THAT HAIR TYPE SO DONT GO AND RUIN IT!!!! im just sayin…
I wash my hair everyday cause if i dont it looks oily. How can i make it not look greasy if i dont wash it everyyday.?
I only wash my hair every 2 weeks or so. I used to wash it a few times a week but found that it made my hair too dry. Washing my hair infrequently makes it much healthier and it has grown so long since I don’t have to blow dry it often. It’s the first time I’ve had almost waist length hair! How much you shampoo should depend on your hair type and how oily it is. This works for me since my hair is fairly coarse.
@Ash
tnx for the advice, problem is I live in the Netherlands (Europe), still I appreciate it. I actually got a treatment shampoo, and I use either Herbal Essences Curls and waves (cause it’s a shampoo i’m not allergic too) or a dutch shampoo. I’ll try washing it every other day, tnx for the tip.
hi,my hair does tend to get greasy and I do have to wash it almost everyday but BATISTE DRY SHAMPOO is an absolute lifesaver!! it’s only about 2pound from any supermarket,boot or super drug and for that you get a good sized can of it which lasts for about 2months depending on how often you use it but I most DEFINATELY reccomend it seriously.
it’s like babypower but made just for your hair;you spray it on and brush or rub in.
buy it seriously!
hope this helps 🙂
depends on your hair type and also what you wash it with hairdressers have told me tresseme and pantene and other products have silicone in it and that is a form of plastic with covers your hairs making them appear shiney but actualy being split and dried by it! I reccomend Charles Worthington product range!
I’ve had issues with dry scalp for years and could never figure out what the problem was. Drove me crazy trying all kinds of products. Dandruff shampoos always dried my hair out and didn’t seem to work. I also tried Psoriasis shampoos. Didn’t work. I also kept changing my leave in conditioners. Didn’t work.
I too used to wash my hair every day and then every other day and then every two days. I recently read an article about curly hair. It said that if you have curly hair you should never never use shampoo on it. Only wash your hair with conditioner. I decided to try this “radical to me” idea. After a week of only washing with conditioner my hair is the healthiest it’s ever been. 3-4 times a week with conditioner only. Goodbye detergents and chemicals. I mean shampoo.
If you want your hair to grow faster, healthy, and longer… Then I suggest you not to take a shower every day. It isn’t healthy. I know America finds it “gross” and “dirty” to not take a shower everyday, but it really isn’t. That’s how native americans hair get so long, so fast, and that’s why its very healthy. Take a shower 2 times a week. Unless you go in the pool, you have too. It can damage your hair if you don’t. Because of the chorline. But, if you don’t put your head in the pool (hair) don’t it doesn’t matter. You can take a shower everyday, but with a hair cap on, so it doesn’t get wet. Trust me, I did this and it worked so good. My hair started growing fast, then it usally does. It’s way healthier. Hope this helps!!!! Thank you.
I rarely wash my hair, maybe 2x a week. I know that sounds gross, but my hair is very dry, and straight and long (about midway down my waist). When I do wash it, I use Body Butter from the Body Shop to moisturize the ends. It cuts down on the amount of times I have to go see a hairdresser for a small trim. Or I just trim it myself! Hahaha, and I also dye it myself on occasion, but I more of an au naturel kind of gal. I use vegan shampoo and conditioner, Sonoma Valley First Crush. Love!
I used to wash my hair every other day and my hair takes a long time to grow i dyed it alot at one point and it got very dry at the ends i discovered my hair wasnt getting any longer, my hairdresser trimmed off all of the dead ends and it was horribly short i waited for nearly a year for it to grow back whilst having trims in between to keep it nice.
Not alot happened untill people told me that washing it often dried it out like using the hairdryer all of the time and so i decided not to wash it as often and yes it has worked! it has grown loads faster and suprisingly it hardly gets that greasy but when it is i rather like it because this means my hair is getting all the nutrients it needs those days are usually just stay in at home days (so no one sees it) as it is a bit dry but also i do not use a hairdryer it drys itself very quickly and i use a good handful of conditioner when washing my hair and leave for a few minutes it feels very and nourished afterwards i find that aussie shampoo is the best i use the long hair one and my hair is getting pretty long also i use brunnette conditioning hair mask after washing and that makes my hair very brown and healthy looking the ends are always so much better after using this.
For me, I use to wash my hair everyday, but I started noticing how dry it was getting. I live in a very dry climate so I’ve started washing it every other day and it’s just fine. The only thing is, it frizzes! So I started using a dry conditioner on days I don’t wash and it’s amazing! My hair is still light and playful and I can still style it the way I love! No need to cover it up anymore!