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 have normal wavy curly hair and I can go a very long time without washing my hair and it still looks clean and even holds a clean smell.. that is until I moved to the city! Now I have to wash my hair every day or it gets greasy and smelly. I think it must be the pollution. I know there are hair types however that get dirty every day no matter where they live. I read on article and took a quiz about different hair types and how often they should wash. I wish I could find it again.. Anyway I don’t judge anyone who doesn’t wash their everyday simply because some of us can honestly get away with it and no one knows unless you tell them or they see you come out of the shower with dry hair 😉
I once read that washing your hair every two or three days works good for if your trying to grow hair because it leaves the natrual oils and there good for your hair if you wash it everyday it makes your hair dry because it gets rid of the oils
I don’t know about you guys, but I use shampoo on my hair about twice a year and my hair is fine. I’m even considering not using shampoo at all, because, whenever I shampoo my hair is always rough and dry. Instead I just use conditioner daily. I know it sounds insane, but it really works! My hair is completely straight and falls to my waist, but when I just use conditioner it is sleek, soft, and shiny. People comment on it and ask for my secret, only problem is,there isn’t one! All I do is use conditioner daily, brush my hair, and avoid shampoo. I also have it cut only every one and a half years or so and there’s no split ends or anything! I don’t know, maybe it’s just the texture or something, but for me less is indeed more!
I’m 16 and for about three years I’ve been growing my hair. It’s pretty long now, it sits at the bottom of my chest. It has taken me a long time to grow it with haircuts every 5 months or so, give or take a month. But I can honestly say my hair is very healthy. I wash my hair at the most, two times a week. I wash it before bed, go to sleep with wet hair, and leave it the next day and maybe the 2nd day without even really touching it. On the 3rd day I put it up and leave it up until I wash it next because it looks too yucky down. I never blow dry my hair, and straighten it maybe once a month. I get my hair dyed in the hairdressers every 6 months or so and they always say how healthy my hair is. So if you wan nice hair, don’t wash it as often! And if you do wash it a lot and are scared to stop washing it an having greasy hair, you have to do it to let your hair adjust to the drastic change.
I wash my hair using shampoo and conditioner twice a week. Im 16 and because i dont really have a stable schedule of when to do what, which time of the day to shower etc (yea, messy i know but its fun ;D), my hair will only get greasy at the evening/night of the 3rd day w/o washing it and it will show it much on the 4th day if i happen to skip a few hours. The 1st and the 2nd day tho, it just seems and smells beautiful. Although for some reason it gets more greasy during my period and maybe 2-3 days before and after it. It will most likely start to seem bad from the evening-night of the 2nd day instead of the 3rd.
My hair is as long as my bottom waist’s height and it creates some really light curls. Im used in using the blow dryer often, specially during the winter and i also use a hair iron straightener a lot. Yes i know, pretty damaging for my hair. (I also have to straighten it daily till when i wash it again, because from the way i sleep and the steam from my daily showers -oh i love hot showers- , make the curls start to re-appear, but in a bad way.)
Okay, well I am 14 years old and I pretty much never use heat on my hair. It is naturally curly and blonde. I have never dyed it or gotten highlights and I have maybe blown dried it twice or three times in my life. What I do is take a shower at night, comb it a couple of times just to get the few knots out, put it in a pony tail and go go to bed. I take a shower every single night and the last time I missed a night was maybe a year ago. Every night I use shampoo and conditioner. Okay, now here comes the question haha. My scalp tends to get itchy, and the reason I take a shower every night is because if I don’t in 24 hours my scalp itches like CRAZY and smells pretty bad. I was just wondering why this is and what i can do to make it stop!? thank you sooo much for any answers!
Washing the hair daily is very essential. Iam Indian and my grandfather taught me this; “coconut oil has b=to be applied everynight and has to be washed off every morning. This will helps luxurious growht of hair and also the hair stops falling. In India hair is washed using, shikkai, Chigare powde, green gram powder or gramflour. I wash my hair with johnson baby shampoo as shikkai is costly in USA sometimes with gramflour or green gram. I never use conditioner after shampoo and I do not using any kind of cream or gel.
Hi! I’m a daily hair washer looking for reforming my ways!
I have long, fine, dark blonde hair and have washed it daily since middle school (18 years…) I’ve never been much into the beauty regimen – a bookworm by nature and kind of not cared about physical appearance, but lately I’ve been trying to change that. I bought my first cute pajamas the other week and my very first purse >.< Oh…and my 4th pair of shoes for "just because" days. Yes, I only had 3 pairs of shoes before that.
I have the kind of hair that gets greasy by the end of the day. Usually about 10 hours after washing, it looks greasy again. By morning, its bad enough that if I don't wash it, my entire body feels greasy. However, I've come up with some good ideas from some of these comments.
For those of you who want to start trying going longer without washing your hair, but are afraid of the nasty looking greasy build-up after one day, I STRONGLY recommend French Braiding. The criss-cross of the braid at the top of the head really does an excellent job of masking the grease and actually helps your skin around your face feel cleaner and cooler without the greasy hair around it. I used to do that if I woke up extra late and didn't have time for a shower and it works wonderfully.
Thank you so much for the commenters out there who have given me reason to believe its normal not to wash my hair daily! And for the tips to hide the grease between washes!
It seems counter intuitive, but you will start to have less greasy hair the longer you wait to wash it.
Correlation does not imply causation: there is a strong correlation between having “greasy” hair, and frequency of washing, but the individuals with this correlation had the cause and effect switched–people wash their hair more frequently because it is greasy, but in fact it is the essence of them washing their hair MORE frequently which creates more grease!
Your scalp tends to “react” to its condition: if you are washing it frequently, you are taking off the natural oils, and the scalp reacts by producing oil to counter this.
If you start to wash less each week, your scalp will start to produce less
Now, you can still “wash” your hair in the shower, by “washing” with water, and using a comb (large-tooth for longer hair) in the shower, use the water as a lubricant for the comb to scrape and massage the scalp and spread the natural oils throughout your hair to “dilute” them.
If your very concerned about cranial hygiene, using a milder shampoo (i.e. baby shampoo) less frequently could be a good substitute.
If your are going to try less frequent hair washing, though, the less grease will come over time (about a month): start by not washing your hair a couple of days, then a week, then 2 weeks and go from there, and during you can always use the comb and water in the shower to simulate washing.
Also, in acknowledgement of different hair/scalp/ethnicities, this is a general trend for all scalps, but your genetics also are a factor, once your in the swing of this method, and your hair seems to keep getting greasier, then perhaps every 3 weeks instead of a few months you should wash it.
This may be difficult to experiment with since your hair will be greasy in the beginning, and you have a life where you interact with people, or go out into society, but try the next time you go on vacation, or there’s a long weekend, and you can wash your hair on a Tuesday or Wednesday before to get the next 5 days in and so on…
I use to wash almost everyday when i was younger but after in my teens i was washing once a week, since i am a black female with very curly hair. I also started relaxing my hair as a kid then stoped about 6 years ago, that made my hair thinner then before and also coloured and bleached my hair growing up. But now since my hair is thinner i do find it to get greasy very fast and it looks nasty so i need to wash my hair at least every 3 to 4 days max. which sucks because more work for me unless i go get it done and that can be costly. AT the end reading everyones response its all about the texture. Try to use a good treatment for your worries and keep a consistant time to do your hair (dirty hair is not pleasent) please wash your hair at least once per week thats the most any human being should do, im sure odors and other things might be a concern if hair is not washed frequently. What you guys thing, it hasnt been proven but it just makes clear sense to me. even maybe try light shampoos or even rinse and use conditioner. I wish i can go without washing for months im so lazy to do my hair, but nope gotta wash it every 3 to 4 days if i want it to look nice and fresh!
i have to wash my hair everyday or it gets really greasy and i am to vain to have greasy hair for even a second but my hair never gets dried out im always getting compliments on my hair it is always silky and smooth and soft i even get random people at school coming and touching or playing with my hair and to be honest i have too showers a day and it grosses me out when people say they only have a shower or wash their hair on every other day.
I wash my hair daily. There’s no worse smell than dirty scalp! I rather be smelling BO! I use a “low-poo” and rarely blow-dry, and my hair looks healthier than ever 🙂
Wash it every day
I never wash my hair. ;3
I just rinse it whenever it needs it, which varies depending on how hot it is, how active I’ve been, etc; generally I’ll go three to five days without (really) rinsing, but generally no more, since it starts to smell after that point – and by “(really) rinsing” I mean making sure I’m working my fingers through my hair really well (sometimes I’m lazy and just ash my body, which won’t help my hair at all). Back when I used shampoo and conditioner, I could generally go just over a week without washing it, and did that for the longest time before I decided to just scrap shampoo altogether. And I WOULD apply conditioner to my roots – it actually helped my hair last longer than applying it sparsely, though I haven’t much of a clue why.
It’s the kind of thick, wavy/curly/can’t-make-up-it’s-mind hair that turns into a gargantuan poof ball if it’s short, hence why it’s /almost/ to my waist (I really wish it’d grow faster, arrgh!! (>.<*)). The only problem is when you have to change showers. My hair was so used to the high pressure of the water in my dorm that it took weeks to fully adjust to the water pressure at home, and I'm pretty sure one type of water is harder than the other (the uni I attend is in a different city). So yeah, that's probably the biggest downfall to what I do, but eh – I didn't leave the house much, so the only person it really bothered was my mom. 😛
I am thinking of getting a naturally-scented shampoo bar, though, since the last one I had (quite a while ago) gave my hair a nice, light scent that lingered for a couple days and was really quite pleasant. Might make my own, actually…
Funny how different hair is. I have had a problem with shampoo irritating my scalp so I have gone to washing my hair every other day and am now working myself to every two days. In getting advice from a naturalist I realized it may not be my hair but it might be the mass produced shampoo that I am using. I have gone to making my own. Will be trying it tomorrow. What I have learned is that mass produced shampoos even those that are considered “natural” do not use the best ingredient. They also have to use a preservative for a long shelf life.
If your adventurous try this:
2 tsp dried rosemary & 2 tsp of dried rose petals
Steep in a jar of 8 oz of boiled water for about 30 min.
I do it until it’s cool.
Strain it and put it in an empty shampoo bottle.
Add 3oz of Castile Soap
1/4 tsp jojoba oil
30 drops of rosemary oil
3 Tbsp aloe vera gel
Shake and you have an all natural shampoo.
This one is particularly helpful for a dry, itchy scalp.
i wash my hair on sunday, wednesday, and friday now and i love the results. when i washed my hair every day my hair would be really soft but it got really stat-icy. but should i use more shampoo or conditioner?