How often do you wash your hair? - YouLookFab Forum

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How often do you wash your hair?

medusa

Veteran

I basically wash my hair every day, unless I'm doing something outdoors. I keep hearing/reading that it can be better for your hair not to wash it so often. What do you think?

General

33 replies

Latest reply was from

Louise

Veteran

I wash mine every other day or every 3rd day if I can manage. I have blonde streaks in my dark hair though and the blonde bits are rather straw like if I wash every day. Before I started colouring I had quite greasy hair which need washing most days x

cloud9

Veteran

I find that there are different factors in which influence the frequency of my hair washing:
- weather, and not just heat, also humidity.
- my hair length. really short hair like Angie's requiring me to wash daily. Long hair well below shoulder also require more, I think the weight of the hair is more stressful on my scalp and make my hair out of shape (lumpy) quickly. I find that my best length is chin to shoulder, layered. Typically I wash every other day, sometimes even 3 days during winter.
- how much shampoo/conditioner I use. The buildup causes my hair to be more greasy.
- diet.. I think it plays a part too.

I suppose if you have truly gentle/organic/natural shampoo, then washing daily may not be a big deal. Typical shampoo has too much chemicals, and along with frequent washing, depletes the oils from your scalp. As counter intuitive as it sounds, sometimes when the scalp is too dry, it compensates by over-secreting oil.. which leads to greasy hair. I get greasy hair ever so often. Then I stop using conditioner, and try to wash every 2-3 days, and that usually tames the oily hair streaks.

chewyspaghetti

Veteran

I wash with shampoo once a week, but I condition every day.

shana

Veteran

I wash my hair every other day, sometimes on day 3 in the winter. Any longer and I start to get a headache! Since I blow it out, it would be too much work to do it every day. If we are having a humid summer or I am somewhere especially humid (like India or Florida), I wear my hair curly in which case I have to at least wet it down every day.

Polly (thunalata)

Veteran

Daily. I have short hair and don't do anything else to it (no product, blow drying etc). I have used the same shampoo for about 15 years now - about every 5 years it seems to go dry and strange and I go onto baby shampoo for about a month then it seems to be fine again. I think it suits my hair fine.

Tricia

Veteran

I have to do it every day. I've tried skipping a day and I just feel gross by the end. But I have very straight hair and a tendency to oily scalp, so that's why. I know people with dry/curly hair can and should go a lot longer.

Queen Mum

Veteran

every other day... sometimes I can even go for the third day. My hair actually does much better on day 2 or 3. On day 1 it is too clean to behave well.

Barbara

Veteran

I wash my hair every day using a gentle moisturizing shampoo and conditioner: Neutrogena Triple Moisture. It's fantastic for all-year use - great for dried out summer hair and equally nice for dry winter scalp.

londonkiwi (now back in NZ)

Veteran

Pregnancy has done lovely things to my hair (shiny, full and frizz free), but horrible things to my skin (dry and flaky), so I am washing it about twice a week using a shampoo for dry sensitive skin on my scalp and a shampoo for removing product on the ends. I use a leave in conditioner.

teri

Veteran

about every 3 days

Beth

Veteran

Every other day.

bj1111

Veteran

the older i get, the drier my hair becomes. i used to have to wash almost daily. now, i get away with every 2nd or 3rd day. and i've started using conditioner to maintain moisture.

of course, when i'm having one of *those* weeks, that 2-3 day gap can streeeeetch out quite a bit!

Mo

(website)

Veteran

Every 2nd or 3rd day unless I've gotten really sweaty exercising. I do wash just the bangs and hairline every time I shower, though. I just pile it up in a bun on my head and clip it and just wash around the front hairline. I use cheap 2in1 shampoo/conditioner combos and then add a heavier moisturizing conditioner, avoiding the roots. I'm not much of a product gal, so I don't have that icky, sticky feeling of day old gunk in my hair.

marianna

Veteran

Every day. I feel unclean and unpolished if I don't wash my hair daily.

Desmo April

(website)

Veteran

I wash with conditioner everyday and shampoo it maybe once a week. I started this mainly to preserve my color. I use a semi-permanant tint and the constant shampooing was stripping the color out really fast. Now my color lasts and my hair looks great.

LeahJanes

Every 3rd day if I can manage it, the gym usually has other ideas though - and when I do wash it's sulfate free. Dry shampoo is my best friend - it gives my hair such a lift that it looks a million times better on the non wash days. All textured and voluminous.

Less washing is better imo. My hair is much healthier now than when I used to wash every day.

Maya

Veteran

Your hair will feel funky when you start washing it less or only wash it with conditioner. You can't judge by just skipping one day, and that's where most people trip up. They think if they go one day without washing and it feels greasy, that they should just go back to washing every day. Your hair and scalp are used to being scrubbed raw, so naturally it will take some time to adjust. It all depends whether or not you're willing to go through that adjustment period.

I'm less concerned with the frequency of washing my hair than I am with what I use to wash it. My hair and skin are so much better off without sulfates. It doesn't matter if I wash every day because I am no longer using detergent in my hair.

Jenava

(website)

Veteran

I wash every other day. On days I don't wash I use dry shampoo in my fringe. I have dry skin, and my scalp would dry out terribly if I washed every day, even if it was without shampoo.

I will have to look into this no-sulfate madness...

Cilleena

Veteran

Hmm, I wash my hair daily. I get oily in my hair line and I like to get hairstyling product off my hair before I go to bed. I will get "pimples" on my scalp and in the hair line behind my ears and on my neck. Weird, because I actually tend to be a little dry. It is horrible for my hair color though. Strips it right out. Maybe I should try just rinsing my hair well and then using a tiny bit of conditioner.

Auburn

Veteran

With my extremely thick, wavy and fairly long hair, I try to go as long as possible between hair washings. Usually that means 3-4 days but occasionally I'll go 5. But, let's be honest, by day 5, things aren't so pretty--my hair is in a ponytail and my scalp starts to feel a bit itchy and flaky. Days 2-3 are when things look the best.

catgirl

Veteran

Until I got this perm, I used to wash every day, which was a PITA because I'd have to take the time to dry it or get a frozen head. Now I find I can go three days without washing and my hair still looks great, with no styling. HAPPY!

Isabel

Veteran

I also wash every 3-4 days ( in the summer though sometimes it HAS to be every day ). I also use powder shampoo if I need it in between and I also spritz with water or a hair moisturizer and blow dry to reshape as needed.

I hadn't heard of just washing with conditioner. I will have to try that. I actually use WEN my Chaz Dean which is a cleansing moisturizer without surfactants.

Aida

Veteran

I have fine, thin, curly hair which doesn't see a lot of product (mousse 1/3 of the time) and I wash every 2-4 days depending on hair condition. I also wash lightly along the hair line every day. I've been slowly working my way to this, and I'll second the others who've said it takes some time to get your hair used to it; I started back in March and it didn't really feel "good" until August, but I'm just really slow

EDIT: It took about 1 month for my hair to adjust, and until August for it to become baby soft.

EDIT 2: My hair is also naturally oily, so coupled with being fine it does take some management to not wash daily. I use a dry shampoo powder on days 3 & 4 usually.

medusa

Veteran

What an interesting thread. I love hearing the range of different responses.

Maya - can you give some examples of hair & skin products that don't have sulfates?

Kari

Veteran

I could basically copy Tricia's response verbatim. Short, straight hair with a tendency to get oily. When my hair is shorter I don't even need to use conditioner. (I use conditioner every day at this time of year when my hair is hovering near to chin length and the air is so darn dry. Other times of the year I can go every other day without conditioner, but MUST use shampoo.)

The other issue, besides my scalp getting oily and flaky if I go more than a day without washing, is that the skin on my face around my hairline REALLY freaks out when my hair is unwashed. Blackouts and breakouts galore - not a pretty sight.

Kari

Veteran

Medusa, Maya will know more than I do, but I have heard that some Bumble & Bumble shampoo products don't have sulfates.

Maya

Veteran

Medusa, this is a pretty thorough guide. Even if you're not interested in growing your hair waist length or you don't have curly hair, I find that reading up on long/curly hair care is pretty informative. Those girls know their stuff!

http://www.longhaircommunity.c.....hp?t=34009

It's important to go silicone-free too if you go sulfate free. While silicones aren't inherently bad, they build up without sulfates to wash them out, so it's an all or nothing deal. I stopped using my former shampoo and conditioner when I realized that despite being sulfate free, the conditioner still had silicones that were crusting up on my hair :\

You will find a lot of these products at Whole Body (Whole Foods' personal care store).

I am technically not 100% sulfate free. I use Tresemme Naturals, which makes a low sulfate shampoo and a silicone free conditioner. I'm not naive enough to think that they are actually natural products, but that isn't important to me. It might be to you, though.

Since I don't wash my hair with shampoo every day anyway (instead opting to wash with conditioner), using a low sulfate shampoo every now and then doesn't cause too much disturbance. In the end, it's less expensive than most 100% sulfate-free products with no real difference in performance as long as I only use the shampoo sparingly. Typically I only use it once a week to wash out the coconut oil/olive oil blend I leave in my hair.

When you wash with conditioner, you have to be more thorough. Conditioners do have cleansing agents, but they aren't as harsh (which is the point). So get used to spending a few extra minutes really massaging and working it in to loosen all the dirt and grease. It might still require an adjustment period though.

For my body wash, I use Burt's Bees rosemary mint body wash. Before this, my skin was VERY scaly, itchy, and dry, and since making this change I cannot tell you how much better it is. I still need to apply a body cream after I shower, but it's not the end of the world if I forget (whereas before I'd be clawing at my skin all day). I still feel squeaky clean and it has a nice refreshing scent.

Also be aware that sulfate free products don't lather, which is fine, because lathering really has no benefit. They are also thinner, since sulfates act as a thickener.

Hope that helps.

Lisa

Veteran

I wash every other day and sometimes push to two days. I use a dry powder shampoo to tide me over on non washing days.

anne

Veteran

Every second day

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