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Anyone can train their hair to last at least a week before it gets greasy. Here are 8 tips to help you go longer between hair washes.
Why Should You Wash Your Hair Less Often?
Washing your hair too often can lead to dryness and even breakage. Shampoo contains harsh cleansers that strip your hair of its natural oils – oils that are needed to protect and nourish your hair.
Every time you wash your hair, your scalp will produce more natural oils to replace the ones you stripped. So the more often you wash your hair, the more often you will need to wash it.
Among Other Benefits, Washing Your Hair Less Often Can:
1. Combat Dry Hair and Scalp
If your scalp is dry and irritated, you might simply be washing your hair too often. Just like the skin on your hands and face, your scalp can become dry if you wash it too often. Try cutting back on hair washes and seeing how your skin reacts.
2. Save Time and Money
Skipping your daily hair wash will drastically reduce your time spent in the shower each morning, so you can have an extra few minutes in bed. Not to mention the shampoo, conditioner and other hair products you’ll save money on.
3. Protect Colored Hair
Washing your hair too often is one of the fastest ways to fade artificial color. The longer you go between washes, the longer your color will last, meaning you’ll save money on hair dye and salon appointments.
How Long Can You Get Away Without Washing Your Hair?
Most people can get away with washing their hair once a week, but those with particularly thick or curly hair will be able to go even longer.
8 Tips to Help You Go Longer Between Shampoos
1. Let Your Gair Get Greasy
It sucks, but if you want to train your hair to go longer between washes then you’ll have to wash it less often. Which means your hair will be greasier than usual for a while.
The period of time where your hair is greasier than usual is often called the transition period. This varies from person to person but will last from a few weeks to a few months.
The good news is that there are ways to deal with the transition period, and your hair will be stronger and healthier once it’s over. The less you wash your hair, the less natural oils your scalp will produce, meaning you’ll be able to go longer and longer between hair washes.
2. Get Creative With Your Hairstyles
The longer you go between washing your hair, the harder it will be to style. You’ll often have to get creative with your hairstyles to hide the fact that your hair is due a wash.
Make sure you establish some good go-to hairstyles for day 3+ hair. Some good ones to try are a messy bun, a high ponytail with a headband, and French braids.
3. Use Dry Shampoo
There’s nothing wrong with using dry shampoo every once in a while. It does a great job of soaking up some excess oil and adding volume to your roots, and it’s much less drying than traditional shampoo.
4. But Don’t Use It Every Day
The issue with dry shampoo is that it can cause build up, leaving you with dull hair that can only be solved with a hair wash. I’d suggest only using dry shampoo when you need it – this will probably be once or twice between washes.
5. Shampoo Your Hair Twice
You should always shampoo your hair twice in the shower – once to remove build up and a second time to actually clean it.
You may think washing it twice will be unnecessarily drying, and this is true if you wash your hair every day or every other day. But when going as long as possible between washes, you should always shampoo twice. This will make sure your hair is truly clean, so you can go as long as possible before your next wash.
6. Cut Out Sulfates and Silicones
Sulfates are found in most modern shampoos and strip your hair of its natural oils, often leaving it dry and brittle.
Try out a sulfate free shampoo if you haven’t already. They do just as good a job of cleaning your hair but without the harsh, drying ingredients. If you end up hating it then you can always switch back to your old shampoo, but cutting out sulfates may end up saving your hair.
7. Pay Attention to Both Your Roots and Your Ends
By shampooing your hair less often, you’ll automatically condition your hair less often – leading to dry, frizzy ends. Make sure to condition your dry, unwashed hair with a leave in conditioner or hair oil. I suggest Moroccanoil for most hair types.
8. Use a Boar Bristle Brush
Try using a boar bristle brush on dry hair between washes. It’ll distribute your hair’s natural oils more effectively than a regular hair brush, helping with the dry-ends-greasy-roots situation mentioned earlier.
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Leave a comment if any of these tips have helped you out, or if you have any of your own tips you want to share – you might help someone out! If you liked this post then consider subscribing to The Violet Journal for similar posts sent directly to your inbox.
