When I was younger and oiler haha, I washed my hair every day. I started scaling back frequency in my early 30’s and for the last 20 years (am 55 now) wash hair about 2x week, although I rinse sweat whenever I workout, which is almost daily.
I have found that your oil production adjusts to the reduced frequency of washing. You might feel a little gross for the first few weeks but that does subside. I discovered this accidentally on a long boat journey when the fresh water maker broke and we had to conserve . I have less breakage and shedding since switching to 2x week which is a concern as I get older.
That describes my hair. I never blow dry. I wash before bedtime, and let it dry overnight. I “style” it in the morning…meaning I flat iron it because otherwise it looks out of control.
This is so funny. Five minutes ago I was talking to a co-worker about hair wash frequency!
I have short curly thick hair. It never sees a comb, I never blow dry it. Only air dry. I sweat via exercise nearly everyday. I wash 2-3 times a week depending on activity and non-wash days I dampen my hair in the shower with my fingers to “reset” the curl, lessen the effects of sweating (sorry if too much TMI, but it’s a fact!) and to sort of reactivate the product. Those days I reapply lightly a light product.
I am no expert but it sure makes sense that if you are washing daily AND blowing dry daily and combing and all that, that that is a lot of “wear and tear” on your hair.
I prefer the way my hair looks on the non-wash days anyway!
Every four days or so. I have very thick, dry hair. It never looks oily. I shampoo it twice when I wash it, condition it well, apply a 10 minute hair mask, then apply heat protectant and blow it out. I could go a little longer than 4 days, but that happens to coincide with my work from home schedule, and the whole process of “doing” my hair takes a couple of hours (I let it airdry for an hour after washing before I start blowing it out), so it’s not feasible to do on a day when I need to commute in to the office.
Fine, shoulder-length hair which has even less body and less shine than it used to. I’m in my early 60s and frustrated with the prospect of thin, “old lady” hair. My hair person suggested cutting back on shampooing to 2x a week and, on non-shampoo days, to just wash hair in water, massaging the scalp.
The best thing I ever did was get a shorter haircut where I just have to dampen my hair and “scrunch” it and it looks OK (really good on good hair days, ha). For a couple of years, when my hair was longer, it was so much work that I wore it in a ponytail almost all the time, and that was not a good look for me. I’m very thankful for my new style with a broken wrist, because there’s no way I could manage doing a ponytail.
I have almost always washed my hair every day. I also style it every day, using styling products and heat tools.
The few days I don’t do this are because I’m sick, or am having a really lazy day where I’m not going anywhere/not working. Since Covid I work from home on Zoom but I am on-camera working with clients and colleagues.
When I wake up in the morning, my hair usually looks horrible -parts are sticking up/out.
I feel like my hair is one of my best features - it is fine but I have lots of it. It has a natural wave, but I straighten it when blowing out with a round brush. It has tons of body and is bouncy and shiny. I get compliments on my hair frequently.
I’ve read that you shouldn’t wash your hair all the time, but not sure how to avoid it.
For those who don’t wash your hair daily, do some of you get your hair wet when you shower and re-style it each day? Because I use styling products (heat protectants, leave-in conditioner, hairspray, etc.) I’m not sure what my hair would look like if I didn’t wash out the prior day’s product from my hair.
My hair is longer (when I get it cut it’s just past my shoulders but it grows quickly and I only get it cut every 3/4 months when I get highlights, it takes 3 hours and I hate going), wavy, and thick. I might wash it daily in the summer if I’m not drying it, but otherwise every 3 days or so. It never gets greasy and I hate blowing out my hair (my revlon dryer brush is much quicker but damaging). I don’t use a lot of product. I love non hair washing days!
I don’t use any styling “products”. I just flat iron as needed. And usually once “styled” (believe me, I’m using that term very loosely), my hair stays exactly the same until I next wash it.
My hair is similar, every time I get it cut I’m asked if I want it blown out or curly, I’ve said curly a couple of times but I get much better mileage out of a good blow out.
After being raised by spartan Yankee parents, I wash my hair every single day. Take that, Mom
My hair is thick, straight, and shoulder length. I had a pixie but it’s just too severe for my (old) face so it’s collarbone length now.
My mom still comments that I am wasting water, overly vain, going to go bald, and nobody looks at me anyway so it’s wasting time. Until I was about 16, I was permitted one shower a week. Washed my hair in the kitchen sink (and my hair was LONG, then) every other day while my parents hectored me about it.
Something else I’ve changed is when I shower/wash my hair. I used to have to do this as soon as I woke up. I now wait until after I’ve done my exercise for the day. I tend to only do the really sweaty exercise every other day, and after that is when I usually wash my hair.
I use relatively high end shampoo and conditioner, and often a spray or cream to help manage (It’s a 10 or Living Proof, for example). When I go to the beach my hair is full and wavy. When it’s the dead of winter, it looks thin and limp.
Am I the only one who sweats regularly through exercise and so that becomes the main reason for needing to wash perhaps a little more frequently? If I didn’t exercise/sweat daily then I would probably only wash every 4-5 days.
One of the best decisions I made was to embrace the texture and habits of my hair. Which is to embrace the curl and wave! (personal preference of course, but for me, that sporty/fun look is a look I love).
I read that the more you wash, the more oil is produced, and the more you need to wash. So a few years ago I started washing less and am still working on it. Probablly every 3 days at this point. Curly hair turns to frizz if I comb it. No products or hairdryer.
I wore my hair in a pixie cut as a child, and I kept it pretty short until the Covid lockdown. I used that time to grow it long. When it was short, I washed it daily because it looked awful if I didn’t … I had to blow dry or my thick hair looked terrible. I hated getting it wet (like when swimming), because it looked terrible when it dried on its own. Now that it’s long, I don’t blow dry - I can air dry. I love it! I can go 3 days without washing it, but I usually just go 2 (especially in summer). My hair is thick, gray and wavy. I do have to use product to keep it from being too poofy, especially when it’s humid. But I’ve pretty much got it figured out. I avoid putting product on my scalp - I start it just off my scalp, so I avoid any itch.
I washed my hair daily for the first two decades of my life — my mom would insist upon it! And remembering the kind of activities I was involved in at the time, it needed the daily wash.
For the next two, I washed my hair every other day — so roughly 2-3 times every week. With young kids it was hard to get that half an hour plus shower time that was needed for the hair washing ritual. I have thick, coarse, curly, frizzy and heavy shoulder length hair. My arms would ache at the end of it.
The last decade or so I have transitioned to washing it once every week. I have learned that the less I try to tame it, the better my hair behaves. No brushing wet hair, no rough toweling, no hair dryer — I have a thin hair towel that I wrap around my wet hair, turban fashion, for an hour and then air dry it after that. No products beyond a drop or two of argan oil after washing. This has really worked for my hair — it is less stressed and seems softer. One other thing I do is before washing, I apply olive oil all over to the hair and massage into my scalp an hour (or more if I have the time) before washing it off with shampoo.
Because of mom’s early training I felt I was being slovenly but have now realized that I need to stick to what works for me if I want to keep my hair into the later decades of my life!
What is this exercise of which you speak? Every NYE I vow never to produce a bead of sweat. So unladylike.
I have never had hair past my shoulders because it would take decades to get it that long. Sometimes I think my hair doesn’t grow at all. Except for a (failed) trial grow out during Covid, my hair always looks like this:
I have never been able to air dry my hair though I’ve tried. Even this short I must wash and blow it out every day or it would be flat in places and stick out in weird bendy ways in others. I like it to look like that picture but fuller on top/crown. Once blown out full and straight, I mist with shaping spray and use a pick to get that perfect shape. Then, a quick mist with freezing spray on top and I’m done. From wet to finish takes me less than ten minutes. I enjoy doing hair and have been doing it since I was 17 (beauty school after HS). I can style my hair better than the salon and don’t mind doing it, so it’s not a chore, just part of my morning routine.
I have fine, straight hair - untouched by blowdryer (except in the salon) or color - haha!
I wash my hair once a week in the winter, perhaps more frequently in the summer. I don’t use any products, except for shampoo, and a dab of conditioner on the ends. I use the Costco brand which is purportedly the same as Pureology, for the fraction of the price.
As an aside, in America, I think we tend to over clean ourselves, and I do think that has given rise to certain ailments that are perhaps less prevalent elsewhere.
Like others, used to wash my hair and shower every day. I now wash my hair twice a week and more frequently if needed. I also don’t shower every day. May skip a day if I haven’t done strenuous exercise and am not going anywhere. I find my hair and skin are much healthier. That has gotten easier on WFH days when I may only leave the house to walk or go to the gym.
. I have less breakage and shedding since switching to 2x week which is a concern as I get older.
