Do you wash your hair every day? I used to wash my hair everyday – but the constant blowdrying and my greying hair (yes it’s pretty grey underneath that brown dye) was drying out my hair. My hairdresser suggested I try a dry shampoo to use every second day.
I was pretty sceptical as I’d tried one some years ago and it had made me look like I’d gone grey (which I hadn’t so badly back then, though I did start greying at 15 years old). But he assured me that the modern formulations wouldn’t have the same effect.
I have tried a few brands an my favourite is Batiste (and it’s one of the cheaper alternatives). Even though they spray on white, when I give my hair a vigorous brushing all the white is gone, and so is the oil in my hair. I have fairly fine and limp hair, so oily hair is not something I can successfully pull off.
I love that now even though I need to give my hair a quick blast with the dryer or straightening irons, it’s probably 30 seconds (rather than my usual bob blowdry in 3 minutes ).
Or if I’m feeling really lazy, I just wear a scarf.
Do you wash your hair every day? What techniques do you use to extend the time between washing?
Imogen,
Do you know of any Canadian retailers for these products, or similar/comparable North American products? I see the first one is available at Target but that's about an hour away from us here in Vancouver (Canada).
I have terribly dry frizzy hair. I only wash it twice a week because by the time it comes to washing it again I've actually had a day or two where it behaved reasonably. Also, shampoo is not my scalp's best friend so fewer washes mean less irritation.
My mother keeps handing me different 'frizz free' products to try and none of them accomplish any of the wonderful miracles they propose to. My hair straightener is the best invention I've ever laid hands on.
My hair is also fine, oily and chemically colored. Since I switched to Pert shampoo, I've been able to shampoo every three days, with just a dampening/blow dry in between. I haven't tried any dry shampoos since I was in high school.
I wash my hair every other day. On off days I set it in hot rollers to give body and volume. If it doesn't look good enough to wear down after that I'll pull it up into a french twist and clip it.
I have curly hair that can turn to a straw-like frizz if use any kind of shampoo on it. I use a non-lathering, non-detergent cream cleanser every day and a very moisturizing conditioner, gel, and finishing spray. The line I use is called Deva. There might be others that work. For people with dry or frizzy hair I would recommend trying out products designed for curly hair, because they are designed to hold in moisture.
First, Meg Baxter, I live in Vancouver too. I use Cake Beauty's dry hair shampoo which comes in various colours…Got it from Beautymark. I think B&B does them as well. Geez! You and I are in the same field…
So, Imogen, like you I have fine hair. it looks great when I first wash it, but then goes fuzzy at the ends in the humidity (like in the picture on my blog, blush, blush…) I wash it every third day and put it up on day 3, which is when I use the shake-in dry hair shampoo in the blonde colour.
After trying every shampoo and conditioner in the book including Nanoworks at $48 a bottle, I always go back to Pantene.
Imogen~
I work out every day ('cept Saturday) at 5;30 a.m. After a werious sweat there is no other choice but to wash…I don't always blow dry, however…some days it is just a leave in conditioner or a style product, then comb into shape and air dry.
Monica
On the days when I work out, I wash my hair and on the days I lounge on the sofa, I don't. So, that works out to about 4 or 5 washes/ week. I sometimes get dandruff and found the most amazing anti-dandruff shampoo (Vichy brand) that I use now all the time, even when I have no dandruff because it leaves my hair so silky and healthy.
I try to limit my shampooing to every other day. On the off day I usually wear my hair back in combs or in a pony or up in a twist.
I wash my hair every 4-5 days. I don´t use a conditioner, I use a bit of Wella´s spray before I blow dry it with a brush. I tie my hair back on a small bun from day 3. I too have started to get grays and have had my hair colored ( not with a permanent color yet ) for the first time. My hair is not as thick as it used to be, maybe it is genetic to loose some, same thing happened to my mother, but she started to turn gray 20 years earlier than I did. Your hair color looks so natural. Do you have a permanent color? Could you/anyone tell me how it differs from the non permanent in looks. I´m a brunette. Thanks for this great post !
I could go weeks and still never get greasy or oily. I use the Oscar Blandi Pronto Dry Shampoo just to keep it fresh in between shampoos. I wash my hair about every 3-4 days.
Meg – Try your local drugstore – I bought some of the Batise when I was in LA, or you could try a department store. I think both brands are pretty global.
Tracy – we each have our crosses to bear!
Deja – you are lucky to get 3 days!
Betty – thanks for the tips.
Rosina – Pantene works well for me too!
Anon – when my hair was longer I'd tie it up, but it's too short now.
Monica – you are lucky to be able to wash and wear!
S. thanks for the tip.
Tessa – tying up is the easiest way!
Metscan – yes I use permanent hair dye – I am around 70% grey – and semi-permenants tend to work on much lower %s of grey. The longer lasting semis – like L'Oreal Casting is OK – but washes out quickly and the dyes don't cover grey well. I need the permanent to get rid of the grey. I use a 4.0 (natural brown) colour by Schwarzkopf most of the time.
When I was less than 50% grey I'd use semi permanents more, but they don't work now for me.
La Belette – you don't know how lucky you are!
I wash my hair every other day, and don't do anything special inbetween shampoos I'm afraid. I keep meaning to buy a dry shampoo, so I'll definitely look out for one of those today while I'm out. I'm actually getting my hair done today at last!
I also wash my hair every other day. Any longer and my hair would look greasy and untidy. I've never thought of a dry shampoo but I might give it a try if I find the right one. Thanks for the suggestion. ciao. A.
I use talc… although the oil residue is gone, it leaves my hair very very rough…. so I use it only on days when i have absolutely no time to wash… else, I wash them everyday…. in Indian summer, my scalp generates enough oil for a small oilfield!!!
Friends from East India wash their hair every day, but just with water — they shampoo twice a week. And they do have really gorgeous hair !
I forgot to add: the never blow-dry.
My hair is fine (but plentiful) and not just colour treated — regularly chlorinated. I swim six days a week, so it is a rare day when my hair isn't washed and conditioned afterwards!
Imogen, I've just bought a can of Batiste dry shampoo – thanks for the reminder.
Meg Baxter: Sephora carry dry shampoos including Klorane and will ship. I see they are scheduled to open 2 more stores in Van in July and another in Oct.
Me: Curly, coloured hair- daily washing would strip off the oils. Using the new L'Oreal EverPure hair products, terrific. Wash every 2-3 days and wash with water only in between.
I always used to wash my hair every day and despite using really good shampoo/conditioner (Kerastase), my hair was dry. When I started going to a new salon, all of the stylists were younger (in their early 20s)and they said none of them wash their hair every day and urged me to try washing it less often. Well, it has really worked for me – my hair's condition has improved and also it styles well straight the "second day". It works well with a boar bristle brush (another of my stylist's recommendations) on that second day as it redistributes the oil throughout the hair so I don't even see or notice it. I haven't been brave enough to try doing it any less often than every other day routinely, but it really works. If, on that second day I can tell it isn't working style-wise, I wash it with water and no shampoo then blow dry, and that works. I do the latter trick when I've worked out and still want to avoid shampooing and it works well. I think we +35 ladies were brought up to think that not washing hair every day was somehow unkempt or dirty, but the younger generation has no such hangups. Some of them were telling me that they go three or four days between shampoos, proudly.
I'm really lucky, and only "wash" my hair every 5 weeks or so!
Each morning I damp it down under the tap, and towel dry it and stick a bit of gel in it, but I only use shampoo and properly wash it just before I go to the hairdressers each time!
It is really short though – when I was younger and had it longer I did use to wash it more often, but never more than once a week (blush)
I wash my hair with a sulfate free shampoo every other day. I shower daily, though, and on the days I don't use shampoo I 'wash' my hair with conditioner to keep my scalp clean. It took a couple of weeks for my hair to get used to the new routine, but now it's great. Oh, and i have curly hair & my skin/scalp tends to be oily. I couldn't use the dry shampoos because of the curls (and the fact that I can't use a brush with them)
At my hairdresser's suggestion, I switched from washing every day to simply soaking each morning (we curlyheads get serious bedhead!), saving the shampoo for every 3rd, sometimes (rarely)even 4th day. My hairdresser says that if you're using a decent styling product, it will be water-soluble so enough will rinse out with the daily soak that you don't get a product build-up. She also says that your hair styles best when it's got some of its natural oils — she and another hairdresser friend once had a contest to see how long they could stand to go without shampooing — they didn't quite last out a week, but she said that those last days had the best-looking hair!
I wash whenever I wear my hair down, as it just won't be have any other way! But I wear it up several times a week, and never wash it for ponytails.
Imogen – I love the new look for the blog!
I wash with conditioner every day, and once a week I use a non-sulfate shampoo. I have dry, curly, chemically processed hair (I think I might be totally grey underneath) and need lots and lots of moisture. Some days it looks good, some days it is possessed by demon spirits. I never quite know what it will do.
(PS – my word verification is "subhagg," but I refuse to take this as a personal insult.)
I only wash my hair 2x week at the most. Quite often it's every 5 days or so. I started out washing every day, then every 36 hours, then every 2 days…until I got where my hair is good for 4+ days (maybe 3 if I am doing some serious sweating every day). If I don't have time to wash on the 4th day, I use a hair powder. I can't remember the brand, but I got it at Sephora. It not only dries out any grease (and disappears into my hair) but it gives my hair more body at the roots. Usually after I use the powder I can go another 2 days without washing. Great for your scalp and hair!
I highly recommend hair powders!
Meg in Canada: Sephora sells them – and I think Shoppers might sell a version too…
Until this year, I washed my hair daily – religiously – because I have the oiliest skin/scalp and my hair is fine. After one day it looked wet with grease (ugh). I don't know if it's age or an improved diet or what, but lately I can go 2 days. The second day is greasy, but in a vaguely hip way (or so I tell myself).
I have used various dry shampoos (like, from way back before they put them in aerosol cans – remember the Bumble and Bumble product?). They work till about 3pm at which point the grease of my scalp overwhelms them.
I feel vaguely uncomfortable using them routinely because I don't know if they contain talc, which is carcinogenic, or other substances I should try not to bombard my head with.
I wash my hair every single day. On the rare, rare, rare weekend day that I don't shampoo until the afternoon or evening, I hate how limp and unstyled my hair looks.
I have tried dry shampoo, but only one brand, and it seemed to make my scalp itch. Or maybe it was not shampooing that made it itch, I dunno.
Again, this is extremely timely. I just tried my first dry shampoo ever a month ago. I loved it, but apparently the packaging is defective and it leaked out overnight one day, which seems to be common based on other reviewers' experiences. I am searching for a new "staple" dry shampoo brand, and the Batiste shampoo as well as Shampowder were recommended to me.
I have the same hair type as you, Imogen. I cannot go a day without washing my hair unless I wear something like dry shampoo. At the end of a hot day, if I'm going out at night, I almost want to wash my hair a *second* time, which I know is not good.
Sadly, I don't look very good in head scarves, but at least I have a summer hat now…
unfortunately I can not use dry shampoo. My hair is very very curly, and dry shampoo would require brushing out, which I can't do. I can only comb or brush my hair when it's wet, otherwise I'll totally destroy the structure of the curls and look crazy.
despite the fact that my hair is very fine, it puts up well with all the washing and blow bdrying but I also take good care to always use conditioner when washing and leave-in conditioner afterwards.
Other curly tops have commented on the drying effect of shampoo. Several years ago I read a book by a hairdresser with curly hair, and she recommended curly tops not use shampoo at all. It sounds gross, but I've been doing this for years now. No shampoo. Only conditioner, which cleans without drying and frizzing. It's so much better now.
My mother, like Tracy's, also gives me non-frizz products. They don't work. Only leaving some of the natural oils in works–and my hair stylist swears it's never icky to work with. She recommends this technique too.
I've read the curlyblog stuff about the fact that curlykinky haired people should never use shampoo. Find that a bit much – I only wash my hair with shampoo twice a week at most, usually once, but find that if I NEVER wash it with shampoo the conditioner products – including deep conditioners for hair like mine – tend to build up.
I also have my hair coloured – with as little amonia and peroxyde as possible, meaning it takes quite a while (I read). I found pharmacy dyes too harsh on my hair, which is dry due to its very nature – curly strands are flattened – even without colour.
I've read the curlyblog stuff about the fact that curlykinky haired people should never use shampoo. Find that a bit much – I only wash my hair with shampoo twice a week at most, usually once, but find that if I NEVER wash it with shampoo the conditioner products – including deep conditioners for hair like mine – tend to build up.
I also have my hair coloured – with as little amonia and peroxyde as possible, meaning it takes quite a while (I read). I found pharmacy dyes too harsh on my hair, which is dry due to its very nature – curly strands are flattened – even without colour.
I had been wearing my very curly hair 'natural' some days, and blow-dried and ironed (which takes a LOT more than 3 minutes for me). Curly requires at least wetting/conditioning daily. A blow-dry can last several days, even up to a week in colder weather, with the help of the products you showed (although I use Toni & Guy).
Then, I got Bell's Palsy, and couldn't close my eye and needed to protect it with a patch. Straight hair looks MUCH better with a pirate patch! It's also better because it takes so long for my hair to dry naturally, and so my head wasn't cold while the nerve was healing.
So, no, I don't wash my hair every day.