It’s a question I get asked quite a bit when I’m styling hair… “So how often should I wash my hair?” Simple answer: If you wash your hair every day it removes your natural oils and proteins that will cause your hair to dry out and become brittle and frizzy. Just think about this for a moment, the second day after a wash is when your hair sits better and behaves better right? Shampoo strips the oils from the hair but we need those oils to help our scalp and hair to be healthy and not flake or hair to look brittle. Strip the oils..hello frizzball! Your wedding day hairstylist will almost 100% of the time ask you to wash your hair the night before right? Styles hold better second day without a doubt.
DRY SHAMPOO ADDICTION
Sitting here writing this I am 90% dry shampoo. I live for my Living Proof Dry shampoo. It quite simply is my holy grail. This, however, can lead to a buildup in your hair that needs to be cleaned out. But oh the dreaded wash for me…I have to heat style my hair once washed and it takes a whole hour to get ready! KILL ME NOW! I have 30% coarse hair the rest is fine. Thanks nana! I own more hats than I do any other accessory.
HACK
A neat hack to removing that buildup that dry shampoo adds to your hair is to add a tablespoon of sugar to your shampoo as it will gently exfoliate the scalp, easily dissolve and rinse out without leaving any residue in your hair. This will help you remove all the buildup more efficiently, but dissolving the dead skin cells allows conditioners to penetrate efficiently. So you’re getting a deeper clean and elevating the moisture, all at the same time. Do this every 3-5 washes to make sure the buildup does not dull your hair.
HAIR TYPES
Of course, there are different types of hair and hair that is processed or coloured/bleached that will change how you will wash or care for your hair. Processed hair makes your hair coarse which stops oil from traveling down the shaft like unprocessed hair. That also holds the same for curly hair or naturally coarse hair- you lucky souls can wait up to 3 days. Fine hair, of course, is a whole other story. If you have an oily scalp and thin, fine hair, your hair will start to look flat, limp and dirty after 24 hours. If your hair is super straight, an oily scalp will show more easily too at the roots.
IF YOU WORK OUT
Then working out adds another layer to the washing question. Working out daily, you’re going to need to wash your hair more often after sweating. Dry shampoo will help but essentially you will feel better with freshly washed hair. I tell people to learn some cool braiding styles so you can leave it a day or so.
HAIR CLEANSERS
MY FAVES
IGK-SMOKE AND MIRRORS CONDITIONING CLEANSING OIL.
MATRIX BIOLAGE CLEANSING CONDITIONER
Hair Cleansers contain gentle cleansers that don’t strip hair of color or moisture, taking the place of your shampoo. This makes your hair softer, shinier and more hydrated. I switched a couple of years ago and haven’t looked back. I swing between Matrix for coarse hair and IGK Smoke and mirrors. It changed my life. My hair sits so much better once it’s been styled. It’s definitely more hydrated which my hair needs. Try it..you won’t be disappointed.